Soccer

This fall we are a soccer family. Hard as we tried to fight it, we gave in to the most popular sport in our area and joined the masses of families at the soccer fields. It has been a big change from baseball, but both kids have fallen in love with the sport already. Cameron is on the "Dragons" and practices for an hour twice a week with a game every Saturday. Gavin is on the "Kickers" and practices for half an hour once a week and has a game every Saturday as well. They had their first games today and did great! The kids on Cameron's team are pretty good, so being a newbie he has some catching up to do, but he is getting it really quickly and isn't afraid to get in on the action. Watching Gavin's team is just comical, they don't have a clue what they are doing and everyone is yelling directions at their kids, and the kids just ignore it and have fun. It has been really busy getting to everything during the week, but the kids are happy and that is what matter to me. Go Dragons and Kickers!
Gavin decided he needed a little rest...

Haymarket Day 2009

Today was Gavin's Haymarket Day Parade debut. Every year on the third Saturday in September, our little town puts on a big parade and if you go to 4 R's Preschool, you get to be in it. They waved their American flags and sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and had a blast riding in the big wagon down Main Street. Cameron will tell you being in the parade isn't all it's cracked up to be because then you don't get to watch and catch all the candy!

Walking with Dinos

Last night Jeremy took Gavin to see Walking with the Dinosaurs at the Verizon Center. I had heard that it was pretty good, and Cameron usually gets to do everything first, so this would be a real treat for Gavs. The show has life sized dinosaurs that walk around and fight as if they are real as it goes through the different time periods and tells about each dinosaur. All day he was asking about the different dinosaurs he would see and going through a book we got at the library asking me what the names of the dinosaurs were and playing with the long lost dinosaur toys that had been forgotten. Jeremy tells me it was really cool, they had pteradactyls, triceratops, raptors, stegasaurus, and a T-Rex, along with other we don't know the names of. Gavin could not stop talking about it when he got home late that night, he was fascinated by the ones that fought each other and "the one that got dead." He thinks they were real and it was like going to the zoo and I didn't have the heart to tell him they were just machines. He's already asking about his next date with daddy.

Aging

Please forgive the self-centered post.

All my life I have looked young. People would always do a double take when they found out my age in disbelief. Jeremy was always accused of robbing the cradle and when we first moved to Virginia a church member mistook me for a 13 year old, when in fact, I was the 13 year olds Sunday school teacher. It used to be that people could not believe I was old enough to be married (I was in fact a young bride), then people could not believe that I had a baby, and having more than one child was out of the question! I remember being annoyed at the constant comments and people would say, one day you will be glad you look so young. I suppose that day has come. Now that I am 30 (gasp!) I am much more self-conscious about how old I look. Do I dress too young? I bought the headband in the photo above and actually had to contemplate if it was an attempt to rewind the clock and look more girlish and not so much adultish. I think the answer was yes, but I don't care. I find myself studying my face in the mirror for signs of wrinkles and buying creams to help slow the inevitable process taking over my body. The worst thing of all? The comments have stopped. Completely. I no longer get the second glances when confessing my age or talking about my three children. What happened apparently overnight? Tonight I was talking with the pregnant girl behind the counter at the Target pharmacy, congratulating her on her first baby when she looked in my wallet at a photo I have of our three boys. She asked if they were mine and as I responded I waited to hear that familiar response, "You don't look old enough to have three kids already!" It never came. When did I bridge that age gap and all of a sudden claim my thirty year old appearance? I can hear the responses now, "you're not that old!" Well, to those of you older you're right, but to those younger I am, and I'm not ready to act the way I look. I still feel like I am not so far removed from my college or even high school years. Can't I still hang with the teenagers and still be considered "cool?" Is this what it's like to get old, you are always wishing you were younger? I don't know why I can't just enjoy the stage I'm in at the time, isn't 30 pretty awesome? Guess what, now that I'm here it is.

Firsts for Gavin this week too

Today Gavin began his 4 R's journey. We have missed this little preschool dearly for the past year. Although the school has moved locations, the spirit of the school remains the same. Gavin did not hesitate as he entered, the teachers Mrs. Winger, Mrs. Peacock, and Mrs. Rutter were all familiar to him and he has been anxious all week to start "his school." I had to call him back for a hug and kiss and then he ran off without a second glance in my direction. There were no tears from either of us because although it was new it really wasn't, and I know that he is in the best of hands. When I came to pick him up he was in the same little truck that Cameron used to drive around all the time, I hope that truck makes it to when Mason goes there too. Gavin gave the day rave reviews and even sang me the "friend" song and the "teapot" song they had learned that day. He had such a great time that he didn't even want to leave. We celebrated by going to McDonalds and we bought him his own little lil' webkinz, a St. Bernard Gavin named Nay-Nay. It was a good day.

Off to First Grade

My little man was back to school this morning. Can I just say that I am not with the popular crowd in being glad that my kids are in school? It is nice to have some quiet time, but I really miss my kids! Cameron had mixed feelings about going back. He worried that he would have to make new friends and that his teacher might not be nice, feeling I remember all too clearly from my childhood. I hardly slept last night, I think I was WAY more worried than he was. I must say, I have heard excellent things about his teacher, Mrs. Phillips, although anything would be an improvement to last year. This year was not nearly as bad as my baby going to kindergarten, but it was still sad and I find myself wondering what he is doing right now and how he is feeling. Is he happy? Is he lonely? Did he have someone to sit next to at lunch? Agh, the agony of parenthood. I can't wait to hear all about his little day.

Pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes and bacon- the breakfast of champions

OBX Baby!

We returned last night from our annual trip to Corolla, NC. This year we went with my sister Kristin and her family and my dad even joined us for a few days. The week before, the forecast looked sunny and warm, but the day we left there were clouds and rain predicted for every day! We made the most of it and tried some new activities this year. There is a fantastic Wildlife center in Corolla that offers free classes and we learned crabbing with the kids and all about frogs another night.

The Wildlife center is right next to an old mansion called the Whalehead house which is on beautiful grounds and on the sound which is perfect to watch the sunset. One night we went as the sun was just making its descent and enjoyed the surroundings.


We even broke down this year and decided to drive our Expedition on the beach. Corolla is at the northern tip of the Outer Banks and where the paved road ends you can still drive your car on the shore line. This is where the wild horses live and there are actually houses built out there. I was nervous the entire time, especially as we passed a car that was stuck in the sand, but we made it and it was really a neat experience.

We also went down to Roanoke Island and learned about the first English colony that settled there before Jamestown. That same day we headed to Jockey's ridge, a desert-like park that has enormous sand dunes (like 50 or 60 feet tall!) that you can climb and slide down. This may have been the highlight of the trip and it was a day that we were glad it wasn't sunny or hot because it was very comfortable to walk on all of that sand! The kids had a blast running up the dunes and then hurling themselves back down. Except for the occasional sand in the eyes, there were no complaints and nobody wanted to leave. We will definitely make this a tradition and bring a kite next time.



During the cloudy, cooler days we spent a lot of time doing this:

And of course we braved the wind and cold to go to the beach anyways.

Gavin chose to lose his pants and eventually was swimming in his sweatshirt and undies. It takes more than a little cold air to stop this kid from enjoying himself!

Our house also had a pool and the kids were brave enough to endure the chilly weather a few days and then warm back up in the hot tub. Towards the end of the week the sun came out and we were able to get our "beach fix" in. After all of those clouds we were not as diligent with the sunscreen and after spending 5 hours in the waves the first day we were all feeling it that night. We learned our lesson.

This year Cameron loved to jump over waves and even tried boogie boarding for the first time. He and his cousin Rachel became really good friends during this trip and were almost inseparable He also loved playing in the sand and digging holes.

Gavin was a little daredevil this year. I brought his life jacket for the pool but ended up using it more at the beach because there was no stopping him! He LOVED the waves even when they knocked him down, he always got up with a smile on his face. He also spent plenty of time with his trucks in the sand and asked to be buried again and again.

Mason was a trooper. He enjoyed the waves even when it was cold and loved picking up seashells for us. When he got sleepy he just went right ahead and conked out on us.

A plane!

Our Octopus

Cam and Rachel (and Daniel)

It was a lot of fun having my sister there this year, we usually go with friends, but having cousins around sure was wonderful. I have to say that the layout of this house was fantastic. It had a pool/game room on the bottom level with a TV where the kids spent most of their time and then the middle level with four of the bedrooms also had a TV and sitting area and then the top level had the spacious kitchen/dining/family room with a big TV and plenty of seating. There was a place for everyone. My only complaint was the distance from the beach. It was a good 2 blocks to get there where in the past it seems like we have always been a bit closer. What a great start to the school year. I love having this last hurrah every year to look forward to at the end of the summer. Even though the weather didn't cooperate as we would've liked, we really made the most of it and had the time to do some exploring and branching out from the norm. It was a great vacation and now I am ready for school!