Happy 4th of July!

We started the day with absolutely nothing planned. And in the end, the day turned out to be lots of fun! Alex decided it was time for us to buy a volleyball net (we have a sand volleyball court in the park behind our house), so we put up the net and played 2 vs 2 with my sister and her husband. Man are my arms sore!

We worked up an appetite playing volleyball, so we headed inside. Alex heated up the grill and put some burgers on, and Megan and I made dessert. You can read more about our flag cake here. Nicole was ready to dive right into the cake!


Somewhere in between we decided to make s'mores, because what's more American than s'mores?! We just used the hot coals from the grill, and it worked out nicely. Nikki was a big fan!


And in the end, we got to enjoy some fireworks from our backyard. Happy 4th of July!

The BIG 3-0!

Yesterday was Alex's birthday, and sadly he had to go to work. But, we celebrated as much as we could when we saw him! We started the day with buttermilk waffles, strawberries, and whipped cream. Alex worked really hard and got all of his reports out so that he could come home a little early. We opened presents with Nicole, and then my sister, Megan, babysat so that Alex and I could go out.


We went to dinner at a local pub that everyone raves about. Our review? Eh, it's ok. But it was fun, and now we can say that we've been there! Then we headed to the movies. Every year around Alex's birthday there is a new Disney Pixar film out, and it has been our tradition to go and see it for his birthday. So, we went and saw "Up." Cute film. Very enjoyable.


When we got home, we ate some birthday cake with Megan and Andrew. Alex's request this year? German chocolate cake! Yum! Happy Birthday, Alex!

Happy Father's Day

We had a great Father's Day, starting with Alex not having to go to meetings before church! We had blueberry sour cream pancakes, bacon, and sausage for breakfast. Nicole gave daddy her present in a picture frame:



Alex grilled up some hamburgers for dinner, and then we had hamburgers and fries for dessert (thanks to Bakerella for the idea!). It was almost too cute to eat.

Nicole's Birthday!

I have a 1-year-old. Ahhh! Nikki had a great birthday and was lucky enough to have her Grandma there for the party. We went into the city to have lunch with Alex, and then Alex came home a little early from work to start the party.

Nicole got to eat her dinner all by herself - spaghetti noodles with ham and peas and cheese (all things she loves). And then we did the birthday cake! She was so cute - totally surprised that we were letting her play with her food. It took a little while, but she demolished the cake and ate quite a bit, too! Here's a before and after shot.

After cake, we opened presents. She got some very cool things, like a quiet book that her Grandma made, and a foam play mat. Happy Birthday to my big girl!

Visit from Grandma!

Alex's mom came to visit for a week and we had a ton of fun and kept very busy! We drove down to Virginia to see Alex's uncle and aunt and stayed with them for a night. I forgot my camera so we don't have any pictures, but we went to the Manassas Battlefield and walked around there. Then we went up to the Washington DC Temple and Alex's mom babysat Nicole while Alex and I did a session. On our journey back to Philadelphia, we stopped in Baltimore at the Broadway Diner (it was featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives). It was everything a diner should be - a cool metallic boxcar building, the diner crowd, a huge menu with everything you could ever want, and a glass case full of their desserts!

We went to Fort Washington State Park and enjoyed a little picnic and walk there, and we went to Longwood Gardens. Nicole's favorite part was definitely the children's garden in the conservatory where they had water features for the kids to play in. She was soaking wet by the time we left!

We went into the city and had lunch with Alex at Rittenhouse Square. We got some falafel sandwiches (my first time having falafel) and they were delicious! We also stopped at a gelato shop and tried just about every flavor they had. Yum!

On the last day with Grandma, we went to Chestnut Hill and walked around all of the shops there. The highlights are always Robertson's Flowers, the Philadelphia Print Shop, and Penzey's Spices. We had lots of fun and Nicole already misses her Grandma!

Trip to the Outer Banks

We just spent a week in Duck, NC and had tons of fun! Alex really needed a vacation, and my mom was nice enough to let us use the timeshare. The Wilde's had some time off from school and were thinking of heading to the Outer Banks so we just went together. There are going to be lots of pictures in this post!

On our way down we stopped at Chincoteague Island in Virginia. We didn't really know what to do, so we just went to a park. The park actually ended up being a lot of fun and we spent a good bit of time there playing around. Nicole really enjoyed the assortment of things to do on the playground!



When we got to Duck, it was pretty windy and cold. Our resort was beachside, so we walked out to check out the beach. The next day Alex had to work, so I went with the Wilde's to the Currituck Beach Lighthouse and climbed to the top. It was really windy up top, but it was a beautiful view.

The Currituck Beach Lighthouse
Landon gave Nicole quite a ride on the rocking chair!

Alex and Troy tried surfing for the first time. And Nicole got to play in the sand and go in a swimming pool for the first time.
The Wilde's were nice enough to babysit while Alex and I went out for a belated Anniversary dinner. We both got some seafood at a fancy restaurant - it was delicious!
We visited the Wright Brothers Memorial which was pretty neat. They show you where the first flights started from and have markers showing how far they traveled with each sequential flight.
My little astronaut...
We made a few stops on the drive home - Alex wanted some authentic NC bbq so we went to the Currituck BBQ Company. So good! And we stopped at Chincoteague Island again and got some ice cream at the Island Creamery. They make the best waffle cones! Nicole was loving the ice cream! I think these will both be places we stop everytime we trek down to the south!

Mark & Cat Visit

My brother, Mark, sister-in-law, Cat, and their kids, Matt and Ethan came for a visit last Saturday. They are moving back to the states from Japan where my brother was stationed for the military. Cat's family is in Virginia so they started their trek there. Then they stopped to see us, headed to Denver to see my brother's family, and now they're in Utah. Their final destination is in Monterrey, California.

It was a lot of fun to see them, especially because we don't know when we'll see them again. We got some dinner at a local pizza shop and the boys enjoyed playing with their Uncle Alex. On Sunday we headed out to Valley Forge. We got to see a bunch of reenactors at the campsite, which was kind of fun.