Back and Busy!

Yay! I'm home! Okay, I've been home a couple days now and have been keeping busy! I came home Saturday afternoon to a wonderful evening of pet store shopping. We needed to get our cat Kayley a cat tree to stop her from scratching up our walls. We picked out a great one for her, she's sleeping in it now. Sunday morning we taught a class of 6 year-olds at church. Monday I ended up helping a friend from church with her baby and toddler. And today I went back to work as a nanny for the family I worked for last week in N. Carolina. Where did all these kids come from?

I haven't had time to sort through all the pictures from the last few weeks, but I did have time to cook a really yummy dinner. A few weeks ago I searched Allrecipes.com for some fish recipes. I figured it would be a nice change from chicken and beef. I had one problem though, Lance hates fish. I tried Salmon on him. Too fishy and not a good recipe. I had bought some frozen tilapia at the same time as the salmon and tried one more fish recipe before giving up. Turns out I found a very tasty and easy recipe. We just had it for dinner tonight and I wanted to share it with everyone.

Broiled Tilapia Parmesan

Rated: Submitted By: Phoebe Photo By: abapplez Prep Time: 5 Minutes Cook Time: 10 Minutes Ready In: 15 Minutes Servings: 8

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese 1/4 cup butter, softened 3 tablespoons mayonnaise 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 1/4 teaspoon dried basil I also added some paprika and garlic. I skipped the celery salt.

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 1/8 teaspoon onion powder 1/8 teaspoon celery salt 2 pounds tilapia fillets

Directions:

1.	Preheat your oven's broiler. Grease a broiling pan or line pan with aluminum foil.
2.	In a small bowl, mix together the Parmesan cheese, butter, mayonnaise and lemon juice. Season with dried basil, pepper, onion powder and celery salt. Mix well and set aside.
3.	Arrange fillets in a single layer on the prepared pan. Broil a few inches from the heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Flip the fillets over and broil for a couple more minutes. Remove the fillets from the oven and cover them with the Parmesan cheese mixture on the top side. Broil for 2 more minutes or until the topping is browned and fish flakes easily with a fork. Be careful not to over cook the fish.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Broiled-Tilapia-Parmesan/Detail.aspx

Business Trip

First off, I have some great pictures from my week with Aunt Carolynn, but they're all at home and will have to wait until I get back. I'll work on getting those up next week. I'm getting very anxious to go home and get back to Lance. It's a bit interesting to have the roles reversed where Lance was the one to stay in the empty house while I went off to work. I've been very busy here which has kept me from getting homesick, but today I decided I was ready to go home. Just a few more days left. My friend, Jessica, is here as a nanny as well and her husband, Michael, is a good friend with Lance. While Jessica and I have been here at the beach our husbands have been hanging out at home. You can learn a lot about your husband when you learn what he says to his friends from his friend's wife. Lance and Michael have also been productive. Lance found a clothes dryer on the side of the road and Michael helped him get it home. The dryer seems to be working so I'll have just one more thing to look forward to when I get back (we've been hanging up our clothes to dry for awhile, no dryer).

I took a few pictures today of where I'm staying in North Carolina. I'm in the Outer Banks with the family I'm helping out. The beach we're staying at is only accessible to vehicles with 4 wheel drive since the main road is the beach. Crazy to see so much traffic on the beach! The interesting road makes the area much more rural and less crowded. There's even some wild horses in the area. This evening we found a mare with her foal grazing right by our pool. Since the house is built in the sand there are board walks to the pool and out to the gazebo. Sand has completely filled up the upper part of the board walk.

We've had great luck with the weather. At first the ocean was pretty rough from a hurricane in Bermuda, but it's calmed down a lot. Plus the disturbance out at sea has made the water nice and warm. There's been nothing but blue sky and sunny weather. The first couple of days out here were a bit difficult. I was working inside all day and could only look out at the ocean instead of enjoy being in it. After that I've been able to spend a little time in the evening out at the beach.

My little guy I'm looking after just turned one year old. That's a big accomplishment for him as he has a few severe medical conditions. He has a feeding tube directly into his stomach and gets medication every 3 hours. He keeps everyone pretty busy, but is absolutely adorable and pretty happy. Unfortunately today has been an interesting day for the little guy. At the time of writing it's currently 9:30pm and the little one has been awake since 3:00am this morning with only two 20 minute cat naps. Luckily he's an easy going little guy and was pretty playful and happy for most of the day. However, this evening he has been showing a little wear and tear from his long day. I'm really hoping he gets some good sleep tonight or I'll have an even longer day tomorrow!

The house we're staying at


View of the pool and gazebo from the house See the sand covered board walk?


The gazebo on the dune by the beach View from the gazebo


View from the balcony


Wild horses in our yard

Playing in the Atlantic

North Carolina has been lots of work and some great fun too. I think you tend to work longer hours when you're staying with the family you're helping out, but being able to spend a few hours on the beach has been worth it! Today I got off around 4:30 and went down to the beach with my friend Jessica. Someone had rented some surf boards so I tried to catch some mushy waves. I couldn't even get the white wash to push me into shore. At least I tried to go surfing. I traded in the surf board for a boogey board and had some better luck. Just spending an hour down on the beach was so refreshing. I miss being closer but I'm really grateful for the opportunity to play a little in the Atlantic. Need to get going but I'll try and catch up with some more updates soon.

Catching up

Finally have a chance to get on a computer and type up a entry instead of sending it from my phone. The entry that says "guess" is of Liberty Hall in Philadelphia. When Aunt Carolynn was here we had a day in Philadelphia. It was a great day! We went on a tour of Liberty Hall and took a self guided walking tour of the Historic District in Philadelphia. It was amazing to stand in the room where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were ratified. The hall has the original chair George Washington sat in while presiding over the Constitutional Convention. I've always enjoyed history but seeing pieces from such historic events made me want to learn even more. On our walking tour we saw where Benjamin Franklin's house used to stand and part of his printing shop. Remains of his home were marked, such as where some of the privies used to be located. We also walked through the cemetery to visit his grave site. We also had the opportunity to see Carpenter's Hall, the First and Second Bank of the United States and of course the Liberty Bell. If you're interested in a little bit of history that is still in Philadelphia today, check out the walking tour we printed and used at: http://www.theconstitutional.com/selfguided/index.php#

The day before Philadelphia we traveled to Virginia to see Mount Vernon. Another amazing place! I learned a lot of new things about George Washington and have a new appreciation for him. Although he loved Mount Vernon very much, Washington spent much more time away serving the people than enjoying his home. I was surprised to learn how much he loved farming and how he was able to manage his property so well while he was away. As soon as I got home I checked out the book Mount Vernon Love Story by Mary Higgins Clark. Halfway through the book and I'd definitely recommend it.

N. Carolina

Good Morning from North Carolina. I left Lance for a week to be a nanny for a family on vacation. We're staying in a huge 10 bedroom beach house in the Outer Banks. I didn't realize how much I missed the beach until we were driving on it. It's so beautiful! There's a few families here on vacation and my friend Jessica is a nanny for one of them so I'm not all by myself out here. I think we'll get a chance sometime to go swimming. Should be fun but I'm already missimg Lance.

Guess

Okay. I'm really making you guess this time. I'll give you a clue, we're in Pennsylvania.

Star Spangled Banner

The replica Star Spangled Banner flying at Ft McHenry. Breathtaking to see it flying while a period military band plays marching music on the ramparts.

Defender's Day

We're currently listening to the mayor of Baltimore honor Defender's day at Ft McHenry. Defender's Day is Baltimore's oldest holiday honoring the victory in 1814 at North Point. We're going to watch a small reenactment, listen to the Navy band and watch a fireworks show. Should be a fun evening to finish up our 2nd day in Baltimore. Yesterday we took some walking tours. Today we went to the Flag house, took a boat cruise and walked around forever. I see some 1814 soldiers marching uup. Think the reenactment is about to start.

Lunch in Annapolis

I'm spending the day with Aunt Carolynn in Annapolis. We're getting ready to eat some yummy crab cakes for lunch. We took a tour of the Naval Academy and watched their noon time formation. Interesting but I'm happy to watch instead of participate!

New opportunities

Getting the house ready to have a guest. Aunt Carolynn is flying in tonight. I was doing so well, cleaning out the fridge, scrubbing toilets, you know, all that fun stuff. I sat down for a couple of minutes and I've suddenly lost all my enthusiasm. All I have left to do is dust, vacuum and mop-- the finishing touches. But sitting is so nice and comfy...

I got a temporary job. I have a friend who is a nanny for a family. That family is going on a beach vacation with a few other families. One of the other families needed a nanny and my friend suggested me. I haven't been looking for a job since we're not sure how long we're going to be here, but if someone calls and offers me work then I'm not one to refuse. The day after Aunt Carolynn leaves I'll be headed out of town for a week to help out with a little one year old. He has already had 2 heart surgeries, is on oxygen and has a feeding tube. The little guy has been through a lot but is still cute as can be! Lance will have to fend for himself for a full week. Last week I was gone for a night helping out our friends and when I got home in the morning the cat was locked in a bathroom and was screaming for help. Apparently they had had a "falling out." Hope they're both on their best behavior when I'm gone.

Fall is definitely creeping in. Yesterday officially made this summer the hottest summer in recorded history for this area. Glad I could be here for that. But I'm noticing a distinct cool down during the evening and morning hours. Quite refreshing. Looking out the window I'm beginning to see traces of yellow all over the trees. Summer is certainly beginning to fade. It's been so wonderful I'm a little sad to see it go! Plus I'm not big on cold weather. Oh well, the changing of the seasons just means more adventures for us. It will be interesting to see where we end up next summer.

River Day

Went on a short hike to a river. We're having a picnic and then we'll jump in and go for a swim. beautiful day! Didn't want to risk a wet camera, so we just used our phones. Not the best pictures but you get the idea.

We're on our way back from the river. It was so much fun! We wanted to go camping there but canceled since Lance ended up having training. Spending the day there was almost as good. We hiked down to the river with a bag full of towels and swimsuits. We found a little sandy bank with no other people around, nice to feel away from it all! Last night Lance had found some blow up pool mats on clearance for less than $1. Perfect find for our river day. I think the epitome of summer is lazily floating down a clear river. The water was just right, not too cold. When we were ready to hike back we thought it'd be fun to wade up the river. Not a good idea without water shoes. Ouch, those rocks are sharp! Still, a wonderful way to spend the day. Lance has to work on Labor Day but we definitely want to try and get one more river swim in before it gets cold.