Happy early B-day to me!!!

Just when I thought this weekend couldn't get any better, it did!  We headed to East of Maui, a ski/skate/SUP/etc. store in Annapolis, to see if their birthday sale had a deal good enough to finally bring home a stand-up paddle board for me.  I had been lusting over the Boga Yoga SUP, but when we got there the one in the store had a "sold" tag on it.  Surprise!  It was sold to Frank!  He had called as soon as the sale began Friday and bought it, and I was totally surprised!  The kids knew, too!  They scored a kid-sized paddle, and I even got new shades.  We headed home and immediately got it in the water.  WOW!  This is a great board!

Quiet Waters and Aberdeen Creek

We decided to head up to the South River this weekend to take in the free concert at Quiet Waters State Park.  Not enough wind to sail, so we motored past the crazy busy madness of Harness Creek and settled in for an afternoon of swimming and lounging in Aberdeen Creek.  The water was perfect and there weren't any sea nettles!  We put out the nettle net anyway as the kids were tentative after Katreina's sting last weekend.  The weather was totally abnormal for mid-August--dry, warm, and cool at night.  

We dinghied over to Quiet Waters and walked about 15 minutes to the concert venue.  We sat on our towel enjoying the music, hot dogs, and Kona Ice.  Back home we had part 2 of dinner (watermelon and tortilla chips), watched a movie, and gazed at the stars.

After a perfectly comfortable night of sleep, I had one of my best mornings of the summer.  Coffee and yoga while listening to the cacophony of birds, followed by some sweet time chatting with my littles while we sat on the transom in our pjs with our feet in the water.  After breakfast, we swam.  The water was perfect. The morning was perfect.  And now we are happily sailing home!

The Perfect (Old) Bay Weekend

This weekend we had the ultimate Bay experience.  After a quick run to shore for breakfast and a workout on deck, we set sail for one of our favorite spots, the Wye River.  We had a nice sail across the bay before losing the wind in Eastern Bay.  The iron gennie got us to our final destination of Wye Landing, further up the River than we had gone before, to have a raft-up with our neighbors on Braveheart.

Frank and K ran up to the landing to score some crabs from the watermen (a dozen and a half #2's, or Baltimore #1's) while I took a dip.  After our friends came, K had the misfortune of jumping in right on a jellyfish, getting stings on both legs and one arm.  Swim time was over FAST!

Good news is that we had a fantastic bay dinner!  Roma's Old Bay sausage, steamed blue crabs with Old Bay, slaw with Old Bay, and Flying Dog's Dead Rise Old Bay Summer Ale.  Darn good eating! And a nice night on the hook with friends!

New Friday tradition?

I really love our Friday night tradition--pizza at Honey's Harvest market with a few friends.  Since the weather looked good we decided to invite the two families we normally dine with out for a "pizza to-go" night on the boat.  So glad we did, and that they accepted!  We got underway with twelve people on board (six kids, six adults!) for a few hours of gentle sailing.  I loved having "new" excited kids aboard, and the weather was just perfect.  We anchored just off the Herrington Harbour South's west beach and shuttled our guests back ashore via dinghy just after nightfall.  It was really a great summer evening on the water.

The Captain and 2nd Mate stayed at the dock partying for a few more hours with our neighbors while Swab and I relaxed on the hook.  Perfect!