Beach bums

We just got back from a wonderful trip to Virginia Beach...it is so hard coming back from vacation. Heather and I decided a little while ago to take the 'grands' (grandkids) back to see their Nana and Pawpaw and from that morphed a full on beach vacation. The husbands came and my parents rented a condo right on the beach. My oldest sister and her family came, as well as, my Aunt Betty. So it was a family reunion of sorts too! It was awesome seeing all of our family, it is happening less and less it seems...down to twice a year if that. Maybe some day we will live closer together but for now these trips are such treasures.

Our weather was touch and go, rainy and chilly on some days with other days being nice. We spent time between the pool, beach, pier, playground and inside the condo relaxing. Oh and I should probably mention that we ate...a lot... and really good food at that. Justin and I actually were able to go out on a date to celebrate our 5th anniversary. I tried Mahi Mahi for the first time, yum! I also tried scallops and really liked those as well. I am trying to expand my "seafood preferences" beyond just salmon, haha.

We also took a Harbor tour that traveled east on the Elizabeth River and rode by the Naval shipyard. That was interesting to see. Overall that area is just gorgeous, we passed by so many homes with yards that went on forever and huge, old trees that shaded the yards and provided the perfect swing area. Sigh...those are my "some day yards". And if I could live half of the year with a view like the one from our condo I wouldn't complain. 

Caleb loved the beach this visit. Previously he wasn't very fond of the sand but this year he loved digging in it and walking in and out of the tide. He also had at least 5 adults at all times willing to do his bidding so he [unfortunately for me] became very accustomed to that type of attention. Now we are on the post-vacation slump where Caleb feels he needs to be carried everywhere and held constantly. But oh well...twas worth it.

Can't wait til our next visit!

Caleb mastered the word "cheese" on this trip. And he gave us a lot of cheese in all of our pictures. I think you can see his molars from his big toothy grin.

And Emma being her typical, hilarious self. She will give one good smile for every ten silly faces.

Nana with her grands.

Eating seafood at Waterman's...yummy!

Just two dads walking their kids on the Virginia beach boardwalk. haha...

My beautiful sis and her dashing hubby. Sure miss them!

This shot has Justin but Matt and Caleb were not feeling this photo..

Matt and Caleb happy and looking...sans Justin.

Riding a surrey...those are hard work!

Love this picture...but so sad to say goodbye!

March and April

We celebrated Justin's birthday in March by taking a family vacation to Arizona! The Chicago Cubs have their Spring training games in Mesa and Justin thought it would be fun to see a game for his birthday. So we left a few days before the game and stopped through Vegas at our usual hotel stop (J.W. Marriott, if you ever go to Vegas and don't want to stay on the strip, this hotel is amazing!), then drove the rest of the trip the next day. While Mesa wasn't all that impressive of a city, we visited nearby cities and really loved Scottsdale. There was tons of shopping and most importantly it is home to a newly opened Portillo's. Justin LOVES this restaurant, it has many locations back in Chicago but outside of Illinois they really don't exist. We didn't even know about it until we attended the Cubs game and overheard some fellow Chicagoans talking about the Portillo's that just opened. So between the Cubs game and Portillo's it was almost like begin in Chicago for the day! The weather was beautiful and we got some pool time in. The ground of our hotel had orange trees everywhere... I would consider moving to Arizona only if I could have many citrus trees in my yard, yum and beautiful!

On our way home we stopped by the Grand Canyon, that was neat to see, however looked just like I imagined it would from all the photos I've seen. Caleb did pretty good on the road trip but Mom and Dad (we) were totally restless. I think we've agreed to fly to any destination from now on that would be longer than a 6 hour car drive.


After our roadtrip we came home and celebrated Easter! We had a great dinner with family and Caleb really loved picking up the eggs and putting them in his basket.