Yeah for Fall!

We broke out the leg warmers and jean skirt today. I still need to teach Madeline how to sit like a lady :) but she is so darn cute!

Wrightsville

We capped off a great birthday week for me by going to Wrightsville for a few days. Clay had been to the resort for a meeting when he worked in Atlanta and wanted to take me there at some point so he decided it would be a great bday present- and it was!! The weather was perfect and it was lots of fun to see Madeline and Jack enjoy themselves so much!

Madeline discovered sand this trip. She literally sat and ate handful after handful.

She also loved seaweed. Don't worry- I didn't let her swallow any of it!

Clay bought a raft and used it as a boogie board for Jack. He loved riding the waves!

How lucky am I to spend my 33rd bday with these cuties???

And my handsome husband!!

Our suite had a half bath so we put Madeline's pack and play in there! It worked great and she seemed quite happy!

Love this chubby girl!

I had a wonderful birthday week!!

Maeve comes to visit!

Mom, Shannon and Maeve made the trip over the mountain and across NC to see us last week. It was so fun to have them here.

Halloween pajamas

We went to Marbles Children's Museum on Tuesday and Jack and Maeve had a blast. Here they built a house out of huge legos and then enjoyed knocking it all down and then building it up again.

We celebrated my bday with cupcakes from Knoxville's Cupcakery. They were yummy! Maeve doesn't look please here but she loved the cupcakes! And Shannon would want me to tell you she is 8 months prego b/c I know she isn't going to like this pic!

We had a great time and wish we lived closer and could do it more often!

First Day of School and then some

Jack started school on Wednesday. He was very excited! We switched schools this year so I was nervous he wouldn't be okay at the beginning. Clay and I brought him to his classroom and he walked right in and never even turned around to say goodbye! We are very blessed with a social child who loves being with other kids!

Jack's buddy, Brooke, who is in his class (and lives behind us).
Madeline learned to clap hands this week. So stinking cute!

This morning we went up to the store where they had a "green your home" event. The Hurricanes were out with their mascot- Stormy the Pig- and their hockey blow up goal. Jack enjoyed both!

Labor Day Weekend

We had a low-key weekend trying to regroup from our trip. I took the kids to a great new playground in Cary. While Jack played, I did a photoshoot with the cutest subject!

This is seriously how Madeline looks at Jack all the time. It is like she is saying "You are the coolest person I know." It makes me laugh!

Having built playgrounds for a living, I love to find cool new ones in town. This one on Walnut Street has the latest and greatest including a Playweb. Jack tried it but will probably need another year or two to get it.

We also did the monthly Kids Workshop at Depot. Clay and Jack built a bean bag toss.

Washington, DC

On Sunday August 23rd we embarked on a week-long roadtrip to NY for my cousin Bridget's wedding via DC and Baltimore. It was quite ambitious but we thought, hey, we have a mini-van, why not?

First Stop- DC. We stayed with some Raleigh friends- The Delgados- who just moved to Northern VA. They were great hosts and their kids were so good to Jack and Madeline. Monday morning we got up and took the Metro into the city. First we went to the KaBOOM! office to see my former co-workers. It was lots of fun to catch up although I felt like a stranger in a place I spent seven years. When I started in 2001, there were 12 of us and now there are over 75 employees! Jack loved all the fun toys in the office.

Every office has one of these, right?

Madeline found some toys too!

Then we headed over to the Mall and the Air and Space Museum. We had high hopes for this with Jack but he lasted about 20 minutes. We'll try again in a few years!

Jack enjoyed the Natural History Museum more though and loved the dinosaurs!

I am "hope"ing for this baby for our 5th anniversary :)

I tried to get a shot of the crew and the Capitol but it was the end of a long day...

Baltimore

We left NoVa bright and early Tuesday morning and headed over to Baltimore. I have great memories of going to Baltimore as a kid. We would always go when my dad played the Orioles. Shannon and I loved shopping in the Inner Harbor b/c they had Contempo Casual. Do you remember that store? It was the 90s version of Forever 21. Anyway, we had planned to take Jack to the aquarium but seeing how his attention span was about 20 minutes at the DC museums we decided to not spend $60 for a quick run through the fish. Instead we spent $15 and Clay and Jack got to go on cool boats in the harbor. It was a beautiful day!

Buying the boat tickets

On the submarine




On the USS Constellation- a ship from the Civil War

While the boys were on the ship, Madeline and I snacked on cookies from Vaccaro's, a great Italian bakery. She loved hers!

Clay's childhood babysitter, Michelle, lives in Baltimore and we met her for a seafood lunch. She is the news director at the NBC affiliate so we enjoyed hearing great stories!

After lunch we wandered over to a fountain park. Jack was unsure at first but about 5 minutes later he was loving it!

Happy girl!

And why is this guy smiling?

B/c he has a crab hat and a Dora ice cream! What could be better? We stripped Jack down after the fountains but didn't have a change of clothes so he walked around the harbor like this, insisting on wearing the crab hat!

Clay let Madeline try some of his bomb pop and she loved it!

That night we stayed with Stamati, Cyndi and Eleni Arakas. Stamati and Clay met in high school at YMCA camp and have stayed friends. They are super nice and we enjoyed hanging out with them. We walked to a great pizza place for dinner and then took the kids to a great playground across the street. And yes, Jack wore the crab hat the whole night.

Westtown

We got in the car Wednesday and left Baltimore for NY. On our way we stopped outside of Philadelphia to visit Westtown School. It is the Quaker boarding school that Clay's grandfather went to for high school. Clay wanted to check out it so we made a little detour.

We found Da's class picture and the plaque with his name as Student Body President 1939-40.

In the Dining Room, there is a large painting by NC Wyeth called "The Giant." It has four children playing on the beach and a giant walking amongst the clouds. Many of the Councills have prints of "The Giant" in their homes. Clay wanted to see the original.