Monday, October 27, 2008

Girls' Weekend

We had a girls' family weekend October 18th at the cabin in Lake Gaston, North Carolina. Nana, my mom, Regan, cousin Maggie, and aunts Linda, Barbara and Jaye were there. Lots of food, booze and political talk (thank goodness we're all on the same side or it could have gotten ugly!). It was great to see everyone and spend time with the girls. We missed Deb and Jen, but hopefully they can join us next time. Regan has totally "popped" in the past 2 weeks, and is glowing....here's a current photo for those who haven't seen her recently (along with one of my mom, Regan and I below).

Liam's first haircut

Liam's hair is getting longer, and started to curl....so Chris decided it was time for a trim around the ears. Luckily Liam was a good sport and sat (somewhat) still while Chris cut his hair. It's amazing how much older he looks now...he's not my baby boy anymore! Now Keira keeps asking to get her hair cut...I'm ignoring her hoping she'll forget about it and stop asking. But if she doesn't stop, I may have to break down and take her to get her hair cut (Chris will not be cutting her hair!). Her hair is pretty long now with gorgeous curls and natural highlights (yes, I have hair-envy)....and I can't bring myself to get it cut....so I'm hoping she'll stop asking soon!

Visit to the Pumpkin Patch

October 11th we headed to the pumpkin patch...we went on a hayride, picked out pumpkins and Keira played on all of the moonbounces/slides. Liam found a bowling set and used the ball as a soccer ball and kicked it all over the place - it's great to see we have a future soccer player on our hands! We attempted the kids rope maze, but after 15 minutes the kids were bored and Chris and I got frustrated....so we "cheated" our way out and headed back to the play area. Good thing we didn't try the corn maze (that takes 1 1/2 - 2 hours).....it'll be a few years before we attempt that with the kids! A great time was had by all, and there are a ton of photos on Snapfish if you click on the blog title above.

Friday, October 10, 2008

First bike ride in the buggy

Now that the weather has finally cooled down a bit, we've dusted off our bikes and took the kids out for their first ride in the buggy. I still don't understand why Liam was fast asleep by the end when I'm the one who was hauling the extra 60 lbs on the back of my bike! But a good time was had by all, and as soon as the rain is outta here we'll get the bikes back out....they say it's supposed to be a nice weekend...

Hokies invade Nebraska

My sister Tiffany and I traveled to Lincoln, NE to see the Hokies play Nebraska. A record crowd at Nebraska's Memorial Stadium saw the Hokies pull out a 35-30 victory. I must say, the people in Nebraska are first class all the way. Everyone we meet greeted us warmly and welcomed us to Nebraska. Our tailgating consisted of going to a couple of bars before the game... Sidetracks and the N Zone. It was a very early flight back the next day, but it was a great trip and I can't wait until next year when Nebraska travels to Blacksburg

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Road trip to Virginia and the golf tournament

We headed up to Northern Virginia last Thursday for the 9th Annual Allan E. Bergere Memorial Golf Tournament. The tournament is in memory of my cousin who passed away of colon cancer (and raises money for the cause)...and we play every year. Or I should say Chris plays every year and I've had a newborn (literally) attached to me the past two years, so I haven't played for a while. But I was back this year, and boy was it UGLY....it was very clear I hadn't played golf in a few years! Thank goodness I had a great team that were not only a lot of fun, but were awesome golfers! I played with two friends of the family (Jeff and Lou) and my step-mother Mary..... I believe our team ended up 4th in our flight, so we didn't do so bad.

Now also teeing off at the tournament was Chris, who played with a friend of ours from high school (Jon), his boss (Don) and his dad. The men had a lot of fun, but didn't fare too well....they ended up being the team "farthest from first"....or as they like to say the team that was "the most honest". They did walk away with a nice Tiger Woods book on how to play golf though...so all was not lost.












Chris's mom watched the kids while we played golf, and brought the kids to the golf course when we were done so everyone could see them. We don't see my dad's side of the family very often...but when we do, it's always great to spend time with them.

The night of the tournament we headed back to Chris's parents house and the Engelbrecht's came over for dinner. We had a nice dinner and fun catching up. That night Keira took a bath with her cousins Tyler and Nicole (Liam was in bed by this point), and the three of them ran around the basement naked jumping from couch to couch afterwards. It was hysterical, however posting any photos/videos may be mistaken as child porn, so I'll refrain from sharing.


The next day we headed home for the weekend. We picked up sandwiches along the way, and stopped at a rest area for dinner so the kids and dogs could run around half way through the trip. Liam and Keira thought it was fun to have a picnic in the woods, and of course the dogs enjoyed barking at all of the people walking by.
Saturday Chris volunteered at the World Beer Festival in Durham. He had a great time pouring beer, but unfortunately couldn't taste much out while he was there. They are going to have a party for the volunteers at a later date...so I'm sure he'll get to enjoy more than his fair share then. He just bought two kits to finally start brewing homebrew again. A pumpkin ale just in time for Fall...I can't wait.

Fall Festival


Liam and Keira had a Fall Festival at their daycare to celebrate the first day of Fall (Sept 22nd). Keira bobbed for apples .....and of course ate hers promptly after catching it. While Liam had fun on the playground with his friends and the balls.

Visit from Regan, Ryan, Cash and "the bump"

I've been busy at work, and a little slacking on the posts! The weekend of September 27th, Regan and Ryan came for a visit. The kids had a great time playing with their aunt and uncle and their "cousin" Cash the newfoundland. It was nice to visit with them and it was the first time I had seen Regan since her big announcement....and now at 20 weeks, she has quite the bump :) She looks fabulous (of course), and next time I'll get better photos to post. Cash is quite the talk of the neighborhood when he goes for walks! Regan and I took the kids and all 3 dogs for a walk while Ryan made us dinner Saturday night. We got stopped a million times asking what kind of dog it was, how much he weighed....and someone even pulled over as they were driving to say there was a "bear sighting" in the neighborhood. Regan is used to the specticle since she walks him every day....but I got quite a kick out of it! Chris was gone for the weekend to Nebraska (he'll post stories/photos seperately), but had an early flight home on Sunday so was able to see everyone before they left. We look forward to spending more time with Ryan and Regan now that we're a little closer to them, and can't wait to meet Lil' Shriver in February!