The Big 3-0

Well the inevitable has come and gone. I turned 30 on June 18th. I'm not the least bit sad about entering a new decade and leaving my twenties behind. Hopefully I've gained some widsom and maturity to go along with those few extra pounds that have creeped up on me. :) So, what to do when one enters a new decade....throw a party, of course! We invited all of our friends (30 or so in total!) over to help both Keith and me celebrate our birthdays. Much food and fun was enjoyed by all, not to mention the sizable dent put into our keg and wine collection. That's a sign of a good party.


And that was not my first party of the season. My girlfriends threw a surprise party in my honor two weeks ago at a great local restaurant called Passion. I was truly shocked, as I was led to believe I was just going to dinner with one girlfriend. I certainly would have spiffed it up a bit more had I known. But that's all part of the fun. We ate, drank, laughed, and ate some more. It was a blast. I'm thankful to have such thoughtful friends.

Thanks to everyone who sent birthday wishes this year. Let the 30's begin!!!

Busch Gardens Adventure!

Today we took Will on his first visit to Busch Gardens today. Aunt Jill even came along for the fun. It was so great! They opened a new Sesame Street Forest of Fun play area so we hit that first. Will rode a few rides and played in the water fountains. Then Elmo, Big Bird, Zoe, Abby, and Grover came out and did a musical show before walking through the Forest of Fun to meet and greet. Will was hilarious! As soon as he saw them, he ran over and started hugging the characters. It was so cute. He had the most excited expression on his face; he was a hug monster. He just kept going from one to the other hugging. He was in heaven!

We also arranged to take Will to a special lunch with Elmo and Friends. The food was okay (very good Elmo and Cookie Monster cupcakes!) but the visits from the characters more than made up for that mediocre food. We saw another show with Elmo, Big Bird, Bert, Ernie, and Cookie Monster. Then they all came around to the tables to meet us, sing and dance, take pics, and even sign autographs. Again, Will was thrilled. It was the best money we've spent; we have never seen him happier. The Sesame Street gang are like his best friends!

We also rode a few other rides and played some games before heading home. Will went all day without a nap and held up pretty well. We kept anticipating a major meltdown but that didn't happen until the ride home. Bedtime an hour early and we'll be back to normal tomorrow. If you're ever in this area and have small people who enjoy Sesame Street, Busch Gardens is the way to go!

Grandparents, kitchen (finally!), and strawbaby festival

We were lucky enough to have Grandma Gigi and Papa Rick come and visit for a week this month. We had so much fun! We immediately put Papa Rick to work; he worked on our plumbing, trimmed some trees, and helped Keith tile the kitchen backsplash! That means we are finally, finally done with all major kitchen projects. All we (I) have left to do is find window treatments, which I believe Keith finds unnecessary. He doesn't understand the importance of color! :) The kitchen looks GREAT and we are both relieved to finally have that project behind us. I bet we'll never buy another house that needs so much "updating".





Besides making Grandma Gigi and Papa Rick work, we also had some fun. We went wine tasting, watched the boats come through on the Intercoastal Waterway, and played outside a lot. Plus GG and PR kept Will so Keith and I could go to NYC for the weekend. It was a much needed and much appreciated getaway! While we were gone, Grandma baked up lots of homemade goodies and set about spoiling Will with attention and sweets, as any grandparent should. He had a wonderful time; I am not sure he even realized we were gone. Thank you both!






This weekend we hit the Strawbaby (okay, really the Strawberry) Festival in Pungo. We somehow managed to not really eat any strawbabies but Will did ride his first carnival rides. He loved it. He was so attached (literally) to the bulldozer ride that I had to pry his hands from the steering wheel while he was kicking and screaming to stay. Perhaps he'll be in construction someday. Will didn't love the Dumbo ride as much though. After about one "flight" around, he got scared and started saying "all done elephant" over and over again. Maybe he's scared of heights...after Keith lowered the elephant closer to the ground, he seemed to enjoy it a bit more. Maybe he won't be a pilot like his daddy afterall!

Visitors Galore = Spoiled Child

We have had quite a busy few weeks with family coming to visit. First came Grandma Charma (or Grandma Sue as Will calls her.) She stayed a few days and spoiled Will rotten. Unfortunately the weather was VERY hot while she was here (90s in April? That's crazy!) so we didn't get to go out and explore as much as we wanted. But we did feed the ducks daily (Will's new favorite activity), played outside, and managed to squeeze in a little shopping and more than a little eating (my favorite activity.) Unfortunately I didn't get my camera out enough so we ended up with no pictures of Will and Grandma Sue...but we did get a great picture of Will in his new duds that she brought him (thanks, Grams!) The Hawaiian print shorts are Keith's favorite; he has never before cared what Will wears but now wants him to wear his new shorts every day. Aunt Rachie also sent a cute outfit so Will will be sporting that soon.



Here is Will enjoying some spaghetti as we had lunch in Ghent. He was quite the pro at slurping up the noodles.










Our next visitors came only a few days later when Great Grandpa Willis and Aunt Frannie arrived! We had so much fun. We went to the aquarium, checked out Locks Park along the Intercoastal Waterway, and saw the big boats (okay, ships) and airplanes on base. It was Will's first visit to see Daddy's airplane and he loved it. He kept yelling "more airplane! more airplane!" when we had to leave. Perhaps he will follow in his father's footsteps one day. Below Will is touching the stingrays at the Virginia Aquarium while Daddy and Grandpapa look on.
















Visiting Daddy's plane for the first time. It was a big hit!














Grandpapa, Daddy, and Will with the C-2 Greyhound.

















Thanks to everyone for visiting. We had a great time and Will definitely got spoiled by all the attention. We are SO looking forward to Papa Rick and Grandma Gigi's trip in a few weeks. Will is ready for some more lovin'!

Here Comes Peter Cottontail...

We had a great Easter this year! It turned out to be a weekend full of fun. Will had many new experiences: he rode his first pony, took his first train ride, and of course hunted for eggs. It was great. On Saturday we went to the Eggstravaganza at the Chesapeake City Park. There we found the ponies, a petting zoo, the real Easter bunny (not some costumed kid!), a miniature train, and an Easter egg hunt that wasn't too prosperous for us. In fact, the egg hunt was so poorly organzied that Aunt Jill and I had to run ahead and grab candy before the older kids could get to it. Then we had our own private hunt after the others had scattered. It worked out well in the end. A toddler definitely doesn't need much sugar; Will was pretty wired after his one piece of sugary goodness. Will wasn't a huge fan of his bunny ears (thanks Aunt Jill) but we managed to get them on him for a few pictures. He made a cute little bunny.


Petting the real Easter bunny, actually a bunny from a local rabbit rescue. We didn't want to wait in line to sit on the costumed bunny's lap so this had to suffice!


On Sunday we had an Easter egg hunt in our front yard. This one was significantly more low key than the day before! Will found all 15 eggs, with the help of our neighbor girl Aria. Unfortunately the Easter bunny didn't think Will needed any more candy so his eggs were filled with Nilla wafers, Craisins, and cereal instead. Luckily Will is too young to know the difference and enjoyed his treats just the same!




This is what happens when you have too much Easter candy. You get a little loopy!

William's World

Will is so busy that I often miss his funny faces and best moments on camera. I'm just not fast enough to get it all in. But one day last week he was just in a funny mood; for some reason lunch was hilarious and he could not stop laughing. These are some shots from that day. The many faces of William. He really reminds me of my dad in these pictures...those blue eyes came from Grandpa Don and it shows in this light. There are some Hicks genes in there afterall!

New swing set

Spring is finally arriving in Virginia so we celebrated with a new swing set for Will. Actually, used from Craigslist but luckily Will's too young to know the difference! Keith set it up during nap time so when we finally took Will outside (or "side" as he says), he didn't know what to think. It took him a minute and then he took off running (as you can see above). Needless to say, the swing set is a hit. He loves swinging in the Clifford swing and hiding in the fort. For some reason, just opening and closing the tiny door to the fort provides endless entertainment for a toddler. Who knew?! He's a little too small and uncoordinated to climb up to the slide all by himself yet but I'm sure that independence is not far behind. We've been enjoying many days in the yard (well, when it is not raining here...so not many days afterall). Now when Will asks to go "side", we have a destination. I realized that I'm not much of an action photographer. It is hard to catch a toddler on the run. But here are some of my better attempts.










This past Thursday, Will had his first friend spend the night. One of his girlfriends, Anne, spent the night while her mom and dad went to the hospital to have her baby sister. Anne did pretty well; Will only had a few moments of possessiveness with his toys and mommy! Overall, a good 24 hours!