Mother's Day 2011

How do you describe 'perfect'?  Flawless in every way?  Exactly what you need, at precisely the right time?  I feel like that's how mother's day was for me this year.  Every last little bit of it was a tiny dream come true, and I could not have been happier.

My day started with my husband and my beautiful daughter climbing up into bed with me to snuggle for a bit, before giving me my mother's day gifts.  From Eric, I received a new little frog to add to my collection:

Showing Cassy the Frog with Baby

I am so very proud to announce that I have received my first ever MACARONI NECKLACE!!!  And of course, my brilliant daughter made sure to select Hokie colors!

Cassy modeling my necklace

After we got up and active for the day, we decided to take a walk through Claude Moore Park.  This is the woodland that our house backs up to.  It was a beautiful day for walking -- not too hot, especially under the cool shade of the trees.  However, a much bigger concern was festering . . . TICKS!  At one point we stopped at a bench in the woods, and I pulled (well, flicked) four ticks off of me immediately.  Eric found several on him as well.  When we looked at Cassidy, we immediately found two, and then I realized the ticks I was flicking were landing straight on her (great mom I am, right?!).  That was enough for me.  I have an overactive dislike of ticks as it is (not a phobia.  I just really really hate them), and seeing seven?  eight?  immediately just got my mind racing to think that we were being outnumbered, and I wasn't having that on Mother's Day.  So we high tailed it out of the woods, and pulled several more ticks off of us before getting into the car.  Ugh.  But hey, it makes for a fun memory!

We were nearing dinnertime at this point, but since it was still so pretty out we wanted to spend more time outside.  So, we called up BonBon and TomTom to see if they would like to picnic with us at Algonkian Park.  As luck would have it, they were game!  So we packed up a small grill, some hot dogs, cheese and crackers, fresh veggies, some drinks, and set on our way.

We managed to find a spot right next to the Potomac River already outfit with a picnic table.  What a beautiful view!

Cassy and me at the Potomac River, Algonkian Park

Eric grilled up the dogs, and we had a nice dinner together.  Cassy ate TWO hot dogs by herself!

1/3 of the Nusbaum Clan

After dinner, we took turns playing a game I had gotten Eric for Easter, called Farkle.  It's a dice-rolling game with proponents similar to Pass the Pigs and Yahtzee!  Easy to learn and fun to play makes for an enjoyable game night :-) 

We also made sure to get pictures of everyone near the river (I'm telling you, the backdrop was just outstanding!):



Me, Cassy, and Grandma BonBon



Eric with his Daughter and Mom on Mother's Day - such love!

Cassy with Grandma Bonbon and Grandpa TomTom -- she's so lucky to grow up knowing BOTH sets of grandparents!

One shoe on, one shoe off -- "Slump Face" gets sleepy by the end of the day :-)