Family Weekend

It has been a nice weekend here in our house.  I finished grading my students' final exams Friday night and submitted their grades on Saturday, so I am officially done for the semester!  Vickie's boyfriend Tres is in town, so the two of them joined us for dinner last night.  Vickie and Tres had agreed to stay here after we put Nora to bed so Billy and I could go out for our first "date" since Nora was born.  We went to see "The Five-Year Engagement," which was perfectly suited to my sense of humor and featured a soundtrack heavy with Van Morrison.  Plus, Nora is such a good nighttime sleeper that it was really the first time I've ever left her when I didn't have a nagging fear in the back of my mind that she might be fussy or difficult for the person who was watching her.  It was nice, but strange, to be out with Billy without her.  Even though we lived together for seven years before she was born, and she's only been here seven months, it's hard to believe that life was always like that for us before she came.

Today Tres and Vickie came along with us, Patti, Chuck, and Brian to get lunch at a popular crab house in Annapolis.  Billy had read several great reviews of their crabs, but we'd never been there before.  Tres was a good sport about the work required to "try" crabs and Nora was intrigued by all the new sights and sounds.  She normally stays awake for about two hours between naps, so when the trip to the restaurant and the meal stretched her out to almost three hours, I was pleased that she made it all the way until we had asked for the check before she was cranky enough to necessitate getting up and walking around.  Perhaps she knew that if I took her out to the outside seating area, she would get to hear two more people tell her how beautiful she was and compliment her on her crab themed outfit?

Since picking crabs is a Maryland ritual, we made sure to take a few pictures of her first exposure to them.  She also got to see some Maryland Blue Crabs getting ready to be steamed on her tour of the parking lot and dock.

She crashed in her carseat on her way home, and Vickie took this adorable picture of her sleeping.  I know every mom probably thinks her own baby is the cutest one she's ever seen, but she is just too perfect!

Thanks to Vickie and Tres for allowing us a night out and to Patti and Chuck for treating us to lunch!  This weekend was the perfect way to kick off my "summer"!