Third Cousins

I looked it up online, and apparently, if you share great-great-grandparents you are third cousins.

This is Little Man's third cousin, Not-As-Little Man.


NSLM has an older sister and twin older brothers.


They all sat nicely for a few shots, then LM made a break for it. They had a great time playing, and their mom and I (Second Cousins) had a great time catching up!


We're hoping to get to see more of them before they ship out to Alabama. So grateful for the time we go to spend together, so fun to introduce LM to his family - no matter the degree!

Family Time

I had a conference in Orlando last week and it was like we took off from winter and landed in summer. It was awesome.

We got to spend time with Frank's parents, and his aunts and uncle, and his grandmother, too!



With all of the family in town, Frank and I got to spend some fantastic time with each other (sans baby!). Including an afternoon at Universal's Islands of Adventure!

Little Man had quite a bond with his Grampa by the end of the week.


It was so fun to get to spend time with Frank's family - I'm so glad they got so much good time with Little Man, too!

Boo & Paco

Little Man and I took a quick trip down south last week to visit with Boo & Paco. LM has been doing more and more crawling and pulling up, so Paco decided to help him do some solo standing.


The knobs on the kitchen cabinets proved to be just the right height for holding on! And please excuse the bright red cheeks - LM had a bit of a cold/teething and was on a steroid to help with his cough. This lead to red cheeks, a little fussiness, and some good eating!


LM also got to play with lots of 'vintage' toys. Mom has held on to all of the classics, and LM took full advantage.


All that play meant a dirty little boy, so into the tub...er, sink he went! He really enjoyed the rubber duckies, and laughed as he splashed water all over me!


He is still a good travel buddy - making friends at the airport is his specialty, and he does well on flights, even when he doesn't sleep.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween, from our little turtle man!

This is his first Halloween, and I made his costume!

As I put it on him, I realized that I forgot to cuff the pants...but he didn't complain.

We love our little turtle!

Truckeroo 4

Truckeroo 4 was not as awesome as the first 2 we attended. This was mostly due to three things:

1. It was cold. Even before the sun set, it was chilly and windy. When the sun went down, it was down right cold. I was not dressed for cold weather, and while LM was wearing extra layers he wasn't wearing enough warm layers to hang out for too long.

2. It was crowded. Truckeroo has been getting lots of press, positive press, and rightly so! It is a fun evening that does something I've never seen another DC event do - it crosses all social boundaries! Everyone loves food trucks, and so everyone comes to Truckeroo. I think we'll have to start attending during the day to make this a worthwhile event for us. That would require me to take time off of work, so maybe it will be a once a summer thing for us going forward.

3. My so-far-favorite truck didn't have my favorite dish available. I have been waiting for this dish (goat cheese mac n cheese with swiss chard and garlic chicken) for WEEEEEKS. Needless to say, I was bummed when they didn't have it listed on their menu for the day. I'll be writing a letter to management to voice my displeasure (actually, I'll just tweet at them, they'll get it faster).

All in all, the Truckeroo experience has been a fun one and I hope they will do it again next year! Maybe they'll start earlier in the spring, too. And maybe they'll do a Saturday offering for those of us working parents....something else to tweet, I'm full of tweets today.

Full Time Job

So, I've had a few jobs in my life, honestly more than I can count. This is the first time I've ever had a 24 hour job and it is HARD! Don't get me wrong, it is also the most rewarding job I've ever had (and he isn't even cooing at me yet) and I love it, but it is hard and there is no retiring at the end of it.

LM has started to give me some challenges, nothing out of the ordinary and nothing of major concern, but he did finally tire of being the perfect angel child that he was when we brought him home. I think it may have something to do with 1. sin nature 2. I'm new at this 3. he's the only one getting enough sleep around here 4. my mommy went home.

I'm grateful that being a mom is a full time job with no option to retire because I would be completely lost without mine. Just today she was able to save the day, from 450 miles away and through a hail of tears, anger, frustration from me. She reminded me that the dishes can wait, the baby won't disintegrate if he doesn't get a bath today, I'm smarter than him, that I can do this, and that I've got lots of prayer in our corner. It sounds simple, but I needed to hear it.

Thanks, Mom, thanks for not retiring and still being there for me while I figure this job out!

Wait, I'm the Mom?

Uh oh. I know it sounds crazy to say, but this whole baby thing seems to have snuck up on me. Yeah yeah, I knew I was pregnant from day 1 (technically it was day 14, but you can't know any sooner than that) but as the due date gets closer it all becomes a little more 'real' that I'm going to be some one's mother.

Good thing I have one to help me out! I'm glad I am lucky enough to know that I can call with questions and get good counsel. I'm grateful that even though my mom is 400+ miles away, she is really only a phone call away. And I'm really grateful that I know she won't lose patience with me when I call her for the third time in one day asking if I should use children's tylenol or children's motrin depending on what I think the current problem is!

And behind my mother is her mother, another woman I could not be more grateful to have in my life. I can't wait to hand our Kiddo over to Nana - her first great-grandchild! - I'm so glad that they'll get to know each other. I was blessed to know 3 of my great-grandparents, and our Kiddo is in line to have the same privilege! How amazing is that?!

And don't forget my Godmother! She might get to field some of my late night calls since she is 3 hours behind, making my midnight call just a 9pm call for her! Study up Atie! You're going to get to practice being a grandmother - your girls can thank me later. :)

We're blessed to have a fantastic network of friends in the area who are also moms, and I have every intention of leaning on them for support, too.

I guess you're never really 'ready' until it happens, so I guess I'll be ready when the time comes. And until then I'll remind myself of all of the moms around that are ready and waiting to help me become the best mom I can be for my kid!

*Random story: When I was little, I went through a phase where I called my mom, my aunt, and my grandmother all "Atie." That is the name that my brother gave to our aunt when he couldn't say "Kathy." These three women love to tell this story, and the favorite example was a time that I stood at the top of the stairs and was calling for "Atie" - Atie came to the bottom of the stairs, but it wasn't the Atie I was looking for. In time, both my mother and grandmother also appeared in response to my calls for Atie. I'm not sure which one I wanted, but I am rather amused that they all responded! And in my defense, I'm sure I knew the difference between all three of them but they did all look very much alike, especially to a toddler.

I'm Excited About: Carmen!

My little Carmacita is coming to visit today! She arrives this afternoon around 4:30 via Mega Bus, which conveniently drops off passengers about a block from my office.

I have no idea what we'll do this weekend, especially since I'm not supposed to over-exert myself physically (makes being touristy tough when you're not supposed to walk at speed for more than a few feet at a time...) but I'm sure we'll have fun no matter what we decide!

I think the most interesting little factoid about my Carmacita is that I love her so much that when I moved to DC I kind of acquired a DC version of her. I swear it wasn't on purpose, and I didn't even realize it until the two of them met, but Tina and Carmen...kind of the same person...


Carmen is also one of my 'little sisters' from Salem. I think she officially has another Big, but I claim her as mine anyway! She was a bridesmaid in my wedding and is a constant source of entertainment in my life.

I'm so excited that she is coming to visit, I'm sure I'll be completely exhausted by the time the weekend is over but it will all be worth it!

And also, Happy (30th) Birthday to my big brother, Rob!

Where Have You Been?

Took a little holiday hiatus from the blog - sorry about that. Mom, Dad, and Patrick came up to VA for Thanksgiving so I was busy off having adventures with them.

On Thursday we had Thanksgiving dinner with Tina and one of my friends from high school and her husband. It was fun to get to sit down with everyone and then hang out digesting for a while. There was a lot of football to be had, as well as plenty of food (even though we had one casualty - the green bean casserole didn't make it...moment of silence for the casserole dish that also didn't make it). We mostly lounged around after dinner and then everyone hit the hay.

Friday consisted of more football, this time of the college variety. We all watched as Alabama choked against Auburn, none of us really knowing what to do since we strongly dislike both teams. In the end, we were mostly rooting for Auburn to get knocked around enough that they might be a little slow next week against the Gamecocks in the SEC championship game.

We decided to venture into the city on Saturday to see the Norman Rockwell exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery/National Gallery of Art (same building...two names). The Rockwell exhibit was really cool, and is made up of the two private collections of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. The one question that was left unanswered for me is, do they have these pieces on display somewhere all of the time? Or do they live in storage?

We also got to see one of Dad's sisters and her family. Frank and I see them on occasion, but my parents only see them every other year or so, so it was a nice visit. The four of us went back to the gallery afterward, I wanted Dad to see the Presidential portrait exhibit. It is a permanent exhibit, and one of my favorites in DC. If you've never been, I highly recommend it! They have at least one portrait of every president as well as some other cool paintings and artifacts throughout the hall.

Saturday night was, of course, highlighted by the sound beating that the Gamecocks delivered to the Clemson Tiggers. Nothing says 'quality family time' like gathering to watch the sad faces of Clemson fans on a big tv. 29-7. Lovely.

Today was brief; church then departures. The SC crew hit the road around 11, hopefully beating a lot of the other traffic on I-95 S.

Things I'm thankful for, looking back on this weekend:

1. Dad kept on top of our dishes. With 5 adults in the house and no dishwasher, it was a life-saver to have such a vigilant dish washer among us. I think I thanked him 100 times, but I'm not sure it was enough!

2. Success in hosting the family. I know my family, and I generally can anticipate their needs, but there is always that nervous "what if we forgot something important" feeling just before the arrive. My parents and brother were great guests, helpful, happy, easy, and I'm glad Frank and I had the opportunity to host them for the holiday.

3. The Gamecocks pounded the Tiggers. 'Nuff Said.

4. The hounds behaved....mostly.

Forgot to give this one a title

1. I started to clean yesterday (inspired by my husband who cleaned his side of the room on Friday!) and ended up taking pictures off of walls, patching holes with spackle, doing touch-up painting in the dining room/living room, and cleaning out space in the basement.

Two full trash bags and three trips out to the recycling bin later...I wasn't near finished. I vacuumed, resisted the urge to clean out the coat closet (might do that today), and did my laundry. The combination of house guests coming and being pregnant has hit - it took all of my strength not to paint the stairwell and REpaint the bathroom. Not kidding.

2. The Colts lost to the Patriots last night. Not only that, but they lost because Manning threw 3 picks in the game - that is for a season total of 7...he almost doubled his season total during this game. Not fun, especially when your husband is a Patriot fan. Ick.

There is always next year - yes, I'm writing this year off already - and maybe Manning should take it easy for the rest of the year and we'll come back 110% next year when half of the team isn't hurt.

3. My smaller hound is having issues, which is causing me to have issue. R wakes up at 6:56am every day, no matter what and begins to FREAK OUT as if someone is stabbing him in the face. Then, once let out to 'do his business' he won't go back to sleep. If he keeps this up, someone might give him a reason to FREAK OUT...

The amount of exercise he gets is more than the average hound, and it doesn't matter how much water he drinks, or what time he goes to bed. There aren't even any noises that we can pinpoint that would wake him up. THERE ARE ALSO TWO OTHER DOGS SLEEPING PEACEFULLY BESIDE HIM WHO SEEM TO BE FULLY CAPABLE OF SLEEPING PAST 7AM.

4. I am hungry all of the time. We need to finalize our Thanksgiving menu, we then need to go to the store to purchase the necessary items. This could be disastrous. I may have to send Frank all by himself for fear that I'll forget to buy a turkey but remember to buy cookie dough.

5. I've never been one to have dry skin issues or use lotion on a regular basis. This has changed, and now I am applying generous amounts of lotion to my belly every night before bed and every morning after I shower. My legs and hands have also decided that they thirst for lotion, so that is a fun new routine for me.

6. That is all for now, maybe there will be more insanity later...stay tuned.

Status: 22 weeks, 2 days pregnant. 17 weeks, 5 days to due date.

Seriously?!

When did it become mid-November? Thanksgiving is next week, real winter weather is headed our way this weekend, Macy's windows are all covered up because they are doing their big Christmas window display reveal next week.

When did this happen?? I need a week off to catch up with life or else I'm going to be ready for Christmas some time in February.

Anyway, the good news is that my parents and younger brother will be making their way up to our house next week for Thanksgiving! I'm looking forward to spending some down time with them up in our neck of the woods. I really do love where we live, I just get so caught up in life that I often forget to take advantage of it. Hopefully I can do a little DC living while the family is in town.

Crossing the Mason-Dixon

Frank and I set out for a northern adventure on Friday, complete with visits to Gettysburg, Vestal, NY, and the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Gettysburg was a surprise stop, we didn't realize we'd be driving right past it on our way to Vestal. We hopped out of the car and into the visitor's center for a bit, then drove out to the eastern side of the battlefield. After walking up a small hill we found ourselves on cemetery ridge, the position of the Union Army, looking down onto Seminary ridge which is where Pickett's charge originated.

It was neat to see the actual layout of the battlefield, though it seems impossible to comprehend 6,000 men charging from the other side of the field.

We decided to return at a later date, when we would actually plan to see the entire area - also maybe in the fall or spring when it isn't a billion degrees plus 100% humidity.

Back in the car we continued our trip up to Vestal. We were headed up that way to celebrate Aunt Pearl's 70th birthday with Frank's dad's family. It was fun to see everyone, most of whom we hadn't seen since the wedding. It was a really nice gathering, complete with a performance by a female barber shop quartet (one of AP's favorite hobbies)! We got to hang with the family a little longer at Aunt Rene and Uncle Rick's after the official party.

Frank and I called it an early night, though, and headed back to the hotel to get ready for the next day's adventure: Cooperstown!

We drove to Cooperstown to the Baseball Hall of Fame around 9am. It was a nice drive through the mountains and a few cute towns. Cooperstown (technically a "village") is adorable! Clearly exists only for the Hall, but the stores and restaurants are well kept and tourist friendly without seeming too tourist-trappy.

The Hall was pretty cool - we got the AAA member discount of $1.50 off - full of old memorabilia and educational displays. The two upper floors are a baseball museum; pictures, letters, bats, paychecks, and jerseys everywhere. It was really neat to see the evolution of the game right there in front of you. The actual Hall of Fame is on the first floor and holds all of the plaques. I was amazed at how consistent the plaques seem to be, even though they have been in production for so long!

It was a great day, and a great weekend, but we were glad to be home after that 8+ hour drive!

Vacation Part One

My short absence was due to my being on vacation for approximately 10 days, which means I'm not apologizing because I'm not sorry for being on vacation.


I started the week by flying to Charleston, SC. My brothers picked me up and we went back to a friend's house for lunch. I was happy to see KT and Joey, but sad that I still haven't met their adorable kid! Katie made a killer lunch of grilled cheese on croissants with some kind of amazing honey mustard or something on it.

I also got a wedding present at Katie and Joey's house! It was well worth the wait, too - a cozy South Carolina sweatshirt blanket and a beautiful SC themed print. I can't wait to get the print framed and up in the house. I already used the blanket on the plane ride back home (I forgot to pack jeans - this was a problem on the planes and in the beach house that Papa keeps at a balmy 65 degrees).

After a couple of hours Rob, Patrick, Lauren, and I headed up 17 and arrived at the Brewer beach house in time for dinner. Most of the family arrived on Sunday, and T & Lisa came in on Tuesday. The weather was amazing and the water temperature was perfect. I can't tell you how many hours I spent on the beach last week.


I got a little pink on Monday so I avoided direct sunlight on Tuesday. I was trying to remain conscious of my bridesmaid duties at the end of the week, and I didn't want to be the bright red one with the crazy tan lines.

On Wednesday morning I woke up at 5:40am, put on a bathing suit, and put my contacts in so I could see. I headed downstairs to meet up with dad and we walked down to the beach with the paddle boards in tow. (the following pictures are of me and my brother, Rob. No one was on the beach to take pictures of me and Daddy at 6am - shocking, I know.)


I know a lot of people probably consider getting up early to see a sunrise at the beach, and some people might actually do it, but if you've never done it while out in the water you are missing out big time.


It only took a few minutes for Dad and I to paddle out. Before the sun rises there is almost no wind and the water is very calm, almost like a lake. As I headed out past the waves I noticed a porpoise only about 40 yards in front of me. I decided to remain kneeling on the board just in case one of the porpoise (porpi?) decided to come closer - I figured I'd lose balance out of sheer shock and awe! Dad and I spotted a few more of them over the next 20 minutes, but none ever got closer than that first one. I also saw a few cannon ball jellyfish, but that wasn't nearly as exciting.

We watched for the tell-tale color changes in the clouds that hinted to the location of the sun. It is always amazing to me how quickly the sun seems to come above the horizon! Only a few minutes after seeing that first burst of bright orange, the entire ball is up into the sky.

Along with light, the sun brought wind and more waves. Unfortunately for us the wind was coming straight off the beach and into our faces. This made our trip back in a bit more laborious than our trip out had been. After 15-20 minutes of constant paddling I was able to catch a couple of waves back into the shore.

We made it back inside for breakfast, and then I went back upstairs to take a nap. (Is it still a nap if everyone else in the house is still asleep?) Only about 45 minutes later I woke up again, put on another bathing suit, and added socks, tennis shoes, shorts, and a tank top because I was suiting up for a looooong walk.

Papa drove (yes, drove) Dad, Elizabeth, Shani, and me down to the south end of Pawleys Island, let us out, and drove back home.

Those of you that aren't up on your geography may not know this, but there is a reason that it is called "Pawleys Island," it is an island. Another interesting fact; our beach house is not on Pawelys Island, it is in North Litchfield. I'll spell this out for you: We got out of the car at the south end of Pawleys Island, and between us and our house was the rest of Pawleys Island, the Pawleys Island Inlet, South Litchfield, Litchfield, and North Litchfield.


We walked 8.5 miles (on sand!) in about 2.5 hours - and it was awesome! Dad timed the tides right, so when we got to the Inlet we were able to walk across very easily. The water was just above my knees at the very deepest part. There were 3 grown men in kayaks only a few yards away from us as we crossed, I'm not sure who looked sillier but my money is on them (who kayaks in 2 feet of water?)

It was a great way to start my last day at the beach house, though I'll admit I was pretty sore up until yesterday!

Thursday morning I headed north to Wilmington, NC for a wedding and since this post is already really really long I'll save that for another day.

Graduation

Frank graduated from the George Mason University School of Law this past Saturday. We're both glad to have law school behind us, but we're quick to remember that the Bar exam is still in front of us.

We celebrated with family and friends throughout the weekend. We started with a personal tour of the Pentagon on Friday afternoon. They don't let you take pictures there, so you'll just have to imagine what we (Me, Frank, Tina, Dad, Patrick, and Matt) looked like.

On Saturday was the actual graduation. Frank's parents, Dad, Patrick, and I all attended.




We managed to find Frank's favorite professor, Professor Krauss, outside after the ceremony where they had a quick (loooooong) chat about something interesting (not that interesting). :)


And I managed to strike up a conversation with Justice Mims, the graduation speaker for the ceremony. He was a nice guy and had some great words of encouragement for Frank as he starts his own practice.


Then we had some more family and friends over for a cook out. Judge Wooldridge came by for a bit which was really great. He has been a wonderful mentor and friend to Frank throughout law school. He's also just an all around nice guy.


Dad enjoyed getting to spend time with some of the Webb and Dickson clans. He hadn't seen any of them since the wedding, and I think everyone enjoyed hanging out in a smaller (and less crazy) setting.


The hound behaved - only because we bribed him with a huge bone. He would occasionally look up, but then go right back to chewin'.


Our friend Anna let us borrow her cornhole set, it was a hit with our friends as well as with Frank's younger cousins!


Some of the guys from Frank's wedding party brought their mugs to toast Frank's graduation.

On Sunday morning we went to the early service at church, then headed out to Vienna to my aunt and uncle's house for brunch. The food was AMAZING! I warned Aunt Susan that we may begin showing up on a regular basis on Sundays!

What marriage really means

It means making a commitment and sticking to it, no matter what life brings. It means making plans and having dreams. Sometimes it means having kids and then grandkids. Marriage means growing together and always learning more about yourself and each other.

And sometimes it means renewing your vows after 57 years together in front of family and friends.

(Nana didn't know this was happening, this is her face when she saw the rings. Papa had never worn a wedding band...he does now!)

I have been so blessed with Dave & Barbara Brewer as my grandparents. What an amazing example they have been to all of us, and I hope that Frank and I can someday provide as strong of a testimony to our children and grandchildren.

I'm a PC

I've always been a PC user, even back to the IBM my dad owns that we played with as children. I had a cream colored exterior, a black screen, and green type....we're talking DOS people. But it had a great game where you were a ship and you tried to drop bombs on submarines, it was the best!

Anyway, through college I used Dell computers and now I have a nifty little HP laptop that recognizes my left thumb print (used for log in), has a touch screen, and even has a screen that folds down so that I can write on it like a notebook!

I just spent a couple hours upgrading from Windows Vista to Windows 7. I didn't have any major complaints about Vista, but I decided to upgrade to 7 when I found out that I could do it for $30! (that is 85% off retail value)

How did I do it? Well, I'm in grad school and I have a functioning email address that ends in ".edu" and that is all it takes. My father-in-law sent along a helpful email with all the information and this link with directions.

So, if you have a .edu address and you'd like to upgrade to Windows 7 for $30, just click the link and be on your way!

A New England Wedding

We traveled to Rhode Island this weekend for the Crosby/Dziok wedding, and it was a blast! We landed in the early evening, got settled in the hotel and then headed out to meet Mom & Dad Webb for dinner at Smokey Bones.

I should have taken a picture of my dinner - pulled pork on top of a halved baked potato with all the fixin's! mmmmmmmm

Then we met up with the wedding crew at McFadden's in Providence

Saturday came around, starting with the hotel breakfast around 9:30am then there was time to hang out and get ready before our shuttle left for the ceremony. The shuttle to/from the ceremony was fun, it was great to be traveling with so many friends!

The wedding was in Dave's parents' church, and it was beautiful

as was Rachel's hair - so curly and sparkly!

The reception was in southern RI, in Quonset and it was a heck of a party!

The bride and groom were having so much fun that there were only about 12 of us around to bid them farewell with the wedding bubbles when they finally left! And that is what we love about Mr. and Mrs. Dziok, they know a good party when they seen one!

Congratulations to the newlyweds! We love you!

**sneak peek of professional pics can be found here: http://www.melissamanzione.net/ **

Oh say can you see my eyes if you can then my hair's too short!

Some time a million years ago, Mom taught me that one line to that one song from "Hair" and ever since it occasionally runs through my mind. It is one of those memories that even Mom might not be able to recall, I don't think it was anything other than a passing thought in her mind while we talked about hair cuts or stages full of naked people, or something.

Anyway, if you've seen me recently you know that my hair is very very very long. I've been thinking about getting it cut and I really want to get a hair "style" and not just a cut. Now I've decided that I am going to wait a couple months more and cut off at least 8 inches to donate to Panteen's "Beautiful Lengths" program (similar to Locks of Love).

That still leaves me with the question of what to do with my hair!?! So, suggestions?

In preparation for the holiday wekeend

My father-in-law sent this to me, I felt it was important to share with all of my friends:

Important Women's Health Issue:

Do you have feelings of inadequacy?
Do you suffer from shyness?
Do you sometimes wish you were more assertive?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, ask your doctor or pharmacist about Margaritas.

Margaritas are the safe, natural way to feel better and more confident about yourself and your actions. Margaritas can help ease you out of your shyness and let you tell the world that you're ready and willing to do just about anything. You will notice the benefits of Margaritas almost immediately and with a regimen of regular doses you can overcome any obstacles that prevent you from living the life you want to live. Shyness and awkwardness will be a thing of the past and you will discover many talents you never knew you had. Stop hiding and start living, with Margaritas.

Margaritas may not be right for everyone. Women who are pregnant or nursing should not use Margaritas. However, women who wouldn't mind nursing or becoming pregnant are encouraged to try it.

Side effects may include:
- Dizziness
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Incarceration
- Erotic lustfulness
- Loss of motor control
- Loss of clothing
- Loss of money
- Loss of virginity
- Table dancing
- Headache
- Dehydration
- Dry mouth
- And a desire to sing Karaoke

WARNINGS:
n The consumption of Margaritas may make you think you are whispering when you are not.

n The consumption of Margaritas may cause you to tell your friends over and over again that you love them.
n The consumption of Margaritas may cause you to think you can sing.
n The consumption of Margaritas may make you think you can logically converse with members of the opposite sex without spitting.

Please share this with other women who may need Margaritas.

Have a great weekend!

"Prepare to be underwhelmed"

That is what Frank said to me as we drove to Plymouth Rock on Friday. While he was right about the rock itself, the area was very cute and we had a great time with my in-laws!

No one in the Carolinas ever told me that people took pieces of the actual "Plymouth Rock" home as souvenirs in the 1800's, but that is the story and now the rock is approximately 1/3rd the size that it was when the pilgrims landed on it in 1620.

I took multiple pictures, the one up top is of the entire rock from 10 feet above; and the picture below shows part of the numbers and a penny, for scale.

The park ranger stationed at Plymouth Rock really knew his stuff; I came away assured that the pilgrims really did 'land' on the rock. It seems that the beach was entirely bare and the large boulder was the only thing on it, so they used Plymouth Rock as a natural dock of sorts and stepped out onto it from the smaller boats used to ferry people and supplies to/from the Mayflower.

He also told us that on the actual voyage across the ocean only one person died - but one person was also born! So when the Mayflower got to America it had the same number of passengers as when it left England - half of them died in the three months it took for winter to pass once they were anchored off of the Massachusetts coast, which really furthers my theory that they would have been better off somewhere in the Carolinas...but that is just my opinion...

There were gift shops, too. They reminded me of the Hammock Shops in Pawleys Island (especially the part where I bought too much fudge). Frank like the hats, and even got Chuck in on the hat action!

The Mayflower II is docked at Plymouth Rock; it is a replica of the original Mayflower and was sailed from Plymouth, England to Plymouth Rock, MA in the 1950's by a crew of 30 or 40 men. The coolest/craziest part is that they used only wind power and did everything as the pilgrims would have done it in the 1620's (the only exceptions being a few minor 'safety' features required by international maritime rules). We got to go aboard and it was as legit as can be! It even smelled like 40 dirty men had just been there!! Here's to historical accuracy.

The cannons on board and presence of lots of pirate stuff in the gift shops really got my attention - as Frank will tell you, I LOVE pirates, mostly Jack Sparrow. It took some restraint to not buy a bag of 'pirate gold,' but it seems that I have come to view gift shops as being full of "stuff I'll throw away in 2 years anyway." I am already beginning to worry about the angst my future children will cause me when they buy "stuff" - ugh! (sorry mom, sorry for all of the 'stuff!')

I would have bought this, if I had a boat and a pirate problem - or better yet, if I had a boat and I were a pirate!

We wrapped up the afternoon with D'Angelo's so that Frank could have his lobster roll, then we settled in for the Yankees @ Red Sox game back at Casa Webb. While the Red Sox took a terrible beating, we had a great time hanging out with my in-laws and, of course, Quincy (the wire-haired jack russell mix, of whom I somehow took no pictures) (we're best friends though, so I'll take pictures next time)