Our trip up North

Keith, Jacob and I took a trip up North two weeks ago to visit his family in Pennsylvania and my extended family, on my mom's side, in Western New York.

We left on a Monday morning, hoping to get out of the door by 10am, but it was more like 11am by the time we actually left (we have learned that traveling with a baby really messes up your plans!). We drove up to Indian Head, PA (which is southeast of Pittsburgh) where Keith's aunt and uncle live. We were able to see a lot of Keith's relatives and some neighbors that he has known most of his life. The house that his aunt and uncle live in is actually the house that Keith lived in with his grandmother when he was growing up. The ladies that live on either side of them, Retha & Dot, are close friends of the family and they were really excited to meet Jacob. He certainly got a lot of attention and got to meet a lot of new people.

Here is Jacob with Keith's cousin, Suzie

Keith's Uncle Barry loved talking to Jacob

Keith's Aunt Kay & his cousin's wife, Roxann, loved on Jacob

Keith's mom, Marge, was very happy to be able to spend time with Jacob

After spending Monday night and Tuesday morning with Keith's family, we left their house and headed north to NY. We made a stop at Allegheny College in Meadeville, PA. This is the college that Keith attended for his undergraduate degree. I had never been there before so he wanted to show me around. It was also a good stopping point for me to feed Jacob and for us to grab some lunch. An old college friend of Keith's works as a lawyer in Meadeville so he met us for lunch at a sub shop that Keith used to work at. It was nice to see Kevin and visit with him for a short time. After lunch, Kevin had to go back to work, but Keith, Jacob and I walked around the campus a bit. It was a beautiful summer day in PA, with the sun shining and low humidity. I really enjoyed seeing the buildings and area as Keith reminisced about his college days there.

We left Meadeville around 3:30pm and continued north along Lake Erie to the Buffalo area and then east to my grandparents' house in Spencerport, NY (which is a bit west of Rochester). We stayed with my grandparents from Tuesday evening to the following Monday morning. While we were in the Rochester area, Jacob got to meet more family members for the first time.

Here is Jacob with my Aunt Julie (my mom's sister)

And with my Aunt Kathy (my mom's other sister)

Nana (my grandma) really enjoyed spending time with Jacob.

He is her 4th great-grandchild!

Jacob also got to take a bath in my grandparents' kitchen sink.

Many babies, including me possibly, have been bathed in this sink!

Keith enjoyed playing Risk with my Uncle Rick and cousin Nicholas.

He loves to play that game but he doesn't get to play it very often.

One of the reasons that we made the trip up to Rochester at this particular time was for a surprise 30th birthday party for my cousin, Sissy. Her birthday isn't actually until December but my Aunt Kathy decided to throw the party now because it would be hard for everyone to get up there in the winter time. Also, there was a charity golf tournament and another surprise party for Sissy's grandmother (on her dad's side) happening that same weekend, so a lot of her relatives on both sides were in town.

Here are Sissy and her brother, AJ, blowing out the candles

(AJ's birthday was July 26th so we celebrated his birthday too)

Karen and Sierra flew to Rochester for the party also so we were able to spend some time with them at my grandparents' house. My parents were there too, although I didn't get any fun pictures of them.

Keith spent some time reading to Sierra

Sierra was having fun with Papa G (my grandpa)

Here are the four ladies (Nana, me, Karen & Sierra)

plus Jacob before we left to head back home.

We left Nana & Papa's house on Monday morning and headed back to Indian Head once again. We stopped in Meadeville again on our way home, but only for a brief time to feed Jacob and get fast-food lunch for ourselves. We also stopped in the Allegheny bookstore (it was closed when we were there the Monday before) and Keith got a nice coffee mug and a sweatshirt for Jacob. We spent Monday night in Indian Head and were able to spend some quality time with Keith's mom before heading back home on Tuesday.

It was great that we had the opportunity to take this trip and be gone from home so long (I was still on maternity leave and Keith was on paternity leave). I really enjoyed seeing everyone and was glad that Jacob was able to meet more of his family. I hope that we can make this a yearly tradition so that Jacob can see where his mom and dad grew up and he can become familiar with all of his extended family members. I was sad that the trip had to come to an end, although it was also nice to get back home.

Our travels are not over quite yet! We leave on Thursday to head south to Augusta, GA for my aunt & uncle's 40th anniversary party. This time it is my dad's side of the family and more people who have not met Jacob. It is sure to be a great time and I am sure I will have more pictures and stories to tell upon our return!

On the road again....

We are headed out of town once again. This summer has been filled with numerous trips for us, and although I don't like being in the car, I am very much looking forward to visiting family & friends in the upcoming days.

We are leaving this morning to head to the Pittsburgh, PA area to visit with Keith's family. We are spending one night with them and then packing up and heading north to the Rochester, NY area to visit my extended family. I am really excited to see my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins and introduce Jacob to them. We lived to close to all of them for so many years, and now we usually only get to see them once or twice a year, if that.

We will also be making a trip to Niagara Falls on Wednesday to spend some time with our friends, Daryl & Ana, who used to live in Richmond. Daryl worked at the University of Richmond library with Keith and me and he was in our wedding. Ana's job transferred them to Toronto, Canada around the same time that we moved to Charlottesvile and we don't get to see them nearly enough! We are grateful that they are willing to meet us in Niagara Falls (since we can't travel into Canada because my passport isn't up to date and Jacob doesn't have one).

We are hoping for safe travels and many happy times on this trip. I am sure I will take a lot of pictures and hopefully will be able to share some of them when we return next week.

Jacob's First Family Vacation

Last week, we spent a week in Corolla, NC in a huge beach house with my immediate family. There were 13 of us - ten adults and three sweet children. We spent the mornings at the beach, the afternoons at our private pool, and the nights playing games. We ate more than our weight in food, or so it seemed. All in all, we had a wonderful time and were sad to see the week come to an end.

I think Jacob enjoyed his first trip to the beach, although he slept through most of it! Here are some pictures of what Jacob got to experience on his first family vacation:

Our first day at the beach wasn't super sunny but I was still worried about him getting too much sun. Here he is "under cover" while hanging out with Mommy on the beach:

One day he got to put his feet in the ocean:

As you can see, he didn't like it at all:

He did enjoy laying in Mommy's arms under the umbrella:

He also enjoyed his first dip in the pool:

And lounging by the pool:

And, sleeping by the pool

(this was after his short stint in the water;

it must have really worn him out!)

He got to spend time with his cousins:

And with his "Mimi":

He got to ride in the carrier with Daddy while we climbed

the dunes to see the sunset:

And he was wide awake for our photo shoot on Jockey's Ridge:

He slept, however, through the entire photo shoot

at the beach on the last night:

On the way home last Sunday, Jacob told me that he had such a great time and he is counting down the days until we can do it again next year. (OK, he didn't really say that, but I am assuming that is what he would have said if he could talk!). I know that is what his Mommy is thinking.....

Weekend in PA

WARNING - this is a LONG post (Sorry!!)

As I said in my previous post, Keith and I left Cville on Friday after work and got to his mom's apartment around midnight.

On Saturday, we slept in a little bit and then got up and went to breakfast at one of our favorite "northern" restaurants - Perkins. I love it because they have breakfast all day so even though we didn't get to the restaurant until 11:30am, we were all still able to get breakfast (which, by the way, is my favorite meal to eat out!). After we had our meal, we went to a nearby mall and did a little bit of shopping. It was good for Marge to get out - and it was a beautiful sunny day. I think she was really happy to get a new book and some handsoaps from Bath & Body Works. (If she is anything like me, shopping makes her happy!)

After we left the mall, we decided to go to the Flight 93 Memorial (the spot where the United Flight 93 went down on September 11th, 2001). The Memorial is located about 10 miles from Marge's apartment, in Somerset County (the same county she lives in). I was bummed because I left my camera at her house and therefore I wasn't able to get any pictures of the Memorial area. The actual crash site is about 100 yards off of the road and it is fenced off. No one but family members of the victims can go out there. But right off of the road, there is an area where many memorial stones and such are placed. The benches have all of the victims' names listed on them and there is an angel for each of the victims with their name on it. There are also many things that people have left in memory of the victims. Let me tell you - it was very emotional for me to see the things that are there. It was very sad to read the memorial stones and things that people wrote and to think about the awful way that those innocent people died on that day! What a tragedy. I am hoping that we can go back by there when we go up to PA again soon so that I can get some pictures and post them for you all to see. It's truly something to see.

On Sunday, we got up and went to church (Marge even went with us which is a blessing because she hasn't been to church in a long time). After church, we went to Keith's aunt's house for a picnic and some fun time with family. Keith's cousin and her family were there too so we had a great time catching up with them and enjoying the beautiful sunny weather. After we ate the ton of food that (Aunt) Kay had prepared, we played the outdoor yard game "Washer Toss" - which is a family favorite! It was a fun day and so good to see everyone. We ended up staying pretty late and chatting with Keith's aunt and uncle. Good thing Keith was driving, because I fell asleep (big surprise!) on the way back to her mom's apartment. :-)

On Monday, we lounged around a bit before getting up and heading out to see a small snippet of the Memorial Day parade that takes place on a street one block from Marge's apartment. I could see some of it happening by standing on her balcony (she lives on the 6th floor or a high-rise apartment building) but we decided to walk down and see it a little closer. We also ran into one of Marge's closest friends and the woman who has been taking her to her chemo treatments. Bobbie, is a woman that also lives in Marge's building. Her husband died 25 years ago and she volunteers at the Somerset Hospital that is near their apartment building. Bobbie has been such a joy to have in Marge's life and they have really formed quite a bond lately. We are very fortunate to have such a caring person to look in on and take care of Marge during this difficult time.

After the parade was over, the four of us (Keith, me, Marge and Bobbie) went to lunch at another one of our favorite "only found in the north" restaurants - Eat 'n Park. Again, this is a restaurant that has breakfast available all day, plus they have a great buffet AND they are very reasonably priced. We eat at least one meal at this restaurant every time we visit Marge - yes, it's THAT good. haha Here is a picture of Keith, Marge and Bobbie standing outside of the "famous" restaurant:



After lunch, we said goodbye to Bobbie (she had plans to go fishing with her daughter and son-in-law....she is always doing something!) and we went back to Marge's apartment to pack up. We left around 2pm so that we could get back to C'ville at a reasonable hour and have some time to unwind before we had to go back to work.


All in all, it was a very pleasant weekend. Keith commented on the way home that if we didn't know that Marge had cancer, it would have been a visit just like usual. She was mostly in a good mood and didn't seem overly tired. She ate pretty well and didn't seem to have a loss of appetite. She did complain a few times about her ankles and knees hurting, but we are all attributing that to arthritis. She even had a bulge on one of her ankles but she didn't seem too overly concerned about it. She still has a hard time walking great distances (or even small distances at times) but that is no different than in the past. We are hoping that things continue to go well and that she doesn't see a whole lot of negative effects from her chemo treatment.


We are heading back up there to visit her for her bday (which is June 8th) so between now and then we will get reports from her via phone and I will post updates as I have them. Please continue to keep Marge and Keith in your prayers.

Back from vacation

"All good things must come to an end"...or so the saying goes! For Keith and me, we had to come back to reality on Friday night when we returned from our vacation - 6 days in Las Vegas with my parents, my brother and his girlfriend. We had a wonderful time and it was sad when we had to leave. Here is a recap of some of the fun things we did while we were there:

Gambling: Of course you can't go to Las Vegas without doing a little bit of gambling (or in our case...a lot). Keith wasn't sure he was going to enjoy gambling since, as we all know, you are basically giving your money away. But, needless to say, he found a few things (the Blackjack table and a "Deal or No Deal" slot machine) that he really liked. He even bet on some dog and horse races (they were racing separately, not together)! I enjoyed playing (a.k.a. losing my money) on the video poker and blackjack machines. I also sat at a few blackjack tables. I would do really well one night and then lose it all (and more) the next. All in all, we enjoyed ourselves and the fact that we are both back at work today just goes to show that we didn't win it big! :-(

Eating: Another thing that Vegas is famous for is bountiful buffets! The food that is found on these buffets is unbelievable. It would take us 10 minutes just to walk around and see all of the options each time we went to a different one. Luckily, we went to the Bellagio breakfast buffet every morning, so after the first day, I pretty much knew where to go and what to get. The desserts at dinnertime on the buffets were amazing. Luckily they gave you very small portions so you could sample a lot of different ones. (On a side note, I can believe I actually lost weight this week (see previous post)! I tried to be semi-good and not overeat or drink too much, but it was just too hard to bypass all of the yummy food and the $1 drinks!!)

Sightseeing: The sights and sounds of Vegas are like no where else! While you are in a hotel or casino, all you hear is the chatter of people, the music coming from the closest bar or the overhead sound system and of course, the "cha-ching" of the slot machines! Once you step outside the casinos, the massive buildings and lights at night are simply awesome. There is so much to see that I believe you could be there for months and never see everything (although the average person would probably run out of money long before that!).

We also had the wonderful opportunity to take a guided bus tour to the Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon. My parents stayed behind (and my Dad ended up winning a big jackpot that day!) and Keith, Mike, Blakely and I set out to see one of the 7 Wonders of the World. We had to get up super early (4:45am!!) because the tour company shuttle was picking us up at 6:15am but it was all worth it in my opinion. We had a very entertaining Czechoslovakian bus driver who was full of more knowledge than I ever thought someone could have. He knew everything about the area, the people, the land, etc, etc. He was quite entertaining and quite the talker (I think he talked 75% of the 16 hours that we were on the bus!) We were able to see some wonderful landscape between Vegas and the Grand Canyon and we made three separate stops once we were at the Canyon so we got to see a few different perspectives. It was a long day, but we had a great time (and we still managed to come back and gamble until 2am that night!!)

Another interesting thing that we did while we were there was to see the show "Blue Man Group". It was the craziest show I have ever seen. As my dad described it afterwards, it was "sensory overload"....lots to hear, see and sometimes feel! It was a lot of fun and I would definitely suggest it if you are ever able to see it.

Lastly, the craziest thing we did while in Vegas was when Mike, Blakely, Keith and I went on two amusement park "rides" on top of the Stratosphere hotel (100 stories high!!). The first one is called The Big Shot which is a ride where you are strapped in and then it catapults you over 1,000 feet in the air and when you open your eyes (if you closed them like me!), all you see is sky and the ground. It was super scary and I kept my eyes closed most of the time. The second one is called X-Scream and it is definitely named appropriately. It is sort of like a teeter-totter that extends off of the building and dangles you there for a few seconds (which felt like forever). Here is a video of it:

All in all I think everyone had a great time. A huge thank you goes to my parents for inviting us to go with them. We'd definitely like to do it again (once we save up some more money!!)

Here are some pictures from our trip:

A view from our hotel room window (we were on the 25th floor)Keith and me at the Grand Canyon

Mike and Blakely at the Grand Canyon

A view from the top of the Stratosphere (where the rides were)

A view from our hotel room at night

Another view from our hotel room at night
The group at the Video Poker & Blackjack machines
Keith and me at the M&Ms World store - they have every color you can imagineKeith and me at the Hoover Dam

A great shot of the Grand Canyon - pictures just can't explain how HUGE it is!!

Having fun in sunny Jacksonville

Keith and I have been in Florida for 4 days now and I am just getting around to blogging! It has been a busy few days (mostly working for me and lounging for Keith!)


We arrived in Jacksonville, FL on Wednesday Dec. 26th. We got off of the plane and I said, "Is this really Florida?" It was damp and a cool 50-something degrees. We were hoping to arrive to warm weather, after being in southwest PA's 20-30 degree weather just a few days earlier. Thankfully by Thursday, the temperature was rising and today it was a very balmy 79 degrees!We were sitting by the water today eating lunch and we couldn't believe it was actually December 29th! It's weird to see men in shorts and women in bikini tops just a few days before New Year's Day. The weather forecast is for it to remain in the 70s tomorrow and Monday and then by game time on Tuesday, it should be a very comfortable 65 degrees! :-) Perfect!


Since I don't have a lot of time to blog (and you don't want this to be 10 pages long), I will give you a list of what's been going on down here:

• We are staying at the Omni Jacksonville Hotel. It is a very nice hotel located near the St. John's River. We are on the 8th floor in an Executive King room (lucky for us, I was the one who made the room assignments for the UVA travel party so I put us in a good room!) We have a splendid view (especially at night) of the water and the area around it. The football team, support staff, families and fans have pretty much taken over the hotel so you can't go anywhere without seeing someone you know (that can be good and bad! haha)
  

• The Football office staff (including myself) have taken up shop in one of the meeting rooms in the hotel. We are supposed to only work from 8:30am-12:30pm every day, but I haven't gotten out of there before 2:30pm anyday since we got here (except for yesterday - more on that to follow). We are mostly assisting the coaches and other support personnel with practice preparation and anything else they ask us to do. It hasn't been bad so far, except for the part where I have to get up at 7:00am and Keith is still in bed!! That part sucks pretty badly. :-)

• The Gator Bowl committee has set up a Hospitality suite in the hotel that is open 7am-10am and 4pm-midnight every day. They have light breakfast stuff in the morning and finger foods, beer, wine, soda, and liquor in the evenings. They have snacks and candy in the evenings too. We have gone up there every night since we have been here and I am planning on heading up as soon as I finish typing this (Keith is watching a movie so I think he is going to pass tonight - since he doesn't know a lot of people, its not as much fun for him as it is for me). It's a fun place for the coaches, their wives, and us support people to go and hang out in a relaxed setting. (Not to mention free alcohol and food....Not bad!!)

• The hotel is located one block from The Jacksonville Landing which is a shopping/dining/nightclub area. It is really nice because they have it all decorated for Christmas. We have gone to a few of the restaurants that are located there and we have gone to two nightclubs. One is called Mavericks and it is a country bar (although they were playing classic rock music on Thursday night when we were there). They have a mechanical bull that Keith thought about riding (he decided against it when he saw a few others make fools of themselves on it! haha). Last night we went to The Twisted Martini which is another dance club bar. They played good dance music and we had a really good time. Unfortunately, staying out until 1:30am and then having to get up and work the next day isn't too much fun. I am not sure I am going to stay out quite so late tonight, but we'll see!
  
  
• Yesterday, my boss allowed me to have the day off so Keith and I rented a car and drove to St. Augustine, FL. It is about 45 mins south of Jacksonville. We had a really fun day. We visited the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument, which is really old fort. We also went to the Alligator Farm where we saw 23 different species of alligators and crocodiles. We even saw a live feeding show where a VERY brave zoo keeper got inside an area containing about 20 very large alligators. It was really interesting to see but a little bit creepy. We ate lunch along the river and ventured into an area containing a bunch of little shops. It reminded us of areas we saw in Europe. It was really nice to walk down the street of shops and window shop. It was nice to be able to take a day away and relax.

Well, I guess that is pretty much a not-so-quick synopsis of what we have been doing. While I have been working, Keith has mostly been reading or venturing around the Landing area. I am worried that he is getting bored, but he assured me that sleeping late and lounging around the hotel room is fine with him!! :-)


We have three more full days after today and then we fly home early on January 2nd. I'll try and blog again before we head home, but I won't make any promises. Like it does back home, time just seems to be flying by here!

Here are a few pictures to share:

Keith at the fort


At the fort, with the beautiful
water in the background


This is the brave zoo keeper


Us with an alligator

The Christmas tree at
Jacksonville Landing

We're headed to Jacksonville!!!!

This afternoon, the Virginia football team accepted an invitation to the Konica Minolta Gator Bowl! Virginia will play against Texas Tech on January 1st in Jacksonville, FL.

Although the "official travel schedule" has not come out yet, Keith and I will definitely be heading south at the end of this month, probably on December 26th. It is nice to know that we will be able to spend the holiday with our families but we are also excited about the fun that we are going to have in Jacksonville! What a way to ring in 2008!

Off we go.....

Keith and I are leaving tomorrow after work to head to Pennsylvania to visit his family. With the football team having a bye week this weekend, this was a perfect weekend to get away. It will be nice to spend some time with Keith's family and to get in some rest and relaxation time.

Keith grew up in a town called Indian Head, which is in southwest PA about an hour south of Pittsburgh. His aunt and uncle currently live in the house that he grew up in and that is where we are going to stay. His mom is going to come to Indian Head from Somerset, PA where she lives. It will be really good to see them all and to catch up on the happenings in everyone's lives.

A few things we are going to do while we are up there are:

• We are going into the city of Pittsburgh on Thursday. We are going to visit the University of Pittsburgh campus (where Keith got his Masters degrees). Hopefully I will finally be able to see the Heinz Chapel that Keith has been telling me about for 3 years. I haven't been able to see it up until now because the only time we have been up there for an extended period of time is around Christmas and New Year's and it's always been closed. I know that he has been looking forward to showing it to me and I am excited to finally see it. (Side note - he was planning on proposing to me in the Chapel in January 2006 when we were on our way back home from visiting his family, but my engagement ring - which he had special ordered - wasn't ready before we left for the trip. He also really wanted to get married in that Chapel but of course, since we were living in Richmond at the time, it made more sense to get married there.)

• We are also going to have dinner with an old friend of Keith's while we are in Pittsburgh. Liz and Keith were in library school together at Pitt and they have maintained contact for the past 10 years. I first met Liz & her husband at our wedding and then we had lunch with her when we were up in PA for the holidays last year. After lunch, we went back to her house and hung out with her and her husband and met her kids (she has three children who are in their late teens/early twenties). We had a lot of fun spending time with them last year and I am very much looking forward to seeing her again.

• On Saturday, Keith's aunt Kay is having a "Thanksgiving Dinner" for the family since we will not be able to be there on Thanksgiving Day. Keith's cousin, her husband and her two teenage kids will be joining us for dinner. In addition to the yummy food that we are going to have, I am also looking forward to the conversation, laughter and fun that we are going to have while we are all together. Keith's cousin's husband is a HUGE game fanatic. He loves to play cards or a board game or anything! So, no doubt we will be playing something fun and having a great time.

• On our way home on Sunday, Keith and I are going to stop at the Jean Bonnet Tavern in Bedford, PA. The Tavern is a place that Keith has been telling me about ever since we started dating. It is nothing fancy but a restaurant that Keith really likes. Every time we pass by it on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, we say we should stop, but for one reason or another, we don't. So, this time, in celebration of our actual 1st anniversary on Sunday, we are going to stop at the Tavern and have dinner. It's another thing I am looking forward to and I am sure it's going to be great!

Now, I have to get off this computer so I can finish doing laundry and get all packed up. It should be a fun and interesting adventure. I will blog when we get back and hopefully have fun stories to tell.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!