Waits Family Annals

As we packed up our belongings, we bid a fond farewell to “Bruce’s Place” (which we re-dubbed Brucekies Place after finding a substantial stash of Soviet Life magazines from 1978-1981 and various Russian travel guides and literature). We posed on the deck for a final shot with our matching shirts. You know how much I love matching people, so that was totally my idea. Right, Liz?

Anyway, it was a great week. We had a great time at Chincoteague, and really enjoyed our time with the Machins. It was a fantastic way to spend a week, and truly was a week without any concerns. We thoroughly enjoyed relaxing and conversing with Mr. Sun way more than we normally would. But, alas, we are home now. In more comfortable beds, true, but we will still miss Brucekies Place.

Shock of all nations! We went to the beach again. We did much of the same… waves, sun, snacks, castles, kids, reading, etc.

After the beach we went to Steamers and ate a TON of crabs, shrimp, clams and oysters. Why, you ask?

IT WAS LIZ’S BIRTHDAY!!!!! She is a whopping 25 27 years old now. Way to go, Liz. (Stay tuned for updated pics later this week). It was a lot of fun, and definitely a new experience. We had to crack open about six crabs per plate. I ate some crab brains. A spider was in one of my clams. Did that get us a free plate? A discount? Special attention? No. Nada. Zilch. It was the first time we had to work so hard to get at our food. But, hey, it was worth it. When we got home that night, we had some delicious ICE CREAM CAKE. It was called Oreo Delight. Made up primarily of Oreos. And Ice Cream, of course. It was a nice way to celebrate Liz’s birthday.

More pics after the jump:

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We biked to the beach today. Not a bike, mind you. No, a much more efficient vehicle. A surry. *cue Oklahoma Surry music now* It was quite the ordeal to pedal that much weight around on one single low gear. It felt as though we were pedaling up an incline both ways. Connor loved it. He slept most of the time there and back. Richard helped push the surry while on his bike. We could definitely feel the difference. It is very safe to say Liz and I are somewhat out of shape. Just a bit.

We went to the bike beach, and it was very much deserted. It was quiet and beautiful. Great waves provided a lot of entertainment. It seems as though most of the big, cool shells were deposited here as well.

The ride back was full of swarms of mosquitos. All in all, though, it was a lot of fun. It has been a relaxing week with a lot of beach exposure.

More pics after the jump:

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Another all day beach day. Oh, and Connor decided to model for us the latest in baby swimwear. We found a tide pool where he could sit relatively undisturbed by the waves. He enjoyed the salt water, and eating more sand. I kept up my commitment to boogie-boarding. What fun! What sun!

It was Richard’s Birthday today. To celebrate, we went out to AJ’s Fine Dining Establishment (Popular since 1985). After our meal there, we went back home and ate Double Chocolate Extreme Ice Cream Cake. It was like that Ella Fitzgerald song… “Heaven, it [tastes] like heaven…”. Afterward, we watched Salt. Ummmm… all I can say about that is it prominently featured a character called the “Spy Master”. It was pretty lame. But we had fun laughing at the absurdities.

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Tuesday brought with it Connor’s new awareness of crawling. No longer does he stumble through his crawling– He is a full-fledged army crawler. Whenever he looks at Mr. Chips, the Machin’s dog, he laughs hysterically.

When we went to the beach that afternoon, there were high winds and red flags up. Dangerous conditions. So we set up camp, and enjoyed the gentle exfoliation of the wind-blown sand. The waves were a ride, and we put up with the adverse conditions for as long as possible before giving up and heading home.

How could I forget about the Island Creamery?! Best… Ice-Cream… EVAR!!! They serve homemade waffle cones with homemade Ice-Cream. Delicious. Their scoops were about as large as my fist. Fantastic. That’s where Liz’s Friday birthday cake came from. If you are within driving distance of Chincoteague, I highly recommend coming out here to experience it.

On Monday, we made it to the beach. We buried each other, ate sand, and enjoyed the ocean. I turned into a 14 year-old infatuated with my boogie-board and riding the waves. Unfortunately, I am a pasty-white near-30 year-old who is no where near 14. But, hey, I still had fun.

More pics after the jump:

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Sunday became a day to recoup. Connor did not cooperate with the whole sleeping at night thing. He thought he should wake up every 45 minutes to an hour to remind us we were all sharing one room. At 5:30 am, I laid him on the couch, lay down next to him and we both went to sleep. Later that morning, Liz and Jeanne went for food at Wal-Mart, Richard and his boys biked to the beach, and I stayed home sleeping and watching movies (Advent Children and Centurion).

While watching the movies, a severe thunderstorm rolled in. Richard and the boys were stranded on the beach. Jeanne and Liz missed the whole thing while at Wal-Mart. At the home base, a lightning bolt and subsequent thunder clap struck so hard, a picture was knocked off the wall. Connor slept through that whole thing. Why couldn’t he have done that at night?

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Driving down from Pittsburgh to Chincoteague Island, VA went a lot smoother than anticipated. Connor entertained himself in his car seat and we only needed to stop for major meals and diaper changes. We were prepared ourselves for wailing and gnashing of gums as we drove the eight hours down.

Once we crossed the bay bridge from Maryland to Virginia, we started to look out for a place to eat lunch. We only saw things like Bob Evans, Applebees and Panera Bread. As we passed one more (and seemingly the final) batch of restaurants, The Machins, who we were traveling with, made a u-turn. We thought that meant we were headed to Panera. But we were wrong. They found a Sonic! What a perfect place to eat for a family on a road trip! No need to leave the car. We let Connor play on the floor, and the dogs (did I mention Little Bit and Wesley came along?) played on their leashes.

On arriving at our bungalow in Chincoteague, we immediately unloaded, dropped the dogs off and headed off to the beach. During the trip, we caught a glimpse of the wild horses Assateague (the national park where the beach is) is famous for. We lit a fire and enjoyed the company of friends, fire and mosquitos.

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Almost as hotly anticipated as The Death of Super Man, The Death of Glucose Man chronicles the life of Glucose Man and his “arch villain”, Glycolysis. So, Glycolysis wants to rule the world. The only way to do that is to steel the aptly named power rings of Glucose Man: Pyruvic Acidium 1 and Pyruvic Acidium 2. With those rings, he can rule the world by harnessing their power. So he goes and cuts Glucose Man in half because the rings are embedded in his torso. (?!) Harnessing the energy released from cutting Glucose Man in half, Glycolysis is able to create two more rings and alter their molecular make-up slightly. With his FOUR power rings he calls ATP, he throws them into the Super Electron Transport Chain Modifier to create 34 rings. Now he can rule the world. But don’t worry, according to him, “My motives were pure… honest! Oh, I’m so misunderstood.”

Hit the jump for the entire comic. It’s riveting. A precursor to Austin Grossman’s Soon I will Be Invincible.

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After his sixth-month check-up, we have some stats about the little kid:

Length: 28.5 inches

Weight: 19  lbs 11 oz

Head Circumference: 46 cm (18.1 inches)

IQ: 193 (He’s a Mensa Baby!)

It’s so much fun to see him grow up, and it is crazy how fast it goes. Six moths ago he barely fit in the little blue tub, and now we’re thinking he’s too big for it. I think my favorite thing about him is when he giggles.

You might as well compare him to his first bath time picture from six months ago after the jump here.

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