Lake Gaston - Labor Day 2011

We stayed three nights at Olde Ferry Estates over Labor Day, and we love the lake! Sally and Shelton, along with my parents, and Jim & Steph joined us in the 5 bedroom lake house (which was fully equipped with gourmet kitchen, classy decor, wood floors, luxurious master bed and bath, pool table, ping pong table, huge dock/boat house, etc). The boys had a ball, although, there were times that fatigue trumped the fun. Cam refused to sleep in the pack n play - screaming bloody murder for hours when we tried to put him to bed. Grey slept OK, but refused to eat anything! Besides that, mommy did find some peace and relaxation on the boat (Steph & Jim's fish-n-ski boat).


Returning from our first outing on the boat . . .

View up the cove from our dock:

Pics of the house we stayed in . . . huge kitchen that opened to the living/dining room:

The back porch . . . the boys and their "papa":

Returning to our "estate" on the boat, we were the last dock on the left:

Matt, coming out to help unload the boys from the boat . . .

More house pics . . . the living room:

Geared up and ready to roll . . . out on the lake, that is . . . sun screen, hats, water shoes, and life jackets, check!
(Can't you see the enthusiasm?)

Pa, giving tips to the lake-goers . . . don't jump out the boat!

The only way Cam would sleep was in the boat . . . so, lots of boating during nap times and just before bed!

Grey's favorite was driving the boat (with Mr. Jim, of course)!

A-hoy Mate-ys!

The CREW . . . captain Jim, first mate Grey, concierge Pa . . .

Mom and Cam

Cam, feeling the wind in his hair . . .

Oh, so tired! Resting his head on the boat!

Cool Dude!

Cam's "do", looking like the wind has been in his hair

SOOOOOOOOOO TIRED!!! (and still refusing to sleep!)

Grey's first time catching a fish! (but he accidentally touched its fin, and he was scared of it after that)

Sunday night, out to dinner at "The Pointe" . . . almost everyone ordered fish n chips!

All-in-all, a great mini-vacation. We would definitely recommend Lake Gaston - very family oriented with nice houses, and prices were definitely cheaper than Smith Mountain Lake. The house we stayed in was brand new and very spacious. We are definitely keeping the lake trip in our vacation rotation!

Summertime (July - August 2011)

For once, my boys sitting with each other and enjoying it . . .

Cam's first haircut - a rather hairy ordeal (pun intended!)

It's amazing how tolerant Jackson is! Cam definitely pushed his limit!

More posts coming soon . . . Grey's first day of preschool was Sept 6th (last Tuesday), and for Labor Day, we visited Lake Gaston! Good times, Good times . . .

My Birthday Boys

Sunday afternoon, July 3rd, we celebrated Grey and Cam's birthdays! It is sooo hard to believe they are already 1 and 2. We had lots of guests - lots of friends for the boys to play with . . . and they had a ball! We had pools on the screened porch and outside with sprinklers. Cake and presents . . .
Actually, neither Grey nor Cam much enjoyed the cake - a few force-fed bites and they were done!

Birthday butt shot!

Of course, all good things must come to an end . . . in this case, it ended with a fight over the new xylophone . . . poor Cam

June pictures

Cam around 11 months and Grey around 23 months . . . contemplating future careers in medicine?

Gotta get the giggles out . . .

More Nags Head Pictures . . .

Nags Head really was a total blast - it's always so great to get the cousins together! So many memorable times . . . Currituck Lighthouse, the wild horses (driving on the beach), shopping at the boardwalk in Duck, beach time, family time, movie time, our night out to eat, crab night by Uncle Connor, etc . . .

Pics at Currituck . . . up in the lighthouse . . .

Note the relationship between Grey's feet and the sand . . . he tried to preserve this fragile relationship as much as he could . . . (and it didn't help when "E" dumped sand on him!)

Cam did not share Grey's reluctance about the sand . . .

Finally, a way to enjoy the beach without the sand getting in the way!

So, a few side notes about this unique trip . . . I think if we had just brought an ER doc with us, we would have been fine. The vaca started with Strep throat, vomiting, a 104 fever, and a trip to the urgent care. Middle of the week entailed a horrible back spasm, rendering the victim completely unable to move - for a day (and this included getting out of bed to the bathroom) - followed by several visits to the chiropractor. Also, a fall down the stairs & huge egg-sized lump on the head, as well as the most horrendous cold endured by all the males and grandma for over a month! Seriously, it knocked Matt and the kids out for several weeks. Oh, and Grey had projectile vomiting toward the end of the trip.

Like I said, a memorable trip . . . but getting to spend time with our family made it all worth it!