It's That Time of The Year!

It's Strawberry Season! I took the kids strawberry picking at Boone Hall Plantation this morning. We got a giant bucketful of delicious ripe strawberries for $8.

We're having strawberry shortcake for dessert tonight!

Cooling Off

The temps are already soaring here in Charleston. After some sweaty finger painting in the driveway, we filled a plastic tub with water. While Currier and the twins, Kathrine and John, took a dip in the Ghetto Pool, Rya dozed in her swing and my neighbor, Jill, and I drank coffee in lounge chairs and caught some rays—Hallelujah, summer is finally here!

Good Times

My buddy Mike from Newburyport (my brother's BFF), his wife Pam and their daughter Allison were staying in Myrtle Beach (about 2 hours North from here) for a week and came to spend a day and night with us in Charleston.

We kicked off the day with a trip to the aquarium. Allison and Currier had a good time checking out the sea life. As always, the touch tank was the big hit.

After dinner and a pitcher of beer at the Southend Brewery & Smokehouse, we let the kids run wild in the water fountain at the boardwalk. Currier's plumbers crack had us and several onlookers in stitches.

The following day the Bartletts took in some sights (USS Yorktown and a Horse Drawn City Tour of Charleston) while Currier, Rya and I napped and packed the car up for Myrtle Beach. The kids and I followed the Bartletts back to their timeshare and spent the night at what Currier referred to as "Allison's Beach House." The condo was right on the beach and had great amenities. We woke to beautiful weather and started with a swim in the indoor pool and a soak in the hot tub. Once our skin was fully pruned, we headed down to the beach to collect seashells and play in the sand.

After a little nap and lunch by the pool, we went to Barefoot Landing for a few hours before the kids and I headed back to Charleston. This place was great! It's a boardwalk loaded with restaurants, shops and lots of fun stuff to do and see. We pet a baby tiger, posed for pictures with a monkey, rode a merry-go-round, window shopped, fed turtles and ducklings and drank root beer floats.

Private Joke for Allison—Hey remember that time you guys came to Charleston for the night and then we followed you guys back to Myrtle Beach for a night? Those were some GOOD TIMES!

Iced Coffee Day

Don't forget that TODAY is Iced Coffee day at Dunkin Donuts. For each small 50¢ Iced Coffee you buy today, 10% will go to support Homes for Our Troops. Now that's refreshment you can feel good about! I'm on my 3rd Iced Coffee today and it's only 8:52AM.

What Are Little Boys Made Of?

Frogs and snails
And puppy-dogs' tails,
That's what little boys are made of.

Spiders, Nails and Knives

Currier's been sick for a few days. It started out with a bad cough and runny nose and turned into vomiting and diarrhea. He didn't eat for two days and when he turned down candy I quickly took him to the doctor. The doctor asked Currier, "Can you tell me what hurts?" Currier said, "Spiders, nails and knives." Trying not to bust out laughing (like I did!), the doctor rephrased the question, "Can you tell me what part of YOUR BODY hurts?" Currier then pointed to his chest. The doctor ordered a chest x-ray to rule out pneumonia. All was clear on the x-ray so we think it's just a nasty bug. Poor little (and funny!) guy.

Just So You Know

It's not all fun and games around here! Some days Currier is in a perpetual time-out for not listening to me and Rya totally flips out if I put her down for a second! Are there any other moms out there that feel like they spend 90% of their day yelling at their kids and the other 10% dreaming about alcoholic beverages?

Bruco Wants To Know...

if this tutu makes him look gay?

Five Months Old

Dear Rya D.,

You're five months old today. You are an absolute joy. You are easy-peasy-chubby-cheek-squeezy. I hope I don't jinx myself by putting it in writing but I swear Rya, you have got to be the most easy-going baby EVER! And thank God for that because you owe me BIGTIME for the 9 months of horror you put me through carrying you in my belly. Get used to it because I will remind you for as long as I shall live how sick I felt being pregnant with you.

I realize that I'm biased but honest to God Rya you are absolutely adorable. Just when I think your eyelashes couldn't get any longer or your thighs any chubbier, I wake to find your eyelashes grew another mile and your thighs another roll. I could eat you up. Seriously, with a side of fava beans and a nice bottle of Chianti.

People tell me that you look nothing like me or your father. "Whose kid is this?" they tease. I tell them if there was some sort of crazy mix up at the hospital and we got the wrong baby that there was no way in hell I would give you back. But I know for sure that there was no mix up. You're our child. There is no question that you have your father's nose and my feet (sorry about that).

Thank you for being so simple, so beautiful and so easy to love! You are worth every second of sickness I felt when I was pregnant with you. I would do it a hundred times over for you.

All my love,
Mama

Only in the South

Gotta love you some Piggly Wiggly!

Swimming

Our community pool is open now so yesterday we decided to go test the water. It was too cold for me and Rya but Currier and Trent braved it and took an afternoon dip.

Happy Easter from The Balents

Eggstravaganza

This week has been full of eggstra activities. Our neighbors put on a big Easter egg hunt in their yard for all the neighborhood children.

We dyed and painted Easter eggs.

We decorated foam Easter eggs to adorn our windows.

And we decorated Easter egg cookies. Phew... I'm eggshausted.

Welcome Aboard Flight Flashback

Yesterday afternoon, my friend Miranda called and said she, her husband and three kids would be in Charleston for the day and would like to meet up for a quick visit. She and I were flight attendants together based out of the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky airport and we shared a crash pad in Burlington, Kentucky. I haven't seen Miranda in 12 years! As a matter of fact, the last time I saw Miranda she was pregnant so meeting her 11-year-old son gave me a concrete timeline of how LONG it has been. It was so nice to reconnect with an old friend and we hope to get a bunch of us flight attendants together this summer for a weekend reunion in Cincinnati—Tea, coffee and a full bar service will be available throughout the weekend.

Rya Laughing

No doubt, one of the best sounds in the world!

Pedicure

This morning we played "Give Mommy a Pedi".

He's a little sloppy, but practice makes perfect.

Date Night at The Charleston Grill

On Friday evening, Trent and I went on a date night at the Charleston Grill. Omigod, this place was so friggin fancy! The waitstaff referred to us as Mr. and Mrs. Balent to which I giggled every time we were addressed so. We started by sharing a pricey bottle of wine and for appetizers I had the Chilled Maine Lobster (Avocado, Heirloom Tomatoes, Fennel, Lime Chervil) and Trent had the Nantucket Bay Scallops (Ceviche Yuzu, Vanilla, Apple Mint, Thai Basil). For entrees, I had the Diver Scallops and Wild American Shrimp (White Asparagus, Shrimp Jus, White Wine Lemon Basil Gnocchi) and Trent had the Dry Aged Colorado Lamb Chops (Wild Mushroom Risotto, Black Trumpet Jus). Can you say yum!? Everything sparkled with yumminess. We ended our evening listening to jazz while eating dessert (Chocolate Trio for me and Creme Brulee for Trent). Trent almost choked when he got the bill and declared that the next twenty date nights will be at Chick-Fil-A! But was it worth it? Hell YES!

Monsters vs. Aliens

The other night we took the kids to see Monsters vs. Aliens. While we were in line to buy the tickets, a woman tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I wanted some free movie passes. The theater manager had just given her some complimentary passes to make up for some sound issues but the passes were useless to them since they were from out of town. I gladly accepted her kind offer and then splurged big time on candy and popcorn! We all enjoyed the movie, especially since it was free!

Click on the picture to get a close up of Rya's expression. It's hilarious! I think the big screen was a little frightening to her.

April Fools

For April Fools Day, we had chocolate cake for dinner and grilled salmon for dessert. I tried pulling the whole "I'm pregnant" prank on Trent. But since I make up stories all the time he doesn't believe half the crap I say and considering my tubes are tied he didn't even flinch.

Rockin Rya

Rya is a punk rocker

Rya is a punk rocker

Rya is a punk rocker now.

She's a punk punk, a punk rocker

Punk punk, a punk rocker

Punk punk, a punk rocker.