Thanksgiving 2017

We headed down to Charlottesville for Thanksgiving again this year. We got there late Tuesday night and stayed until Saturday. That gave us lots of time to visit with friends while we were there. I met up with Jenny, Samantha, and all of their kids for lunch on Wednesday. It's been a while since I've seen them and all of the kids are so big! They all got along really well. I helped that we ate at a restaurant with an arcade ;)

The kid crew: Lauren, Darby, Bracey, Sophie, Mary, Kaylee, and Parker in the back. 

And then I went and saw Sarah and her kids, who were in a new house in Holly Meade. Sophie and Lexi had a lot of fun playing together, and also playing sardines with Kali and Luke (what good sports those older kids are!). 

Lexi and Sophie. These two have known each other for a long time! 

We had the usual Thanksgiving crew, including Dick and Suzy. We all stayed at Mom and Dad's house. It was pretty tight, but we made it work.

Here's Nana (who turned 92 in October) showing off her new iPhone. Finally, she's made it to the modern age. Carley even signed her up for Instagram! 

Bestie cousins, Ari and Lauren. 

As we've done for the last few years, we deep fried the turkeys (2 of them). Doug was the fry master. He's perfected the rub and dropping of the turkey in hot oil. 

The Thanksgiving crew! 

The day after Thanksgiving Dave took Lauren hiking up to the top of Humpback Rock. She was a trooper and walked the whole thing herself. Here she is taking in the amazing view. 

Wrapping up Summer

The sound of cicadas has been replaced by crickets chirping, so that must mean summer is coming to an end. It was a pretty great one though.

In July Aleen and I road tripped it up to Mass to visit Sallie. It was a long drive (preview of what was to come a few weeks later for our Maine trip) but so worth it to hangout with some great, old friends.

Sallie, Aleen & Me

And then in August we headed down to Va. for the weekend to drop Sophie off, who spend an entire week with my parents. We had the annual high school friends BBQ at my parents house with the whole gang, and most of the kids

Becky, Ari, Sarah, Jenny, Aleen, Lauren, Me, Bracy, Samantha

Lexi, Parker, Darby, Kaylee, Darby

 Sophie was also reunited with Lexi. Sarah and I are really forcing this best friend thing on them. We'll see where that ends up...

Lexi & Sophie

And then for the very last week of summer we trekked all the way up to Maine. All four of us packed in the car and headed to Bucks Harbor in Brooksville, MA and picked up a 40 ft. boat that was our vacation home for 5 days and nights. We sailed/motored around to Swan's Island, Mount Desert Island, and McGlathery Island before heading back to Brooksville.

We did a lot of exploring in intertidal zones. They were teaming with cool creatures, like these start fish that Sophie found. 

Sophie at the helm. It was tough navigating the waters with so many lobster pots, but there were a few spots where Sophie (and I) could steer for a bit and give Dave a break. 

Dave and the girls

The fam in Acadia National Park. Beautiful hike and breathtaking scenery. 

Sophie in front of a very cool, very big rock that was only visible at low tide. The tides were huge there. On this particular hike we started having to wade thought water and ended with vast rock to walk on (you can see in this pic). But the tide also comes back in pretty quick, so we couldn't linger for long. 

And that's it. The last hurrah of the summer. We tried to pack in as much as we could it and was a great one! 

Happy Easter!

We spent Easter down in Virginia again this year. On Saturday we had a BBQ with a bunch of Becky and my friends and their kids. It was madness, but a lot of fun, including a piñata that Becky and Jack made.

Sophie and Lexi

On Saturday night Ariana was baptized at an Easter service. It was a really pretty service, with the whole congregation holding candles during the beginning part of the service. Doug and Vicki are the god parents and presented Ariana at the front of the church. 

And Sunday morning there was of course an egg hunt! Here are Quinn, Carley and Sophie with their winnings... 

The three cousins! 

Virginia

A few weeks ago we took a weekend trip down to Virginia. We were dropping Sophie off to stay with my parents for the week between summer camp and the start of the school year. It was quick but we got in a good visit with some friends.

Sophie and Jack got to spend some good time together...

As did Lauren and Vahid. He was fascinated with her and wouldn't leave her alone. I guess he was happy to have someone at his level for once. 

 We also did a hike up Hump Back Rock. Sophie did most of it on her own (although Dave might tell it differently), and I carried Lauren in the carrier. It was, as always, a beautiful view from the top.

We also hosted a BBQ at my parents house with all of my Va. friends, and their kids. Here's a pic of the growing brood! 

And of course Lexi and Sophie got to catch up.

And of course, Sophie got the royal treatment while she was with my mom and dad. What a lucky little princess. 

Thanksgiving 2012

We were down in Virginia this year for Thanksgiving and for the first time did a deep fried turkey - which was delicious! Doug was the man of the fryer. It only had to cook for 50 minutes, which is my kind of turkey.

 Sophie got to spend a lot of time with her cousins, Quinn & Carley! All she wanted to do was hang out with the big kids all week - and luckily she got to. 

 Sophie hanging in a tree during our hike. The weather was beautiful all week - it was amazing!

 We also got to spend some time with Lexi & Sarah at the Meriweather Lewis playground. The girls had such a good time together. 

 Here's a Christmas card preview...

Summer Trip to Virginia

Two weekends ago we headed down to Virginia for a visit. On Saturday we had a BBQ with some of my high school friends and their kids. Sarah came with Lexi, who is two weeks younger than Sophie. Samantha cam with Darby, who is starting kindergarden next month, and Mary, who is 3. And Aleen came to document it all. The girls had a lot of fun running around and playing with Vahid and Jill (with the parents close behind trying to keep Jill and her nips away from the kids). 

Lexi and Sophie had a chance to catch up with each other. 

 Lexi, Sophie and Mary

 Sophie, Darby & Mary

Grandma made the big move into my parent's house the weekend we visited. She's set up in my old room, and it looks great. It's been a tough move for everyone, but she'll be settled in soon. And of course, Jill is back at home again...

Visit to Va

This weekend Sophie and I took a quick trip down to Va. We flew in on Friday and out on Sunday and in between got to visit with family and friends. Mom and dad set up a little pool in the backyard, and Sophie had a blast splashing around in it (in the nude because I forgot her bathing suit, oops).

What you can't see in this pictures is that Sophie is watching Kaylee and Parker play in the pool. She just couldn't quite hang with the big kids, but really, really wanted to. Next year. 

 Mom and Kaylee rolling around in the grass

Sophie & Lexi. Shortly after this picture they officially became "spit sisters" by passing a pacifier back and forth. It was very civil actually - if not a little gross. 

Sophie getting a hug from Parker

Me & Aleen

Sophie's Baptism

This weekend we went down to Virginia for Sophie's Baptism. We did it at St. John's Episcopal Church, the same church that we were married in. Sophie was great through the whole thing - she was wide awake and very interested in what was happening during the Baptism, and then fell fast asleep afterward (for the pictures).


We got to spend a lot of time with friends and family. Here's a shot of me and Sophie with her Great Grandma and her GG (otherwise known as her Great Nana).

She also met up with her friend Lexi again. I think she was more interested in Lexi's barrette than Lexi... but we're getting there.

Lexi comes to visit

Sarah & Evan came to visit this weekend with their daughter Alexi, who is 2 weeks to the day younger than Sophie. She's got an amazing head of hair. Although they may not be aware of it now - Sophie and Lexi are going to be the best of friends.