The Bayer Update

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Yorktown, VA

The next morning, after our breakfast and swim at the hotel pool, we packed up and headed out on our 4 1/2 hour drive north. Next stop...

YORKTOWN, VA

Our good friends, the Middels, used to live near us and Cory worked with us for a little while at Kaiser. He's a PT for the Airforce, and since they left us they have been stationed in San Antonio and now recently relocated to Yorktown, VA. We miss them dearly, and I have vowed to visit them at least once in every place they move to. So why not now? We had already met their daughter Hannah, who is 5 1/2, but had not yet met their twin boys Aaron and James, who are 4. So we invaded every inch of their space, and spent 4 days catching up and hanging out. Laura cooked up some fabulous meals. Hannah was so gracious and let us all take over her room...Eddy and I slept in her bed, Kaitlyn slept in the closet in the pack n play, and Ryan slept on the floor...surrounded by a huge princess castle tent. It was a great few days!

Cory and Eddy got in a round of golf, and we even managed to leave all 5 kids with the 2 teenage girls who live next door one night so we could have an adult dinner out. It was such a treat! We may have scarred Ryan for life, as it was a bit traumatic for him (but apparently 5 minutes after we left he was fine, as we knew he would be).

soccer on the 11th hole -- right behind the Middel's house

They live about 20 minutes from colonial Williamsburg, so we thought we'd go check it out and see as much as we could see with kids and their short attention spans. Turns out, attention spans didn't matter much, for about an hour after we got there we got stuck in a heavy rainstorm (I swear the weather forecast said it would be sunny!)....and after 15 minutes of shivering under a souvenir tent and no signs of it letting up, we decided to make a run back to the car. We all got pretty soaked...but we all kept smiles on our faces, and not one of us was whining about it.

Those are the things memories are made of!

in the main square

Ryan and James running down main street

the hitching post...and our rain shelter/souvenir tent in the background

entertaining ourselves during the rainstorm

The next day the sun was out, and we ventured out on the Noland trail...a great little nature walk around a lake, filled with turtles!

the Middel five....really hard to get kids (and Cory) to smile apparently

I gave Ryan the camera for this shot, and think he did a great job framing the shot...even as Aaron walked into it

And back at the house....the kids did a great job playing together. It didn't even matter that James called Ry "Brian" for the majority of our visit. By the end I kind of think he was doing it on purpose.

Eddy helped Cory put together some patio furniture, and the kids loved playing in their new fort.

Hannah, James and Ryan

and Kaitlyn wanted to be right in the mix as well

Thanks so much Cory & Laura! We had a great time, and it felt good to fill up our friend cup by spending time with you all.

And as all good things must come to an end, so did our great adventure on the east coast. We packed up our goods, said goodbye, and began the long trip home. 2 airplanes, and once again schlepping all of our stuff from point A to point B. But once again the kids did really well and we made it home safely without any major hiccups. It felt really good to be home and all in our own beds.

But it also made me wonder...where to next???

Wilmington, NC

We left Charleston, drove about 3 hours north (with a stop for lunch in Myrtle Beach -- not a place we ever need to return to!), and spent one night as our small family unit in the charming town of Wilmington, North Carolina. It was our first night in a hotel all together. Not bad, but not great. Kaitlyn woke up at 5:30 am, so therefore we all woke up at 5:30 am. But there was a free breakfast buffet, and a pool, so all were happy again.

Although we only had a short time there, we got to explore the waterfront along the Cape Fear River and the cute little downtown (where we each got some killer ice cream cones at Kilwin's Ice Cream Shop) and then had dinner at a waterfront restaurant which was perfect with kiddos. We got to watch the boats coming and going while dining, and the seagulls got to eat up the Cheerios that Kaitlyn left behind on the floor. We also managed a quick spin around Wrightsville Beach, which looked super cute...will definitely have to go back someday.

the boardwalk along the river, with the Cape Fear River Bridge in the background

This was Kaitlyn's first taste of ice cream...it was love at first bite. But given the amount of ice cream I consumed while I was pregnant with both kids, it is no surprise to me that they both love it too.

love these ice cream faces!

shocked that Ryan was willing to give some of his up

dinner by the boats

watch out Staybridge Suites...here come the Bayers!

there is just something about a hotel room that makes things more fun

sorry for the blurry picture, but I wanted to share the adventurous spirit of our 10 month old...already climbing into things, like her suitcase

this will never get old to me....she still LOVES these feet of hers!

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Charleston, SC

Last week was our big trip to the east coast. And by big, I mean crazy distances to cover with 2 little kids in tow. But it was high time we visited some great friends, and got our kiddos all together for a massive play date. So we made the trek. My kids made me so proud, in that they were both super duper travelers. Leaving the house at 4 am, 2 long-ish plane flights, and schlepping our stuff from shuttle van to airport to rental car was not easy. Kaitlyn was a bit wiggly at times. But they both napped a little en route, and did pretty darn well with the time change and sleeping in new places. It was a great success, and made me excited for future Bayer family travels.

The first leg of our trip:

CHARLESTON, SC

We flew into Charleston to stay at the Williams family beach house on the Isle of Palms. My dear friend Katie from PT school, her husband Scott, and their two boys Aiden and Court drove down from Charlotte, NC to spend 4 days with us. It was the first time I got to meet her adorable boys. Ryan and Aiden are only 2 months apart in age, and got along great. Both her boys were a bit enamored with Kaitlyn as well....but I think Kaitlyn pretty much only had eyes for their dog Bruno. Sorry boys!

Scott, Eddy, and the kids at the Charleston farmer's market

the best fresh squeezed lemonade ever, and some whoopie pies (in our bellies in this picture)

We did fun vacation things like go swimming in the pool, build sand forts on the beach, go bike riding, and of course we did plenty of good ol' hanging out.

our walk to the pool...we stopped to look for Stumpy, the 3 legged alligator (Katie managed to point him out every time)

pool time! Kaitlyn wasn't a super fan at first (the water was chilly), but she warmed up to it

"I'm ready for the pool guys!"

when you stay with the Williams clan, be prepared to be showered with UNC gear...or a "pretzel shirt" as Ryan called it. We love all the gifts Katie! Thank you!!