Vacation - Part 3 (Williamsburg, VA)

A quick drive from Richmond, we arrived at the Walters' house in Williamsburg on Wednesday night in time for dinner. More cousins for Keira and Liam to play with! On Thursday, we went to Busch Gardens for the day...and what a fun time!! They have a new Sesame Street area, and the kids were able to meet all of their favorite characters. Liam was a little shy, but loved seeing the characters if someone was holding him. He kept asking for Big Bird, and unfortunately that was the only character who he wasn't able to meet. Keira got to ride her first roller coaster, and although she wasn't sure about it at first, she loved it. We also spent a lot of time in the sprinklers at Dragonland, which was a favorite of Keira and cousin Adam.

Adam and Keira get a big hug from Cookie Monster
Liam, Madeline, Adam and Keira with Abby

Chris, Poppie, Keira and Liam with the Oscar bushKeira's first roller coaster! (Chris and Keira are in the car right above the tree)

Vacation - Part 2 (Richmond, VA)

We left the lake house on Monday, August 31st, and arrived at Chris's parent's house in NOVA just after 10pm. On Tuesday we went to the playground, visited IKEA and then headed down to Richmond to visit (my sister) Regan, Ryan and Indie. On Wednesday Regan and I took the kids to the gardens at Lewis Ginter and had a great time! There was so much for the kids to do! They had fun playing in the little houses, the water/sprinkler area, the sandbox and climbing in the big tree. The photo below is in the big treehouse (and trying to get all 3 kids looking at the camera at the same time was like herding cats!)...

(back) Regan and Poppie
(front) Indie, Keira and Liam

It was a quick visit, but great to see my (not-so-little) nephew and spend time with my sister! On Wednesday afternoon, we hit the road again....

Vacation - Part 1 (New York)

So here I am slacking again...it's been a while since my last post, so a lot to catch up on! Since I am at home, and Chris can work remote, we decide to take advantage of our flexibility, and go on a (nearly) month-long vacation!

Our first stop was Chris's family's lake house in the Adirondacks, upstate New York. It's a 12-hour drive from Raleigh, so with two kids, two dogs, and trying to avoid the DC, Phili, and NY rush hours... we decided to break up the trip. We left Raleigh on Wednesday, August 12th after Chris's softball game, and arrived at Chris's parent's house in NOVA around midnight. We spent the night there, and hit the playground near their house in the morning to burn off some kid energy. Around 9am on Thursday we started out on our 8-hour trip to NY, and made it to the lake house by dinner time. There was a full house at the cabin, and we all had a great time with family over the weekend!

Silly cousins...Keira, Liam, Tyler, Nicole, Chelsea and Nate

Most people left on Sunday, but we enjoyed the lake for about two more weeks before heading south again. We did a lot of swimming, boating, skiing, tubing, playing in the sand...and overall just relaxing. The dogs really enjoyed themselves too, and for the most part hung out on the beach with us while we were playing. Conner decided he liked to swim and did a lot of swimming too (Riley wouldn't touch the water!). While we were at the lake, we celebrated Chris's birthday (August 14th), Oma's birthday (August 17th) and Liam's birthday (August 24th). I wrote about Liam's birthday in a previous post. And thanks to Oma, Chris and I enjoyed a date night to see Harry Potter, and a day date to visit our friend Jason in Vermont. While we were in Vermont, we went to visit the Magic Hat brewery and several brew pubs. Jason is a homebrewer, so we were also able to sample quite a few of the beers he's been working on lately. Next summer we hope to go for an overnight trip, so we can really enjoy all that Burlington has to offer (i.e. lots of brew pubs that didn't open until 4pm!).

Poppie (left) and Chris (right)...neither of us had been water skiing in a few years, but were both up on our first tries!

Chris and I at the Magic Hat brewery (Burlington, VT)

Liam and Keira having fun in the hammock

Keira and Chris tubing

On Monday, August 31st, we left the lake, and started our road trip back home....

Keira's first haircut

I know she's 3, but Keira finally got her first haircut. She has refused to get it cut or trimmed until now, and I was afraid to do it myself until she was on board. She finally agreed to get a trim, and went with me to the hair salon. I got mine done first, so she could see the process. She was very excited when she got in the chair, and was very good for Lindsay! Now that she knows it won't hurt, she said she'll let me trim it...so we'll do it at home until she's ready for a much shorter 'do!

Liam is 2!!

Liam has had the year of the endless birthday! Since Keira loves to ride her tricycle, we decided to get one for Liam, and gave it to him in July so they could ride together. Liam can't quite reach the pedals, but is learning to steer in the meantime (as I pull him with a dog leash attached to the handlebars!). At the beginning of August, Gramps and Grammy were in town and gave Liam his birthday presents while they were visiting. Then we arrived at the lakehouse in NY mid-August... The cousins weren't going to be around for Liam's birthday, so we decided to celebrate Oma and Liam's birthdays early while everyone was still here. Liam's side was Cars and Oma's side had margarita glasses. (photo below)
Finally his true birthday arrived, August 24th, and Liam officially turned 2. We made him waffles for his birthday (photo below) and had an ice cream cake for desert. He's had a great birthday and I can't believe our baby boy is already two years old!!

Visit to Hilton Head

Barb has a time share in Hilton Head, so the kids and I went for a long weekend to visit everyone. We left Saturday morning and stopped on the way at my mom's for lunch with her and Nana. We then spent the rest of our time in Hilton Head hanging out on the beach and the pool. A great time was had by all!! Keira and Liam had fun with their cousins, and I had a blast with mine (and my aunt too!).

Good times on the beach

(back) Barb, Keira, me, Liam, Brian, Jen, Deb
(front) Haley, Tessa, Ethan, Kylan

Kids having fun in the condo with their cousins
(left) Haley giving Liam some tattoos
(center) Tessa showing off her tattoo handiwork on Keira
(right) Kylan and Liam with their tattoos

Liam's big boy room

We've been working on Liam's room for quite a while, and it's finally finished! He is still adjusting to his big boy bed, but it getting better about staying in it. Or we pick him up off the floor as we head to sleep and put him back in his bed. :) The stripes took a lot of time, but they were totally worth it, and look great! I pulled the colors out of the beautiful quilt my friend Andrea made for Liam when he was born.

View standing at his doorway (straight ahead)

View from the doorway to the left
View from his bunkbeds

His ceiling is full of stars that glow in the dark, complete with the constellation Orion (of course!).

We also have been working on the back yard, and Chris built a box around the playset and we replaced the mulch with sand. It was a lot of work (moving nearly 2 tons of sand by wheelbarrow around the house takes a little time!)...but it turned out great, and the kids love their new (huge) sandbox.

This photo was taken a few weeks ago and it's amazing to look at the grass (or lack there of) in this photo. With all of the rain we have gotten lately, or backyard is actually a yard and looks much greener than the photo!!