This is My Forties

My Mother's Day week was fabulous.  I saw 2 of my favorite wetland areas with all my favorite people and we got to check off more of our Maryland herps (reptiles and amphibians).  I also got to go to another park with Josh and Brennan earlier in the week.  That's 3 parks in one week!  I had basically stopped going to parks, which was probably a bad idea.  No one usually wants to come with and I am not a solo traveler.  Never have been. I don't know why I love swamps so much.  Maybe it's because they only seem dead, but they're actually some of the most "alive" places on the planet.  So much goes on there.  Anyway... I also hosted a couple people from school and their Moms for an end of semester BBQ, which is a big deal for me since I normally get so anxious about social gatherings, especially hosting them and meeting new people.  Not this time!  And I only obsessed over everything I said and did afterwards for a few hours i...

Growing up in a landlocked state like Ohio means that I am fascinated with beaches.  A beach in winter to me is like some kind of bizarre unnatural spectacle that must be seen.  So, I went to check out my local beach in winter. There are waves crashing into ice-covered driftwood, you guys.  For me it was like watching a ferocious lion play with a baby hamster or something.  The juxtaposition of winter in a "summer place" made me giddy.  It was cool. I saw seagulls sliding around on a frozen lagoon.  They would glide overhead, land and slide around a bit, and then they slammed their beaks into the ice to break through and grab what little morsels they had spotted from the air.  I saw ice sheets covering the sand with ripples in them. I saw shells filled with slush.  I can't wait to go back when there's snow... snow on the sand.  That's just crazy talk!  It was a lot of fun for me (if you couldn't tell).  Hopefully my editing ...

This is the first time in my life that I've lived so close to the beach!  We live a short trip down the highway to the Chesapeake Bay and I've found plenty of stops along the way to enjoy.  The more public beaches like Calvert Cliffs and Flag Ponds are always great, but sometimes can get a bit crowded for this introvert's taste.  Flag Ponds Nature Park is by far the best beach experience near us.  The beach area is so huge it never really feels crowded.  The walk to the beach from the parking lot is short.  The facilities are well-maintained and conveniently located.  There is a little pond that's jellyfish free that the kids can still play in (little boys who enjoy mud and dirt especially love it).  We bring all our company out to this beach when they come to visit.  In June we've already brought my brother and his family and our friend Rudy, not to mention the few trips we've taken with the neighbors there as well... it's a fabulous pl...

I had looked at the Calvert Marine Museum online lots of times and finally on Saturday we had an opportunity to go!  It was just as awesome as I thought it would be, but better.  I had no idea this area was as rich in prehistoric fossils as it is!!  I just thought they had a plethora of colonial artifacts.  Nope! Back when the world was all one giant continent (Pangea) our present day Calvert Cliffs were touching Africa, right where modern day Morocco is.  Thanks to this and the constant changing of the water level the cliffs are packed with fossily goodness.  They have recovered everything from a huge prehistoric baleen whale skull to a prehistoric camel.  RIGHT HERE!!!  AHHHH!!!! Josh and I were so fascinated by all this.  We could have spent 3 hours in the fossil section of the museum alone. The museum also has other exhibits, mostly dealing with the Bay... maritime history.  It all really focused on the local area, which mad...

I love this time of year!  The dragonflies, cicadas & butterflies are all out in full force.  The weather is still pretty bearable and the parks aren't packed with summer crowds yet.  We've been spending most of our time outside exploring.  I've got yet another new park in Southern Maryland that is officially on my top five favorites list now: Flag Ponds Nature Park .  The beach here is amazing!!  That's not all, though.  There are the woods packed with gigantic old sweetgum, oak, pine, and maple trees that you can tell have been alive for centuries.  The trails wound their way through ponds and swamps as we crept closer towards the Chesapeake Bay.  To me, it resembled scenes from Lord of the Rings. We arrived with the intent of hiking and flying our kites, and we did that indeed.  We had such an amazing adventure!  We found a cactus that Tristan and Brennan tried to pick up and bring home, which resulted in a lot of pain ...

I had a goal this Spring Break to see new parks and to get out and do something (or at least be active at home) every day.  I even made a calendar of events , which covers all of April actually.  If I was at home, I had to be accomplishing a task that I had been putting off, not just the normal laundry and dishes nonsense.  Mission Accomplished!! MARCH 29th Josh and I went on a dinner date to celebrate 10 years of wedded bliss at the Cheescake Factory thanks to some wonderful friends.  We also went to see a live 90's cover band at an Irish pub... how very appropriate for us!  The kids had a sleepover with our fabulous neighbors and their 3 boys :)  We have some of the most thoughtful, generous friends.  Our anniversary wouldn't have been much of a celebration were it not for them! MARCH 30th   We packed a lunch and grabbed everyone fairly early to hit up White Plains, the end of the Indian Head Rail Trail, for the opening day of rails-...