Virginia Bound at Last, 2 years later

At the end of July we finally we made it back to Virginia! I didn't find out until about 2 weeks before our trip that we would actually make it so I was thrilled. We stayed with my good friend Wendy and her family in Virginia Beach and had a wonderful time reconnecting. It was so nice to get out of the Arizona heat for a change and be back near our old stomping grounds. Kaitlyn and Emma got along so well, I was very pleasantly surprised at just how much they have grown and picked up right where they left off 2 years ago. Camden enjoyed meeting Emma too and still talks about her. We also got to meet baby Lola whom we rarely get to see pictures of (hint, hint Wendy :) ) and boy , was she the cutest and happiest baby I've ever been around. I'm quite jealous. All around it was my favorite vacation because I have been missing Virginia and it was so nice to have a good friend to talk to. Hopefully we didn't overstay our welcome being there so long. Thank you Wendy and Jeb for your amazing hospitality!!

Our first sights down at the boardwalk.
Camden fell asleep about 10 minutes prior to landing in Atlanta. The nap didn't last too long but I had to snap a picture to show just how cute he looked.
We used to fly home about every 6 months for about 6 years while living in Hawaii and Virginia Since we've been grounded for about 2 years this was exciting for the kids to ride an airplane.

Camden actually did quite well. He stayed in his seat and was really excited.
A giant crab.
Playing in the sand at the beach.
King Neptune.
Fish statues near the boardwalk.
Getting a glimpse of the Atlantic Ocean.
Testing out the waters for the first time.
Picking up Emma from her Art Camp.
Seeing just how the waves work.
Relaxing on the beach. What a nice clean beach and such soft sand.
Emma and her baby sister Lola.
An evening dip in the ocean was so much fun.
Camden didn't like the sand on his feet after getting out of the water. They both had sand all up and down their bathing suits too. We aren't used to the beach so it took some getting used to.
A lovely sunset.
Hiking up his shorts which are always falling down.
Riding the waves and having a blast. They came pretty quickly but were not too big or forceful.
Some down-time at the mall.
The big whale at the mall.
An ocean themed play area was pretty neat.
Riding the two-story carousel at the mall, we've never seen one of those before.
Late night ice cream break after our dip in the ocean.
Baby Lola surviving our muggy trip to the park.
Camden loved this little claw, he wanted to take it everywhere and called it his "weapon."
Kaitlyn and Emma in the front yard on the disk swing.
Weeee, how much fun is this? Sorry kids, we can't have one in Arizona the trees aren't tall enough.
Even mommy gets in on the fun.
Cape Henry Lighthouse.
The view from the top of the light house of Fort Story where the lighthouse sits.
Mommy and Kaitlyn enjoying the view. Poor Camden had to get left at the bottom, strict rules.
Posing in front of the lighthouse.
The view from the top of a park called "Mount Trashmore" because it used to be a landfill.
Scoring a few small shells.
All Camden wanted to do was to run in and out of the water with the waves chasing him.
How cute is Lola? Looks just like her dad.
Wendy, Jeb and Lola at Fort Story.
More lighthouse photos.

Kaitlyn at her old stomping grounds in Richmond Virginia with our old friends and neighbors Bryce and Jason. I could not get good pictures of them because they were being so goofy :)
Our favorite past time when we lived in Richmond was to ride the train at Short Pump. We managed to get on the last train for the evening so that was a major bonus! We had dinner with our friends and neighbors Jim and Jenny and Margaret and her girls Anna and Rebecca. We had ice cream after and even got to see part of a movie that was showing on the lawn. It was a perfect evening. I really miss that mall. We don't have anything like it here. I wish we could've stayed another couple of days in Richmond .
Meeting little Ali for the first time. Ali lives next door to our old house. The kids always loved Scott and Alexis' dogs looking out the window when we would come home. I did not get a photo of Anna and Rebecca either, the girls next door who always played with Kaitlyn and were so good with her. Thanks you guys. It was so great to see you all. We miss the old days when we sat out front in our lawn chairs while the kids played in the culdesac. That never happens in our new neighborhood so it was really fun to do that again.
Outside our old house, hasn't changed much but the kids are 2 years older. Jenny kept joking that I should knock on the door and ask to see the inside. I'm sure they wouldn't be too inviting since we left them a bat problem (well not entirely our fault). I would rather remember it the way it was since we had so many fond memories in that house. I miss sitting out on the porch and seeing the leaves change colors in the fall. I know Caesar doesn't miss having to pick up all the pine needles.
Back to Virginia Beach before coming home. Our wagon ride at "spider park". I have to admit it was pretty humid but I didn't mind so much.
Trees! What a concept.
Emma trying out Camden's eye patch.
Kaitlyn even says, "Argh."
Well, the picture doesn't exactly show it but prior to this, we had quite an event at the hotel. Upon checking in, Camden managed to get his left arm stuck/wedged between the two sliding glass doors. I panicked and screamed and fortunately the men at the hotel knew how to pop the glass off the track to get him unstuck. He cried for a while and it left a good bruise. It's a good thing the folks at Best Western had cookies in lobby to calm him down. So he got a special pirate toy that night to take his mind off the excitement.

How We spent July

What can I say, I slacked off in the picture department this month. I really, really needed a mental health break this summer and took it. This is why you are just now seeing and hearing about our summer. For the most part, we hit the pool every Wednesday for private swim lessons with a co-worker of Caesar's, Miss Nicole. Thank you so much Nicole!! She was awesome and we enjoyed traveling to Anthem which was a nice change of scenery from our neighborhood pool. They have so much that our community doesn't have. Camden in my opinion, is a great little swimmer at his age thanks to Nicole. I'm so impressed how much he learned even though he cried during every lesson. Kaitlyn is also much more comfortable in the water and I can handle them both on my own when we go to the pool. I didn't get to snap any pictures in the pool since I was always helping with Camden. He is so comfortable in the water he stays under more than anything else. Future Michael Phelps? Oh, and I threw him off the diving board during class one day and he handled it pretty well. Such a trooper. But as I recall, he did have a hard time sleeping that night so I think it gave him nightmares :(


Little Princesses having a fun time dressing up to pass the time this summer. This is Ella and she used to come to our house once a week to play while her mom was busy working. Kaitlyn and Camden just love it when she comes over. She and Camden have been known to hold hands at times :)
Camden showing off his Superman muscles. Even though it was hot as heck, he still managed to keep this fleece costume on all day. It was so precious to watch him enjoy dressing up.
Showing off their outfits from Tita Rosie and Cousin Chris they got for them in Mexico. Our playroom was under construction for about a week while we painted 4 coats (what a pain) of mango-colored paint to brighten it up. It came out pretty good in the end.
A doctor, princess and superhero.
Up, Up and Away.
This month was the month we had our driveway ripped out and a huge drain placed across the length of the garage for drainage. No other home in our neighborhood has undergone this drastic measure to my knowledge, lucky us! So much for quality homes. Hopefully with the addition of gutters we will no longer have flooding in our garage from the heavy monsoon rains. Of course it's hard to tell since IT NEVER RAINS HERE!
We spent our 4th of July in Anthem, another community in Phoenix. We finally saw fireworks, something we haven't done in several years. The kids enjoyed the rides and bounce houses. It was actually not too hot that evening, thankfully.

This ride is always a hit.

San Diego at Last

So our second destination on our California Trip at the start of June (first being Disneyland) was to Sea World. The weather turned out to be pretty wet and cold throughout the day (60's) so we didn't take too many pictures. Fortunately, we brought our bike trailer/stroller with a rain shield and the kids were so snuggly in there we got envious looks from many cold and shivering kids. I felt a little bad for them. The shows were amazing as always, Sea World seems to never change in that respect and why should they when they do such a great job with the sea animals. I think the kids enjoyed the shows too but Camden was a little bored. We didn't stay long in San Diego so we didn't get a chance to meet up with family but hopefully next time. We spent most of our down-time in the hotel not feeling well and both Caesar and I became sick after returning home with some kind of GI bug. Not fun but it wouldn't be a vacation is someone didn't get sick. On our way out of town we did manage to stroll around downtown a bit but it was a quick trip so maybe we'll see more next time. Oh, and I forgot, Camden was sick too. Somewhere between our meal at the Denny's in Yuma and home, he threw up all of his red sprite and hot dogs! Now that's what I call a memorable car ride.The spinning stars were part of a new attraction and boy, were they fast. Better than the tea cups at Disneyland.
Kaitlyn got her big "Poli" and was so thrilled we saw real Polar Bears as well.
This walrus kept spitting out his chewed up fish and sucking it back in, in front of the glass. It was pretty gross. I guess he was entertaining us.
What a huge animal!
If you look closely in the crowd, you will see a man with a blond mullet. Guess who? Yep, it's Duane "Dog" Chapman and his family watching the dolphin show with us. He's just as leather-skinned in person as he is on TV. My camera died otherwise I could've gotten a great close-up of him since we kept running into them all over the park.




Beach Time! Well, sort of. We drove up and down the coast near La Jolla but eventually settled in where we could find parking and bathrooms somewhere north of San Diego. It was a bit chilly and mostly there were just surfers in wet suits in the water so we only stayed for a couple of hours. We enjoyed some yummy subs and the best raspberry tart I've ever had from a local French Bakery down the street. The kids had a great time playing in the sand.Digging for treasure.
Making sand castles with dad.
Not many shells to be had on the beach but Kaitlyn managed to find a few small ones.
This is my favorite beach photo of the kids. They look so happy and all bundled up after a few splashes in the cold water. The colors of the towels just pop, it almost looks like a black and white that's been touched up.
Mr. hide and seek under the beach towel.

Mickey Here We Come

This year we decided to do our usual trip to Calif. since our plans for Hawaii got scrapped and we weren't sure if were going to make it, or when. So we headed to Disneyland, of course. The kids had a great time and we made it a point to see a lot of ride we skipped last year. Like the Haunted Mansion, Autopia, Pirates of the Caribbean (pretty cool how they inserted Jack Sparrow into the ride), and the Nemo sub, which was our favorite. Another successful trip and we also got to see Tita Arci, Uncle Garry and the crew as well. Thanks for letting us crash at your place as always!Kaitlyn showing off her souvenir of baby pluto.
Camden is totally content with a lolipop while watching the parade.
We got very lucky this year and got inside the gates just as they were opening Main Street. So we bee-lined it to Nemo and only had to wait about 30 minutes to get on the ride. It was the highlight of our trip to Disneyland. I have to admit, I was pretty impressed.
Disneyland wouldn't be complete without a trip to Mickey and Minnie's house in Toon Town
And of course, our traditional ice cream pit-stop before the parade on Main Street.
The famous castle - photo op! Kaitlyn got to pick out some very special ears this year. She bedazzled it and customized it with patches and all kinds of neat things.
A successful day once again. We all had a great time and no major meltdowns.
Yeah! The kids got to ride Autopia this year. They were so happy. Call me a wimp but those darn petals are incredibly hard to push.
Can't get the sword out of the stone but they enjoyed trying.
Look how loving they are with Mickey. So cute.
Kaitlyn being goofy near Chip and Dale's house.

Looking a little bored waiting to see Minnie.

Kindergarten Graduation - May 2008

We are very proud of Kaitlyn for doing such a great job this year in Kindergarten. First grade here we come!
Showing off her graduation hat.
Kaitlyn's teacher, Ms. Carskadon. She was an excellent teacher and I am so impressed by how much not only Kaitlyn learned but always how organized and together she was.
How cute are these two best friends?