Adjusting to life

It's been a while...almost 2 months! It's easy to count that since C made his arrival almost 2 months ago and it was just before his birth that I last posted. I'm sure everyone already knows this by now,  so that's not news. Instead I'll share some photos of everyday life and how were adjusting. They'll mostly happy, but to keep it real I'll throw in a surprise!

Sleepy and snuggley

Reading time 

Family walks 

Learning about the important things in life (i.e. Star Wars)

Lots of poop 

Family outings 

And big smiles and giggles

I'm sure we're in store for all of the above and more over the next few months!

Final countdown?

Well baby M has a mind of his own and didn't come early as I predicted. I shouldn't be complaining of course...he's just getting more perfect in there :) In the meantime, I've been making sure we have lots of fun as a family of 3. So, here's a quick photo recap of the last few weeks!

We saw "Finding Dory" (accompanied by the Nemo A made at school)

We've had lots of fun on the slip 'n slide

And gone to the pool as much as possible. 

We had a quick getaway to VA Beach (adults only!)

And we celebrated Independence Day (2 days early) with a parade and fireworks. 

Baby M will arrive when he's ready, but I'm glad we've had so much fun in the meantime!

Walking in the Sea of Santas

Well Thanksgiving has passed and we ate our fill of turkey and cranberries. Now we're moving along to Christmas and are getting our fill of Santa too! We already saw Santa a few weeks ago with John and his older son. The boys loved making Gingerbread houses and hearing the Grinch Who Stole Christmas before getting some QT with the big guy. (No sneak peaks yet!)

Today we took the event a little further and decided to participate in Arc of the Piedmont's Santa Fun Run & Walk.

Ready for the Santa Walk!

A was even excited to do it, so we walked the event (it was only 1 mile) and he kept it up for a strong half of the walk before getting on mine and then Daddy's shoulders. It was fun seeing the sea of others dressed up like Santa and his elves...we may even have to make it a new tradition!

The End of an Era

Today is our last day on Walnut Lane. It's been a great 5 years, though some things we certainly won't miss. But I will miss walking on "our trail," dinner on the porch and relaxing by the fire. I love this home we built for ourselves and A and all the things we've learned as homeowners. 

We celebrated our last day as we have many days before...with bubbles and outdoor adventures.  

I love what we're taking from here and growing with in our new home...and building will certainly provide that adventure! 

So here's to our next home. May it be as warm, inviting, comfortable and bring adventure as our first home. And may you all come visit us next year!

Playgrounds and Carousels, or San Francisco with Toddlers

I like to think we take A a lot of places and expose him to new things. But if I'm being honest, he sticks to a nap schedule and we always work in stuff that he enjoys no matter the location.  Our recent trip to San Fran was a clear example of this. But guess what? We had a great trip, spent time with family and had some awesome experiences. 

How did we do it? Well, every day included a playground. Yep. We saw the playgrounds of SF and loved it. 

Duboce Park, just a few blocks from our house

Giant cardboard/concrete slide at Golden Gate Park

Riding the carousel (Koret playground here but Pier 39 not pictured and also enjoyed of course).

Alta Plaza for a picnic with friends

By keeping him happy we got to do some awesome stuff too like see the sea lions

And ride the cable cars

And go to the Japanese Tea Garden

And of course celebrate Cousin Bryan's wedding 

So for all you parents out there...stop and enjoy the playgrounds. We did and had a great time. 

(belated) Merry Christmas!

Well, I'm only 6 days behind...not too bad considering the whirlwind our house looked like after a house with a 3 year old celebrating Christmas! But here they are...a few action shots...and a few shots by the youngest photographer in the house himself! Santa was quite good to us all this year...perhaps best of all for mom and dad who get to take a little vacation in February! (Thanks in advance to all the grandparents for helping with that!) But A had a pretty darn good one too! Here's a quick recap...

First Santa came, bringing instruments and Jake gear!

But the Jake gear needed some more Jake stuff to go with it...

and of course a Lego/train table! (the picture of the car and man are courtesy of said young photographer)

So from our merry family to yours...hope you had a fabulous holiday season! Bring on 2015!

Life's a Beach (Part 2 of the family vacay)

I meant to do this post earlier this week, because with Halloween looming, I already have some great pictures to share! Oh well, it's here at last :)

Most of the week we had fantastic weather...check out DaDoc (far left), Pop, A, Kyle and Fella enjoying the fishing and waves.
 
We mostly tried to fish...

though a few fish were caught (none good for eating).

And we went exploring too!

And on the one day we did have rain, we went to the NC Aquarium! This was our first full aquarium trip, and it was really fun.

Don't worry...we relaxed plenty too...mostly by playing play-doh and watching Jake!

We had a really great time with our family, and can't wait for the next family trip in 2015!

Crabby Time

Don't worry. Crabby time is not a reference to A's recent mood or behaviors. Instead it is a reference to the nightly ritual we had while at the beach this past week! Perhaps this was A's favorite part of the beach trip this year. (And I mean for real favorite, not just the last thing mentioned.)

With the sun going down around 7pm, it was perfect for us to head out to the beach and hunt for crabs each night. Well, except for that night it was pouring rain of course so we skipped. Fiddler crabs, ghost crabs, sand crabs...whatever you want to call them...are downright fun to chase around the beach for all ages! 

First, take a look at one. They range from 1 inch to 6 inches and are usually tan or spotted to blend in with the sand. Here's a tinier one that DaDoc was happy to hold for us. 

But searching for and running after them are really the fun part. 

Just wait til you find one!

Yep. We had fun. I think we'll do it again. 

Over the River...

Last weekend we tacked a little vacation to Williamsburg on to the front of our trip to see Maga and Pop. Rather than deal with summer traffic of I-64, we decided to take a more scenic (and much more enjoyable) route over the James River.

It was A's first time on a ferry boat. He had a blast feeding the birds.

And of course as the song goes, we went to Grandmother's house (though we drove through Peanut fields and in Subaru, of course). We had a great time visiting, playing outside and eating delicious food.

We had a chance to visit downtown Portsmouth and the Children's museum. It puts our Discovery museum to shame (but of course we'll still go back).

What a great trip! We can't wait to see what adventurous route we take to get there next time!