Happy Birthday Devan!

2 years ago today I gave birth to the perfect baby boy.... You are the light of our lives. Each day brings new adventures for us. Can't wait to see what the next year brings! LOVE YOU DEV :)

A bee!!

Cheese!

Easter egg hunt at the clubhouse

Ooooohhh... Scary!
Video of Devan dancing


O.... S.... U.... Oregon State fight fight fight!

Maymont

Sunday, our core group of friends got together and went to Maymont Park for a picnic and a hike. There were 9 adults and 4 kids. What a group! Maymont is awesome! I can't believe we've never been there before! And it's free. And there's so much to do. You could easily spend the ENTIRE day there. We were there for 4 hrs and only saw half.

Devan trying to get the piggy to come over so he could pet it

Picnic time!

Cock-a-doodle-doo!

Devan's favorite: feeding the goats! Can you believe this? The goat was as big as him but he laughed and laughed and laughed each time the goat ate the grains from his hand (and I said EWW as it left a trail of slug slime each time- good thing we had already eaten!)

Devan climbing one of the many large boulders- trying to be like the big kids!

Love this pic! All the kids gathered to look for the bobcat.

On our way to the bears!

Stop to see a fox....

What does the bear say Lauryn? ROAR!

Husband and wife holding hands :)

Bird of prey time!

Whoo Hoo...

Jumping from giant stump to giant stump

Gorgeous Japanese Gardens! And they had a huge koi pond with huge koi swimming. And little leap pads (concrete) to hop across to the other side

Thanks for the great day neighbors! We'll definitely have to come back and do it again! Love you guys :)

OBX

For my dad's BIG 6-0 birthday we rented a duplex in Hatteras for 4 days and 3 nights. It was so nice to just hang out as a family, with nothing in particular to rush around and do. We left Thursday and headed to Norfolk to pick up Aunt Pat and then headed on down to Hatteras. It was a gray, rainy, icky day but fine by me! It could rain all it wanted while driving, as long as it was nice while we were down there. When we got closer, the clouds started to break up a bit. But with all the rain, the little street to the house was flooded so I had to park the car behind it. We unloaded the truck and car and explored the house. The 2nd floor was 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. The 3rd floor was one big open room, surrounded by huge windows. What a great view! After unpacking our bags and all the food we hung out on the balcony relaxing and enjoying the view. The surf was rough and there was thunder and lightning in the distance. So we discussed dinner options once it became apparent that we weren't going anywhere that night. Dad made burgers for dinner. By the time we were done eating, the storm had rolled in. So we brought out the alcohol and Trivial Persuit and settled in for the night. What fun! I'm not sure I've ever had that much fun playing a board game :) It was "old" vs "young". And we probably would've had a chance if Pat wasn't so full of random facts! I think she studied the cards before our trip... :) Friday we woke up to a nice morning (LATE morning). It was still windy but the sun was shining. After a lazy start, we all got ready and drove down to the ferry to explore Ocracoke Island. Such a cute little quaint town!

On the ferry, looking back at Hatteras

Passing another ferry (empty) Playing in the lounge, avoiding the wind

A random little sand bar full of birds! There were several of these along the way. And we couldn't figure out why they left that one little patch bird-free

We saw so many pelicans! I've never been this close to one before and they're HUGE!

Walking along the pier, headed to the shops and lunch

Outside of one of the shops there was this cute little wooden "ship" with a wheel. Of course, Devan LOVED turning the wheel

A little short, eh? Watch where you're going Devan! Hee hee hee

Walking back, these fisherman were cutting and cleaning their catch, and had quite the crowd waiting for their share!

Waking up Saturday morning to a calm ocean, pods of dolphins jumping and swimming, no wind, gorgeous sunrise, and a cup of coffee..... So nice and peaceful!

I was the only one up at this point so I enjoyed the quiet

Saturday was a gorgeous day! The sun was out, it was in the low 60's and the wind wasn't too bad. We got ready and headed to explore the Hatteras lighthouse. The one pictured below is the original, but it was moved because of erosion. We walked to the old location and walked along the beach. A rogue wave came and got Devan and I wet, so he wasn't too happy about that.

Inside the Visitor's Center

Walking up the steps to the lighthouse. Devan wanted someone to go with him.

So Nana went and they knocked on the door to see if anyone was home :)

From the old location of the lighthouse, you could see our house up the beach so most people walked back to the house. Dustin and I took Devan in the cars back. Devan was too upset about his wet feet and didn't want to walk in the sand anymore. When we got back, we got on our beach clothes and headed to the beach for the rest of the day. The weather was so nice!

GiGi showing Devan the kite- it was a toucan and the wings actually flapped in the breeze!

Dustin, Devan and Pat went back to the house after awhile for a nap. Mom, Dad, Steph and I decided to walk down the beach and collect cool shells (something we've always done as a family). We found some great shells, a couple starfish (NEVER have I seen a starfish on the East Coast!), and the best find yet..... A dolphin vertebrae! That's right! You heard me! I went to pick up a shell and next to it was something buried. So I started uncovering it and found a 6" piece of vertebrae. I had NO idea what it was. Kinda gross but very interesting. I carried that thing around the rest of the time and once we got back to the house I jumped on the computer to find out what it was. After a LONG time researching, I finally figured out it was dolphin! How cool is that?!?! I'll have to take a pic- I just realized I don't have one :( The rest of the night consisted of ordering pizza and settling in for the night, watching the VCU Final Four game against Butler. It was more like TRYING to watch as the reception was horrible ;)

Devan wearing is new "eyes" as he calls them (really Pat's reader glasses). But boy was it hilarious! He would try and grab crayons off the floor and miss every time! And then he'd laugh and try again. Great entertainment!

Video of Papa and Devan playing:

And cake time! YUM!

(There's more pics to come once I get them from dad and Steph)

It was a sad day when we had to say good-bye to everyone.... :( I still miss them. It was the best trip ever! We all enjoyed each other. And still, a week later, Devan asks where GiGi, Nana, and Papa are.... Breaks my heart :( And I have to say they went back home on the airplane. And he says "GiGi bye-bye? Nana home?" Yes, Devan, but you'll see them soon.....