A Blog Date.

I had my very first blogging date today. As in, I met with a longtime reader of my blog in "real life".

Amy (whose blog is private or I'd link to it) wrote a comment to me when I was very newly pregnant with Camden after I posted my ultrasound pictures depicting my itty bitty 5 week old blob. She noticed the name of my RE on the side of the scanned picture (this was only a week before my sister took the liberty of removing my doctor's name from ultrasound pictures I posted because apparently the internet isn't safe and it creeped her out that I was giving out so much personal information. Good call, Lauren. But I'm thankful that Amy caught the name of my doctor before it was subsequently removed.) Anyway, Amy contacted me because she realized that we went to the same RE. Which obviously meant that we lived relatively near each other. So, we kept in touch off and on during the next couple of years; I gave birth to Camden and  almost 6 months later, Amy had adorable twins-- a boy and a girl (now nearly 17 months old).

After a while, we kind of lost touch. Then Amy contacted me a couple of weeks ago after seeing that we were part of the same Facebook group (a local mom's meet-up group). This time when she contacted me, we decided to finally meet. There's a local kid's museum that's about halfway between our respective homes, so we met there this morning.

Camden loved it! I haven't mentioned this on my blog, but Camden is obsessed with driving. Anytime we go out to the car to go somewhere, he signs that he wants to drive. Likewise, anytime we pass a car, or truck, or bus, or ambulance-- any mode of transportation, really-- on the road, he frantically signs that he wants to drive from the backseat of the car. His love of transportation isn't exclusive to real automobiles, though. He also signs that he wants to climb into books and drive the cars in there and when we put together his transportation puzzle, he pauses after placing each piece in its spot and looks up at me hopefully while signing "drive". Seriously- he asks after each piece, as if just one time I might say, "Oh, go ahead-- climb into that puzzle and get on that tiny make-believe motorcycle and drive to your heart's content." The boy is persistent, I'll give him that.

But, I digress. As soon as we walked into the museum and I saw the shiny red sports car that was open for driving, I knew Camden was going to have a good time. Sure enough, he drove that red car, an ambulance, and a truck. Then he moved on to mowing lawns and caring for (stuffed) pets in cages in a vet's office. He also climbed a pirate's ship, danced to music around the world, rode an exercise bike, and surfed. It was a busy day.

Checking out the sites while driving through the city.

There were animals to care for...

...and science experiments to conduct.

Of course, we can't forget the chores that must be done aboard the pirate ship.

Camden took his music selection very seriously, ultimately settling on some tunes from France and South Africa.

Owen joined Camden for some dancing (though it may not appear to be the case, Camden is actually dancing in this picture. His "dancing" consists of repeatedly bending at the knees ever-so-slightly).

Campbell watched Camden's moves in awe. He likes to show off for the ladies.

Camden preparing to catch a major wave...or attempting to maintain his balance on the wobbly surfboard. You be the judge.

A good time was had by all. I think there will be a second date.