Sunday, June 27, 2010

Virginia Beach

I apologize, there are no pictures of a little wee one on this post. This is all about our little trip to Virginia beach. Finally, a little Mommy and Daddy only vacation. When we were in Williamsburg, we realized how close we were to the ocean and decided to change our destination from Charlottesville to Virginia Beach. We have been craving the beach lately. Maybe because everyone around here has been heading to the Outer Banks, which we want to do later this summer for sure.

Anyway, my parents, brother, and niece kindly minded Noah for us, and we took off. Feeling only a little guilty about ditching the little guy on Father's Day.

Here we are poolside, on top of the Hilton's 21st floor.

The view from our room. This was late afternoon, when the crowds had dissipated a bit.

Here we are touring the pier before dinner.

Our view from the deck at Ocean Eddie's.

My favorite thing ever. Walking on the beach at sunset. East Coast or not.


Just a little lifeguarding, free of charge.






Our first night away in almost 9 months was sooo nice! Thanks to the fam for giving us a nice little break. Virginia Beach is nice enough for an overnight visit but I wouldn't really go back again. Cold, murky water, super-touristy, and thousands of people. We enjoyed our hotel and its restaurant though. The trip should "tide" us over. Heehee.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

And The Relatives Came

I believe this title was the title of a children's book in the window of our downtown bookstore that we saw last week. It was about a bunch of mountain folk from Virginia piling into their station wagon and descending upon their relatives. It made me laugh.

Because that is sort of what happened at our house last week! My parents, brother, and niece piled into my mom's CRV and drove all the way from Texas! We had a lot of fun and it went by way too fast!

Having a great time swinging with Daddy and Madison.

He loves to climb in and out of his pool.

Taking a little dip in the hot tub.

A Wet dip!

The day after they arrived, we headed downtown to check out the local toy and book stores, and have lunch outside at The Market. Noah was relaxing with his feet up.
That night we had a big adventure! We walked a loooong way out the Greenbrier River Trail and cooked hot dogs! This is the only shot that proves my mom came to town too.


Here is a shot that proves that Madison ate at least one steamed carrot stick! I got "the look" quite a bit over our visit. :)

Scott, Madison, and I hiked up one of the little waterfalls and it was so cool. I can't wait to do it again.

Ah, here we are on the big rock. Madison swam in the river and Noah got to get in a little bit too.

He actually let Uncle Scott haul him all the way down there!




Here we are dragging ourselves and all our junk back to the car. Noah is taking it easy again with his feet propped.


On Friday, we headed to Williamsburg, VA. Sorry, there are not too many pictures of that. We headed down to colonial Williamsburg and realized it was way too hot to be doing that. So we left after briefly walking around. So much for that trip. But we had fun anyway. Scott and Madison spent Saturday at Busch Gardens, which Madison proclaimed was "awesome." And we took Noah swimming and to the outlet mall. He some new Vans and his first pair of Stride Rites! Gotta love those Prime Outlets.
Here we are at the hotel pool getting ready to try out Noah's new float, sans canopy. He had not been in a big pool since he was 4 months old!
I think it was a hit!

On Sunday, my family packed up Noah and headed back to Lewisburg. Jeremy and I had our first night to ourselves in almost 9 months! We realized how close we were to the Atlantic and decided to head to Virginia Beach. I'll get all of that posted later. Here are some shots of Noah enjoying himself while we were away.



I loved having my family around, even if we ran ourselves silly and even though it took me 3 days to do all the laundry and put the house back in order! I miss them. The only downer about the trip was that Noah decided to have a little Mommy-itis while they were here. Meaning he only wanted me and nobody else could hold him. I had to leave the premises in order for them to really enjoy him. It might have had something to do with another ear infection brewing. Yes, we are back on antibiotics and added steroids this time to try to get the fluid out. His doctor said that pretty much this is the last time his antibiotic will probably be effective. Luckily we have an ENT appointment scheduled next week. Hopefully all will be be well and he will be out of his clingy mood soon because Jeremy's parents arrive on July 1st!
See you soon!


Sunday, June 13, 2010

The Nudie Pool

Noah had his first skinny diping experience today. Here are some "carefully arranged" photos and video.








The GRT




Here's what we did with our Sunday morning. Church? No. We've gotten bad about church out here. It just isn't anywhere near what we are looking for. I digress...
Jeremy carried Noah down to the river today and out onto the rocks that go almost out into the middle. We were adventuresome. We also got poured on while jogging on the trail. Noah didn't even mind a little rain. He dozed off in the stroller.
My mom, dad, brother, and niece are set to arrive on Wednesday and I am excited! We bought a bed today that will be Noah's in the future but can be used by guests in the meantime. Lots of pictures to come!


Monday, June 7, 2010

Mystery Solved!

No way, Stacie!! You were right, I think I have a Dog Vomit Fungus (really did someone actually name it that??) growing in my garden. For being so unbelievably clever, I am going to mail a fresh batch to you in to see if it can survive the summer in Tulsa. Enjoy reading up on my dog vomit slime.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Well, I Can Brag a Little...

Tomorrow the high is 73 and the low is 49. Sure beats the 100s my dear ones in Texas are already dealing with! Although, I will admit it has been in the low to mid 80s the last several days...I'll take it. I'm pretty sure the weather and lack of traffic jams and smog are the only things I feel like bragging about West Va. anymore. And I was telling someone yesterday that the beauty here would not stop me from returning quickly to the less than attractive Dallas area!

We had a great weekend. Jeremy's parents got us a new grill for our anniversary and we tested it out by serving burgers to some friends Saturday night. I tried some new recipes this weekend that I need to get posted! I made blueberry muffins from scratch (my first), the hamburger and turkey burgers, and Mexican Ice Cream. Sunday, we ate breakfast and hit the Greenbrier River trail with Noah. We even saw two snakes! Here I am out on the rock:



The week before last, Noah was sick and having ear infections. I'm still not convinced he has gotten rid of them, but we have an appointment with his doctor Wednesday to see where things stand. Then, last week, my allergies (or maybe Noah's cold bug) attacked me and my ears got infected. They still haven't opened back up. I can definitely sympathize with the little ones. Being awake all night with that pain ain't easy! So, I am more than excited for my family to get here in a week and a half! Jeremy and I plan on a night to ourselves at the Homestead on our way back from Williamsburg.

Sorry about the blurriness but these are too funny. I posed him in the recliner Brian & Stacie got him for his birthday.

The progress in my garden. Something ate half the broccoli crop but my squash and zucchini are flowering out. I planted my surviving jalapeno and bell pepper seedlings today. It will be a surprise when they sprout as to which is which.


Here is the mystery I discovered today in the garden. Does anyone know what this is?? It looks fungal and has a sort of gooshy scrambled egg consistency inside. No odor.


Gonna be a long week so I will be looking for lots of stuff to keep Noah and I busy. His babysitter is vacationing in Nags Head this week and I think I might be jealous! Have a great week...