Baltimore Weekend - SUNDAY morning

SO, Sunday morning came and Q9 tried to watch more TV. But we both agreed that all the shows on were REEEEEEEALLY bad. So we headed out to Miss Shirley's for breakfast.

On the way there we ran into some giant musical instruments. They were really cool.

  

And a merry-go-round ... Q9 went around this a lot ... and fell off a few times, too.

You don't get merry-go-rounds on all the playgrounds anymore. You just don't. So this was tons of fun.
Eventually we had to keep walking, which included a walk on a sidewalk that contained a lot of homophones. Like this one.

We did get there eventually, after wandering around a bit. The place was packed, but we had about a 1 minute wait, which was fantastic. When we left all the waiting room was filled to capacity and spilling outside.

Breakfast was good. I had sweet potato fries and bacon. C45 had a veggie sandwich, the girls had wafles and pancakes. I got to eat their sides of scambled eggs. Terrific! When we were done we had thought we'd head out to the Farmer's Market in Baltimore, I'd heard it was an excellent farmer's market. C45 thought that Ft. McHenry sounded like a good idea, so that was on the table, too. But Q9 had been reading the Baltimore book of things to do in the hotel room and she wanted to go to Ripley's Believe It or Not!!!

So ... we did.

 

I think it wasn't something that C45 & I would have CHOSEN to do, but it was fun. I'm going to post the pictures of some of the things the kids loved.

Q9 with a giant rotating penny made of pennies.

 

C10 in the habitrail and with a wooden sculpture

 

This is a wooden egg collection and a picture made out of words:

I don't know if this is a dragon or the loch ness monster. Chessie of the Chesapeake Bay, maybe??

The last thing before the end of the museum and the mirror maze began:

And a video of it.

Then out of the mueum and into the mirror maze. You had to wear plastic gloves to keep from marking up the mirrors with your finger oils. We went through twice. And fun house mirrors which Q9 loved.

 

Once we left we had a little time before we needed to leave for C10's piano recital. So we went to a store called "IT'S SUGAR" which contained giant versions of candy. So, giant peeps, giant boxes of nerds, giant rolls of giant sweet tarts .... that sort of thing. I swear we spent 45 minutes in there deciding what to buy. And Q9 wanted a picture of her with her pick-a-mix bag of candy. Here it is.

Two final photos. C10 wanted a photo of the giant Barnes and Noble bookstore (we didn't go in) and Q9 wanted a photo with the lighthouse. Nice. I could accommodate BOTH of those wishes.

 

Baltimore weekend - SATURDAY night

Undoubtedly you've heard of the protests and riots and general unrest that is happening in Baltimore by now. In fact, the girls' school system cancelled all school trips to Baltimore this week (yep. And Q9 was going to Port Discovery on Thursday. That isn't happening now.)

But Saturday we headed to Baltimore to go to a baseball game and spend the night at the Hilton Garden Inn, thanks to our good friend E. After 40 minutes of annoying behavior in the car, we finally got there! Yahoo! We had a little time to Q9 enjoyed the cable and spent her time watching Dog with a Blog until it was time to go for dinner at this interesting place called Family Meal on Pier 4. The food was good enough, and everybody was happy with their meals, although I don't think I'd go back again.

Headed out to the ball game. We headed down to the stadium passing a waterfall complex which completely enamoured the girls.

 

They ran  up and down the stairs and all over while C45 attempted to get us to head to the Camden Yards in a timely fashion.

We finally left the fountain and realized that protests were going on. They had completely brought traffic into the city to a halt. The cars were stuck.  The girls were interested, I said we could join the protest on the way home if they were still there. We decided to avoid the kerfuffle, however, as there were murmurrings going on Somebody and we took another route to the stadium, behind the main street. A wise choice, actually. That plus we saw this sculpture/bike rack? and had to make it ours:

And while walking to the back entrance of the stadium we officially recanted my promise to join the protest as police in riot gear drew up and cops on horses in formation rode by.

But, we made it into the stadium. Dippin' Dots were had by C10 & Q9. They were more delicious than i remembered; I think the last time I had them they must of been freezer burnt. These tasted yummy. And they stuck on your tongue nicely.

 

The girls froze during the game, which Red Sox lost to the O's, because neither of the had dressed properly. Oh, well. We agreed to leave at the 7th inning stretch, which was difficult for C45 at the time, since the Sox had just tied it up, but it turned out to be a good thing. Just after we left an announcement was made that after the game people were NOT to leave the stadium until the police let them out. Ah ... right. So, being locked in Camden Yards would have made me MORE nervous than being outside of Camden Yards.

We managed to skirt all violence on the way back to the hotel and got back safely, put everybody to bed, and started thinking about what to do Sunday.

Q9 ... birthday time!

Quickie post, Q9 had a birthday and she is Q8 no longer. She is taller, smarter, faster. Good going, girl!!!

She woke on the 15th to a pile of presents and a cupcake for breakfast.

 

She had a party on the 18th, 3 girls spent the night, sleepover party, lots of jumping on the trampoline and running around outside, eating pizza and a very sloppy cake. There was a parade (Hyattsville day!) and fireworks (for her birthday, of course ... I mean, for Hyattsville day!). Good all around.

Easter 2015

Easter cuties in Massachusetts!