Merry Christmas

Scott and Nicole hosted Christmas 2009. As you can see our family keeps growing.

We had a blast! My parents flew up and Corey drove 4 hours so we could all be together. The food and fun lasted for days and days!

One of the days, my mom, dad, and I went to Colonial Williamsburg. It was a cold, winter day but we bundled up, toured the area, and of course found the chocolate shop and then proceeded to find the Starbucks to warm up with a hot cup of goodness.

The historic homes were decorated for Christmas.

Then, it was time for another celebration:

HAPPY 40TH ANNIVERSARY MOM AND DAD

We're so thankful to have parents who love and respect each other.

Other activities included but not pictured:

Specular Holiday Lights at the Virginia Beach Boardwalk

Touring of the Norfolk Museum

Cooking and Baking

and Lots and Lots of Eating :)

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

The holidays are here! Yippee! Thanksgiving to New Years is my favorite time of year. Hope you enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving feast! We sure did! We stayed here in VA and Scott and Nicole went "all out" cooking fabulous foods and making delectable desserts. As of now, we do not know where our next assignment will take us or if we will leaving VA right away. Things are very up in the air right now. As soon as we know, we'll pass along the info. :) In the meantime, with the chill in the air, the carols playing on the radio, and all sorts of pies and goodies in my belly, I'm just bubbling over with holiday spirit and counting down the days until my entire family is together celebrating!

We finally broke down and bought a new camera. We thought it was an easy "click once and poof you've got a picture" but apparently you have to actually read the instructions, which by the way is totally a Robert job ;) . Now once we learn to work it (hint hint hubby), we'll be updating our blog a bit more. :)

Until we chat again, have fun shopping and singing Christmas carols!

Jocelyn's Visit

Jocelyn came up to visit! We started our adventures touring Jamestown.
They recreated the old ships that the settlers came over on.

These were the beds, tiny boxes under the boat.

Robert was practicing carrying buckets of water. He ended up spilling water all over his legs.

Getting ready for battle.... Robert wanted me to put the helmet on... yeah right!

They used to actually carve out the logs using shells. We tried it for about 5 seconds and then just hopped in the canoe that was already completed.

In Historic Williamsburg meeting the locals. Some things will never change ;)

Introducing Jocelyn to crab cakes. She loved them!

Did you know Planter's Peanuts has a factory here?! Well they do and they are delicious.
Jocelyn, thanks for coming up and visiting. It's always special having friends with us.

Rock and Roll 1/2 Marathon, VA Beach

So, Robert, Tia, and Joe (Robert's best friend), decided to run the Virginia Beach Rock n' Roll Half Marathon.

Here is the Horn family pumping us up the day before the race.

What's an athlete without it's cheering squad? Here's Lindsay making signs and banners to motivate us.

Robert, Joe, and I trained for this 1/2 marathon for 12 weeks.

Robert off and running at the starting line with 20,000 participants. He looks ok now, but wait for mile 10 where it looks like the marathon had him for breakfast.

At the finish line! Tia was on automatic pilot by this point. You could have told her to put on a sombrero and dance the macarena while making monkey sounds, and you would've been in for a good show.

We did it! We ran 13.1 miles! After that long of a run, we started sucking on our medals hoping water would come out.

The runners showing off their medals.

Robert's Time: 1 hour and 58 minutes

Tia's Time: 2 hours and 22 minutes

Joe's Time: 3 hours and 10 minutes

So, it took all of us a good week to recover. Tia and Robert were walking funny for a few days. Joe got a little sick, but you can't bring down that beast, he's getting ready for another half in 6 months or so, and a full (26.2 miles) in less than a year (which is about how long it would take me to run 26.2 miles). We had a great time!

Not seen here are the Horns, who, along with Lindsay, ran around the finish line with a combined three children ranging in ages 3 months to 3 and a half years, in order to support our hard work and success, which makes you question: who are the real athletes?... Thanks guys!

Luray Caverns

So, the story is that some two guys were out doing some thing for some reason some time ago around the 1800's (we can't possibly remember all the details), and they noticed there was some cool air coming out of a small hole in the ground. They started digging around and they ended up in this cavern.

The cavern was filled with stalaGmites, which grow from the Ground up) and stalaCtites which grow from the Ceiling down, and other formations which looked like draperies, pop corn, and other fun stuff. I apologize for the quality of the pictures which do not give the caverns their credit due.

This is called Mirror Lake, and it takes a second to realize that the bottom is just a reflection of the top.

Here's Tia in one of the small archways. Back in the day, this cavern was filled with water and they actually had to canoe and lower their heads through this archway.

Ok, so this picture is out of sequence. You're supposed to look at the next picture first. There was this one other fella, who was very musically inclined. So, he put an organ in the caverns (see below). Then he went around with tuning forks, hitting the stalactites with small hammers to match each pitch. So, these little doohickeys that you see are all over this part of the cavern and they're all attached to this here organ you see beneath this. You play the organ and all these little hammers start pounding away at the stalactites and making great harmony.

Back in the 50s they used to have dances and other events in this room. Now, it's called the Wedding Room, because... well, I'm sure you can guess why.

Running the 5k

Well I'd like to apologize for the lack of Blogging that has been going on. As most of you are aware, we are training for the Rock n Roll Half Marathon, and so it was part of our training to do a 5k (this was a while back, as this Sunday we'll be tackling our 9 mile). Anyway, here's some of the fun.
Here we are hanging out before the race.

I don't know why we're each going in different directions, but I came in at 24 minutes and 48 seconds and Tia came in at 29 minutes 29 seconds. Not too shabby for a girl that hates to run.

After we finished we went on a bike ride through one of the Virginia Beach State Park Trails. They had all these indigenous huts and they spoke of how the Indians were hanging out before we came and did a little number on them (talk about "white guilt").

We did the 5k in a military base called Fort Story (the run was for Veterans and their families). Anyway, here's the view from inside the Fort. Isn't that amazing? I didn't have this kind of view when I was in the military. These kids are pampered nowadays. Of course, I also didn't have to be deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan where temperatures reach 120 degrees F. Not to mention, you know, the bullets.

Kayaking In Back Bay, Virginia

Kayaking in Back Bay, Virginia
The motto here is Virginia is for Lovers... So what do you say we get a two-seater and work together?

Rowing together and having fun!

I'm doing my part too!

And after 2 hours of paddling: Robert working harder because...

I decided to lay down on the front and tan while he rowed.

Later, if we decide to go canoeing, I think I'll just rent a parasol instead of an oar. ;)

Update

On our 1st Anniversary, we moved in, and finally just left the house like this to have dinner.

VA beach with Madison

Happy Fourth!

So colorful in red, white, and blue

We had a fabulous time visiting friends and family over 3 weeks. We drove all over the right side of the U.S. map in our little cars filled to the top with stuff. We started in Michigan and stops along the way included, Ohio, North Carolina, and an all inclusive Florida trip ranging from Jacksonville, to Miami, and Tampa and places in between.... oh and then back to NC and finally to Virginia Beach which totaled 3,500 miles. Now we're staying put for a 4 months! We took many pictures with family and friends but unfortunately our memory card is corrupted and so we lost them. :(

We LOVE VA beach! The weather is amazing. You can get in and out of your car without sweating and it doesn't rain in the middle of the day. It's perfect... maybe we'll even move here one day! Hmmmm on the other hand, I was reminded that VA does have an actual winter and gets cold so I won't boast too much ;)

There is so much to do here, from mountains to beaches we have our weekends planned out already. 15 weeks doesn't seem like enough time to do everything.

Robert is adjusting to homehealth and the driving it involves into the unknown areas. I thought being a housewife would be easy, but goodness! I haven't stopped since we got here. I was hoping to get a little bored (by laying out and having manicures and pedicures) before starting work, but somehow it didn't happen. Ha ha! I've started doing PRN work and am enjoying it. I love my kiddos.

Cedar Point

CEDAR POINT!!!!! So, after years of dreaming of going, and months of anticipation, we finally made it to Cedar Point. It did not disappoint. We had an amazing time! It was supposed to be raining and thunderstorming, but we did not see one drop of rain. The weather was absolutely beautiful and Snoopy was all decked out for us. Ok, so... our favorite ride?

That's right! The Top Thrill Dragster! It is the second highest roller coaster in the world. You start out at 0 mph and in just over three seconds you're flying at 120 mph, you then shoot straight up, do a 90 degree turn to go over the hump at about 5-8 mph, then you go straigtht down, do a 270 degree turn, and come flying back all in just about 15-18 seconds. I don't remember my first time, just screaming. Both our hearts were racing in anticipation as the dragster waited for the green light. As soon as it took off, I started yelling like Richard Simmons in a haunted house. I yelled the whole time. Tia was speechless. We both were cracking up once the coaster came to a stop and both of our feet were wobbly. I would've upchucked my breakfast if I hadn't left my organs back at the starting point. We loved it so much, we got right back in line and went through a second time... and then again before we left the park. 100% adrenaline and pure awesome!

They had a nice little show, with bikes, and roller blades, and dancers, and acrobatics, etc. It was pretty fun.

We took our friend, Tina's suggestion and people watch. This became our third favorite thing to do, right after the Maverick.

Mackinac Island

We went to Mackinac (pronounced "Mackinaw") Island. The Native Americans named this Island "Mackinac", which means "turtle island", because the island resembles a turtle. The French came in and wrote it out the way you see it on the title, but they pronounced it with a "aw" at the end. The English then came by and started spelling it with the 'aw' at the end but it didn't really catch. So, now you see it spelled both ways, but mostly with the 'ac' ending. Either way, the island is absolutely beautiful! There are no cars allowed, only bicycles and horses, which gives the island a totally different feel about it.
In the morning I awoke early and went outside to read. It was unbelievably serene and really cold. But, equipped with a jacked I read my book and enjoyed the sound of nothing which was only occasionally interrupted by the melodic clip clop of horses, and the quiet roar of distant boat engines. Even the seagulls knew to keep quiet at this time in the morning.

Out bike riding and we came upon this huge rock named Sugar Loaf which just jutted right out of the ground. The whole thing was a good 75 feet high and just a wonder to look at. Here I am near the top... of the 10 foot mark.

Riding a rock by the beach. We had an awesome bike ride around the island. The whole thing around is 8 miles.

It's tulip time, and the tulips definitely added an elite quality to the island. They were huge and smelled fantastic.

Here we are hitting the trails. The small island had some surprisingly steep hills on which we had a lot of fun riding down and not as much fun climbing them up. Tia wasn't done with the trails once this one was done and we ended up going on a different trail that was not on the map. Of course, we got on at the end of the trail and ended up walking our bikes up these incredibly steep slopes for most of the trail. We still laughed the whole way.

Wow. What a gorgeous day. We were really lucky.

Here's a turtle with a Tia on its back. It's pink flowers and purple designs normally attract Tias. Tias then attract photos which the turtles enjoy posing for. So it's a symbiotic relationship.

Look how clear the water is. It's fresh water, of course, because it's a lake. I believe the island is on Lake Huron. Not too far from here is Lake Michigan. If you need to remember the names of all the lakes, remember, HOMES (Huron Ontario Michigan Eerie Superior). If you need to remember which is which, always carry a map with you.

Here's the B&B we stayed at. It was GREAT! It's called the Bay View and if ever you find yourself in Mackinac, I would recommend this B&B. They serve the most incredible breakfast, Monday morning we got Homemade Quiche, served with homemade cinnamon bun roll, thing, with fruit. At three o'clock they have fresh baked cookies which are amazing. How amazing? I don't really care for Oatmeal Raisin cookies... These were UNBELIEVABLE! Then at 8 o'clock they serve dessert. Last night, strawberry shortcake. How good? Tia's words: "there's no chocolate in this thing and it's still absolutely amazing!". The environment is incredibly friendly and the service is top notch. Great place!

Dinner at Goodfellows was so good even the Mafia was there. The nerve of that guy, huh? But, what was I gonna say... I saw The Godfather... I know what's up.