Annapolis Vacation

Despite the odds (and the odds were not in our favor, believe me!), we had a very special-- and forever memorable-- vacation with our Illinois family in Annapolis, MD in the middle of July.  With all the craziness of putting our house on the market, we were in need of a vacation!  We rented a beautiful house right on the Severn River, just minutes from downtown Annapolis and a short drive to both Baltimore and Washington, DC.  Joergen had an inexplicable fascination with the "creepy sun" (as he named it) medallion over the front door, but otherwise, it was lovely.

What wasn't lovely, however, was the fact that the home hadn't been cleaned by the time we arrived that Saturday.  What especially wasn't lovely was that when we all went outside to allow the cleaning crew space to do their thing, the kids all ran down the steps-- 91 of them, to be exact-- to go swimming in the river, and our poor niece Kate promptly broke her ankle after taking a flying leap off the dock into the very unexpectedly VERY shallow water.  Thirty minutes into our vacation... and it was off to the emergency room they went.

Feeling overwhelmed and hungry, and unable to get settled into our vacation house for a few more hours, we set off for Cantler's Riverside Inn for a waterfront dinner.  With a great meal, great views, and great company, it was just what the doctor ordered.

Grandma, Daddy, Joergen, and Toni

Joergen, Toni, Abby, Liam, and Aidan

On Sunday, we headed into DC to see a Nationals game.  They were playing the Padres (and won, 11-7), and it was Joergen's very first time at a major league baseball game!

Joergen and Mom at the entrance to Nationals Park

Once inside, Joergen made a new friend.  Will someone please explain to me how the sun medallion on the rental house was considered "creepy," but this thing somehow was not?!

It was a very hot and sticky day, and we were fortunate that our seats were in the shade.  Even with that, though, we found ourselves in search of sno-cones and cold lemonade before long.

Papa, Liam, and Uncle David trying to beat the heat

Aidan, Joergen, Dad, and Toni

Aidan, Aunt Lyn, Joergen, Toni, Uncle Andrew, Liam, and Grandma

That night, we all gathered back at the house for some family time to present Grandma with a special gift in honor of her retirement.

Abby, Liam, Aunt Lyn, Toni, Aunt Beth, Aidan, and Kate

Papa, Uncle David, Dad, and Uncle Andrew

Aunt Beth had compiled letters, notes, poems, and cards from Grandma's family, friends, co-workers, and students into a beautiful book that took her by happy surprise.

Watching Grandma read those sentiments was so special and touched everyone in the room.  It was one of my favorite moments of the week.

I also loved this little moment between Liam and Papa that evening:

After tucking all the kiddos into bed, the "big kids" gathered around the dining room table for a spirited and very fun game of Left-Right-Center.  We had so much fun around that table during the week!

In the midst of some wonderful times together, we were devastated that day to learn that our dear Aunt Vicki had lost her short and brutal battle with cancer.  She was such aspecial part of our family, and we will remember her always for her sense of humor, her incredibly generous spirit, and her love for all of us-- and especially Liam, Joergen, Toni, and Aidan.  Our memories together were many, and some of our favorite times were here and here.

Between the loss of Aunt Vicki and the news that Kate would need surgery to repair her poor ankle, our time together as a group would be cut short-- so we made every moment from that point on count for extra! This beautiful and serene view out our little "porthole" bedroom window was the perfect reminder to Just. Keep. Swimming.

And so, in no particular order... some of our favorite moments from our Annapolis vacation.

The kids caught a crab... how very Maryland of them!

Kate was a warrior-- even a very painful, very broken ankle couldn't stop her!

Hey, does anyone know where I can find an iPad?

Joergen, taking the cap off my travel-sized hairspray: *Gasp* "I did it!"

Joergen and I on the Harbor Queen tour of the Annapolis Harbor

Touring the Naval Academy with Uncle David, Papa, Grandma, Aunt Lyn, and Joergen

John Paul Jones?  JOERGEN Paul Jones!

:)

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" -Lao-tzu

Joergen watering the beach

Fishing with Papa

More fishing with Papa-- this was one of the kids' favorite activities

And look!  Papa even caught one!

Chilling on the beach

Bros in a Boat

Uncle Andrew, Aidan, Toni, Liam, and Dad taking the canoe out for a spin

"Awww... they forgot ME!"

Dad and sons-- Joergen gets his boat ride after all.

Checking out the dolphins at the National Aquarium in Baltimore. It was a first for both boys!

Watching the Dolphin Show with Uncle David and Aunt Lyn

Ice pops!

Rainy day Play-Doh fun with Aunt Lyn.  Liam and I also had a blast going to see "Despicable Me 2" with Uncle David that day!

Move-Out Day... Liam was such a big help!

A special thank you to Uncle David and Aunt Lyn for all their extra help with me and the boys on our last couple of (rainy) days of vacation while the rest of the family went back to Illinois. We couldn't have made it without them!

And thanks to all of our Illinois family for so many great memories and for making the trip out East.  We love you all and can't wait for our next visit!

It's... Wake Up Time!

An Unexpected Move

Our team is moving!!

This has been an absolute whirlwind chain of events.  At a softball game towards the end of June, Doreen informed us that her best friend and neighbor Carol was planning to move to Hawaii and August.  Carol was preparing to put her house on the market, but did we want to take a look before she did?  

*shrug* "Sure, why not?"

That Sunday, we met at Doreen's and walked down the street to Carol's house.  Our boys have been to Miss Carol's house several times before, but this was a first for the rest of us.  It was everything we could want in a home.

When we got in the car after touring the home, I turned to Anthony and asked, "So, what did you think?"

Anthony: "No."

Me: "Yes!  It's perfect!"

Anthony: "Yes, but we have a house, and no time to sell it."

Me: "Good point. But do we really know what would be involved?  Let's meet with a realtor to at least ask about selling our home."

Anthony: "Sounds good.  I'll get in touch with a realtor in the morning."

(Ok, so the conversation did not exactly go down like this.  But it's how I'd like to remember it, thankyouverymuch.)

True to his word, Anthony called a realtor who had done a lot of business in our neighborhood over the last few years, and she met us at our house the very next night.  This is when things got REAL. 

The realtor loved our home immediately, insisting that if we just painted one wall in the basement where we'd replaced some drywall, it was ready to show and could be on the market by Friday.  She was confident it would sell within two weeks and that we'd get what we needed to get for it in order to make buying the new house possible.

"But we're leaving for vacation on Saturday," we said.

"That's perfect," she said.  "I'll schedule lots of showings while you're gone.  Paint the wall.  Put it on the market before you leave."  Anthony and I looked at each other.  

Me: "No way.  We're staying."

Anthony: "No way!  We're moving!"

She left.  I cried.  I was so excited about all the new possibilities, but was this really happening?  Could we really leave this house?  This is our first home, the home where we brought both of our children home from the hospital, the home where we've celebrated so many holidays and birthdays and chart their growth on the pantry wall!

Disclaimer (and perhaps needless to say): I get very emotionally attached to homes.  Just ask anyone who was there when my family moved from the home where I grew up to York when I was 18...

So... we painted the wall.  Pants optional.

Uncle Andrew, Aunt Beth, Toni, Aidan, Abby, and Kate arrived a few days later on the 4th of July (along with 25 other friends and family for our July 4th Cookout!), and at some point when we weren't looking, this showed up on our front door:

By the time we left for our Annapolis vacation on Saturday, there was a "For Sale" sign in our front lawn.

By Sunday night, we had our first offer on the house.  By Wednesday, we accepted an offer.  We celebrated over a glass of champagne (thank you, Mary!) with our Illinois family, and started our countdown to Labor Day weekend when we say goodbye to Jean and hello to Heather!

Lake Hideaway

Almost (but not quite) 20 years ago, I went off to summer camp and made a friend named Mollie. Mollie lived about 2 hours away from me, but we visited each other often and stayed close by way of the classic telephone... after all, this was before email and Facebook and cell phones. We attended each other's weddings (and will each celebrate our 10th wedding anniversaries this year!) and helped each other through all kinds of interesting life experiences.  And with all the boy trouble we've had throughout these years, who ever would have guessed that when you fast-forward 2 decades, our "boy trouble" would now look like THIS?!?!

Mollie and her family came to visit us in the Poconos a couple of years ago back when Joergen was an infant, but we hadn't seen each other since.  When she invited us to come spend a day with them at Lake Hideaway, we jumped at the chance.  Our Sunday together at this beautiful little lake was like a mini-vacation!  There was so much for the kids to do, and all of it could be viewed from a comfy adirondack chair on the beach with a cold adult beverage in hand :)

Not one of Lake Hideaway's amenities were wasted on our boys!

Liam on the water slide

Joergen's busy construction site

Joergen swimming in the lake

Liam fishing- he caught 3!!

Liam practicing on the monkey bars

It was such a fantastic day trip and I loved having time to catch up with my dear friend!

It was also fun catching up with her husband AJ-- I've known him for almost just as long as Mollie.

AJ and Joer

Liam (4), Joergen (2), Me, Josh (3), Mollie, Sam (6), and Luke (8)