We'd like to wish all the Liberians a very happy Liberian Independence Day!

Liberia celebrated 166 years last Friday. We celebrated the Liberian Independence Day at the Liberian Embassy in DC last year but unfortunately this year we missed out. The Embassy held the celebrations on the 20th. That was Monday and a whole week earlier. We were unaware of this until much later. It looks like it was a good time at the Embassy and the weather was great, as compared to last year. We hope to join in the festivities next year, and we'll keep better track of the when the celebrations will be occurring.

We decided to go to Ocean City, MD this past Friday and Saturday as Rex and I had off from work. It was May's first time to OC. It was also our first time back since Hurricane Sandy stuck the area and many other cities along the Mid-Atlantic Coast, last year. The famous fishing pier had been severely damaged by the waves and many buildings were damaged by the strong winds. Since than much of the city has been rebuilt, including the fishing pier which re-opened in May.  We also traveled with Farms, a family friend who has helped watch over May when Rex and I are working.

The trip to Ocean City was good. There was hardly any traffic. Our time there was good as well, the weather wasn't too hot. Just a few weeks ago, we were in a heat wave. I'm sure many people flocked down to the shore then. May seemed to like the beach. She was playing in the sand and I put into the baby carrier and Rex and I walked along the beach. She also seemed to like the waves. We didn't get too close to the waves, we did dip our feet in. At one point, May got sleepy and Rex made her a nice little bed out of the sand and a towel. I made sure to put sunscreen on her before we got out in the sun and we got an umbrella for further protection from the sun.

 May also enjoyed the boardwalk. We had her in the stroller, the baby carrier and Rex physically carried her. She was so talkative and was waving her little arms and legs. We spent more time walking on the board this time and going on the beach and pier. We plan on going back next year, maybe sometime in August. She'll be a bit bigger then and we might be able to take her on some of the rides. Or she might want to play on the beach more.

On the way back, we stopped at the Salisbury Zoo. It was May's first time. We were greeted by a duck on the way out of the car. The duck quacked and May got scared. She was a little scared of some of the animals but May seemed to be interested in the flamingos, llamas, bison, and deer. She also saw a jaguar. My grandmother, whom May is named after absolutely adored bison. It was nice to see them.  It was a nice getaway. We're glad May seemed to have fun too.

Here are some pictures we took of the trip: