The Topping Off Party

My parents have been spending time building a beach house on the Eastern Shore of Virginia (well - they're not actually doing the building...just the payin' part!) All the walls are up and the roof is on! The builder hosted a topping off party - which was such a special event. (I'd never even heard of a topping off party - it's typically held when building very tall buildings to give thanks for no loss of life - a celebration of sorts) My parents invited their closest friends, and we invited our closest friends - everyone there we consider family. We spent the afternoon on the beach, then had snacks and wine, then a champagne toast at the end.

However - I think the most special part of the day was when my dad stood up to thank everyone who has been involved in the project and prayed to give thanks to the Lord and thank Him for the blessing this house has already been.

The next post will be dinner after the party - my parents treated everyone to dinner at one of the most yummy restaurants on the Eastern Shore - Aqua!

Pictures:

This is on the way to the beach house - the house is 24 miles from where Kyle and I live, and we get to drive across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel to get there - a beautiful drive! We have a chance of seeing - huge naval ships, sometimes a submarine, dolphins...LOVE where we live! (I wasn't doing the driving - just taking pictures)

(The house isn't going to be green - that's just the drywall.)
From one of the many porches looking out on the beach





Graham loves his BeBe!
The land on my parents' property - it's 5 acres, and it's part forest, part beach. There are sand dunes EVERYWHERE. The highest sand dune is 50 feet. The kids loved climbing! (And - the house will not be rented out - just for family and friend use!)
Graham LOVED exploring - he found "mi-moes" (pinecones), a BIG bath (the ocean), "ox" (rocks) "fee" (leaves)
Running and jumping with mommy and BeBe! (he has officially started calling me mommy instead of momma)





Just before we all prayed


One of dad's good buddies - so many dear family friends!
The two best moms EVER! (BeBe and GiGi) (And Graham calls his nanny "dee dee" - everyone rhymes!)
Our favorite!! Dr. Dean!
EZ and JZ




Some of my very favorite women -

LOVE this little Jasper!!

I LOVE spring!!

I love the flowers, I love the freshness to the air, and I love that the cover is off the pool!

The Gardening Begins!!!

I can't WAIT for this year's garden! I've got my seeds, and I'm ready to see my little plants grow! I'm planting about 5-6 kinds of tomatoes this year (sugar grape, purple, heirloom, yellow cherry....), red, green, yellow, orange, white and purple sweet peppers, broccoli, 4 kinds of beets, watercress (to go with beets yummy salads!), peas, seedless cukes, and my lettuce came back!

Two kinds of basil - the traditional sweet basil and one that tastes very similar but looks much prettier!

Easter 2010!

Since my Easter post is about 50 posts ago, I figure it's about time to put up pictures from the day!

Easter breakfast -

What was in Graham's Easter Basket - one fun book, a prayer book, and a big puzzle!
Getting ready to go to church
Mommy - do I HAVE To wear these awful clothes?! (He was only upset for a minute - just didn't like his suit buttoned)

Graham's buddy, Reid - in matching suits! (I have no idea who that guy is behind them)
I want to TAKE OFF THESE SHOES!
Easter Egg hunt in my parents' back yard. We practiced hunting for Easter eggs in the weeks leading up to Easter - in our house. I put snacks in Easter eggs and hid them around the house. (And just hoped that Graham found the eggs instead of the dogs.) Graham mastered opening Easter eggs. My parents put M&Ms in their Easter eggs, and I've got to say - my little guy LOVES M&Ms! He's never had chocolate before (and I only let him eat 6 M&Ms) but he kept trying to go back for more!)

BeBe hid something special for Graham in the yard.....

Thank you for the duck, BeBe!!!

Graham thinks the river is a bathtub. Everytime we go down to my parents' dock, he tries to jump in. Try having a conversation with an almost 18-month old telling him that if that river is a bath, it's not a very clean one!

Graham does spend a lot of time on the dock - my dad always has his minnow trap in the water for his fishing trips. He and my dad usually dump out the minnows on the dock and Graham puts them all back into the water one by one.

Graham and his body guard. (And his new duck friend)

After lunch, we "kids" went paddle boarding while Graham took his afternoon nap! Kyle, Reid, Ally, Dean, and I paddled out to the big sand bar in the river - BEAUTIFUL day!! Definitely gave me the bug for paddle-boarding/ swimming season to start! Pictures from paddle-boarding are on my parents' camera. Gotta get them to my computer.