Today was Brooke’s first Halloween. In lieu of trick or treating Brooke stayed home with Mom and Dad to help pass out candy. We decided since Brooke went through all the work to Lobby for Ladybugs in DC, it was fitting that she should dress up as one for Halloween. We also carved a pumpkin, with a great big smile like Brooke (with one and a half teeth now).
Saturday was the Waterways Heritage Festival in Great Bridge at the Great Bridge Lock Park (10 minutes from our home). They were celebrating their lock between the freshwater river and ocean inlet. At this festival you could take a ride on volunteer boats. Our vessel was the 40 foot Voyager ‘Miss America’ captained by Jim Canterbury. He was a sweet gentlemen who let Brooke and I sit in his wife’s chair so we would have good views. We sailed from the park, through the lock, then waited for Great Bridge to open and sailed under it as it was open to the other side of the park across the street. Jim helped me and my ‘precious cargo’ as he said off his boat at the end of the ride. It was a fun day to spend as a family. Afterwards, with Brooke fast asleep on my chest in the Ergo, AJ and I enjoyed a Kelly’s to-go picnic on the waterway watching the boats sail by.
Side-note: Laura kicks technological booty!
The Chesapeake City Park is now open from it’s almost year-long renovations. Laura was checking out the park while AJ was at work and tried Brooke in a swing for the first time. They came back together for some family time at the park. The second time was a lot more successful in the swing as it is padded with two towels. Even though Brooke is much larger than most babies her age (wearing now 9-12 mo clothing at 4 1/2 mo) she is still a very little baby. We had some fun romping with her around the playground though.
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To get away from it all, we decided to have our first family vacation in a cabin in the mountains. It was really nice to have some family time together and to disconnect from the world where there was no cell service, TV or internet. On day 1, we stopped at UVA and toured the campus on our way to the George Washington National Forest. Brooke saw her first fire in the woodstove in our cabin and had her first outdoor fire this night as well. Day 2, we visited Sherando Lake where we had a delicious picnic lunch and then hiked all around the lake – Brooke loves to hike, just like Mom and Dad. Day 3, we drove up to Wintergreen resort where we had a picnic lunch at the top of the slopes and then we drove on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Here we stopped for a short hike. We finally found an entrance to the Appalachian Trail and we all hiked a very short portion of it. All three of us had a really good time and AJ got some much needed extended daddy/daughter time.
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The three of us got to spend some much needed time together today. Brooke had a blast smiling and “talking” to us. Also, she wants everyone to know that she has graduated from using her sleep sac at night to now ‘sleeping free’ in her one-piece sleeper with footies.
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