OBX Vacation August 2010

We had a wonderful vacation this year, like we do every year, in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We stayed in the town of Kill Devil Hills, right near the famous strip of sandy land that the Wright brothers first flew from. The drive to Virginia was smooth, but the traffic to the beach was baaad. That was probably the only bad part of the trip as we enjoyed family, friends, the sun and a lot of downtime.

Tyler, Pepere and Dan at the Wright Bros Monument



We enjoyed eating out a few times and we all ate at the Tale of the Whale, which is right on the water. It was a good spot to take some family pictures.






Tyler is a bit scared of the ocean, so we spent a good amount of time in the pool.




Every year we head to the dunes for a sunset walk, and Tyler was really able to enjoy it and do a lot of going up and down the dunes.






We got to spend time with our good friends Josh and Cristen at the beach as well.


Once we got to Virginia, we had time to get Tyler out in the sprinkler (the very same sprinkler that Jen used when she was a kid!)









We also had time to visit Jen's great Aunt Margaret. She had been sick and so we made sure to visit her while we were in Virginia. Aung Margaret went to be with the Lord just about a week ago so we were thankful to spend time with her.

Leaky Weekend

Unfortunately we haven't had a chance to take pictures, but this was an exciting and busy weekend. We ended up having multiple unexpected leaks in the house.

Leak #1: Our kitchen faucet hose was getting pretty frayed so we decided to replace it. Simple plumbing task, right? Well, maybe for an actual plumber. Dan successfully removed the old hose and successfully attached the new hose. Unfortunately the new hose leaked from both the supply and faucet connections. Not good.

Leak #2: Jen and I had just finished putting Tyler down for a nap and we were standing out in the hallway on the 3rd floor when we noticed water starting to trickle down the wall from the light switch. That of course meant our water heater was leaking directly above us. The good news was that it wasn't the water heater, it was the hot water pipe out of the water heater it had ruptured, so we spent a lot of time cleaning up and emptying the tank out with 1 gallon buckets.

Leak #3: Tyler is officially a big boy. A few weeks ago Jen bought the potty training equipment. We have been having him sit down on his little boy potty for a while and then he reads his Elmo Potty book. Well, on Saturday Tyler used the potty for the first time and has since done it 4 times. We have a long way to go but this has been a very exciting step.

We got leaks 1 & 2 fixed this morning for what I'm sure will be a princely sum by a real plumber. Leak #3, we hope, will continue.

Elemental Milestone

After six years, the Element keeps on ticking. Looks great and is working great. The car was paid off this year, so hopefully we can keep it going for another 100k, but that will get more challenging with each kid.

Sam's 4th Birthday Party

Today we were invited to attend our friend's Marc and Kate's oldest son Sam's birthday party. We had a blast catching up with our friends, but the big hit of the day for Tyler was playing with the big boys and eating cake. So we consider this day a success.

4th of July 2010

Last weekend for the 4th, we went down to Dan's friend Andy's family's house on the south shoure of Mass. in a town called Marshfield. We had a great time with friends and watching the fireworks. The next day we went to the beach and saw our Uncle Mike and Aunt Jen and cousins too! Later we got to hang out in the park and play Croquet. Tyler was quite taken with the whole thing! (Images by Kate S.)

Andrew's 5th Birthday Party

It was a weekend of birthdays...

Jen and Tyler were able to go to our nephew Andrew's 5th birthday party on Friday. Sarah had the party at one of those kids exercise places so everyone got a good workout and had a lot of fun. Tyler wanted his Aunt Sarah to hold him the whole time and I think the birthday boy had a great time. I hear the cake and ice cream were pretty good too.













Here's some video of Tyler dancing to the music...

Maegan and Josh's Wedding

A few weekends ago Jen and I had the chance to escape from Boston and head up to the coast of Maine for our friends Maegan and Josh's wedding. It was located in Boothbay Harbor. We were able to attend a lobster bake, a harbor cruise, explore the town and enjoy a beautiful wedding on a picturesque day. Everything was perfect... Even better was were able to leave Tyler and Kenzie at home with Jen's parents (Thanks!). So all in all a great weekend.