OBX

Butch, Lacey & I went to the Outer Banks, NC for vacation for a week! It was so great to have an entire week away. Last year we had a couple of long weekends visiting friends and family, but not a week long "vacation".

We met my good friend, Tonya, and her family (Todd, Elizabeth & Rhianna). Tonya & I have known each other for 13 years (hard to believe). They moved to SC - just outside of Charlotte, NC late last year and I was so excited to have her closer! They have 2 girls - ages 6 & 4.

Butch, Lacey & I arrived around 4:00, checked in, had dinner and relaxed. Tonya & family didn't get in until much later. They left their home around 1:20 and it's a 7+ hour drive. Plus, they stopped for dinner along the way.

The first full day we spent at the house. Tonya brought a couple of pools for the girls and we set them up on the deck, so they were able to play their while we were hanging out on the deck, or inside, or whatever. Tonya & I went grocery shopping, too. After dinner, we finally decided to walk to the beach! (Sad, I know....can't believe it took all day.)

The next day we ended up going to the Soundside beach, where the water is calmer and better for kids to play in. Lacey was bored with that after about 20-30 minutes. There was one more day that Butch & I tried the ocean beach with her, but it was so rough and she'd either get too brave with the water, or wander off. So, we gave up! But, she did get to explore a bit.

We didn't really get to spend lots of time with Tonya & Todd (and the girls) because of L's napping needs. ;-) We had usually done something and were back for her nap around the time they were heading out for the day. But it worked out fine since we had dinner together most nights and spent time hanging out after the girls went to bed.

Butch & I had a date night, too. We went out to dinner and drove around a bit -- and still ended up home before Lacey went to bed! We were so hungry that day that we left for dinner at 5:15!

Lacey was quite intriqued with the older girls. Liz was really good with her. Rhianna wasn't so sure. I think she was a bit jealous since she wasn't the youngest one around. I told Tonya that Lacey is like a cat --- going to the one person that doesn't really like her. She kept going up to Rhi.

Oh - one day we went to Kristin's beach house, too. She & her girlfriends happened to be there the same week as us, and they had a pool. So, the 3 of us drove to her house and swam/played for a little bit.

On the last day (Thursday), we drove to Roanoke Island to see the NC Aquarium. Lacey didn't have a ton of interest in it, but it was good to do something with Tonya & Todd, even though we weren't really "with them" -- since her girls were really into the aquarium.

It was amazing to me how easily Lacey adjusted to everything. She has been such a cautious, careful baby/toddler, but she just jumped into everything wonderfully. She was letting Todd & Tonya pick her up after 1 day.

After about 5 hours in the car on Friday, Lacey had some energy to burn up. But, she has slept so well every night. I think she was exhausted from all the fun.

I'd planned on adding a couple of pics here, but blogger is giving me a hard time! If I can make it work later, I'll do a separate post with pics. Lots of you have already seen the pictures anyway.

A Weekend Away

Butch & I went to visit Agnes & Trampas last weekend --- without Lacey! We've each traveled for work and been away from her, but until now, she hadn't been without one of us for an overnight visit. She stayed with Rick & Kristina for the weekend and did wonderfully!

Now, on to our trip! We got in to the airport around 5:30 p.m. and Ag picked us up. We went back to their house in Spencerport, NY and relaxed for a bit before heading out to dinner at a Japanese restaurant where I tried a bite of sushi for the first time. It was okay, but don't think I'd ever order it.














On Saturday morning, Agnes & I went for a walk along the Erie Canal. It was great to have a good friend to chat with while walking. I miss her! Then, we all headed out to breakfast at Cracker Barrel to have some "stick to your ribs" food before driving about 90 minutes to the finger lakes to taste wine.


Our first stop was at Bully Hill Winery. We tried about 7 wines and loved most of them. They were very inexpensive, too.










Then we went to the Heron Hill Winery and tasted another 7 or so wines! The woman that was pouring for us was awesome. Lots of fun and very generous in pouring. ;-) Then we bought a couple of bottles and listened to a guy play the guitar and sing -- he was quite funny, too.

After a 90 minute drive home, Trampas grilled chicken and steak kabobs, plus we had yummy corn. And, of course, some more wine. Along with playing a game of Cranium.

On Sunday morning, they drove us to Lake Ontario and through downtown Rochester. We were quite tired after our Saturday adventures. Landed back at BWI around 4:00 and were at Dad's picking up Lacey by 6:00.

It was a great weekend! They are hoping to come down for a visit this fall. Can't wait to see them again!

Swim Lessons

We signed Lacey up for swim lessons this year. We probably could have done most of it on our own in PaPa's pool, but, I thought it would be fun to go to lessons. It is...and we are learning some things to try....but 4 nights a week is tough! Last week, we had 2 classes b/c Butch & I were out of town on one of the nights and another night was canceled because of weather. This week we are hoping to make all 4.

Here are some pictures from her first night at class.











She is much more comfortable in her PaPa's pool. The instructor said that makes sense b/c private pools are smaller and there are less people. She's been underwater a few times. I'm not going to push her any more this week b/c she's starting to not have fun while we are there. There isn't any point in upsetting her. We'll just leave class having ideas of things to try in the future.

A day of parties...

We had a really busy day yesterday! Well, most of it was in the afternoon. At 4:00ish, we went to an annual 4th of July party at Susan & Steve's (friends and employer of Dee). It's huge. Including kids, they were expecting 160 people. They have a 2-person "band" and provide crabs, hotdogs, hamburgers, etc. Then, everyone brings a side-dish, dessert or appetizer. By the time she put out "dinner", I'd already eaten too much!

They do a great job of having things for kids, too - bubbles, balls, moonbounce, etc. Lacey had a blast. She was chasing all the big kids around. As you can see from the picture.....she couldn't keep up (you can't see any of the big kids!).


















We left that party around 6:30 and headed to my friend's party (Donna, who I went to high school and community college with). We couldn't stay long since Lacey was with us & she needed to get to bed. But, it was fun. They have a trampoline and Butch hopped on their with Lacey. Donna also has a pool.....not easy to keep Lacey out of there! At the end, I let her splash her feet in it. L had a cookie to go and was wiped out on the drive home.

We got home around 8:15 and had her in bed by 9:00. Not bad - only an hour later than normal. But, she didn't sleep well. Probably from so much going on during the day and her brain processing it all. Or, it could have been teething. (How come it's always a guessing game?) I'm leaning toward teething b/c we gave her a dose of Motrin before bed and she slept well until 12:30ish, when it was wearing off. We gave her more at 1:00 and she slept well for another 4-5 hours. She has a molar that is giving her a really hard time. The other 3 came it without us even knowing. Strange.