monkey in Md...

I feel terrible... Monkey left MD several days ago and so did I so I haven't been able to download photos (and a video too) of his awesome visit with us in Annapolis, MD! As soon as I get home Tuesday night I'll get the posts up!! Promise!

He's Here!!

Monkey arrived safely in Leesburg, VA yesterday, and enjoyed a wonderful pizza dinner with me and a friend last evening. We have so many fun plans for Monkey over the next few days: today the farmer's market and school shopping, church and DC museums tomorrow and Monday, and (we're SO lucky!) Monkey will be there to help me welcome my seventh graders to their first day of school on Tuesday!! I'll update with lots of fun photos, I promise, but for right now (since I'm in the digital camera Stone Age) please give me the grace to wait till I get photos developed.

Meanwhile, wish us luck and fun as Monkey embarks on his Northern Virginia adventure!

Donna

Memories from VA

Hey guys check out Monkey's post. So glad he made it to MD safely. Have a great time!

Welcome to Annapolis, Maryland!

He's here! He's here!

Monkey's here!


Monkey arrived safely in Annapolis, Maryland at around 3:45 this afternoon.


He was really tired and was really hot and very thirsty after his trip so I offered him a sip of my Diet A&W Root beer. Little bugger drank the whole 2 liters in 2 minutes flat!




He seemed a little shy so I offered him a new friend to snuggle with. I think it helped him relax because I noticed his eyes were looking a little sleepy.




So I put him into our bed for a quick nap while we wait for the kids to get home.



Shhhh! He's really sleeping hard now...



Not much planned for this evening. But the next couple of days should be fun!

More to come...

Day 2 and we are pooped. We have walked all over town and it is HOT! Today's first stop was to the Rising Sun Tavern which was built by Charles Washington, George's youngest brother. It was his private home in 1760 and then became a tavern in 1792. Silly Monkey wanted a drink, something strong, anything....however they no longer serve. I promised Monkey water in a little while not to mention we did not have time for potty breaks so he was a good sport about it.

Our next stop was to St. Georges Episcopal Church. This is the church hubby grew up with and the boys were christened here.

Next we walked to ( Monkey now makes me carry him ) the church that I grew up with, the Presbyterian Church. Clara Barton nursed the soldiers in the sanctuary during the Civil war. There are several bullet holes in the church and 2 cannon balls in the front columns. Monkey couldn't wait to climb up and check out the cannon balls.

The tree is blocking the view of the columns.

Monkey and boys touching one of the cannon balls.

Our next stop was at the Hugh Mercer Apothecary Shop. Here the good doctor used leaches and snakeroot as treatments to cure many maladies. It is rumored that he had a medicine so potent that it would "cheer a man with a bad wife." Looks like we could use some of that today!

Last stop of the day was to the Fredericksburg Area Museum. Monkey enjoyed playing on the gun.

Trying on hats.

Clearly photos are forbidden but I told Monkey if he kept swinging on the ropes I would have no choice but to take a picture for his mother to see. He has been perfect ever since.

Information about the gun.

Just one more minute!

See you tomorrow!

Sightseeing In Virginia

Boy #2 with Monkey at Carl's

Friendly girl at Carl's

Safety first!

The Mary Washington Monument

Historic Kenmore Plantation

We all got up early today so we could do some local sightseeing. Monkey is quite the history buff! Our first stop was to Historic Kenmore. It was built by patriot Fielding Lewis and his wife Betty. Betty was the sister of George Washington. Monkey really enjoyed hearing about the father of our country.

Next we traveled to the Mary Washington Monument. This monument marks the grave of George Washington's mother. It was dedicated in 1894 by President Grover Cleveland. Monkey could not believe how much history was in Fredericksburg, VA. He really wants to see the cannon balls that are still visible on some local properties.

All the walking and the heat made Monkey want a snack. We all went to a local landmark, Carl's ice cream to cool off. Funny-Monkey did not want any. He said after his recent lipo and surgery he did not want to gain any weight back. So silly. The ice cream is the BEST! So after a bottle of water we all headed home.

More sightseeing tomorrow.

Welcome to Virginia

The boys and I returned home last night. We had a surprise visitor waiting for us. MONKEY! The boys were so excited. Hubby was a little camera shy and didn't document what kind of hi-jinks he and Monkey had been up to while they were bachelors. I expect it was a lot of drinking, relaxing, and cooking out. There was one disturbing detail hubby couldn't understand and that was Monkey's fear of our Lab, Biscuit. No matter how he tried to coax Monkey to meet him, Monkey was having no part of it. He said he did not mean to be rude and appreciated all the Southern hospitality...something about Philly, stitches, Hubby didn't get the whole story. He just wanted to hang out until we returned home. He actually proved to be good with numbers and helped him out with some billing.

I have a big week planned for us! More later...

I am seriously worried

Not about Monkey, who seems to be having a fabulous summer, but about US. As a group of women.

Look at this. I think this blog is real.

Ms. Bucky, who appears to be a stuffed dog, has her own blog (yes—I know), according to which she recently attended a Claymate get-together. Note the wall in the background. They must be meeting in their special Claymate clubhouse. 

Highjinx ensue.

Ms. Bucky watches a video of Clay,

drinks wine from a bathroom tumbler,

models a t-shirt,


and predictably all hell finally breaks loose.


Slopes can be slippery, you know. And I think these women seem seriously disturbed.

But no, not us. Right? Right????

Fun with the Monkey!

Today we had some mighty fun plans, but impending rain only let us get to a few!



First we stopped off for a Philly favorite, which he had with Deb on his first trip.


We stopped at Philadelphia Soft Pretzel Factory...which is actually a chain, and we went to the one on West Chester, but they really have the very best pretzels.


Monkey was hoping to see the pretzel making in action, but they've been baking them early due to the heat, so he only got to see the apparatus....which he wanted to take a ride on, but I had to say no. I didn't want his tail to get a twisted and baked and munched on.

After that we headed to another movie location. This one is not so famous, as the movie is in completed, but not released yet, according to IMDB.

Feature...Our Lady of Victory
Location...Immaculata University

The plot (per IMDB) - In the early 70s, Cathy Rush becomes the head basketball coach at a tiny, all-girls Catholic college. Though her team has no gym and no uniforms -- and the school itself is in danger of being sold -- Coach Rush looks to steer her girls to their first national championship.


Sounds a bit Disney to me, but it was shot really near by!

After this we realized that it was very cloudy and began raining a bit so our plans to go to Longwood Gardens were scrapped.

Instead, Monkey helped me make sugar-free banana cream pie! One of our favorites! Monkey also came with me to Home Depot to get a faceplate for that ugly outlet below. He's so helpful like that!

Our favorite part of Banana Cream Pie is eating it! And Monkey devoured a big piece! His had the most banana's of course!

On Saturday, Monkey came with us to the Growers Market in West Chester, but alas, the camera was having problems, so we didn't get a picture of him amongst the flowers, peaches, veggies. A couple of Amish guys working their stand were excessively amused by the story of Monkey and his travels.

We had a pretty quiet day, and monkey will be off to Virginia in tomorrow's mail...we'll miss him here, but are sure he'll have a great time on his next stop!

The City of Brotherly Love a.k.a. the city where many movies are shot!

As this is monkey's second visit to our fair city, and he visited many of the landmark sights with Deb,I decided that I would focus on something different.

Philadelphia is known for many good things, so what should I choose? Restaurants? yummy yes, but this isn't a food blog. History? Lot's of it, but it was crazy hot and humid, and I knew my time was limited.

So I went with what I love. Movies. The Greater Philadelphia Film Office has done a wonderful job bringing movies to our area. You've already seen Monkey on the steps of the Art Museum, and with the statue of Rocky, so we won't go there again, but that's probably the most recognizable locale in the city.

As time was limited due to having to pick up my dad from the hospital we hit only a few...

Our first feature....In Her Shoes!

Our first stop...The Jamaican Jerk Hut!

The Jamaican Jerk Hut was featured in In Her Shoes with Toni Collette and Cameron Diaz. Written by Philadelphia area author Jennifer Weiner, and is the story of two sisters who have many issues, and a wonderful grandmother.

The Jerk Hut is where Rose and her future husband Simon have their first date, then eventually have their wedding.

The Jerk Hut was closed when we went by, which disappointed both of us, as we were talking about eating jerk chicken and fried plantains all morning, but we could get some pictures in the side yard where the wedding scenes were shot.

On our way to the next location, we got the call that my dad was ready to go home, so we were able to get a picture from the distance. in the car. while driving. People weren't liking me too much at that point!

But below Monkey is THRILLED to be shot, somewhat, with the location of a movie favored by primates everywhere...

12 Monkeys!!

While Philadelphia's City Hall has been used in many movies, I knew Monkey would best know 12 Monkeys (starring Brad Pitt and Bruce Willis)!

You can see City Hall centered over monkeys left ear. I told him if he comes back to Philadelphia we'd go and see it up close and personal!

At the hospital, I figured I'd best get Monkey checked out after his recent boo boo at his last stop.

The "solid" docs at Penn Presbyterian gave him the once over...

...and gave him a clean bill of health, and many kudo's to care he received in New York!

After dropping Dad home, I figured while I was in Newtown, I would stop by one of the locations for one of my favorite Philly area movies.

Signs

This is a favorite for me because it was based in Newtown, essentially where I grew up, and also because Joaquin Phoenix was so awesome in this movie. Monkey was a little hesitant because he thought he might be scared, but I told him he'd be fine and we'd get some yummy pizza from...

Mom's U-Bake Pizza

Remember when they all went into town and Rev. Graham talked to the crazy girl in the pharmacy, and Morgan bought the book about aliens, and Merrill went to the recruiting office? Afterwards they all met at the pizza shop. It was called something different in the movie, but was shot at Moms.

This is monkey at Moms. You can barely see it, but the plaque on the stool says "Joaquin Phoenix, Signs"...there was one that was Mel's, but someone eating a salad was sitting on that stool.

This is Monkey with a picture of "Mom" and M. Knight Shyamalan.

This is a display set up at Moms. My favorite picture is the one next to Monkey...I'm not sure who they are but they are all sporting aluminum foil hats!

We had so much fun, but now we're on our way back to Chester County, so more from the western suburbs tomorrow!

Monkey is back in PA!

Hi All,

Monkey is back for the Philadelphia experience once again! Leesie and I did not realize that Oreland, PA is so close to Philadelphia, and that Deb would be showing him the sights! No worries, though. There's a LOT of Philadelpia to share, so we will hit some more interesting places.

Alas, my dad had to go to the hospital for the past few days for some unexpected testing (no worries...all is well) so that has put Monkey and I off our schedule a bit.

Tonight when I get home to my camera cable I will post our adventures thus far, and fill you in!

Farewell Monkey

Monkey departed NYC this morning on the UPS jet for PA. He'll arrive there tomorrow. I upgraded his ticket because I know the next family is eager to greet him! Before he left he stopped by my office and I showed him around my hospital.

Here he is next to the Radiology MRI Suite--he was so glad that his bite wasn't bad enough to get him here!

Here he is with a few of my coworkers, Pearl and Owana.

He saw this door and said he heard about fellow monkeys being put in these labs..but I promised that didn't happen here at my hospital!


Here's Monkey being funny on an operating table. He said it brought back recent memories! Poor monkey!


Here is Monkey showing off a plaque for NYC's best docs. He wanted his pic with this since his doctor was in this issue.

Monkey, we love you and we are so sorry you had an emergency during your visit here. But, we hope you'll remember all of the fun things we did and the cool things you saw. Come back and visit anytime!