Vacation, part deux

Before I begin with the pictures from the second leg of our vacation, here is Sadie behaving pretty much as she does... all the time. Neither Redmond nor I are quite sure where she gets this silliness gene from, as neither he nor I have a shred of it ourselves.... ;-)

So, last week, we traveled to the Tidewater area for the weekend. Now, this is the area in which I was born and grew up. I lived in Norfolk and Virginia Beach the first 17 years of my life, and returned at 21 to finish college at Old Dominion University. I met Redmond here in 1991, and stuck around until we traipsed off to Montana 2 years later. So, this is my hometown. But now, I feel like a tourist whenever I travel there. I can't even say "go home" any more, because this area hasn't been my home in 14 years. But, I find myself wanting to visit places and sights I wouldn't normally check out as someone who is "living" in Tidewater. I'd like to see the museums and explore the natural areas and enjoy the lovely Bay/Ocean ecosystem. Actually, Redmond and I were quite the nature nerds the last couple of years we lived in the area, but I guess I found the Rocky Mountains so very obviously grand and gigantic that I forgot the subtle, quiet beauty of marshlands and coves and bays, and the gracefulness of the egrets and herons. The weather was unexpectedly cold and snowy, so we weren't able to explore the outdoors on this round, but I hope to camp at First Landing State Park at some point and take in Back BayNational Wildlife Refuge, two of our old stomping grounds from our "courtin' days".

We had a wonderful visit with Dad on Friday night (Why did I not get any pictures? Aargh!) and with Robert and Marsha and darling Lucas and Lily on Saturday. Here are some pics....

Lily lays hands on the armoire...

Babies look so cute with giant binkies... I wish Sadie still used hers once in a while. She's pretty much lost all interest in them...

Lucas hangs out amidst the toys...

Here's Sadie, walking around chattering...

Lucas climbs on Uncle Redmond...

Sadie looks a bit unsure about the whole cousin interaction thing...

And now she lunges...

We're not so sure here that we like Beloved Daddy playing with this other kid...

The carpet is always greener on the other side of the baby gate...

Whee! New toys!

Baby showdown! Jerry! Jerry! Actually, the kids all seemed to get along fabulously....

Lily joins in the Uncle Redmond pile-on....

When the snow (yes, snow in April!) finally stopped, we took the kids out for a walk. Sadie rides in a wagon with Lucas...

Lucas, making cute faces and enjoying the ride...

Sadie, wishing we had a Radio Flyer wagon...

Lily, riding in Sadie's pink, non-gender-neutral car...

I think she likes it...

I think Sadie may be a bit worn out by this point... This is the longest play date she's had with other kids in some time...

Lucas looks tough... Don't mess with me! We know better- he's a sweetheart...

And on returning home, we see our dogwoods are starting to bloom... I'll have to take a picture now... They are absolutely gorgeous... We're fortunate to have five or six of them in front of our house and they are all at peak...