and the rutbeer was good this time, too

I went home a little early yesterday to deliver trent's printouts for his science fair project, and yes, I did a little...uh...tweaking of the text. not alot, mind you. and judging on how he and mason painted their trifold (the cardboard thingie that they use to present their info) and how they plan to lay out their info, the updated text isn't going to help much. I guess it's time for tough love.

so I got home and gave the stuff to trent and mason, who had come by to watch trent work on their project, and found myself with a lovely afternoon to spend with sean and bella. we sat on the porch for about 30 seconds, till neither one of us could deny that our front yard, small as it is, looked like hell. when I mentioned to sean that we really needed to cut the grass, he said "yeah, I know, I had 'welcome to the jungle' playing in my head." so I went upstairs to change my clothes so I could cut the grass, because last year when I was pregnant, I wasn't allowed to and I had told sean that if he did it that summer, then I'd do it for the rest of my life. and sean, being the benevolent man he is, said "don't worry. I'll do it." (and I'm going to attribute that to him being wonderful, and not doing it out of a sense of profound guilt at leaving me alone for 4 days while he metals out.)

so sean cut the grass and I set out to do some weeding. have I ever mentioned my intense allergies to pollen, grass, and sometimes plain old air?? so yeah. after doing all that, I was NOT going to cook dinner, too. on our walk the other day, I made sean promise that we'd go to more local eateries this summer instead of driving far away, since lansdale needed us to help revitalize (or something that made us sound equally as important to our local economy.) so we decided to go to carolyn's. which was closed. that ended our lansdale cuisine search and we went to iron hill brewery instead.

we had first taken bella to iron hill when she was about 2 weeks old, and have taken her there several times since then, but not in about a month or so. and we have taken bella to all kinds of restaurants, including restaurants that we probably shouldn't have taken her to. (tip: if the bathroom doesn't have a changing station, you're not supposed to bring babies there.) and she's always been a perfect angel. but that was before she became Reachy VonGrabb, enthralled with all things paper.

we got there and kept her in her carseat atop something they call a "hammock" which is designed specifically for holding infant car seats up to table level. first mistake, because bella, now that she's totally into sitting up (but can't do it for long periods by herself), does not like to lay back in her infant seat. so we had to have her on one of our laps. after moving away the 2 forks, the knife, and the salt and pepper shakers well out of reach, she was left with a spoon, a napkin, the paper placemat, and two totally meaningless toys we brought in the hopes of keeping her distracted. first, the spoon, which was significantly heavier than what she should have been playing with, flew off the table. each time a baby toy was introduced, it was quickly pushed aside. the objects of desire were the napkin and the placemat, both of which were reduced to wrinkled, soggy messes before our meal came out.

and speaking of, waiters - when there is a baby that is destroying things at a table, BE SURE TO PUT A RUSH ON THAT TABLE'S FOOD. not only didn't we get our food in a timely fashion for people with a grabby baby, we didn't get it in a timely fashion for normal people. it took like a half hour!!

and as we watched her seek and destroy and fidget and scowl, we were reminded of a gentler time, when we could take our sleeping bundle anywhere, even places with no changing table...