Irene

We got home from Hilton Head after a 14 1/2 hour drive on Friday, August 26th. We went inland a little to avoid Hurricane Irene evacuation traffic, so it took as a little longer. We also stopped in Harrisonburg to stock up on ice and water. We slept well in our own beds and started prepping first thing the next morning. We didn't quite finish before the rain started, but at least the wind wasn't blowing yet.

Audrey helped fill up the bath tub with water, just in case.

Having trouble going to bed with all the storm noise

The rain and wind pressed on all night, but the morning was clear and calm- but dark in our house since the power with out in the middle of the night. Other than that, the only evidence of Irene for us was lots of leaves down.

A tree in our alley fell, taking out someone's garage and everyone power.

Our neighborhood lost about six big trees

Damaged several smaller trees

Lots of power lines down

Lots of sticks and leaves came down, many of which

would be later collected by Audrey.

We were pleased that Irene didn't cause too much damage, she had weakened to tropical storm status for us. We suffered without power for 4 days which was not too bad all things considered.

Hilton Head

Two days after Lidia left, we headed to Hilton Head for some vacation time with my family. We drove to Hilton Head, South Carolina and were treated to a week of fun by my mom and Larry. Joining the fun was Rahime, 'Chung, Lauren, Larry's son and daughter-in-law, two of his granddaughters and his great-grandson. We had a great week, mostly in the water- the beach and pool were great so we made sure to get water 2-3 times a day as evidenced by all of our pictures.

Baby Bunny braving the road

This was the view from a wonderful restaurant, Salty Dog.

Pool time

'Chung, Eric and Michael (Larry's son) playing in the fountain

Liz, Larry's granddaughter and her son, Joshua

Ready for the beach.... Eric even braved the beach solo a few times so that I could go shopping with the girls. Evidently Hilton Head is famous for it's great consignment stores and thrift store- we tried to hit up all but only got to a couple dozen.

At the beach

Audrey and Gogo

My beautiful pregnant sister

We also celebrated my mom's (Gogo) 60th birthday.

Here is the beautiful cake that Rahime (my sister) made and decorated.

When the kids weren't in the water, they were in the cupboards.

I guess that was the only picture I took that was non-water related.

It was a great week, but we had to head back a day early to prepare for Irene.

Lidia Visit- Summer '11

Lidia came to visit for a week in early August. The kids and I picked her up from the airport and treated ourselves to dinner at Chiptole and had ice cream at this place in Baltimore that specializes in veggie ice cream. They have flavors like sweet corn, butternut squash, beet, and spinach. They actually taste much better than they sound. Sugar and cream go a long way!

We went Peach and raspberry picking at our favorite place, Larriland farms.

Elliott was not too sure about the peach fuzz

But, he came around and ate about 3 peaches

Gorgeous peaches

I had a hard time with all the peaches on the ground

Audrey enjoyed climbing for her peaches

My peaches

Lidia and I had 20 pounds of peaches to use... we had bourbon peach cobbler, peach tea, peaches and cream frasiche, and a lot of just plain peaches to eat.

We headed to the raspberry fields. Elliott was excited to get out of the stroller for a bit.

Elliott was a fan of raspberries

and was even willing to share!

Lidia and I got to spend the day together that Saturday of her visit and went to DC. We got to go shopping, see two movies, visit a museum to see the amazing painting below, visited Georgetown and had dinner at Le Pain Quotidien. It was a great day together, free of kids.

We went to Sherwood Gardens to have a picnic one afternoon. It was a cupcake picnic- we picked up some yummy gluten free cupcakes from my friend's bakery and enjoyed them in the gardens.

Elliott trying on Audrey's headband

Audrey posing in a tree

The kids got to climb the favorite climbing tree.

Elliott even joined in with some assistance

He preferred playing in the dirt and got pretty messy.

We had a great time with Lidia, even got to run in the rain (not on purpose and then again on purpose), watch the fireflies, and bake lots of yummy things. My new favorite cake- the chocolate whiskey bunt cake. Thanks Lidia for giving us a special week together!