Cousin Doug

Merrilee loves people. She loves family. She loves the simplest things.

She loves when cousin Doug, Kadie, and Jordan visit. We think part of that might be because Doug has the wonderful ability to act like he's only two. Just kidding, Doug.

And hey, it isn't easy s-q-u-e-e-z-i-n-g into that playhouse in the back yard!

A Day At The Pool

This past Saturday, Merrilee got to go to a neighborhood pool. She and mommy were invited by our neighbor Kim, and her two girls Hannah and Sophie.

As it is so often said..."a good time was had by all..."

Musical Birthday Cards

Merrilee got a handful of musical cards for her birthday.

She just loves.

One of them is from cousin Nathan in Arkansas. She loves to open it and look at it -- it's sort of like she's waiting for Nathan to pop out.

Those cards provide a lot of musical moments for Merrilee...

The Next Cal

Watch out baseball fans!

There's a new Cal Ripken, Jr. out there.

And despite all the toys and the big back yard, sometimes Merrilee's favorite thing to do is just be silly with mommy and daddy...

Flowers

One of Merrilee's cutest dresses is a gift she got from Jordan. It's a pretty white dress with big flowers on it.

Merrilee looked very cute when she wore it to church on Sunday...


The weather was beautiful today in Baltimore. It was a little more than three months ago that Merrilee's Nana passed away. One of the flowers were got then was a beautiful pink hibiscus from our neighbor Sharon. Pink was Nana's favorite color. Every time it blooms, and every time we see a pink flower, we think of her. Today we thought of her a lot because of the many gorgeous blooms on the hibiscus...

Dora!

Merrilee has lots of fun toys, including her "Dora the Explorer" tricycle.

On Wednesday, she made daddy move his car from the driveway so that so could ride it there.

She has quite mastered the whole pedals thing though...

Sobering

Back in April, Merrilee's mommy had duty at Dover Air Force Base. She helped handle the media covering the return of fallen servicemen and women.

Yesterday, one of daddy's reporters was assigned to cover the "dignified transfer" of two fallen Marines from Maryland.

It is a simple but sobering thing to see.

Please take a moment to read reporter Robert Lang's blog, and see the video HERE.

In our church, every Sunday, the minister asks everyone to pray for our servicepeople overseas.

We all should...

The Playground -- Fun, Fun, Fun!

It is been a very mild summer in Baltimore. Normally, July would be blazing hot and humid, but we've been lucky so far this year. The temperatures have been mostly in the low 80s, with relatively low humidity.

This morning, Merrilee and daddy went to the playground down by the Long Gate Shopping Center. Merrilee loved climbing on all the jungle gym equipment, climbing through the tunnels, and hanging on the monkey bars. And, she was fearless going down the sliding boards.

The girl knows her limits though. After about a half-hour, she declared, "I'm done. Milk daddy. Nap daddy."

Here are a few pictures from her morning...

Sombrero And Pigtails.

Merrilee's school is in its summer session.

Today is a really fun day. First, it's pizza day. So, no lunch to pack because Merrilee is having a special pizza lunch.

Next, it's splish splash day, so Merrilee gets to go to school in her swimsuit and cover up.

Finally, it's sombrero day. If kids have them, they can wear them. Merrilee has a mini-sombrero that's a souvenir from her trip to Disney World. She just had to wear it.

So, we're declaring today "sombrero and pigtails" day.

Tinkerbell!

Every night at bedtime, Merrilee gets to pick out her pajamas.

She has a new favorite pair for the summer. She loves her new Tinkerbell PJs.

These were a special birthday gift from Nikki, Billy and Kassidy.

The smile on Merrilee's face says it all. She loves them!

Parade Highlights

In the previous post, we wrote about how much Merrilee enjoyed the Catonsville Fourth of July parade. She sure looked cute...

Those pictures were taken on the back deck at Steve and Bea's house.

Here are some video highlights of the parade. From the fire trucks, to the marchins bands, to the classic cars (the Camaro was daddy's favorite...) this will give you a sense of what the Catonsville Fourth of July parade is all about.

By the way, the "Baltimore Marching Ravens" (the Ravens marching band) is for you, Uncle Jim. Let's do another game soon!

And this was Merrilee, curbside, in her lawn chair, waving as the parade passed by!

Thank you to everyone who made it a great parade!

Independence Day!

Today was Merrilee's first Independence Day, and we decided to go to the big Catonsville Fourth of July parade. Our friends, Steve and Bea, live right on the main drag of Catonsville, and the parade goes right in front of their house. They invited us over to watch the parade and then have a cookout. Merrilee was all excited in her red, white and blue dress. It was a birthday gift from Aunt Judy and Uncle Jim.

Merrilee loved the parade! She loved the fire trucks, the marching bands, the music, the vintage cars and especially all the free candy and other toys that were handed out. She wasn't so sure about some of the politicians who marched...or the loud motorcycles. She had THREE lollipops while watching the parade. Of course, she had to wear her Minnie Mouse sunglasses too.

The parade lasted about an hour and 45 minutes. That was perfect for Merrilee...

We have more pictures from the parade posted in the slideshow on the right. If you double-click on the slides, you can see the entire album.

Enjoy!