Visitors from Far, Far Away

Jeremy's parents, Terry and Debbie (Papaw and Mamaw), arrived on July 2nd from their new home in Beaumont, TX and had a great visit! Papaw stayed until the 6th and Mamaw changed her ticket so she could stay until the 15th, and help out after Noah's surgery. Noah quickly became buddies with Papaw and we have been so spoiled by having Mamaw's care for so long. There is definitely going to be some grandparent withdrawal going on around here!

The day they arrived, we took Noah downtown to play at the fountain park for the first time. I think he's a fan. :)

A little timid at first.

Oh, the fun!

On the 3rd, we stayed in Raleigh, North Carolina for the night so that Jeremy could visit his old stomping grounds in Wendell. He lived there during 5th through 8th grades.

Noah and Mamaw at the hotel pool. We didn't get in much because it was chilly that morning!

We came home on the 4th and celebrated big. Not really. I wanted to take Noah to watch fireworks at the Greenbrier but realized they would not be starting until 10:00pm and there is no way Noah can make it that late!

So this was our fireworks extravaganza.

I think Noah was a little nervous.

We enjoyed a lot of backyard time, since that is Noah's favorite thing.

Mamaw and Papaw are fighting over who gets to feed watermelon to Noah here.

Mamaw spent the rest of her visit cooking, washing dishes, doing laundry, and entertaining Noah. Sounds like quite a vacation, huh? :) Noah had tubes put in his ears on the 12th. He was pretty angry with everyone when he woke up but did great otherwise. By that evening, we were noticing that his walking grew steadier and greater in distance, he became more vocal, and was much more playful and cheerful. Hooray! He is also taking Singulair everyday to keep the allergies away.

Random picture of some plants that finally bloomed in our yard.

We miss her already! But I have to focus on packing for our trip to Tulsa tomorrow. We'll be back the 22nd. The Barclays are off to meet Rylie Sophia Nutt!

Summer Lovin'

I love summer. Always have. I love everything about it. Being outside, watermelon, grilling, cherries, ice cream, swimming, long days, the 4th of July, my birthday (well, maybe not after this one...), hot weather, farmers market vegetables and fruit, lightning bugs, the beach, I could go on and on...

Summer finally arrived in West Virginia. Like in July. It's been different this year. For example, the leading news story recently was the temperature breaking 90 degrees and local businesses giving out free lemonade when that happens. But it's been fun having all the family visit us. We've been staying busy!

Noah and I have visited the beautiful outdoor pool at the Greenbrier a few times with Khristina and her family. We even got to take Jeremy's mom with us one day. It's the neatest pool. You walk into it just like the ocean (whatever you call that style) and it has fountains springing up in the shallow end that you can play in. And the back edge looks like it drops off over a mountain. Noah loves it.

We also visited the downtown fountain park, now that Noah is walking better. He has SO much fun there. He runs (as best he can), shrieks, and giggles, all while getting drenched. Enjoy!

The Long Good-bye

On June 28, 2010, my Nanna, Helen Dotson Snider, passed away after suffering from Alzheimer's disease for several years. We have missed her for a long time. The ghost of her true self has been laid to rest. She is finally free.

I wasn't able to get back to Texas for the funeral and I hate that. I really miss home and everyone there. They said the funeral was nice, with a lot of people attending, and Pop sounds like he is doing well, considering the circumstances.

Alzheimer's doesn't get quite as much attention as some of the illnesses out there, particularly those that rob the young, but it is devestating nonetheless. Pray for a cure!

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.

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!