Labor Day Weekend

I hope you all enjoyed your holiday weekend. I am a little worn out from mine. We were very busy, but had a ton of fun. Saturday we ate CRABS! Marley has been asking to try them all summer and we finally did it. She LOVES them. Here is Ray showing her how to pick them. Oh yeah! It was also opening day for the Penn State football team. Notice the entire family wearing PSU shirts. WE ARE PENN STATE! And we won! 59-0 over Florida International....whoever they are. We had to listen to the game on the radio. Our cable isn't carrying the Big 10 Network and Ray could not find a suitable place to watch it......but that is a story for another blog.

We got together with my parents and our friends Paul & Betsy and their children for this feast. The crabs were good. Though we gave it our best try we could not possibly eat them all. Wish I could have sent some to my BFF in North Carolina. Steamed Crabs is the thing Dottie misses the most about moving away from Maryland. We picked meat from as many as we could and made crab cakes the next night. They were good too.
Here is Xander threatening me with a claw. I think he had more fun playing with the crabs then eating them. The kids quickly lost interest in eating, but had a great time together in the sandbox. It was great to enjoy our new patio. What a gorgeous late summer evening. Perfect for a picnic.

Sunday morning Marley and I headed to Smithsburg for my nephew Adam's baptism. Ray had to stay behind with a sick Ella. She had been running a fever and throwing up the evening before. I was up with her most of the night. But we didn't want to miss out on Adam's big day.

Here he is getting some lovin' from Abby and Marley. Adam must get used to this kind of attention. He has girls falling all over him. He is incredibly handsome. And since he is the only boy in his age group at day care, he definitely gets noticed.
Adam is almost 7 months old now. He is very big, very strong and very active. Quite a handful for Marley. But she just loves babies. Here she is sharing some words of wisdom with her attentive cousin.
Adam with his Mommy and Daddy. See the resemblance to his father. He looks exactly like Tod! He was the perfect baby during church. He didn't make a sound. He was awake the entire time. We passed him around from one relative to the next. He is always a good baby.

Upon returning home, we found Ella feeling much better. So we were all excited to be able to head out for the 12th Annual Hanover Chili Cookoff. Ray and I look forward to this event every year. We have only ever missed one. I am not sure why we enjoy it so much. It is always crowded and hot. We eat some really fowl and offensive chili and live to regret it. But every year we go back for more. There is plenty of fun for the kids and we always bump into people we haven't seen in awhile. Paul and Betsy joined us this year... as they have several times before. They feel the same way about the event. Paul and Ray have even contemplated entering the contest, but it seems like a lot of work that would require at team effort.

Here is Kali with the Oriole Bird. Kali will be three later this month. The poor bird was getting boo-ed all day long. I felt bad for him. Those Oriole fans are having a hard time lately.
New to this years event was the worlds best balloon artist! This guy amazed us. We have never before seen someone make a Ninja turtle. He was GREAT.
Marley asked for a lady bug. He made it into a bracelet.
Ella got the Pink Flamingo hat. What a hoot! What a pain to carry around all day. Here she is eating Rita's Ice to make her feel better. She rode in the stroller most of the day and was very bothered by the heat. But she made it until the end.

Kali got a yellow monkey and Xander had to have a Ninja Turtle.

The Kelly Bell Band, a phat blues band from Baltimore, has played at the Chili Cook Off for the past three years. They put on a great show. This year we even bought a CD. Kelly was autographing them. He is a big Bob Marley fan and often will play tributes to him. Kelly was glad to meet this Marley during the autograph session.
Ella loves live music, just like her Mom and Dad. Here she is rocking out to the show right down front. Marley and I were hanging out way in the back where the music isn't as loud. Marley spent most of this time pouting because apparently we arrived too late and missed the hollering contest and the jalapeno eating contest. She had been practicing for the hollering contest. She had entered last year and the competition was tough. She felt certain she had a better chance this year since she is older now and can holler louder.
Oh! Yeah. And there was chili. Lots of chili. It was so crowded this year, we couldn't even get near some of the stands. Ray did manage to find one he really liked. He likes the ones that are so hot they make you breathe fire and require at least three sips of beer per spoonful of chili. I say, "No, thank you." I took one taste of this one and threw it away.
Here is Ray going back for more of the same chili. I think he ended up going back four times. This one got his vote for the People's Choice Award. But I owe my cousin Chuck an apology. I should have warned him not to listen to Ray when he insisted Chuck try this one. We last saw Chuck running for water. If any one sees Chck, tell him I am sorry.

A final parting picture for this post of the Lyon's family. We enjoyed spending our weekend with our good friends. The chili cookoff has become a family tradition for us. The Lyon's are Marley's godparents. We feel fortunate to have them in our lives.