Ocean City - day 1

Aunt Hillary and Grandma Marshall invited Owen and I to go with them to Ocean City for a night! It was a great way for Grandma to finish up her school year. She had her last day (a 1/2 day) and we met up at their house to start our journey. Owen napped on the way to the boat where we left Grandma's car. Then we all rode together in the Highlander the rest of the way to the beach. We sang several rounds of "Old MacDonald" when Owen started getting fussy. It would always put a smile back on his face. :)

We got to the hotel around 3pm and checked in. It was such a nice, spacious room with two double beds, a full kitchen, jacuzzi tub and separate room with a pull-out couch, 2nd TV and table and chairs. The best part? The gorgeous ocean view! We unpacked and put our suits and sunscreen on and headed down to enjoy the beach.

Owen took a tiny bit of warming up to the water, but pretty soon he was frolicking in the sand and surf. Grandma and Aunt Hillary built a sand castle for him. It was a little overcast, but warm and just a really nice afternoon on the beach.



After a couple of hours we headed up to the pool for a quick dip. It was a fully-equipped kiddie pool complete with lazy river, spraying whale, and not one but two slides! The slides were a little too big for Owen, so he just splashed around with Aunt Hillary before we decided he was shivering and we should head up to get ready for dinner.

After everyone showered and changed, we made our way out to the boardwalk to have a nice walk before picking a restaurant. We walked for awhile before deciding on Shananigan's. It was a great spot complete with Irish music and ocean view. We all enjoyed our meals ~ especially Owen who devoured his grilled cheese, pickles, applesauce and some of Grandma's fries.

Then it was off to find dessert! So many choices on the boardwalk. I found my favorite ~ Polish water ice ~ and Hillary and I each got one and took turns sharing with Owen. We also hit up the Candy Kitchen for salt water taffy and Fisher's for caramel corn and white cheddar popcorn for Ben.

By the time we got back to the room it was 9:15 and Owen was so pooped he went right to sleep in his Pack'NPlay. It was such a great day in Ocean City we can't wait to do it again tomorrow!

Chocolate World

Today we're heading home since Ben is flying home from California this afternoon. We decided to make the most of our time in Hershey, so it was off to Chocolate World to see some singing cows before hitting the road!



Owen was mesmerized by the ride. He especially loved the singing cows. After the ride he had his very first taste of pure chocolate in the form of a bite of Poppy's mini-Hershey bar sample. He immediately kept repeating "chocolate, chocolate, chocolate". But it was lunchtime, so instead of spoiling his appetite with the rest of the candy bar, we went over to the food court to grab a bite to eat.

That's when my mom spotted the Hershey Kiss character! She took Owen over to say hi, but he was a little scared by the gigantic silver thing. We did get a couple of pictures though.

Hersheypark!

My cousin Faith received a Hersheypark ticket in her report card when school ended last week, and she was so sweet to give it to me so that I could take Owen to Hersheypark for the day. We met up with Aunt Liz, Faith, and Alex around 10:15am and headed over to the park.

Owen loved the tram ride from the parking lot to the main gate. We made our way inside and he was in awe of the people, the rides, and the sounds of the park. Alex and Faith wanted to ride some roller coasters, so we split up for an hour so that I could take Owen on some kiddie rides. He started on the dinosaurs, then did the space ship, and finally the fire engine. By the time he did the fire engine he was done. I was so nervous because he almost wiggled his way out of the seat belt. Thankfully he made it off the ride in one piece and we went over to do the carousel together.

We met back up with Aunt Liz and Faith and Alex and walked over towards the water park area. The girls rode another coaster while Owen and I took a break for lunch. We made plans to meet up with them later that afternoon since Alex had to go to her theater camp.

After having lunch (Subway for me, hotdog for Owen), we got a locker and changed into our swimsuits and jumped into the huge wave pool. Owen loved jumping when the waves crashed into him. But there was more to do so we went over to the kiddie area where we found a gigantic sand castle structure with sprayers and slides. Next to it was a kiddie wave pool and wide slide which Owen gravitated to. After going down the slide with him about 10 times, I decided I had had enough but he wasn't done yet. So I opted to let him go by himself and I stood at the bottom to catch him. He did so well! He even got some cheers from onlookers when he went down by himself, it was so cute.

We had so much fun at Hersheypark! I was just sad that Ben wasn't there to enjoy it with us, but I'm sure we'll make another visit sometime later this summer.

I was nervous about taking our DSLR camera to the park, but my parents let me borrow theirs to take a few snapshots of Owen. Wish I could have gotten the waterpark area, but maybe next time.

Hershey

Yesterday we drove to Hershey to visit with Grandma, Poppy and GiGi since Ben was off to California for a business trip. I neglected to take any pictures our first day in Chocolate Town. We had lunch at GiGi's house and then Owen went down for his nap. When he woke up we went across the street to visit with Grandma and Poppy for a little. They were still getting settled, so it was back over to GiGi's for dinner, bath and bedtime.

It took Owen about an hour to settle down and go to sleep since he wasn't at home in his crib. But eventually he was fast asleep and Grandma and I got to watch the full two hours of the Bachelorette. Fun!

GiGi gave Owen a bus with a bus driver guy which he LOVES! He wouldn't let it go to eat breakfast, so I let him have it at the table.


This morning we got up and had breakfast with GiGi before going out with Grandma to pick up some household items at Target and JCPenney. After that we met up with Cindy for lunch at Panera. Then we went back to GiGi's house for Owen's nap. He slept right through the major thunderstorm that rolled through.

We had dinner at Grandma and Poppy's house. Again, I was terrible at remembering to take pictures, but I did snap this cute one:

Happy Father's Day!!!

Happy Father's Day to my wonderful husband who is the best Daddy in the whole world!

Ben enjoyed his annual golf tournament with his friends on Saturday (all day and all night long). This morning we woke up early and got packed up to drive out to Ben's parent's boat. We got there around 10:15 and jumped on board to head out on the water. Ben took the wheel and had us jumping waves in no time. After some time in the bay, we headed back to the marina where we had a lovely picnic in the shade.

In addition to it being Father's Day, it was also Hillary's 28th Birthday! She enjoys baking, so she made a beautiful (and delicious!) coconut cake for the occasion.

We had a great time as always!

Hello 2nd trimester!

This past Tuesday I hit 13 weeks ~ the official start to the second trimester! Thankfully, the morning sickness has started to taper off and I'm not so tired anymore. I had my monthly checkup at the OB today and found out that since last visit I've gained 2 pounds. The baby's heartbeat sounded perfect and was beating at 154bpm. I go back in a month for my next checkup. So far, so good!

Dinosaur Park

Grandma and Poppy visit

Grandma and Poppy arrived on Tuesday afternoon. Owen was so happy to see them! We had lunch together and then Owen went down for his nap. Mom and I went to get manicures and Dad stayed with Owen. We made shish-kabobs for dinner and when Ben got home from work we ate dinner together. I forgot to take pictures! :(

Today we drove out to Manassas to look at furniture for their new place in Hershey. On the way home Grandma and Poppy treated us to lunch at Eggspectations, and although none of us had a meal with eggs, it was delicious nonetheless. We got home and put Owen down for his nap and my mom and I headed out to the store for ingredients for our dinner. We got home and mom started working on the meal. Once everything was prepped we watched the new Alice in Wonderland on DVD while Owen still slept. At 7:30, Curt and Tish arrived and we sat down to a lovely dinner of spinach lasagna roll-ups, salad, and garlic bread and blueberry kuchen for dessert. Everyone had a great time and we were all exhausted by the end of the night.

Mom and Dad leave tomorrow for Hershey but Owen and I won't be missing them for long. Since Ben has a business trip to San Diego next week, we're going to drive up to Hershey to visit with my grandma and see my mom and dad's new place. If the weather is nice we're going to hit up HersheyPark for a day. Can't wait!!!

Udvar Hazy

This morning Ben mowed the lawn while Owen and I relaxed on the deck in his froggy pool. Yes, I got in with him. It was super hot and the water was nice and cold. Every time I would get out, Owen would come over to my chair and say, "Mommy in!". I had Ben grab a picture of the two of us, but since the camera was inside, it fogged up when he brought it out in the heat. But here's the shot anyway:



This afternoon we decided to take Owen to the Udvar Hazy National Air and Space Museum which is right in our backyard (Dulles). Owen had a great time running around the museum pointing to the helicopters, airplanes, rockets and space shuttles. We even had a nice passerby offer to take our picture. It was a fun way to spend an hour inside with air conditioning versus outside in 90+degree heat.

Number Puzzle

Owen is starting to get into puzzles. This morning he pulled out his number puzzle, sat down, and started naming the numbers as he picked up each piece. Too bad it only lasted for 3 minutes.

Basketball and swimmin' on a Friday

The weather was perfect today so around 10am Owen and I put on our swimsuits and slathered on the sunscreen. Then I filled up his froggy pool and we headed out to play on the deck before lunch. At first all Owen wanted to do was shoot hoops. Finally I coaxed him into the pool. He had so much fun playing with his bucket and when I said, "Owen, dump some water on your head!" he did!

After awhile he got bored in there all by himself. I was getting hot, so I asked him to pour a bucket-full of water onto my feet. Of course, he poured it right in my lap, soaking me. I didn't mind, it was nice to cool off. Since I was already wet, I jumped in his pool with him. We had a blast. Wish I could have captured it on camera, but I was too nervous he'd splash water everywhere.

It was a great way to spend the morning and after lunch we both took long naps.

1st trimester screening

Today I am a day shy of 12 weeks pregnant. We had our 1st trimester screening test done today and thankfully, everything looks good! Our doctor would not even try to determine the gender this early, so that was a little disappointing. But we couldn't be happier to hear that so far the baby's development is right on track. Heartbeat sounded perfect ~ beating at 168bpm.

Frying Pan Farm

Today was pretty overcast, but we wanted to get out of the house and do something. So we decided to take Owen to Frying Pan Farm in Herndon. It's a cute little farm with lots of animals and best of all: it's completely FREE.

Owen had such a good time walking around to see all the animals. But there was one animal that scared him a little bit ~ the peacock. Ben and Owen went over to the cage to get a closer look once he opened up his feathers when all of a sudden, he started squawking like crazy! Owen screamed and started crying so we quickly moved on to see the cute little ducks that do nothing more than quack. :)

Mac Cheese

We had a very, very lazy Saturday here at the Marshall household. Mommy is still dealing with constant morning sickness, and the weather wasn't the greatest. So we made the best of it and just relaxed in our jammies all day.

Owen is getting better and better at using utensils. Here's a shot of him eating his "Mac Cheese" for dinner tonight.

Pasta is yummy

So yummy Owen forgot to use his spoon. Hands work just as well. :)