grandpa's house

We've just returned from a 3 week trip back East. Owen, Ben and I flew to North Carolina and spent a weekend with the Wallis's. Both boys did great on the plane, and I got through O'Hare by carrying Ben in the front pack while pushing Owen in the stroller. Owen was excited to visit a new state. He had a lot of fun with Laura and Eli, and their toys. Ben gave Jen a rough night after she volunteered to be on baby duty, while I got to get the most extended night sleep I had in a long time. We went to the farmer's market and to a park, and Owen learned about popsicles and milkshakes. My dad picked us up on Sunday and drove us to his house.

We spent 10 days at the bay. Richard joined us part way through. We got to see all the work that dad's done on his house. Since January he's completely remodeled what used to be the entire cottage. Now it's a great room with a beautiful kitchen, new hickory floors, and an open layout. He also had the old cinder block front stoned over and beautiful stone floors laid on the three porches. It is just amazing the difference from last summer.

We took a couple of trips on dad's new fishing boat. Owen wanted to only go slow, but was brave enough to ask to go out into the bay- on a calm day they poked the boat just barely out of the river and into the bay. Dad took me up by the house and around the river a bit- going up to 40 mph. I'm glad he has a reliable boat now and it will be a lot of fun for him. The marina has a pool which we all enjoyed using. Owen also was very brave about swimming in the bay this year, after only a little coaxing by grandpa. We found the perfect float for him so he could "bob." Ben used a small float, too, and seemed to really enjoy the water.

Owen and Richard spent one day at Busch Gardens. They have a new Sesame Street area for little kids. Owen's very interested in maps in general, and specifically maps of amusement parks. So he and Richard had a blast looking at the park map and finding the different rides. Owen went on a few of the kid rides, including one with planes. That day, dad and I drove to Richmond and I got to meet Jackie's 1 week old baby, Julia. She is a beautiful little girl.

We had a great 10 days, enjoying grilling, swimming, beautiful sunsets, and playing lots of airport.