breaking in the new backyard
The house we're renting for the next ten months is a little smaller than the house we owned, but what we traded in space we gained in an awesome backyard. Our old house had a big backyard, but it was always the last place to get money and attention. Over the course of seven years we gutted our kitchen and replaced with all new cabinets, flooring and the whole nine yards. We also renovated a bathroom to update the overall look complete with a new toilet, vanity, beadboarded walls and tile floor. We replaced windows and light fixtures and all of the fun things you can do inside, but like I said, we always have wanted a nice backyard, but I could never bring myself to throw money at it. We made some good memories in that old backyard and had some really fun parties and get-togethers, but our new backyard is great and we broke it in just two days after we moved in with our good friends the Smiths complete with hot dogs, s'mores and more. I was sure to transfer all of the firewood we had stored up at the old house so that we could use our fire pit through the fall and winter months. If you don't like hot dogs I apologize for this picture, but man those look good.
A shot of the kids, my mom and some of the delicious grub that we put together. As you can see, it was finger licking good.
I think Charlotte was a little intrigued by Josh in this shot. It was a nice clear night and we just spent the night, talking, eating and playing with the kids.
Melissa decided to put a marshmallow on a stick, kind of like a carrot in front of a horse and Charlotte followed it around for a bit until Kathryn came to her aid and pulled it off so that she could have it. That's what friends are for.
Nothing cuter than a kid eating a s'more. Ah, the sticky little faces and fingers.
Kathryn's baby "chocolate baby" even tried to get in on the marshmallow action.
Charlotte was not shy around the whoopie pies that my mom whipped up.
Best friends getting a wagon ride around the backyard.
The hostess with the mostess. I still can't believe I get to spend the rest of my life with her.
Me trying to be artistic.
Here's to many more nights spent in our borrowed backyard. Cheers!
-jay
moving day
Most people who know us are aware that we have had our house on the market on and off for the past couple of years. We listed our house again on February 1st of this year and with only one week left of our contract with our realtor we got an offer. After the typical 45-60 days of home inspection, appraisal, paperwork and all that goes into selling a house we are happy to announce that we are no longer home owners! A nice young couple bought our house and it sounds like they fell in love with it the same way that we did. They were looking for something with character that was move-in-ready. We closed last Thursday and spent the weekend moving. The great news is that we were able to find a great little house just down the street, seven houses down to be exact. That means that the same neighborhood that we have grown to love over the past 7 years won't change for us. That means that the playground that Charlotte likes to play at is still really close. And it means that we can keep an eye on the couple that bought our house to make sure they take good care of it :)
My mom flew in to help us pack, move and help watch Charlotte. We set up an event on Facebook, our friends showed up and we moved all of our worldly possessions on Saturday morning and were done by lunchtime. We can't say thanks enough to our friends that helped. It was an easy move and we were able to get our new house set up by the end of the weekend. Below are a couple of pictures. I chose not to include any pictures of our friends because everyone was a bit sweaty and gross from the move, but enjoy the couple shots of our family starting off with the last picture of the three of us on our old front porch.
Three of our friends let us use their pickup trucks saving us money on a uhaul. It's amazing what you can acquire in just 7 short years.
Charlotte even helped move things in....well....kinda.
A family shot in front of the new house after a long day of moving in.
Charlotte enjoying a magazine read on her new front porch.
Stay tuned for a post regarding our cool new backyard, that came equipped with a great firepit and deck that we have already broke in.
-jay
now I had the time of my life...
Charlotte Gray is 18 months old. She is a toddler in every way and we chose to spend the day letting her have some time with the two loves of her life...her dog and a boy. Here is a shot of her in front of the fence. The older she gets the harder it is to get her to stand still. I just love the look on her face. She absolutely loves life and it shows through.
At her doctor's appointment on Friday we found out that she is still in the 95th percentile for height. Here's a nice portrait shot to demonstrate. We think that some sort of haircut will be in her future, but the part of town we live in welcomes the mullet with welcome arms, so it works!
So a couple shots with the newest love of her life, Jack. For the first 16 months of Charlotte's life, Jack chose to stay as far away as possible, but slowly he has warmed up to her and now even though its not quite reciprocal, he allows Charlotte to love on him. It looks like she's giving Jack CPR, but she just loves to touch him any way that she can.
This is another common pose that we will find them in. This is Charlotte's version of a hug
Just a fun shot of both of them. I think Abby was a little upset that she wasn't in the photo shoot, so she was acting up a bit to draw the attention to herself. If you know Abby, you know what I'm talking about.
She tried to get Jack to play a little ball with her, but if you know Jack, it takes an act of congress to get him to do much of anything.
The second love of her life, Baylor. We have some friends that moved up Northern Virginia a few years back and a couple times a year we get together so we all can hang out. Baylor is just over two years old so this is the first time that him and Charlotte were able to play together for an extended period of time. I love both of their faces in these next couple of shots.
We ended the afternoon with a nice walk around the neighborhood where Baylor reached out and went for Charlotte's hand...she accepted and the cutest pictures in the world ensued.
Happy 18 months Charlotte Gray. We love you very much!
jay and charlotte on vacation
It's beach time. My parents planned on getting a house down at the beach earlier this summer. My sister, her husband and daughter came down and it was Melissa's second week back at school so it meant that Charlotte and I went down for a couple of days to enjoy the sand and the sun minus Melissa. I wish she could have been there, but we managed to get along without her :) Just wanted to share a little bit of our trip. We only were there for a few days, but Charlotte had a lot of fun with her grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousin that is just six months younger than herself.
The house next door had this awesome weather vane. I have always loved the shape of a whale and I admittedly took way to many pictures of it. Here was one I took the first night we arrived. The colors are so awesome.
It was really nice going down to the beach this time of the year, because there are not as many people around at all. We had a great house with a great view. But don't just take my word for it...
The dunes in between our house and the water were great and the house had a long and narrow walkway to access the dunes and water. Charlotte loved running down the catwalk every time we would go outside.
A few of the shells that families gathered and lined up over the course of the summer season.
Did I say that I like whales?
Now for wildlife. I have never seen so many dragonflies in one spot before. They are beautiful creatures. It was tough to get close and I never had the right lens on hand, but here's a look at one little guy that took a break from his flight to rest for a bit. Ah, the beach is so relaxing, even for the bugs!
Cool aloe-ish kind of plant. Hello depth of field.
Apparently there are deer at the beach too. At first glance I thought it was a baby, but dad says that's as big as they get around the beach. Bambi made her way through the dunes. Strange juxtaposition if you ask me.
The path in between the walkway and the beach. One of the coolest beach houses I've ever stayed at.
This little beauty is my niece, Honor. She will be a year old next month. Charlotte loved playing and talking with Honor and it gave me a good idea of how she'll be when we have our second in March 2013.
I loved this shot.
An aerial view of her precious curls. She is beautiful, huh?
Another favorite of mine. We took a lot of walks on the beach and there's nothing better in my book than a dad and his little girl.
The water and clouds look fake to me, but they are real. I need to move to the beach.
Charlotte and her "Tiki" having a fun walk together. Check out Charlotte's face.
More walking, with me, my sister, her husband and their daughter in the foreground.
Charlotte loved watching all of the different birds that fly around the beach. I also caught her digging for buried treasure at one point while bird watching.
Pointing at a bird up in the sky that flew away.
Waving bye-bye to a bird that soared down the beach.
And a couple of my favorites to round things out. I love watching this little girl grow and even though we had other family with us, it was fun to go on a trip, just the two of us. Hope you enjoy the pictures.
