Outer Banks

We took a nice little vacation to the Outer Banks in North Carolina last week. We had such a great time. In case you were wondering, the Outer Banks are a strip of barrier islands off the coast of NC. Famous for Kitty Hawk where the Wright brothers' first flight took place. While there we hit the beach, the pool, and other local attractions. We contributed to what could possibly be the largest sand crab (actually called a sand flea) harvest of the eastern seaboard. Wow! Sadie was dipped into the mighty Atlantic, and took her first plunge into the deep waters of the swimming pool. We had a great time with friends enjoying, perfecting, and analyzing intense games of Mafia, Dr. Mario, and MarioKart. Many late nights not wasted, but invested. And a root beer bash gone wild. Here are a few pictures...Just relaxing at the beach Brave sand flea huntersMmm... doesn't that look delicious?

Visitors from the west!

Mark's younger brother and his wife came out from Utah to visit us. We had so much fun! We wish that they lived much closer to us so we could hang more often. We went to Jamestown, DC, saw the sights of Richmond, and played lots of games.It's a little scary hanging next to meat shanks!

Mark trying to get Greg into road biking.Sadie and her auntie. In December Sadie will have a new cousin!Sadie loved looking at this flower at the Japanese gardens- one of our favorite spots to take people in Richmond.

Take me out to the ball game...

A couple of weeks ago we went with some friends to the Richmond Braves game. Turns out Sadie is a huge baseball fan. Who would have guessed? When the crowd went wild she would start yelling really loud. Like in this picture. (Sorry for the fuzz) . By the way Braves won!

Newness

So... we have many things we would like to post. They will come soon. For now I hope you enjoy the new look of our blog. I actually am going to change out those pictures on the header as soon as we get our family pictures taken. But those will do for now. I hope everyone is excited for an awesome summer. I know I am.

Some new developments/random pics for grandma's

5 steps to the perfect roll over...
She learned how to rollover a couple of weeks ago. Each time she rolls over we get so excited and we clap and hoot and holler; she thinks its really funny. These are pictures of the second time she rolled over. I missed the first one because she was with Mark and his bud from school, Steve. When he called to tell me she rolled over I couldn't believe it and Mark said "well at least Steve was there." Anyway, here are some good tips for next time you want to roll over. Thanks, Sadie!

Step 1
get into a comfortable position on your belly, right elbow up a bit. Tuck in your left elbow.

Step 2
Teeter to the side a bit, not to much now

Step 3
Head down, make a quick, cute smile for the camera

Step 4
Right arm way up and then twist those hips

Step 5
Voila!

She is smiling non stop now. I love it!

Thumb sucker. She gets so mad when she cant find her thumb. I think its really cute.

She has been holding her head up for a couple of weeks now.