I'm On A Boat

While we were on vacation we took advantage of a Groupon -- no, my capacity for cheapitude does not extend to vacations (in fact, I think there is NO BETTER TIME to be thrifty than when you are on vacation, if only to awe the world with your mad shipping ninja skills) -- and we all went for a whale watch. (OK, "marine mammal watch," technically.)

Yes: all of us. All eleven of us -- thirteen, if you count the camera and the contraband stroller as one person each, as I do -- drove an hour and a half south on the Garden State Parkway, each way, to take a three-hour boat tour. On an overcast, windy day, with a hurricane just over a week past, another tropical storm looming just off the coast, and three more weather situations brewing.

And it was AMAZING.

The kids loved being on the top deck of the ship, just hanging their heads and arms over the side of the railings, feeling the wind in their faces. We honestly could have driven around in a big circle for three hours and they wouldn't have cared.

But. BUT!

Dolphins. Tons of f'ing dolphins.

Now for all I know, these are the same four or five dolphins in every single picture, and I don't even care. (The captain said there were about 35 in total; I don't know.) They were RIGHT THERE. I could have leapt off the side of the boat and ridden on the back of one off into the sunset. (I didn't, but only because I was afraid would misjudge the jump and fatally rack myself on one of the lower decks, and of all the undignified ways that there are for me to get myself killed, "impaled on the oar of an emergency dinghy" is not really near the top of the list.)

(Also, if I got the camera wet on my way to a watery grave, my husband would never have forgiven me.)

Trying to maintain one's composure and act like a civilized human being when there are ZOMG REAL LIVE MOTHERTRUCKING DOLPHINS RIGHT OVER THERE SQUEE! is exhausting, yo. Plus I think I might possibly have gotten whiplash or something, because the water was REALLY rough -- we didn't see any whales because we couldn't get out as far as the boat normally goes because of all the storms and whatnot -- but at the time I didn't even notice because I was so busy checking "see live dolphins up close in the wild" off my bucket list.

See? Good times.

Makayla's Baptism

On Sunday was my niece Makayla's baptism. She was baptized by Fr. Lamb (tee hee!), a priest who has known my family for something like 30-plus years. He used to visit my grandparents and go swimming in their pool and I swear to God (tee hee hee!!) he used to wear a Speedo. No lie. It is jarring to see priests and nuns out of their habits, but what is even weirder is seeing them in bathing suits drinking beer on your grandparents' back deck. (It really happened! There were WITNESSES!)

Anyway. Makayla. She looked like a little angel, one of those cute ones from all those Renaissance paintings, a cherub, with the white robes and the wings and the trumpets and the delicious melon heads. And she did great during the ceremony -- she hardly made a peep and didn't make a sound at all during the holy-water-poured-on-her-head part. The crying you hear in this video is some other kid. And of course you will recognize the voice of My Anonymous Mother.

(Yes, I know there are probably technical terms for whatever that part of the rite is called. Whatever. I can't remember all those fancy words any more. I called the tabernacle "the apse," and then I called it "the reliquary," and to be completely honest with you, I don't even know what either of those words even means any more, but I know I can spell them correctly.)

Good heavens, that kid is adorable, isn't she? I find her equally as beautiful as my own kid, and my nephew, except they're all lovely in different ways. You can tell Makayla and Joey are related, though, because they both look so much like my dad.

And then there was cake. DUH. My kid was invited to the after-party - cake was pretty much a requirement. If Shae had her way, The Right To Always Have Cake would be added to the Constitution or something.

My cousins Meg and Jessy made the cake, and they did such a great job. Everything was positively delicious (and I know from delicious cake with that kid of mine), and everything was edible except the pearls in the middle of the flowers. (And yes, OF COURSE I got pictures of Shae eating cake. She made sure I did.)

Let The River Run

Would you like to suddenly feel very, very old? Take a look at this picture:

Now, compare it to pictures that were taken almost exactly two years ago at the same event, the Godiska Family Reunion. Whaaaaa ... what happened? Where did my baby go? Who is this freakishly tall Amazonian mer-child who lives in my house and eats all my cheese? And whose highlight of the entire weekend was seeing a dead fish on the banks of the creek (pronounced "crick," BTW)?

Same park, same creek, same picnic, except this time, instead of clutching on to my hand for dear life, I was the one making her way over the rocks unsteadily, while Shae was off exploring with the "big kids" -- and I actually mean BIG KIDS, a clutch of my cousins who are all in their 20's and who, as I understand it, think my kid is kind of a Big Deal.

Although, in my defense, my shakiness was due in large part to the fact that I was trying desperately to not drop my camera in the water as I stood there choking back heaving sobs while my little girl, so small just a short time ago -- just yesterday, wasn't it? -- ran off with the big kids and didn't need me any more. A sad and lame excuse, yes, but the truth nonetheless. (Also, my legs are much shorter than Shae's, who is starting to resemble a water strider more than anything else.) But still.

"When I was young, a teacher had forbidden me to say 'more perfect' because she said if a thing is perfect it can't be more so. But by now I had seen enough of life to have regained my confidence in it." -- Norman MacLean

Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler!

When they're not busy having crazy sugar-orgy Mardi Gras parties at school, all the cool kids will be spending today the way God intended:

Wearing Easter bunny ears and a sparkly pink princess pigtail holder, tromping around in their father's giant shoes. Of course. We'll be playing Louis Armstrong tunes all day. Bring your own jambalaya, and let the good times roll!

Blow-Up World

Know what else they had at Palmer Community Days? Giant inflatable things!

And a Moon Bounce!

And "World Famous" Kiddie Bumper Boats!

And a K-9 police demonstration!

And an item off my Bucket List, which is coming up tomorrow!

Obvious T-Shirt Choice Is Obvious

Palmer Community Days were over the weekend -- a wonderful little fair in the town where I grew up, where I used to have to go work at bingo for the choir and where I could, half a lifetime ago, stalk ex-boyfriends until they would give up and call me just to get me out of their hair for a while. It was the early '90s, and mistakes were made.

This is the first time we went to this particular carnival with Shae, and I don't know that I would have been overly excited except for one thing: PONY RIDES. (Well, actually, there were two things, and I will get to the other one on Friday.) I've always wanted to go on a pony ride, and you never know when they're going to pop up, so you better believe that we went.

Ponies are SO COOL. I can totally understand why little girls get completely gaga over them. A very big part of me wanted to just stand there and pet their manes and do some braids and tie them with ribbons. Yes, for real. I didn't even tell my husband that.

Shae had her choice of ponies, because when we got in line there was nobody else there. I personally would have gone for the pretty palomino-ish one with the golden hair, but Shae chose "the little one."

Which is actually a donkey. But not a flying talking donkey, sadly. I'm not sure she could have handled that much excitement. Although it would have been AWESOME.

And just for the record, SHE picked out her sparkle horsey shirt to wear to the carnival, not me, although I was not about to discourage her.

And One Other Thing

Last thing about Hersheypark, but worth waiting for, I hope. Music by Guns 'N' Roses, so you might want to turn your speakers down -- or turn them up, if you're into that sort of thing.

Best part -- around 3:49, when she says "Hi, Mom!" into the camera. That's my girl. I can't wait to see the awesome movies we're going to get when we go to the beach.

The Boy Is Back In Town

Look who popped in for a visit over the long weekend: Cousin Joey!

Shae has referred to him as "Baby Joey" for so long that it's hard to break her of the habit, but he's not really a baby any more, is he? He's a full-blown toddler now, and it is pretty awesome.

I mean, Shae has trouble with boundaries, and what is and is not appropriate behavior around kids younger than she is, but Joey is an absolute trooper. He followed Shae around for a lot of the weekend.

From what I understand, he was calling for Shae when we weren't around, and I can tell you that hearing him say "SHAE!" is the cutest thing that I have ever heard in my life. He says it just like that, too, with the implied exclamation point and everything. Adorbs.

Not only does he have excellent taste in favorite cousins, he also has fantastic taste in hats and mothers, and he rocks the snot out of that little rashguard shirt.

And he loves everyone. He let lots of people hold him. Wandered right up to me one time and said "UP!" and when I grabbed him he clapped. Like I'm a Pavlovian test subject and he had just given me the proper reinforcement.

Shae's already asking when we're going to see him again, and making crazy little preschooler plans. She can't wait to get the band back together. And can you blame her, really? Just look at this kid. Our family is full up with awesome, beautiful children.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

May your neighbors respect you,

Trouble neglect you,

Angels protect you,

And heaven accept you.

 -- Irish Toast

Oh Happy Day

Over the weekend, without fanfare but not without notice, we commemorated an important milestone. We went to a party to celebrate someone else, but I was thinking about our special occasion the whole time.

Two years and three days ago, on March 7th, 2008, Shae came to live with us, and we unofficially became a family. Less than two weeks after we first saw our gorgeous girl, we fell face first into parenthood.

Maybe as more time passes, I'll stop remembering these little nothing holidays that hardly even matter: Meeting Day, Welcome Home Day, Adoption Day. But I hope not. They are very important in the Story of Us.

And every time we tick off another one of these special dates, we have a reason to remember how you saved our lives. Thank you, sweet thing. Thank you so very, very much.

Nice Day For A (Winter) White Wedding

So we were in Pittsburgh over the weekend for my cousin Beth's wedding. Here is all the background you need about our relationship to western Pennsylvania: I was there exactly once before this weekend, but my husband used to live there, and that is apparently enough for him to insist on raising our daughter as a Steelers fan. (Although technically I believe that we are splitting the difference.)

Anyway: back at the dawn of time when G and I were planning our wedding, we talked briefly about doing something small, maybe on an island somewhere, but something quiet and intimate and maybe in a garden. Beth and Chris's wedding? Almost exactly what I would want if I had to do it all over again. The ceremony was at the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, and there were only about 30 people there, and we all got to be part of a beautiful moment.

It's unfortunate that none of these pictures do justice to the bride and groom, or to the Parterre de Broderie (Broderie Room), a small-scale French palace garden. Basically, I over-reached my skillset as a photographer. I didn't use my fancy equipment correctly (or at all, in the case of the tripod), and I tried not to use a flash, and so a lot of the pictures are either far away or too jiggly and blurry. Ambitious amateur fail!

But none of that is important, really -- it was a beautiful, beautiful day. Beforehand, I described the wedding to someone at work as "high-end hippie," but I was grossly mistaken. There was nothing less than classic elegance about this wedding. Beth looked breathtaking, as she always does, and her new husband Chris was just as handsome and sweet as ever. I can't imagine a setting or an evening more perfect than this was.

And then afterwards we went back to one of the coolest hotels I have ever visited and ate great food and wore Lady Gaga glasses and some of us might even have posed for pictures WITH CANDLES ON OUR HEADS but I am not going to point any fingers ... and I am not going to talk about that until tomorrow.

Same Auld Lang Syne

We're going to Pittsburgh for the weekend -- we've been meaning to visit with family out there anyway, and my cousin is getting married tonight, and truth is, we'll take any damn excuse to get the hell out of Dodge for the weekend. The plan is to post at some point over the weekend, but I'm not going to lie: if we're having a good time, I'm not about to let myself get in my own way. We very rarely get to have any unfettered amusement these days, so if someone else wants to entertain us for a couple of days, who am I to stop them?

(And yes, I know I'm supposed to be starting a Project 365 today. Technically, I am: I will be taking pictures at the wedding, so I think I'll just backdate the posts. Don't worry, I won't make a habit of it. {I don't think.} I understand that the point is to be creative every day.)

Anyhow, whatever you're doing today -- eating pork and sauerkraut, watching football, getting some much-needed rest -- do it with gusto. Time's yours.