Cabin Fever

We are basically never in the same place for more than 2-3 days at a time due to Blaine's baseball career... so what do we do when we actually CAN be in one place for a longer period of time? Leave to go somewhere anyway!

We thought we would dodge the recent heatwave by heading to "camp", my Dad's cabin in Waterville, PA. We had a great time and were fortunate to dodge most of the heat...too bad they can't say the same about the bugs! Charlie loved throwing stones, sticks, and basically anything he could pick up into the creek...he tried, but Wrigley was too heavy. Casey opted to be a little more lounge-y, but he had a great time too. We can't wait to get back!


Here are Daddy and his boy out on the front porch of the cabin. From here, they loved to take in the view and grill up some grub.


Charlie and I stopped to check out the creek from the bridge along our bike ride. No fish to be found :(


Charlie had to share his bike trailer for the first time with Casey. Casey felt right at home and fell asleep after his tickling match with his big bro. How big does Charlie look next to Caser?!


Casey is an outdoors man already. Just put him outside and he is happy for hours... VOILA! Popple is so proud of his potential protege!


Well, the wagon ride didn't go as smooth as the bike ride. The novelty wore off about 5 mintues into it. He did love playing with Wrigley's best dog friends... Dan's dogs... Newt, Tilk, and Jack (three other Cavaliers!)

Casey and the MD

Finally... the MD visit for Casey. We starting scheduling his Early Development Specialist appointment back in December and the day is finally here. Thanks to cancellations, we were able to move his appointment up from June to April!

Blaine and I took him to the A I Dupont Children's Hospital for to meet Dr. Midori (who, despite how her name sounds, is a short white lady with the best personality). After we found our way in, we only waited a short bit. I forgot that I had actually done my Peds rotation at this hospital, so I had a knew a little what the place looked like.

Dr. Midori did all kinds of fun activities with Casey. She used toys and games (even for a 10 month old). He had so much fun, but his favorite part was the paper that they lay on top of the exam table. She was swimming in it at one point. After all was said and done, she told us almost exactly what his physical therapists had said. Casey seems to be 2-3 months behind and she doesn't think that it is Neurological. Although we had heard that before, we were happy to hear it coming from a Doctor. Caser is changing and growing everyday and we love cheering him on.

Life in the LV

After spending our Saturday morning cheering on Dad at the Highschool (see below) we picked up cousin Mitchell and headed over to Trexler Park. We had a blast. We started out feeding the ducks. Charlie doesn't really have a grasp on what a bite-sized piece is, as he throws in the whole piece of bread, but he is learning. Next we were off on a hike up the mountain (just kidding...it's a hill but feels like a mountain when pushing a stroller up it). The boys had fun seeing the statue and enjoying the view. Then back down the hill to play some ball. As we neared Charlie's missed nap time, he grew a little cranky, so we busted out the bubbles in a hurry. Casey and Wrig hung out by the stroller to stay out of the sun. Afterwards, Five Guys was the perfect ending to our day out.




Later, we BBQ'ed at Mindy and Steve's for more eating and drinking. We really need to rent out Mitchell and Peyton for the summer. They are amazing with our boys. Charlie and Casey LOVE them and we do too! Life in the LV isn't too bad!

That's sooo Highschool

Well, never thought I would be back in the stands of Whitehall High School cheering on a guy. Life is full of funny twists and turns, isn't it?! Saturday morning, we packed up the kids and headed over to the good old Whitehall High School baseball field to watch Blaine throw to batters. Blaine is now officially the third guy I have cheered for from the stands, just for the record. Thankfully, there were no homers, and even more thankfully, he was not beamed in the noggin with a ball off the metal bats.





Charlie absolutely LOVED watching Dad throw and was just waiting to get his turn. So, after meeting the coach, he started showing off his arm. He has a pretty wicked curve, but Coach says he doesn't meet the height requirement :(

Birthday and Bunnies

Cheers to Cake!

First Easter Morning!

Emptying out the eggs and looking for "cheese money" and beans

The shy sinner :)

Back in town! Good old Allentown. We moved into my Pop Pop's old house which, while a bit strange, is also great. We finally have a place to call our own... for at least the summer. It is really kind of sad when your kids and dog don't know what to actually call home. We go to Mom Mom and Pop Pop's house and Charlie says "we're home". We pull into Meema and Popple's driveway and he screams "we're home". Now he has one more place to call home, I guess.

To help us adjust more quickly, we celebrated Blaine's 31st birthday. Two days of party and three cakes later, we felt much more at home here. Charlie loved celebrating so much, we replayed the cake part for the next two nights.

The Bunny came to town soon after that, just in time to save Charlie from the sugar let down from all the cake. He loved waking up and finding eggs in our house, Meema and Popple's house, AND at Mom Mom and Pop Pop's too! He loves jay-ee beans and bahtis (lollipops). Chocolate bunnies aren’t bad either.

Little Cas-er loved watching the action and playing with Charlie's already empty plastic eggs. He got his own baskets filled with mostly toys. Later, we headed to Mom Mom and Pop Pop's (or “Joe” as Charlie calls him) to eat dinner with the family. It was Christopher's 7th birthday and he and Charlie partied all day long. They are so cute together!

In between we did attend to church, although, I am not sure what any of us got out of it. Casey was his usual low maintenance self while Charlie refused to take his hands off his face for the first fifteen minutes (see above) and then wouldn't sit still for the rest. Ahhhh...that kid....Entertaining?.... Always. Challenging? ....Definitely. Boring?.... never.

Not Pheeling So Philly

Well, Monday March 30th, Blaine got a big surprise... not like the ones you want to get for your birthday. Unfortunately, he was released from the Phillies organization. Heartbroken and confused, he came home to his family on 2346 Lorena Lane. This release was like none before (and believe me, there have been others).

We all were looking forward to coming "home" to Allentown to be with family (both sides) and play for the Iron Pigs. Not only is that gone, but now he is just searching for A job. Back in November, the Phillies had made one of the first offers to Blaine, almost garanteeing that he would be playing at least triple A. The money was good and the promise of playing close to home was even better. All winter long we looked forward to the season. For once it would be perfect. We should've known, right?!

So, after getting the news, we picked up Mom Mom Neal from the airport, threw the kids at her and drove to Jupiter. There we were able to comiserate with the Bumps, who are in the same position, and the Hoss Family, who aren't in the same position, but we love them anyway :) It was so nice to be with great friends.

As soon as we got back to Clearwater the next day, we started packing. Blaine's license and regisitration was up on the 6th and we needed our cars. So, he flew up the next day and Mom Mom Neal, Charlie, Casey, Wrigley and I started our drive home. Now, I could probably make the drive into an entire book, but I will just sum it up for you. It started out with poop, rain, and 3 bouts of construction traffic. We finally got to our hotel, unloaded and got the kids to bed. The next morning we got a late start and there was no more "continental" breakfast for us. So, we quickley loaded the car (in the rain) threw the kids in, and hopped in to find a dead battery. One call to AAA and one new battery later, we were on our way (again). The trip ended with more construction, rain, and rush hour in DC. Needless to say, it was a LONG trip. But, at least I wasn't pumping in the back seat of the suburban like last trip home.

So, now... waiting, waiting, and waiting. Nothing to do, nowhere to be. We are planning to call great Pop's house home for now. At least that is where most of our stuff is (although it is also at the Neal's, Apple's, and inside a 25 foot storage area). We are in limbo, keeping our fingers crossed, and hoping that everything happens for a reason.

All we know is our lives are never boring. So, stay tuned... to be continued...