Beach Vacation - 2010

I cannot believe that it has been over a month since we went on our summer vacation to Corolla, NC. This is our annual trip with my family and I look forward to it all year long. It is sad to know that it is over, but we have already booked the same house again for next year! We just love this particular house and the location so we couldn't pass up reserving it for next year! (Click HERE to see the house where we stay).

This year, there were 17 of us in one house - 12 adults and five kids. This includes my parents, my three siblings, their spouses, their kids and my grandparents. It was quite the happening (and sometimes crazy!) house when all of the kids were awake (which actually didn't happen all that often), but we had a great time nonetheless. Here is a picture of all of us on the beach on our last night:

And, here is my little family:

When we went to the beach last year, Jacob was only five weeks old so obviously he did very little other than sleep. I was excited to take him this year because I figured he would really enjoy playing in the sand, swimming in the pool and just being outside. Unfortunately, it didn't really work out the way I had hoped.

As you can see from this picture, he wasn't really too sure of what this "sand" stuff was all about.

And, since he was in the midst of transitioning from two naps to one, most mornings (which is when we would all go to the beach) he was fussy and a bit clingy. He did go into the water a few times with Daddy. Mostly Keith would carry him in and they would watch the waves. A few times he would laugh as the water would splash up onto his feet, but mostly he wasn't very enthused. He did stand in the ocean one time - he doesn't look too upset by it in this picture, but I can tell you that he didn't stay in for long (I must admit it was a bit cold at first).

He did enjoy digging in the sand once or twice with Pierce, Sierra and Reid. And one day he had fun chasing a seagull down the beach (I wish I would have gotten it on video - it was so funny watching him walk after this bird!)

I think the thing that Jacob enjoyed the most during the vacation was the time he got to spend with his Daddy. Jacob just adores Keith and loves to be around him whenever he can. Keith is always so good with him and he spent a lot of time with him on this vacation. He even told me on the way home that he purposely went out of his way to take care of Jacob a lot because he wanted to be sure that I felt like I had gotten a break and enjoyed my vacation with my family. Awww, what a sweet husband I have!!

Here they are outside on the deck one morning enjoying the view

Every morning after breakfast, Keith would take Jacob for a walk. Jake loves to be outside and LOVES to go for a walk and Keith wanted to get some exercise while we were on vacation (better him than me, although I need it more than he does!!). Jacob would get so excited that one day he even went over to the stroller and showed it to Keith. It was really great bonding time for them and it was nice for me to get some time to get dressed, help clean up the breakfast dishes or just do whatever I wanted to do without a little one to worry about.

Jacob didn't really like being in the "big" pool that we had at the house, but he sure did enjoy the baby pool. Thankfully my sister brought this pool along because Jacob was in it A LOT! I think he liked it so much because he could walk around and didn't have to be carried or in a float like in the regular pool. He really enjoyed playing with his toys and splish splashing around. As you can see, it was fun for Daddy (and sometimes Mommy) to get in with him!

Even though Jake wasn't too fond of the pool, one afternoon, I put Pierce's swim vest on him to see what he would do. Of course, he doesn't know how to swim, so basically he just fell forward and wasn't too happy! I tried to get him to kick his feet, but he wasn't having it. Hopefully next summer, I'll be able to teach him to swim a little and he'll enjoy it more than he did this year.

Thankfully, he did stay in the pool long enough for us to get a family photo, although I think he was fussing to get back into the baby pool not long after this picture was taken!

All in all, even though this year's vacation was definitely more work than last year, we still had a great time. If you have children you know that vacation with your kids is not really a "vacation". But I am very blessed to have a wonderful husband who helped out A LOT so I was able to relax a little. It is always so much fun to get all of my family members together to play games, talk, laugh, eat great food and just be together. With our busy schedules and not living near each other, we don't all get together nearly as often as I would like. The memories I have from this vacation is something that I will cherish for the rest of my life.

Happy 3rd Anniversary to us!

Today Keith and I are celebrating our 3rd wedding anniversary. Some days it seems like our wedding was just yesterday and sometimes I feel like I have known Keith my whole life!

This past year has brought many changes to our marriage, most importantly being the addition of Jacob to our family. Three years ago, on our wedding day, we could only dream of the childen that we hoped to have. Today, we are not only husband and wife, but we are also Mom & Dad to this precious baby boy.

I am truly thankful to Keith for being a caring husband, a loving father and a gracious provider for our family. I look forward to many more years of health and happiness with this wonderful man.

Father's Day

For Keith's first Father's Day, we had a fun-filled day, doing all the things that Keith wanted to do.  For some time now, he has been wanting to go for a drive on Skyline Drive, which runs through the Shenandoah National Park in the Blue Ridge Mountains.  Keith likes to be in the car and he loves looking at nature - trees, mountains, etc.  I, on the other hand, don't really enjoy it as much as he does.  But since it was Father's Day - and his first - I asked him if he wanted to spend the day in the mountains, just the three of us. Of course, he was thrilled that I suggested this and we decided to make a day of it.  

Before we left, he spent a little time snuggling with his son.  Too cute!

Here they are, all dressed and ready to head out.

We left the house around 11am and drove to the entrance of Skyline Drive, which is about 45 minutes from our house.  We were pleasantly surprised when the guy at the gate told us that the entrance fee was waived. (Normally it is $15 per car to enter.) We spent about 5 hours driving up and back along the scenic drive. There are numerous "overlooks" where you can pull the car over and get out and see the beautiful mountain views.  We stopped quite a few times to do this (and also had to stop twice so I could feed Jacob in the car).

Here are Keith and Jacob with the Blue Ridge Mts. in the background

Jacob did pretty well in the car, even though he ended up being in his carseat for a long time. Feeding him and changing his diaper was a little bit challenging, although we found some less populated places and it made it easier for me to nurse him right in the back seat. He did get a little fussy at one point and he was only happy when I was holding him (which obviously meant we couldn't be driving), but I think for the most part, he liked being in the car.

After we left Skyline Drive, Keith wanted to go to a restaurant that we had heard about but had never been to.  It is called The Blue Mountain Brewery and it is known for its "homebrewed" beer.  We had an great dinner and, of course, Keith enjoyed a beer. As you can see, Jacob slept the entire time, even though the restaurant was packed and it was pretty loud in there.

After we left the Brewery, we headed to one of our favorite ice cream joints, Arch's, and enjoyed some frozen yogurt for dessert. 

All in all, it was a great day!  I am glad that Keith got to spend his first Father's Day doing everything he loved. Jacob and I are truly blessed to have him in our lives. He is such a loving husband and great friend to me and he has been a caring, doting father to Jacob.  I know that their bond will only strengthen with time and I look forward to seeing what the future holds.

Home Repair #1

Keith and I successfully made our first home repair this past weekend.  I was going to call a plumber - and probably end up paying an arm and a leg - but instead, we decided to try and make the repair on our own.  YAY to us because not only did we fix the issue, but it only cost us $7.43 for the part at Lowe's.

The problem started about a week ago when Keith noticed that the knob on the master bath was not turning properly. It was not turning far enough to get enough hot water to make a comfortable shower and you had to turn it past the normal "Off" setting in order for the water to shut off.  And, sometimes it would drip, as if there were a leak of some sort.

My dad suggested that we take the knob off and see if maybe it was just a washer issue.  He said that he didn't think it would be a major repair and it would be fairly easy to do.  Keith and I were not very confident since neither of us consider ourselves "handymen".

But....my dad was right and it was very easy to fix.  Keith took the knob apart and removed it and we found that part of the inside of it was broken, thus causing it to not turn correctly. We looked online to see if the Lowe's near our house carried that particular brand of knob and they did.  So, on Sunday, while Keith was watching the Steelers game, I ran to Lowe's to get the knob (and a few other things we needed).  When I returned, I put the new knob on and it worked! Woohoo!

Of course, I hope that we don't have a lot of home repairs and I realize that not every one is going to be as easy - or cheap - as this one.  But, right now, I am just enjoying the fact that Keith and I were successful this time! 

Happy Anniversary to us!

I am a day late with this post, but I still wanted to acknowledge that it was Keith and my 2nd anniversary yesterday!

I was thinking back to two years ago and remembering that beautiful Fall day that we exchanged our vows in front of God and our family & friends. It was one of the best days of my life, if not THE best.

I am so blessed to have a wonderful husband who is loving, kind, supportive, and truly my best friend.

We have been through a lot together in the last two years including moving to a different town, starting new jobs, family illnesses & deaths, and our own personal joys and sorrows. I am very excited to see what the future holds for us as a couple and also as we create our family.

Here's to many, many more years of love, health and happiness! I love you Keith!

Keith's surprise birthday dinner

Last Saturday night, a bunch of our friends and family got together to celebrate Keith's 40th birthday. It was a surprise dinner party that I had been planning for some time.

I wanted to do something special for his birthday this year since he turned the Big 4-0! We had talked back in the summer about what to do - have a party, go somewhere fun, or do whatever Keith wanted to do. Unfortunately, since I work in a football office, everything in the Fall revolves around football season. And the Cavaliers had a full home football schedule in October (home every Saturday except the last one). Since I have to work home football games, it seemed too complicated to try to plan a party or go away for the weekend. So....Keith thought that we weren't really doing anything fun for his big day (other than going to my parents house on Sunday and my mom making him the dinner of his choice!).

I decided about a month ago that I wanted to plan a surprise dinner party and invite a bunch of people from Keith's life, past and present. I decided to have it at Capital Alehouse in Richmond because that is one of his favorite restaurants, and I knew that they had a big back room that could fit a large dinner party.

I would say that it was a huge success! We had about 20 of Keith's friends (and my sister, brother-in-law, and niece also) to help celebrate his big milestone! He was super surprised when he walked in and saw all of the people who were there in his honor. I personally think he was a bit overwhelmed by the different groups that were represented (friends from his old job at Virginia Union University, friends from his old job at University of Richmond, and some friends from his current job at UVA).

I hope everyone in attendance had a great time because I know that Keith and I did. We had a wonderful dinner and topped it off with a cake (in the shape of a book) from Keith's favorite Richmond baker, Cakes by Graham. (I was highly disappointed to see that they spelled Keith's name wrong on the cake, as you can see in the picture below. But the cake did taste good and it looked cute too.)

Thank you to everyone who came to the party. Also, a big thank you to my sister, Karen and my parents, who helped get the cake from the bakery to the restaurant. Also, Karen took many of the photos that night so that was a huge help.

Me and Keith at dinner

Part of the dinner party group

The gang

"The Life and Times of Keith (aka Kieth) Weimer" cake

Lighting the candles - they were having trouble keeping them litSinging "Happy Birthday"

Blow out the candles

The Boys - Will, Keith, Chris (and Owen) - great friends!!

Some of the guests gathered for a picture

Happy Birthday to my hubby

Today is Keith's 40th birthday. We are spending the day in Richmond with my family and my mom is making her famous spaghetti sauce in honor of Keith's birthday (this was his request).

Last night, I pulled off a surprise birthday dinner for Keith. I was super excited about it and it ended up being a really fun time. Keith and I both got to see a lot of old friends that we hadn't seen in awhile.

My sister Karen was the photographer for the event last night so I will post pictures as soon as I get them from her.

Happy Birthday baby! I am so blessed to have you in my life and I can't wait to celebrate many, many more birthdays with you!