Our little West Virginian native was excited & ready to hike with his new camo jacket & authentic hiking stick. He was more than a little disappointed when Papa insisted in saddling him up in the new Baby Backpack.
The morning started a little chilly @ about 40*, so Russ & Amber had to bundle little baby Ella up tight in the cleanest white blanket I think those woods ever saw! Mama & Baby Z weren't sure if we'd caught a little cold or a case of spring-time sniffles, so we kept our distance from the cutie-pie (Ella, not Russ).
Alexander wasn't used to the idea of a "guided tour," so he convinced Papa to explore the edges of the field while the tour guide told Mama & the Green's all about how the Native Americans, Settlers & Generation X'ers collect & process Maple Sugar.
After tromping around the woods for about an hour, we all headed back to Camp Russell for a fresh, Oglebay-made Maple Sugar breakfast! While we waited for the pancake shortage of 2010 to subside, Alexander entertained us all with his new-found hobby; fly-wrangling. Yep. Papa pointed out a winter-chilled fly on the windowsill, and then Z turned it into a game of (finger) follow the fly. There was eventually a casualty. But no worries, they were serving pancakes again...
There is something to be said for fresh maple syrup. It was ever-so-sweet, but not sugary. And, of course, everything tastes better at a picnic table in the woods!
Our little pancake was all tuckered out from all that naturing, so we headed to the car just in time for his 12:30 nap!
But Papa'd only burned up half of this beautiful day, so we headed home, dusted off the ol' fire pit & lit it up. And then the grilling began. Papa went fire-starter crazy! First it was chicken wings. Then it was miniature burgers. Then some sausage. And finally a couple veggie burgers for Mama & Z. Luckily, we'd invited over some reinforcements!
While we were waiting for everyone to come over, Alexander tried out his new Barbie-mobile (Thanks Babushka & Sephardic lovelies!). He understood that he had to push the square, red button, but he wasn't so interested in giving up the fish stick in his right hand...
He also had a little trouble keeping those feet up off the ground. But I figure, that just helps to slow him down!
Then Ella came over, and we had to take a break from all the monkeyin' around and talk about how precious she is.
When the Goodneighbor's arrived, the girls raced into the kitchen to wash their hands. I made Julie promise that she would never pick Ella over Alexander, even if Amber offered her a raise to come over & babysit
Unfortunately, I headed to bed early (?), just as some of the Goodneighbor's friends dropped in. I am not one to leave a party early, but I think this Mama might be getting sick. Let's all say a prayer I didn't give anything to sweet baby Ella!
2 comments:
Sully thinks Alexander is just "ghost riding the whip" when he puts his feet down, and all your focus on pushing the button is messing w/ his groove.
IDK if it's just cause I'm sick, but I dont get the whip or the button. All I got is that you're crazy!
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