Take me out to the ballgame...

We were able to catch our first Orioles game today. Camden Yards is a beautiful ballpark and we lucked out with nice weather. We also were able to get great seats we were in Row 3 on the first base side. It was a great day at the ballpark.

Baltimore Harbor

Babe Ruth Statue, he grew up in Baltimore.

Stadium

View from our seats!

Blackberries

Our daily hiking grounds surprised the dogs and I with blackberries! And lots of blackberries. Seriously they are everywhere on the trail. I don't pick them, I rather leave them for all of the furry, forest animals to eat. However, a lot of people do pick them. There is an older couple that braves the ticks and thorns all the way into the thicket to pick the berries. Each to their own I guess.

Blackberries!

You can't tell from the picture but this whole area is blackberry bush.

I remember stealing berries from my parents berry bush garden. I think we had 5-10 bushes, my favorite where the raspberries. My siblings and I were probably around 7 at the time. When you are 7 you think you are the sneakiest person ever to grace the earth... okay well I did anyways. The three of us would sneak in between the bushes and snack away on the berries. I remember my Dad would walk by (surely hearing us all giggle) and say "looks like the little bear cubs got into the berries again." So these blackberries along the trail can't help but to make me smile and remember those "little bear clubs" back in Colorado.

Chesapeake Bay

One of our favorite Pack Adventures is the visit to the Chesapeake Bay. There is a free little dog beach right  past the Bay Bridge. It is truly a treasure. It was one of  the first places we visited when we first moved here and  we stumbled upon it as it is kind of a "locals only" type  of spot. The dogs get to be off leash, swim and be their crazy selves. This summer the water has been nice for swimming... or has it?

San Francisco Bay (A) vs Chesapeake Bay (B)

First, a short introduction to the mightily Chesapeake Bay. The  Bay is almost 3 times the size of the San Francisco Bay,  and trust me it is hard to believe until you see it. It is  a nice mix of lake meets ocean. The salinity (salt  content) of the bay is a unique mix and thus makes the  perfect place for crabs and other creatures. In some parts  of the bay (for example our little beach) the water quite  shallow, almost waist deep for miles; making it perfect  for swimming, sailing, kayaking, wind-surfing and more.

Now to my confession. I am scared of fish, yes all fish.  Scared probably isn't the right word they just give me the  ibby-jibbies... creepy little non-mammals. I don't mind  seeing fish, I think they are actually quite beautiful but  touching them or being in the same water as them gives me  goose bumps (seriously I have goose bumps!) Well the Bay  happens to be home for quite a few creepy little critters  (can you call fish a critter?). Of course you have the  Maryland Blue Crabs, you also have something called  horseshoe crab. It looks like it came out of the Mesozoic  Era. They wash up on the beach right around October... and  our dogs LOVE them. Roll on them, eat them... EWE. In the  summer you have bait fish that wash up on shore. The dogs  find them a special delicacy. There is also washed up sea  weed which really feels like slime. Unfortunately, there  is also some trash. But that isn't all. On Monday Jeremy  went to the Bay and discovered it also holds Jellyfish.  Most of the Jellyfish will result in a minor sting, much  like a bee sting. However in the winter there are Lion  Mane jellyfish, and they can be deadly.

Washed up Horseshoe Crab

Stinger Jellyfish

Lion's Mane Jellyfish

So as you can imagine on most of our pack adventures I am  the ball-thrower or the ear-scratcher who happily stays on  the beach. Every once in the while I will summon up my  courage, close my eyes and go for a quick little dip...  but not for long. I can only deny reality for so long. All of this being said, it is hard to beat a day on the beach.

Where you can usually find me on our little beach.

The Conroys go to Washington DC

United States Capitol

Back in December Jeremy and I made our first trip down to DC. It has been one of many surreal trips that I have taken since moving to Maryland. I never thought I would visit Washington DC. It wasn't that I didn't want to visit it, it just wasn't high on my priority list and I figured I would never make it there. So after exiting the train station and walking a couple of blocks we saw our first glimpse of the United States Capitol; it was kind of a shock. "Oh we are really in DC." We walked the entire National Mall that day and saw pretty much all of the monuments, even though it was a cold day. My top two favorites, which if you know me shouldn't come as a surprise, were the Library of Congress buildings and the Roosevelt Monument. Of course the Lincoln Monument was amazing as well and the War Memorials definitely made you stop and think. The Korean War Memorial had me in tears. Being the Nation's Capital everything is beautiful. One other highlight of this trip was seeing the Declaration of Independence, we had a hard time finding where it was housed... but it was worth all of the effort to see the original. Since this trip we have been working on visiting the museums in detail. Though they are huge! It took us almost 4 hours to go through half of 1 floor of the National Museum of American History! Luckily the museums don't charge admission, we will definitely be visiting them again soon.

Korean War Memorial

To ceiling of one of the Library of Congress buildings

Lincoln Memorial

My guy with the Washington Monument in the background. 

White House

Roosevelt Memorial. This sculpture reminded us of
Wyatt so I had to get a picture with him.