“Mom!” Annalie called out across the yard. “Look at this! I can make waterfalls. Watch.”

While Annalie swam, I drank my Coke Zero and did some editing. Yes, I do that kind of thing for fun. Yes, really.

I mentioned the other day that our tomatoes and some of our herbs had basically withered in the heat. I finally threw out all the sad, brown plants. The pots and tomato cages are waiting, neatly stacked, till I get around to taking them to the garage.

The chives and the thyme are all that remain of our container garden.

I love taking pictures of water in motion.

Annalie thinks the water photos are neat.

Lily is unimpressed. She’s so snooty sometimes. (Kidding. Lily’s a total sweetheart, not a snob at all. She just comes off that way sometimes ‘cuz she’s shy.)

Hey, look! A camera! Let’s run towards it!

The above photo is Day 51 in my photoset 180 photos for Troy on Flickr.

We got to Maryland on Tuesday, arriving at Lynn & Bernie’s house around dinnertime. That night, Annalie got sick. Most of the day Wednesday she spent lying in the guest bed with a fever, sipping ginger ale and watching movies on our portable DVD player (thank God I brought that thing). Occasionally Dylan or Morgan wandered in and watched with her for a bit. Good thing neither Lynn nor Bernie are paranoid about germs.

I couldn’t reschedule my haircut appointment, so I hoped for the best and took Annalie with me to the salon on Wednesday morning. She seemed to rally a bit while we were there, chatting with Libby, sitting in one of the empty chairs and making faces at herself in the mirror. But when we got back home, she once again crawled into bed and asked for ginger ale. Poor baby.

I was hopeful all day that her illness would be short-lived. Annalie rarely gets sick, and when she does get sick it’s usually milder and over with faster than other kids. She got Troy’s super-duper immune system, I guess, not my lazy one.

Troy could spend a week in close quarters with a dozen sick people and would probably only have time to say, “I’m not feeling well,” and sneeze once before his immune system would kick into gear and presto! he’d be well again. I, on the other hand, could walk through a gymnasium with a surgical mask on while rubbing antibacterial gel all over my hands, and if one person all the way on the other side of the room sneezed, I’d be drinking tea with honey and blowing my nose and sleeping next to a humidifier for weeks.

Once when we’d been married a few years Troy was telling me he felt all hot and dizzy, that he was sure something was seriously wrong with him. I felt his forehead and told him he felt like he had a fever. He said, “No, no, you don’t understand. I feel really hot, and when I stand up I feel all weak and like the room is wobbling or something.” I said yeah, he was describing what it felt like to have a fever.

He still looked skeptical, so I said, “You’ve had fevers before, right? When was the last time you had a fever?”

“I dunno,” Troy said. “Maybe when I was 7 or 8? I’d have to ask my mom.”

I merely stared at him in disbelief. I’ve probably had over a hundred fevers in my life, I told him, due to my sinuses’ tendency to get infected at the least sign of a cold virus. “You haven’t had a single fever in over 20 years?” He shrugged sheepishly. “Well, trust me, I know fevers,” I assured him. “You have a fever.”

He still felt like something was really wrong, so he went to the health clinic and waited for his turn and waited in the exam room and after the nurse took his temp and blood pressure and looked at his throat he waited for the doctor and was poked and prodded and then he got dressed and waited some more. The doctor told him—can you guess?—he had a fever caused by a virus of some kind. Yeah, I like teasing him about that day and reminding him that he should listen to me next time. (Love you, T! I also love your fabulous sense of humor!)

Anyway. Where was I? Oh, right. Annalie was sick all of Wednesday and I hoped it wouldn’t last long.

And you know what? it didn’t. On Thursday morning she woke up bright and early and practically bounced out of bed with a smile on her face. She came running into the living room and threw her arms around me, announcing, “Mom! I don’t have a fever anymore! I feel FINE!”

That day we walked the dogs and went to the sprayground and ate Chinese food and swam in Morgan & Dylan’s pool and generally made up for being stuck in bed all day Wednesday.

Today we packed up our stuff and said thanks to Lynn & Bernie and Morgan & Dylan for being fantastic hosts. Then we met Bekah & Jack for lunch and moved our stuff into Cassie’s bedroom. Annalie hung out with Jason and the kids and played and danced and ate an enormous dinner while Bekah and I went to paint some dottery at my old stomping grounds, Paint ‘N Pottery. Except it’s not called that anymore. The woman who used to own the studio sold it, and it’s been renamed and remodeled a little, but it’s still the same awesome place to paint that it always was. I started on a couple of mugs and Bekah kept working on an Easter plate that she started last time I was here visiting.

It wasn’t fun that Annalie was sick while on vacation, but after our eventful start to this trip we probably needed the day of rest. And now we’re ready to rock and roll! Bring on the fun!

Saltwater swimming pools are awesome. At least, Meg’s is awesome. We spent our last morning in Virginia Beach in their pool with her and Sam and greatly enjoyed ourselves. Annalie continued swimming like a fish, and I began dreaming of having my own saltwater pool someday.

Thanks again for being such great hosts, Meg & Sam!

Before we headed up the road to Maryland, we took Meg & Sam to lunch at one of our favorite places, Elia’s. His deeee-licious hummus and pita is the best. And Elia remembered me! As soon as we walked in the door he said hello and asked about Troy. He even remembered that we’d lived in Maryland last time we saw him, which was two years ago. I was quite impressed. I guess I did used to eat there a lot. Not only did I drag everyone who ever visited me to eat there, I was a regular, on Fridays when Troy was gone especially. I’d walk in the door and the waitress would say, “Hello, dearie. Hummus today, or philly cheesesteak on pita?” Then I’d sit and read my book and enjoy my dinner. I kinda miss those days.

After we finished lunch, we said our good-byes and hit the road, arriving at our friends’ Lynn & Bernie’s house in Southern Maryland just in time for dinner. Seeing old friends has been great so far, but I think this visit will be a little bittersweet. Half of our playgroup friends have moved to other states, and many of the kids who are still here are in school now. Everything’s different, life comes at you fast, etc.

But we’ll still have a blast, I’m sure. Tiny cones, sprayground, Paint ‘N Pottery, swimming, and Annmarie Garden, here we come! Watch this space for many more photos.