Santa 2013

For the 3rd year in a row we took Deuce to see Santa at the Chesapeake Square Mall in Virginia. He was so excited and immediately asked for a set of Tennessee Football Men. Check out the past pictures with Santa: 2011 and 2012. It's amazing to look back and see how much he's changed (and how he refused to sit with Santa back in 2011 and looked so little in that same big green chair!)

Summer Catch Up

Man, I am so behind. I haven't posted hardly anything about our summer at all! We have been so busy that now I feel like I'll never get caught up posting everything I want to. I'll start with our trip to Virginia for July 4th.

My uncle my dad and 2 uncles live in the Tidewater area of Virginia. This is where I was born. We decided as a family when we were in Knoxville back in April that we wanted to do a week at the beach together and start a tradition that we can carry on for many years to come. It was kind of a late start for planning for this many people so my Uncle Ricky offered up his house to all of us. There were so many people staying in the house but that made it so much fun! This right here is what we did all week.

We had perfect weather. Every day. If you don't have one of these floaty things for your toddler, purchase one immediately. Well summer's almost over, but for next year. This one came from Wal-Mart and was like $13. They are the best things ever! Deuce could totally swim on his own and I didn't have to hold him the whole time. Once he learned that he could jump off the side, go all the way under and come right back up...we couldn't keep him out of the pool. He loved having his puddle jumper on.

I only left the house one time all week. Friday night we decided to go out to dinner in Yorktown to hear a band on the waterfront. If there is a drum set visible, Deuce wants to be near it.

There was a fountain/pond in the middle of this place and there were the biggest fish ever in it so Ed took Deuce to see them. He was so used to jumping in the pool that I kept thinking that he was just going to jump right on in the pond.

We had reservations at a Mexican restaurant nearby so we walked. Deuce didn't want to hold anybody's hand. He looked like he should be getting ready for kindergarten the way he was walking with all of the adults. There were about 25 of us at one long table and if you know our family, we are not quiet. Especially not after some Patron and Tequila Sunrise's.

(Dad's new girlfriend Kathy. *Totally love her!* She was thrown to the wolves and introduced to the whole family, including me and Laura, all at once. I think we passed her test and she definitely passed ours!)

Somebody decided to tell the waiter that it was Jenny's birthday, even though it wasn't, and they brought out the big sombreros for her to wear. Guess who decided they though they should wear them...

Yeah, Ed too. Saturday was a big day at the house. It was our last full day there so Uncle Ricky fired up the boat and out into the ocean we went. Deuce went on his first boat ride into the ocean and he loved it! He loved to "go fast" and then said he wanted to swim with Nemo and Dory. For realz...

So I jumped in off the side of the boat and guess what... he followed! He kept saying "Nemo & Dory in water" while pointing his finger down. We swam for a little while and when we were getting back into the boat we noticed a dolphin nearby. We were trying to point it out to Deuce and as we were looking for it, we kept seeing more and more dolphins. There had to be at least 30-40 of them and they were swimming all around us (pretty far away so it wasn't weird or anything) but it seemed like no matter which way you looked, if you stared into the horizon, there were dolphins swimming, jumping, and playing. I have seen plenty of dolphins before, they come by mom's beach house every day. But I had never seen this many at one time. It was really neat.

On the way back to the house, Ali Baba (aka my Uncle Ricky) let Deuce "drive" the boat. He was so excited. As the house came into view he kept saying, "home! home!"

Back at the house we spent the rest of the day by the pool. We ordered pizza and stayed at the pool until well after dark. Then we had a dance party upstairs, which is customary for my family.

When you have this much of my family together, there is sure to be plenty of alcohol flowing. Me and TJ dove for Corona bottle caps in the pool while Deuce gave Laura a bath...

floating pool cooler is a must!

I know this is super dark but if you look closely you can see his bright orange shorts and how he dances non-stop!

Everyone formed a circle around him...

To top the night off, we had homemade peach ice cream (another first for Deuce) and he loved it. Ate every last bit. I can't even begin to describe to you how much I love being with my family. This was the best July 4th I think I've ever had. I swam, got sun, went on the boat, took a nap everyday and laughed so hard my face hurt. It doesn't get much better than this...

Vacation in Chesapeake

I mentioned before that Laura and I took Deuce to see my dad in Chesapeake for a few days back in December. The purpose of the visit was to get away from the chaos at home and spend some relaxing quality time with dad. We had such a good time. Laura had to work on Thursday so we waited at mom's house for her. We walked to see the horses, visit Rascal's grave and played in the grass. When we got to Virgina, Pop had a spaghetti dinner already made for us.

We took Deuce to see Santa on Friday and did a little shopping. We ate lunch at the Picadilly (aka K&W for you Chapel Hill folks) and then headed over to Hampton to make a special visit. We went to see the lady that kept me and Laura when we were little. We lived in the house across the street from her and she watched us every day until we made the transition to daycare. I can't even tell you the last time that we saw her but she looked just as I remembered. Deuce was so loving to her and he gave her hug after hug after hug. It was so neat to think that her memories of me were from when I was the same age as Deuce...29 years ago!

After we left Hampton, we stopped to pick up dinner and then went back to dad's. We stayed in for the rest of the night and watched some Christmas specials on TV. We were in bed at a decent time and I woke up at 7:30 feeling relaxed and refreshed. Saturday we went to Yorktown to my Uncle Ricky's house. It was a treat to see him two weekends in a row {he was in Knoxville with us the weekend prior}. That is rare. Uncle Ricky lives in a waterfront home on the Potomac River and he and Alice prepared a yummy Mexican lunch for us. My cousins were all there and we even got to meet Baby Carter. It was strange to see Deuce with another baby and him be the toddler and not the baby. He kept wanting to hold Carter. Then when I was holding Carter, he would immediately want my help with something or would want to get in my lap. I got a brief taste of what my girlfriends with 2 under 2 go through. And that's why I'm not planning on having another baby any time soon, lol!!

After we left Uncle Ricky's house we went to a Christmas party for one of my dad's best friends from childhood. He lives in Washington state now but was home for the holidays so there was a holiday gathering. We met several of my dad's friends from childhood and Deuce had a great time running around and being the center of attention. He was not shy at all! After we left the party, we drove around Hampton to look at all of the Christmas lights. I really wanted Deuce to see them because I knew he would enjoy saying "oooooh and ahhhhh" but he conked out as soon as we got in the car. So he missed them. But we still wanted to go because Laura and I have memories of going to see the lights every year when we were little and lived in Hampton.

We spent most of the day Sunday hanging out and watching TV before we left about 2:30 to head back home. I think I will be making more visits to Chesapeake in the near future. I really enjoy seeing my dad hang out with Deuce and I think my dad may enjoy it even more!

he ate just about the entire bag of goldfish in one morning.