ahoy matey....

one of our final adventures of the summer was made possible by yet another daily deals site. i scored half price tickets to do an urban pirate cruise in b'more. gg and papa were here too, which made the trip even more special for the boys. we were also joined by our neighbors, tyler & jake and their mom, sara. upon boarding the ship, everyone was given some pirate gear, a tattoo and a pirate name. it wasn't long before i became mom to "angelfish andrew" and "junkyard jacob." jacob was quite hesitant about the whole experience, but much to my surprise, andrew jumped right on in. he even volunteered when they asked for someone to come up and demonstrate how to properly use the life vests.

the funniest part of the adventure, was that even while jacob was whining/crying, he would listen and follow the instructions...so there were times he was dancing and shaking it, all with a face full of fear and uncertainty. it really was hilarious! the boat cruised around b'more harbor for about an hour.

along the way, we learned pirate games, songs and lingo....

we took the pirate oath....

and had to be on the lookout for "mad dog", the bad pirate who had stolen our treasure.

the journey ended with the capture of mad dog and our booty! everyone was then allowed to choose 2 pieces from the treasure box.

VIDEO OF ANDREW TAKING "PIRATE OATH" & JACOB DANCING (hope you can view them!)

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hot fun in the summertime...continued....

cousins!!!

the past few weeks have been filled with fun activities....and some first-time stuff too! i finally got over my fear of water parks and took the boys to great waves at cameron run. i had scored a deal on certifikid....$16 for a 4-pack of after 3pm tickets. for $16, i figured it wouldn't be a huge loss if we ended up not going, so i bought the deal! since i had an extra ticket (and i was still a bit nervous about the whole thing) i had one of our have babysitters, michelle, come along with us. this turned out to be a GREAT idea, as the boys rarely wanted to be in the same place at the same time. we were able to split up and it gave me some much needed one-on-one time with each of the boys. it was an added bonus that they adore michelle (as do i!) and were so excited about spending this time with her too! andrew enjoyed ALL of the water park, while jacob stuck to the smaller water play area, the spray park, and the playground/climbing structure. both boys LOVED the smaller watersides....and andrew even went down the big racing slides with me! as soon as we finished the race, he said, "i won!" i said, "yep you did! that was so much fun!!!" his reply, "we are not doing that again. it was so not awesome mom." i was really proud of him for trying it though!!! we had so much fun that we stayed until the park closed at 7pm! we will definitely be making this an annual summer activity. thanks again to certifikid for the great deal....i'm not sure i would've tried this out at full price.

andrew & michelle after going down a water slide

jacob & michelle at the top of the climbing structure

one of the playground slides

last week we met my sister and her girls at the maryland science center. we got there around 10:30 and i figured we'd spend a few hours at the museum, head to lunch and be on the road back home by 3 or 4. well, we all had SO MUCH fun at the museum, we had to drag the kids out of there around 3pm to get lunch! there was just SO much to do there....including exhibits on dinosaurs, gravity, senses and the human body. we also saw a "sesame street" planetarium show which the kids seemed to enjoy. we ended up not leaving b'more until about 5pm. this museum was FANTASTIC and i highly recommend it for children (and adults!) of all ages. of course, for us, everything is more fun with leigh, lauren and sarah there!!!

sizing up the dinosaur bones

so cute using the magnifying glass!

dusting off fossils

color your own dinosaur

create your own dinosaur

lining up the dinosaur's body

andrew was SO excited to see the turtles...his fave!

launching pool noodles into the air

stick your hand in the lower box and guess what's in there...

sarah on a bed of nails

lauren on a bed of nails

wahoo....guess i'm healthier than i thought

andrew figuring out how to line up the ramps, so that the ball makes the bell ring at the end

water area

this past weekend my cousins staci & lisa, and staci's son asher, came down to visit. we spent the day hanging out at my sister's pool and then the girls had a cousin's night. what a blast!!! and asher is such a cutie!!!

asher & jacob sitting on the fountains

cousins!!! lisa, me, staci and leigh

smores, wine and good chats! (staci....next time you can't go to sleep!)

with two weeks of summer vaca remaining, we still have a few things on our "to-do" list....so stay tuned...

...then it's BACK TO SCHOOL!!!

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i DON'T eat fish....

...BUT TODAY I LET THEM NIBBLE AT MY TOES!

that's right....i can cross the fishy-pedi off my list of things to try!

so, here's the deal...for those of you who have been wanting to try it, or just want to hear about it from someone who has tried it...

you soak your feet in the water, which is filled with these little fish. the fish nibble (no biting!) around your feet, which is supposed to smooth your skin. does it tickle? yes, for some people more than others! and keep in mind if you do try this, the bigger the fish...the bigger the tickle! my friend lori, who came with me, was in hysterics because it tickled her so much. for me, it tickled, but it really felt more like "pins and needles", when your foot falls asleep. it tickled me most when they would swim in between my big toe and second toe...and when they were around my ankles. so, you soak in the fishy water for 20 minutes (or however long you purchase it for!)...they then dry your feet off and you move to a regular pedi chair for the rest of your pedicure.

i had purchased a discounted daily deal for this...and that's definitely the way to go if you're going to TRY it out. that way, you don't feel like you've spent a whole lot of money, if you end up not liking it.

all in all....i'm not sure it's something i'll do again. not because i didn't like it, but because i'm not really sure my feet are any smoother than without 30 little fishes eating my dead skin for breakfast!!!

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