Happy 30th Anniversary Mom and Dad V!

For Mom and Dad V's 30th Anniversary all the kids pitched in to surprise them with a weekend family vacation to Bethany Beach, Delaware.  It was a wonderful time and we were so bummed to only stay for a short time. Our house was in walking distance of the beach so we were beach bums for the majority of the daylight hours that we were vacationing.  Justin and Jessica treated the whole family to a crab feast dinner and I made a "knock your socks off" chocolate cake.  It is very rare that all ten (!I know big family!) of us are in one place at once so it was very special.  We hope to do it again soon.  Enjoy the pictures (the supreme quality ones are from Paige's spiffy new camera). I apologize for the random order of it all. 

Madam Beach Babe

Doing dishes with Daddy

Tech baby

excited for Daddy to come play with her

She was obsessed with taking pictures of herself

playing cards with Dada

Watching the waves with Grandma

waiting for Dada to come back from the beach

relaxing

You got to learn how to play cards in this family early.

The whole family! Pick your favorite of the two.

Greg ended up breaking his boogie board because the waves were so rough

Tight squeeze in the back of the Mazda

Grandma and Ava at dinner

My happy goofy girl

taking a stroll to the back yard

going on a walk with Uncle Eric

Hanging out with Grandma

She was going to take a picture of Paige but decided that she wanted to take a picture of herself instead

Aunt Paige is even nice enough to let her play with her supreme camera

Hanging out

digging with Grandma

The girls all headed out early in the morning 

Sand toy time

Beach Beauty Can 

Posing with Pretty Aunt Paige

The guys soaking in the rays

Of course Jess' bag, bathing suit, sunglasses, and coverup all match :) 

You can't all three boys together without wrestling happening

boys will be boys

Paige was brave enough to boogie board in the freezing water!

I think that is Eric and Justin

playing cards with Aunt Paige

She spent about half the vacation on Grandpa's lap :) 

Eric digging

Paige our family photographer

Jess and I read a lot of the day (it was cold in the AM that is why we were both wearing long sleeves to start off with)

Ava having fun with Uncle Eric

Card Time

Giggling with Grandma

Ava was so excited to use the mallet 

Crab feast!

Ava chowing down on chocolate cake

Ava LOVED these little animals that squeak and do flips on the boardwalk

Father Son Snow Cone!

More Lake Pictures

These are the pictures off of Dad V's camera

Ava goofing off with Uncle Justin

I can't remember exactly why I was laughing so hard (I think it was because the pie I made was so disgusting) but this is the hardest I have laughed in about 3 months.

Greg laughing at my nasty pie

The fruit pie was a lot more pretty than it was tasty

Playing cards with Dada

What a good first mate

Talking to Grandpa on the Jet Ski

Way Cool

Paddle Boating with Grandma

Great quality time with her Grandma!

Introducing BABY BRUTE

Or Shall we say, MISS Brute? 

Greg was able to come to my ultrasound and we found out the big news that we are having another girl! We are very excited and cherished the 45 minutes we got to see her moving around during the ultrasound. Baby Brute is in great health and is measuring to deliver around October 20th.  My due date has not moved however because the Navy will wait up to 7 days after your due date to induce labor.  We are keeping the October 17th due date so that if I need to be induced the absolute latest this will happen is October 24th (Greg leaves the 25th for deployment). We are crossing our fingers that he will be able to be there for the birth. Miss Brute was kicking, dancing, waving, and had her bottom in my belly button during the ultrasound. She seems like quite the character already. 

Many people have asked about why she is named Baby Brute. During the first two ultrasounds both technicians exclaimed, "WOW that is a BIG baby".  Baby Brute did not move during either of those exams even when provoked by the ultrasound wand. We then decided that she was a giant baby hibernating who was just waiting to awake and surprise us all.....so the name "Brute" became the nickname.  We have softened it to be Miss Brute or Baby Brute to add a feminine touch.  However during that last ultrasound she was definitely AWAKE and put on a 5 star show. Ava now lifts up my shirt and yells "BABY!!!!" and then does the sign for "gentle".  I think she will enjoy having a partner in crime soon. 

These are the legs that have been constantly kicking me since May 16th. She was actually WAVING to us! The girl already loves the camera. She weighed 9 ounces on May 22nd. 

First Lake Trip of the Summer

The Valdez lake house is always the ultimate escape. Thank you Mom and Dad V for hosting yet another great weekend.

The Ava Toss

Ava being more adventurous with Daddy at the lake. She definitely prefers the lake to the beach because of the absence of waves. 

Sun bathing with Mommy 

Still prefers sitting in chairs rather than sand.

She is ready for the day

Uncle Justin trying to entice her into some football but the Diva is not quite into sports yet..

She was all about Grandpa and Uncle Justin this weekend. 

Jess gaging from cuddling Greg

Ava loving on her God Father.

A "Wicked" Experience.....

It was a "Wicked" Girls night out...ok enough of the play on words. We were SO lucky that Gregory Maguire (best known as author for Wicked) happened to be close friends to the woman who ran the Chesapeake Library (which is 10 minutes from both Christine and I) and she called in a favor for him to do a book reading. Mr. Maguire flew in for the night from Massachusetts and did three readings from each of the books in the "Wicked Years" series.  Afterwards he answered questions for 35 minutes and then signed books for 3 hours.  He was hilarious, engaging, charismatic, and inspiring.  It was fascinating to learn his thoughts behind creating Elphoba's name, how he brainstorms when he writes, and his advice for aspiring writers. Christine and I had an amazing time and are looking forward to reading the rest of his books. 

It was a packed house!

I highly recommend his books on tape because he is hysterical reading his characters.

Reading from "A Lion among Men". 

We met him! So kind to sign our books, have a short conversation, and sign our play bills. 

SHWING! Yes I was the nerd who showed up in the Wicked T-shirt.