"Vacation" By the Numbers

26/30 = Days out of the last month that we've been on "vacation"
20/26 = Days of the aforementioned "vacation" where the weather was either cold/rainy/snowy/hailing/blizzarding/on tornado watch (and, of course, since I had packed at the beginning of our first trip for the month and a half before we get into our house, the only cold weather clothes we had were one pair of long pants and a sweatshirt each)
10 = times packing and unpacking all of our gear
7 = different places we slept
tons = the fun we had!


vacation: a period of suspension of work, study, or other activity, usually used for rest, recreation, or travel

I just had to put quotes around the word "vacation" because according to the above definition, there was very little "suspension of work" and "rest" going on :). We have had a delightful series of trips, though, and feel blessed to have spent so much great time with family. We are now back in Virginia at my parents' house for a few weeks before heading south on our move and are glad for a little bit of down time.

We had a great time in Jackson Hole with Mark's family this past week. We enjoyed a picnic (albeit a cold one) at Jenny Lake -- the Tetons are spectacular, a quick trip to Old Faithful in Yellowstone (after being there about 30 minutes we were advised to return to Jackson so that we wouldn't be snowed in), the Alpine slide, watching the Jackson gunfight in the town square, swimming (great indoor rec center pool), and such.


The girls with Mark's sister Melissa's kids in Pocatello, ID.

Pigtail Jane. She actually held still for me long enough to try a new hair-do!

The girls loved looking for wildlife on our visits to the National Parks. We saw buffalo (this one as well as some live samples of the species), elk, and moose.

The freezing faithful -- waiting for Old Faithful to erupt.

A view of the Tetons from our picnic spot at Jenny Lake.

Dr. Ward

Congratulations to Uncle Matt who is now offically Dr. Ward! We were so glad that we could be in town for his graduation from medical school and are proud of all the hard work he has put in over the past four years! We wish him and Sara the best of luck on their upcoming adventures in Boston and Iowa.




The girls joined the celebration at the Market Street Broiler.
Jane's response when I prompted "Smile!" I think she's still trying to figure it out.

Utah Pics

Well, we've now been on vacation for over 3 weeks and I must confess that I am starting to feel ready to get back to normal (although it'll probably be another month or so until we reach that point since we don't arrive in TX until the end of the month). We've had a wonderful time out west with family, though, first in Midway with the Wards and then in Pocatello, Idaho and Jackson Hole, Wyoming with the McLaughlins. It's been so great for the girls to get reaquainted with their cousins and for us to spend some quality time with our parents and siblings. We sure missed Em and Ike, who are expecting their little girl any minute, and Miffy who is serving a mission in Rochester, NY!

It's amazing to see and be in the mountains again! We've been visiting Midway, Utah as a family during the summer every year since I can remember. It's a beautiful valley full of green fields surrounded by snow-capped mountains. There's nothing like the smell of the air in Midway in the morning. It's just too bad that it is not-so-slowly being overrun with tacky development. Here are some pics from our time in Midway:

My dad, the dessert and pastry connoisseur, read an article in The Washington Post about the new official Maryland state cake -- the Smith Island 10 layer cake. He contacted one of the ladies from the article who makes 11 of these cakes a day from scratch 6 days a week and ordered two of them. He and Dave then carried them on their laps on the flight to Utah so that we could all enjoy the delicacy. It was such a fun treat! Dad always knows how to make things special and fun!
The girls had a great time with their Oldroyd cousins. We had a rip-roaring good time at David Oldroyd's eighth birthday party.

The big kids, primed and ready to hit the Darth Vader pinata. David split it open on his first try!
Jane loved the pizza.
One of the biggest hits of the trip was another surprise from Grandpa. He had brought his remote controlled Air Force One for us to fly. We all, family and neighbors alike, had a great time flying and watching it (from the ground it actually looked like a real plane). Unfortunately, Air Force One was lost on its final flight -- it got too high and a current carried it out of reach!

Graduation! (MBA and Master Mover)

It's been an insane couple of weeks for the McLaughlin clan and we're all feeling a little topsy-turvy. Before leaving for the Outer Banks, we thought we had our move pretty well under control. In the four days we had to finish up after returning home, we realized just how much more we had to do and in so little time. Mark was truly amazing! Not only did he execute an incredibly organized move, scrub the walls from ceiling to floor, patch up the nail holes in the wall, and do so many other moving-related tasks, but he also graduated with his MBA! I am so proud of all that he's done, learned, and contributed during his time at Darden and was so proud to see him walk the stage with Jane (our Darden baby) and get his diploma. We were so happy that my mom, dad, and brother Dave could come down from Northern Virginia to support us.

The happy graduate in front of Darden. We'll miss the beautiful grounds!

A picture of UVA graduates waiting by the Thomas Jefferson statue in front of the Rotunda on UVA's main grounds for the processional to begin.

More Farewell Pics of Charlottesville

It's hard to believe that we are gone from Charlottesville! We've had such a wonderful two years there and are so grateful for all of the experiences we've had and the amazing people that we've met. These past two years will always be a treasured time in our memories.

Millie has loved her year of Kindergarten at Red Hill Elementary and her teacher Mrs. Reed.
I especially loved the views from the playground at Millie's school. As we move to a totally suburban lifestyle, I feel grateful for the experiences Millie's had here. I'm not sure that she will be able to experience the excitement of cows wandering onto the playground in the future.

Dear Woody! When we moved into our rental house in Charlottesville, Woody came with the house. He has lived under the back deck for 16 years (he's a completely outside cat, thankfully, because Mark is so allergic). Our landlord offered to take him off of our hands if we didn't want to have him around, but Millie was attached at first sight. She loved playing with Woody (and later Oliver, Woody's long lost brother who had found his way back home) and he loved following her around. What a lucky cat he was to be lugged around the property by his little friend. He got to experience the joys of sliding down the slide, swinging on the front porch swing, and even made it onto the trampoline. Even though he was pretty mangy, often mewed at the back door and rattled the doorknob late into the night, and occasionally snuck into the house, we'll miss our Woody!

Abby's last day of preschool with her amazing teachers Patty and Erin. She has loved her school this year!

OBX

Millie and Mae enjoying the beach even though it was cold and rainy. They are such good friends and had so much fun together!

During their weekly playdates for the past few months Abby and Lucy have looked forward to going to the beach together for a huge long playdate. Abby was so excited that we got to stay for seven days, but at the end of the week said, "I don't want to stay only seven days! I want to stay a thousand days!" She is also very into giving everything a name these days (stuffed animals, dolls, etc.) and said, while we were crossing a bridge on our way to the beach, "We can name the ocean 'Water' because it has a lot of water." Oh the profundity!

Such a typical Jane pose! She's pretty spunky. Quite a fireball at times. Hard to believe she was such a mild-mannered baby!
And a totally typical Millie picture. She was at one with the sea and the sand.

One of my highlights of the trip was a visit to some immense sand dunes nearby (wish I had thought to get the name of the site). It was terribly windy, but exhilarating to run in the sand with a view of the ocean on one side and the sound on the other and the clear, bright blue sky above. Afterward, Rich and Em were nice enough to treat everyone to Dairy Queen.


Collecting sand crabs.

We had such a great time, despite the rainy weather and tornado warnings during the first part of the week, in North Carolina's Outer Banks a few weeks ago. We've been wanting to visit ever since we moved to Virginia and it certainly lived up to its reputation. We rented a house on the beach with three other families and it was pretty magical. In fact, I'd have to say it was the most relaxing vacation I've ever had with my kids -- good friends for them and us to play with, a huge house so that everyone had their own space, and a beautiful beach right out the back door. Millie revelled in the surf and swimming pool and loved digging for sand crabs. Abby loved playing it safe in the sand as far as possible from the sea (although Mark and I were able to coax her into the water to jump over the edge of the water while she laughed nervously), Jane was thrilled to have the freedom to wander all over the beach to her heart's content and loved saying "Baby" over and over again whenever she saw one of the three babies who were there. Most of all we loved spending time with good friends.

Pictures . . .

Our friend, and amazing photographer, Mandy Carroll took pictures of the girls this week and posted a sneek peek on her blog. She did such a wonderful job -- even with the elusive, ever-on-the-move Miss Jane! If you're interested in taking a look, you can view them at mandycarroll.blogspot.com.