Early Morning Stroll and Dinner Out...

We started out our day with an early morning walk along the beach.  It was just the three of us and we had a great time! 

Hadley enjoyed hanging out with both mommy and daddy...

During our walk we found lots of cool shells that had washed up during the night.  Hadley had lots of fun touching and exploring them!

When we got back from our walk, the house was very quiet.  Lots of people were sleeping in from a late night of hanging out in the whiskey shack.  The day was warming up quickly so we decided to get in the pool.  Hadley loves the pool and was very excited to get to swim with both mommy and daddy!



Who goes there?

After we were swimming for a little while, everyone else started to wake up and find their way outside.  Hadley and Gabe had fun playing their own version of cornhole...how many bags can you throw in the hole from 1 foot away!

...everyone hanging out poolside w/ the lovely whiskey shack in the background!

After a day full of fun, we all got ready for a dinner out on the town...or more like off the beaten path.  We ate at Blue Pete's, which is a little restaurant in the middle of nowhere and it was phenomenal!  I had angel hair encrusted salmon and Austin had blacked rock fish, which both tasted great. 

Here's a picture of our dinner party left to right: Kenzie, Brandy, Brian, Matt, Jess, Kelly, Hans, Pete, Lilah, Gabe, Holly, Austin, Hadley, Me, Tracey, Hans, Nate, Dan, Jed and Zeb.

The Argiris family:

Our family:

After a nice evening out and a great dinner we went back to the house and called it a night! 

Golf and Pool Day

The days seem to start out with most people gathering in the kitchen/dining room for breakfast and a little "hanging out" time and then we all scatter between the pool and beach.  The kids seemed to be having a great time this morning...and apparently Hadley thought something was pretty funny?

Gabe and Kenzie...

Hans and Hadley...

For a lot of housemates including Austin, the day started off with a friendly game of golf...all 18 holes of it, which means that Austin was gone until the early afternoon.  Don't worry though, Hadley and I enjoyed our time playing in the pool!

...some of our company included Tracey with Hans and Kenzie with her kickboard.

After our pool time Hadley and I headed inside to get ready for the evening.  While I was in the shower Hadley found her own fun...under the sink putting her plumbing skills, or lack thereof, to work!

This vacation is proving to be very relaxing!  We have yet to leave the house via the car and the dinners have been awesome with yet another night of great food: Italian! 

Good Night, Virginia Beach!

Lots of relaxation and beach time!

After a good nights sleep we were ready to tackle the day.  It's kinda crazy being in a house with so many people...there's literally something to do or someone to hang out everywhere you turn!  In the early afternoon, the boys had a friendly game of pool volleyball which looked like so much fun.  Too bad someone had to watch Hadley, or else I would have been playing too!   

Here's another pic from a couple of decks up...

While daddy played volleyball Hadley and I decided to explore the house and all of it's decks a little bit.  Here are some pictures we took on our little excursion.

This is the view from the middle deck on the front of our house.  You can see that we had a great view of the ocean even though we were 2nd row and we were right across the street from on of the sand walks which was very convenient! 

This is a view down the road from the house.  The area that we stayed in wasn't overly populated like many vacation spots can be, which made it even more appealing!

After Austin was done playing volleyball we went out to the beach to hang out with everyone and enjoy a little family time.  This is Hadley's 3rd time to the ocean in her short 13 months of life!  What a lucky little girl, huh?  It took me 17 years to get there.  Anyways, she was right at home.  She loved the water and loved the sand...with a little less eating of the sand this time! 

Can you see my little monkey on the right side of the picture walking out to the water holding her daddy's hand?  Too cute!

Hadley and Gabe talking it up beachside...

Some of the crew lounging in the sand...

Check out Hadley's windy hairdo...

And here are a couple of pictures of Hadley enjoying the ocean with mommy and daddy...

Every evening two families are in charge of dinner and dishes.  Tonight we had Mexican night with tacos, burritos, nachos and much more.  This vacation is a little different for Austin and I as we are used to eating dinner out and lots of exploring that involves the car between our daily beach and pool time.  We did not leave the house at all today!  This vacation will definitely be full of relaxation! 

Virginia Beach, Virginia!

Today starts our week long vacation in Virginia Beach, Virginia.  We will be staying with 20 friends in a big ol' rented house by the beach.  The crew includes: Pete, Holly, Gabe, Lilah, Nate, Tracey, (little) Hans, Matt, Jessica, (big) Hans, Kelly, Brian, Brandy, Kenzie, Dan, Zeb, Jed, Austin, Hadley and me!  We are looking forward to a lot of fun and relaxation.    

 

Home sweet home for the next 6 days...

Our house was named the Aquadesiac.  Kind of suggestive (the house next door was Seaduction), but it really was a family friendly place to stay!

 

We drove through the night last night to make the trip a little easier on Hadley.  I got off work at 8:00 p.m. and we left shortly after that.  Needless to say, when we got to the house we were exhausted.  Here's a pic of Hadley sitting on the bed while we were unpacking after a VERY short nap...as you can see she's wide awake and ready to tackle the day!  We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening getting settled in and relaxing! 

Lake Time with the Norton's...

Tonight was another fun night of entertaining at the lake.  We enjoyed an evening of grilling and boating with Austin's good friend from High School, Randy and his wife Dana.  Randy's parents, Randy (Sr.) and Judi, also came down for the visit.  Randy and Dana live in Florida so we don't get to seem them very often, but when we do, it's always a good time.  We've already planned our next visit: Das Dutchman Essenhaus in December when they're back up for the holidays! 

The previous pictures are all compliments of Judi.  I failed to get my camera out, but she managed to take some great pictures for me to use on my blog.  The pictures would be even better if I had one of Randy Sr. and Judi, and one of myself.  Oh well, that will teach me to not be lazy about taking pictures, won't it?