September Travels

We were busy busy during the month of September.  Gone, then home for a few days, gone again, home again.  Whew!  Glad to be home to stay for a little while.  :)

We took our 2nd Outer Banks vacation with the Ball Family and the Charles Family.  We had a great time!  Very relaxing.  And despite the mosquitoes which were brewed up by Hurricane Irene the beach was quite nice most of the week.  It got cold and rainy at the very end of the week but we were going home so no matter.  :)

We were home for a week and then turned around, got on a plane and flew up to Pittsburgh.  We were there for the GCC Homecoming but also to spend time with good friends that I miss dearly!  We stayed with Jenna and Danny who graciously opened their cute little Pittsburgh home to us.  We had a great time catching up with everyone!

Outer Banks Vacation

We just got back from one of two Outer Banks vacations that we are taking this year.  This past week we stayed in Duck with the Camp Family.  Levi was sick for most of it which dampened the fun a bit but we made the most of it.  He wasn't sleeping well and was waking at the crack of dawn every morning so I figured I might as well take advantage of it.  So Thursday morning I drug Mike and Levi down to the beach for a little photo shoot.  Haley (she was up super early that morning too) came along too but she wasn't crazy about getting dirty or getting her picture taken - as you can see.  :)

Beach!

Last weekend we went on trip #1 (out of 3) to the beach.  We spent a long weekend in North Myrtle Beach with some friends.  We had a great time!  Levi did pretty well - pretty normal for him at least (he definitely had his moments).  Mike and I even got to enjoy a very nice evening out to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary (which happened to be the Friday night we were there).  Overall, we had a relaxing and fun weekend!  :)

Vacay at the Outer Banks

This past week we took a week long vacation with friends to the Outer Banks.  Vacation with a almost 3 month old isn't exactly relaxing but we had a good time nontheless.  :)  The week started out a little rocky but once we figured out how to get little Levi to sleep (& momma too!) we were pretty good for the rest of the week.  Despite baby woes, the beach was wonderful and we had a great time with our good friends.  We are looking forward to next year's trip when Levi will be big and playing in the sand!  Here are some pictures (not as many as I would like) from this past week.

Western Carolina

This past weekend we were invited by our friends, John & Kati (no relation to the TV show!), to their parent's vacation home in western North Carolina.  Along with John, Kati, their 2 children, and us, we were also joined by Matt & Karen and their 2 little ones.  The cabin was very pretty and just perfect to fit us all.  We mostly hung out and relaxed but we did get out and about a little bit.  On Saturday morning, we headed to Chimney Hill, NC.  We walked through a few shops and then we went gem mining.  We had so much fun!  The kids loved it as well as the adults.  It was definitely "fake" gem mining but it was still cool.  Here are a few pictures of our adventure out on Saturday.

Trip to the Southwest

This past weekend we traveled to New Mexico and Arizona for a long weekend. We spent 2 days in New Mexico with Mike's Aunt Barbara and Uncle Kurt. We had a great time hanging out with them and exploring the Albuquerque area! Aunt Barbara took us to a preserved Indian Pueblo, the city's Festival of Lights, Old Town, a natural land art exhibit, a casino (!) and lots of good food. Saturday morning we caught a flight to Tucson, Arizona. We got some lunch and checked into our hotel to get ready for a wedding that evening. That evening we attended a wedding for one of Mike's co-workers from IBM. It was a lovely evening and the couple was gorgeous. Sunday morning we hung out at our fancy hotel and even ordered room service for breakfast! Sunday afternoon we caught our flight back into RDU. Here is a picture of the two of us walking around the desert landscape of Arizona. I'll try to put up more pictures in the near future!

One Year Ago

One year ago, exactly, Mike and I started our adventure to Ireland. We started out in the morning and drove to Washington D.C. where we meet my dad so he could take us to the airport and then subsequently store our car during our trip. We boarded the plane that evening and spent the whole night flying over the Atlantic. To remember our AWESOME trip I have collected a few pictures to share. One from each day to be exact. :)


Whew! That was harder than I thought it would be! I wanted to include every picture. :)

Some pictures from vacation!

Right before Katie & Greg's wedding, Mike and I spent a week at Myrtle Beach with some good friends. :) We had a lovely week just hanging out and relaxing on the beach. Here are some pictures that didn't make it onto the blog before the wedding (life was just too busy!).

The boys going boggie boarding (i.e. escaping the children!).

Having a grand time at the beach!

So tired! :)


Mini-golf!

Little Ashley - love this girl!

Us...our normal self-portrait picture!

Jack & Ella playing with their sand toys.

The whole gang!