Cute Kid Pix April 2026

More photos that didn't make their own posts...

Since Easter Sunday was a rainy day, we did an egg hunt inside the house before heading off to Mass. Later on, we had brunch at a friend's home.

Checking the shelves

Into the living room

Geocaching took me to one of Maryland's haunted places...Cry Baby Bridge. The legend goes that a distraught young woman threw her baby into the river below to avoid the scandal of out-of-wedlock motherhood. Another version has her driving a car off the bridge and dying though her child was not found. On dark, windy nights the baby can be heard crying, or so the story goes. The other story about the bridge is that the Maryland Goatman can be seen by people hanging around after dark.

Not so scary on a sunny spring morning

Another geocache had me discovering one of the boundary markers for the District of Columbia. The markers were put down in the 1790s when a survey team that included Benjamin Banneker marked off the 10-mile square area for the capital of the newly-formed United States of America. This particular marker is now in Virginia, part of the square given back to that state.

Imprisoned boundary marker

Yet another geocache had me visiting Brighton Dam, which blocks the Patuxent River and thereby creates the Triadelphia Reservoir. Right next to the reservoir is the Brighton Dam Azalea Garden which was in full bloom.

Triadelphia Reservoir seen from the dam

Road on the dam

Azalea garden seen from the dam

Entrance sign--do not enter!

Pink and red

White close up

Brighton Dam seen from the garden

My son was in a school production of The Comedy of Errors in the role of Antipholus of Syracuse, one of the main characters. He was brilliant. They had a big cast, so they had two different sets of actors play the main characters in alternating performances. In the other cast, my son was part of the Greek Chorus that did exposition drops at the beginning, end, and wherever needed in between.

Talking

Fighting

Chorusing

Bowing

Easter 2016

For Easter this year we thought about getting up for a sunrise service since the children are usually up way too early anyway (though the toddler has finally accepted daylight savings time, so he's no longer up an hour before way too early). Not being that ambitious, we went to the earliest Mass at Saint Mary of the Mills near our house. Mass started at 7:30. We arrived at 7:31 in our finest Easter outfits.

When did our toddler get so grown-up looking?

The new Easter dress

The Mass was already packed and the usher took us to the choir seats off to the right of the altar (much like our typical location at Saint Joseph's in Harrogate). One other family was already there though no choir, since it was the early Mass. The kids were great during the service, which was nice since we felt a bit more visible than usual.

Back home, we had an Easter Egg hunt indoors. The sky was nice enough for an outdoor hunt but the temperature was not high enough.

Searching our front room

Bookshelves were a popular hiding spot (since they are numerous in our house)

Plastic egg-shaped bunny

The eggs we decorated the day before

After that, we headed off to Grandmama's house for more fun and a great dinner. On the way we stopped at the Apple House, a semi-famous roadside attraction. They have an impressive selection of hot sauces and serve barbecue pork and apple-based products. The most famous is their apple donuts which are indeed delightful. I'm glad we finally had a chance to sample them, but now that we may be stopping there more often.

Apple donuts, like fasnachts after Lent

At Grandmama's, they had another indoor Easter egg hunt but I slept through it, so no pictures. The temperature did get high enough for some outdoor bubble making. Fun was had by all.

Blowing/popping bubbles

We had a great dinner and a fine time visiting with my relatives.

Easter 2015

We had a fairly low-key Easter this year. We visited my sister, who was awesome enough to have an Easter egg hunt in her yard for J and L. The eggs were hidden the night before. We didn't worry about wild life taking the eggs because they are plastic!

Getting ready to hunt

Racing for an obvious find

L looks in the wrong place

Easter Mass was good--plenty of music but not too long to wear out the children. The church also had an Easter egg hunt afterwards but J asked not to do it. He was ready to go on to other adventures.

We visited my mom and other sisters for brunch at mom's house and then headed back home. N got to use his special bib which we forgot to pack for the trip.

A most excited bib wearer

A most confused shirt wearer

N spit up on his clothes at my mom's house, so we had to use the backup outfit in the diaper bag. Too bad the back up outfit was appropriate months ago and not for Easter!

Green Eggs and Ham

L recently took culinary inspiration from that classic of children's literature, Green Eggs and Ham. For lunch she wanted to make green eggs. She wasn't so interested in ham. I decided to indulge her, hoping I would not have to eat the leftovers. I do not like them, L-I-Am! Or at least I am afraid of them.

We scrambled an egg in a glass and added some drops of green food dye, requiring a little more scrambling. They looked quite as I expected.

My greatest invention EVER!!!

We went over to the stove where a preheated pan was prepared. L wanted to pour the mixture in, so I kept the camera handy.

Dump!

Thankfully, the change of color didn't add any cooking challenges. Once the eggs were firm on the edges and bubbling slightly in the middle, we flipped them and cooked the top. Soon enough, L was enjoying her Dr. Seuss-inspired lunch.

Yummy eggs, dubious licensed character crossover

L did not want to keep the joy all to herself. Before she finished, she asked J if he would eat them with her.

Try them, try them, here they are!

Would he eat them in the kitchen?
Could he eat them, just a smidgen?
Would he eat them by the door?
Would he eat them and not deplore?

I will try them, you will see...

After giving them a taste, this was J's reply:

Not in a kitchen, not just a smidgen.
Not by the door, yes I do deplore!
I do not like green eggs without ham,
I do not like them, L-I-am.

I guess J has read the story too but wanted to give a twist ending. Or he really wanted the ham too!

Naughts and Zeds: Eggs-sell-ent

Naughts and Zeds is an ongoing series of posts on the differences between language, culture, and everyday items in America and in Britain. For a list of previous posts, go here.

Someone linked to this article at the Forbes magazine web site about eggs in American and in England. The title of the article is "Why American Eggs Would Be Illegal In A British Supermarket, And Vice Versa." I had noticed that eggs in British supermarkets are not refrigerated and usually located near the baking aisle. In America, eggs are refrigerated and shelved by dairy products. British eggs are mostly free range--it's hard to find eggs here that aren't. American egg sellers seemingly couldn't care less (perhaps because American consumers don't care either).

The difference in the two systems comes down to legal requirements. American law requires eggs to be washed and sanitized before being sold to consumers. Sounds like that should be better than the British system, right? Except that the washing process removes the cuticle, a natural barrier to bacteria. And if washing water is used for too long there's a risk of contaminating the eggs, which is why Britain and the EU don't require washing. To slow potential bacteria growth, American eggs are refrigerated right after the washing process and all the way to the store. British eggs are kept at room temperature so they will not form condensation if during the trip home, which could lead to bacteria getting onto or into the eggs.

There are lots of more interesting details, go check out the article on the web site. It's a very interesting read.