Adventures in Virginia!

I have to say, Virginia was so much fun! We stayed very busy, but we were able to see so much in our week stay with Mom and Dad. 

The Capital in DC.

Our favorite museum by far was the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. It was absolutely amazing! We will be going back here in the future.

Grandma Debby bought Eli a squid. I had to put this picture in here because it has become a favorite stuffed animal of Eli's. Eli likes to give all his animals personalities and this squid has been embraced by his animal family.

If you look closely in this picture both Brian and I are stressed, but the kids delighted... Well, there were signs everywhere saying "quiet please" and both Eli and Otto were making loud echo noises... ohhh boy!

The Natural History Museum had a butterfly garden...

Relaxing at Mom and Dad's... and Brian is letting their dog Radar sit in his lap! never thought I would see this - and he really did like holding the dog.

Race Car Driving

Dad took Brian out in his cobra for a spin... In the first picture they were getting strapped in. Then Dad let Brian take me out for a ride... ;)

Learning all about Grandpa Gary's Work....

We went and checked out the helicopters Grandpa Gary flies. It was really fun for all of us! The last picture is a video.

Virginia Beach!

We spent one day at Virginia Beach. It was so much fun! It was Eli's first experience with the ocean. He was a little uncertain at first- due to all the blue planet ocean videos where there are so many creatures in the ocean- but in the end he loved it! He played in the water with Brian for hours. I think our next visit to VA we will have to spend a couple days at the beach!

Also- the last one is a video!

Brian and I under the pier.

Mom enjoyed hanging out on the beach with Otto. She drank beer and fed Otto Ritz crackers. By the way he choose to sit in the stroller. I had him in the sand in the beginning and then he just crawled over to the stroller and wanted to sit in it - so there he sat the whole time watching everyone... and eating crackers.

Making sand castles...

Brian found a couple of shark eggs on the beach! Yikes!

Otto watching the sea gulls.

This is a video of Eli finding a worm... or something like that.

Chatting with Eli

Eli's Latest Paintings

Spider Web

Broken Water Snake

Bye bye! See ya' later!

Eli with Grandpa Dave and Grandma Kay in Taylorsville lake. Eli is being silly and saying that he is going to swim away.

Otto's 1st Birthday!

We celebrated Otto's birthday with Brian's parents when they visited over Labor Day weekend.

The cake... decorated by Papa. 

Otto starring at and playing with his birthday balloon.

The cake and Otto. 

yum!

Grandpa Dave and Grandma Kay came down for a visit over the Labor Day weekend. We had so much fun hanging out and visiting some of our favorite places together.

Grandpa Dave and Eli on the boat at Taylorsville Lake

Riding the carousel at the zoo

I know my eyes are closed here, but I love how the background is blurry and we are in focus- showing how fast we are going! 

Eating at Lynn's Paradise Cafe

Watching Fish with Otto

Little Otto and I had a brief conversation here about some fish. He was so excited about all the underwater life - I loved how he like to point at the fish and make noises.

Chirping Frogs

At the Newport Aquarium there were some frogs that made chirping sounds when you pressed a button on their back. Otto was overjoyed, so I thought I would catch some video of him to share.

Taylorsville Lake

We have discovered a very relaxing and enjoyable place to visit on our days off... Taylorsville Lake. It is a little out of town, but the drive is worth it! The lake is a very peaceful and family friendly place where we can anchor and swim or float (and once the little ones get bigger ski and tube!) 

Levi jumping off the back... he's 5 and fearless.

Judah with his karate air move... and his mama Danielle and brother Levi in the water. Every picture I got of him I only got his legs- he's just too fast!

Brian and Eli

Eli and Me... and the alligator.

Otto

Otto's 1st Birthday!

Otto turned 1 on September 1st! Brian took the day off and we traveled up to Cincinnati as a family for the day. We enjoyed a picnic birthday lunch by the Ohio River! It was too windy to light the candle, but Otto didn't seem to mind. He was just delighted that we were giving him sooo much attention - he was all smiles and baby squeals. After lunch we ventured to the Newport Aquarium where we explored life under water...

Boys...

Otto opening his gift with Eli's help. Eli painted the wrapping paper!

Otto climbing into his tonka truck.

Can you see how delighted he is here... it was so sweet to see Otto just savor the attention.

Mama helping, since I was hoping not to have a clothes change.

Otto and butter cream frosting- yum!

Sharks! This picture was taken in a room that has a huge glass wall the size of a movie screen. When we walked in Eli immediately said "This is not safe! We need to go! This is not safe Papa!" After we explained to Eli that the fish wouldn't get us he calmed down a bit and enjoyed watching the sharks and fish. We even got to see some divers go in the water and feed a couple sharks!

Littleness...

Do you remember the days when you could fit into a 5 gallon bucket... and be in total bliss? I don't, but watching Eli play surely brings me back to moments of childhood joy! I love this little guy he makes me laugh and appreciate life everyday.