Vermont

We had such a great time in Vermont! (check back later for pictures, I'm not sure when I can upload them!!) We headed up there Friday, June 6 and came back on Sunday, June 15. The whole purpose for us going up there was so that Chris could do his residency with Norwich University to do his Master's. While he did that, mom, dad, Elijah and I were tourists!

We left on Friday afternoon and drove to NJ to stay the night at my aunt Linda's house. We didn't get a chance to really visit with her because we had gotten there so late and wanted to get on the road at a decent hour, but we still had a good time. And this is where Elijah started crawling! Go figure, we have 2 cats, but the minute he sees a dog, he takes off! We checked into our hotel on Saturday afternoon and on Sunday we checked out Ben and Jerry's and the Trapp Family Lodge (yes, the von Trapp's from the Sound of Music!!!). We had to drop Chris off at school Sunday afternoon and on Monday we decided to hang around the resort for a while and go to the pool.

On Tuesday we went to Burlington and then took the ferry over to Plattsburgh, NY to visit some family. Of course, there was some severe weather and tornadoes, and they shut the ferry down! It took us 3 hours to get home that night, but we got to see the Canadian border, so I can't complain too much! On Wednesday we went to St. Johnsbury, where my dad lived for a few years growing up and we got to get some maple syrup, and we toured the Cabot cheese factory. Chris had Thursday off, so we spent the day by the pool and then we had to take him back to school because the graduates got their master's "hoods". It was a pretty neat ceremony.

On Friday morning we checked out of one resort, then into another, then we drove back to Norwich so we could see the graduation. It was very hot where they had the ceremony, but it didn't last as long as we thought it would. I'm so proud of him! He worked so hard to get this and it's finally over!

We left early Saturday morning and drove back to NJ to stay with my aunt again. This time we had time to spend with her! We had a great dinner and we got up early again on Sunday and made the drive home. Overall we had a great time and we can't wait to check Vermont out again some other time! Now we just have to wait for the movers!

A weekend in Charleston

This past Saturday (April 5) was the 31st annual Cooper River Bridge Run in Charleston, SC. And since Chris is an avid runner, whenever he can, we head down to Charleston so he can participate in it. We decided since it's a 7 1/2 hour car ride (without Elijah!!) to leave on Thursday so we could enjoy the city. We didn't do to bad. We got there around 7:00 Thursday night after leaving at 11:00 and stopping about 3 times. Elijah did so good...until we got on I-26 to get to Charleston. He was done with the carseat! Not that I can blame him. We were able to stay at the Charleston Air Force base in their lodging and only paid $36.00 for a suite! It was great! Full kitchen and all!

Friday was a beautiful 80 degrees, with a little humidity worked in! So that made it nice and hot, but a welcome change from the 50 degree weather we've been having. Our first stop was downtown so Chris could pick up his race packet. After that we showed Elijah the College of Charleston where I went to school. Of course, we took some pictures of the Cistern! He loved it. I think it was his favorite stop on the trip, but Chris will probably say otherwise! Anyway, after that, we grabbed a quick bite for lunch and headed over to the Citadel to catch the parade and show Elijah around campus. Of course we took a picture of Elijah and Chris in front of the bulldog (actually a very cute picture!). After parade we ran into some old friends, including my friend Kenny! Since the race was the next day, we decided to spend a quite evening in the room. Since we had a full kitchen, we stopped at the store and picked up some spaghetti and rented a movie. We laugh that we can't experience the 'real' Charleston since we have to put Elijah to bed so early!

Since we were staying up in North Charleston, Chris got up early and ran the race and came back to pick up me and Elijah. He did so good (and I even saw him on TV a few times!!!) His official time was 37 minutes and 54 seconds! I think his overall placement was 124th place. Not to bad when there were over 15,000 people either running or walking! After the race, we showed Elijah the Battery, Waterfront Park and even took him on a carriage ride. He did such a good job and even fell asleep. Afterwards we ate lunch and walked around some more and then went to visit some more friends out in West Ashley. Sarah and Nate have a 1 1/2 year old named Ella. Elijah likes older women, that's all I can say! Once we got there, the sky opened up!!! I told Chris I had forgotten how bad Thunderstorms can get in Charleston! It was crazy! I was just glad we weren't walking around downtown when it happened.

Sadly, our trip came to an end on Sunday morning when we had to go home. We made decent time getting home, so that's always good. Elijah slept most of the way and slept really good last night, so I know he's happy to be back in his bed and not in the pack 'n play!

Friends, Food and Cherry Blossoms!

We had a very busy day on Sunday!!! A few weeks back, we heard that some very good friends of ours from California were going to be in DC for the weekend, so we decided to trek it on up there. And yes, it was a haul with Elijah and all of the goodies you must pack to be gone all day! Anyway, since we hadn't seen Mark and Indira for almost three years (yikes! Have we been here that long?!?!) we had no problem making the long haul up there. Our first stop was Springfield, VA where we took Elijah on his first Metro ride. About an hour later we were trying to find where their hotel was in regards to the Metro station. Mark made reservations for us at a really good restaurant for brunch. But for the life of me, I can't remember the name, but the French Toast was great! Shortly after lunch, Mark and Indira had to catch a plane back to California, and since Elijah was doing so good, we decided to check out the famous Cherry Blossoms (sorry Rach, that was a last minute decision or I would have called you!!). Since the crowds were astronomical, we didn't head around the Tidal Basin, we just stuck by the Washington Monument and checked out the World War II Memorial since Chris hadn't seen it. After walking around for a bit, we headed up the street, where I nearly sprained my ankle, to catch the Metro back home.

Now for the fun part!!! When we got back to Springfield, it was about 4:00, give or take. We finally get on the interstate and, shock of all shocks in Northern Virginia...TRAFFIC!!!! After about 5 miles, it started moving really good again. Then we get stuck in MORE TRAFFIC!!! All I have to say is that it's a good thing that signs were posted that the interstate was closed due to an accident (again, shocking!!!!) so we were able to get off and take the back roads home. By this time, poor Elijah is hungry and is screaming to get out of his carseat. After singing a few rounds of 'Wheels on the Bus', 'Take me out to the Ballgame', the Marine Corps Hymn and yes, '99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall', we finally made it home at 6:00. So we had a VERY long day and up until the very end, Elijah handled it wonderfully! But I don't think we'll be doing that again for a while!

Burgess Baby Shower!!!

Our very good friends, Bob and Jennifer, are expecting a baby in March! We went up to Baltimore on Saturday, January 26 to celebrate with them at their baby shower! Jennifer is currently unable to travel, so their friends and family brought the shower to them! There were tons of presents for them to open! We had a great time visiting with them and we enjoyed every minute! Elijah had a good time too and was very well behaved! As Chris says, "It's discipline!!!" Yeah, ok!

Bob and Jennifer decided not to tell anyone what the sex of the baby is (they know, they just refuse to tell!!! Sneaky devils!!) so everyone had to guess the sex, birthdate and size. Chris and I think it's a girl. Besides, Elijah needs another girlfriend!!!!!

Ohio

While we were in Ohio, we decided to make the best of the circumstances and we were able to visit with Chris' family. John, Hope, Aubrey, Beth and Sean were able to come up for the funeral, so we were able to visit with them as well. Elijah got to see his Great-Grandma Scheetz and some of his cousins and Great-Aunts. Chris and I even got to go on a date!!! Wahoo!!! Dianne watched Elijah for us while Chris and I went to a movie (National Treasure--very good by the way!!). Yeah!!! A date!!! It doesn't happen often, so we took advantage.

Probably the most exciting thing happened to us as church. Yes, church. Right after the homily, the man decided to walk down the center aisle, NAKED!!! Yes, you read that right, NAKED!!!! This guy in a gray sweatsuit walked to the front of the church right after the gospel. After the homily, he took off his clothes and walked towards the back of the church in his birthday suit! (You know I could NOT make this up!!) Chris and a few other church members escorted the guy outside and he was arrested. Apparently he is a schizophrenic (sp). So a very interesting church service!!

Merry Christmas!!!!!

Elijah's first Christmas went off without any problems! Not that we were expecting any, but you never know! Saturday morning (December 22) we drove down to Burlington, NC to spend Christmas at my brother and sister-in-law's house. My sister and her family came in from Tennessee and my parents came as well. We had the first "LeMieux family Christmas" in four years. It was AWESOME!!! Yes, it was loud, but that was the best part!! But what can you expect with 8 adults and 5 kids in one house for 4 days!

On Saturday, we drove to a city park where they had a merry-go-round and a train running with Christmas lights and we saw Santa and Mrs. Claus. Afterwards we saw a live Nativity and got to feed camels and sheep. On Sunday we got family portraits taken and took the kids bowling. That was great! Especially since we got to have the bowling bumpers up!! So I did pretty good! We had a great time on Christmas Eve too. Just hanging out and going to the park with the kids.

I forewarned everyone that if Elijah got up early on Tuesday, I was waking up all the kids. Well, he woke up at 7. And if you can believe it, none of the kids had gotten up yet!!!!! I woke up Adam at 7 and then all the kids went downstairs. It was mass chaos!! But I loved every minute of it! Santa was very good to Elijah, as well as to Chris and I. Hopefully we'll still be on the East Coast next year, but we're not sure. Either way, Elijah will be 16 months old, so he'll be a little more active, but still probably won't care much! We had a great Christmas and we hope that everyone had a great one too!!!

(12-26-07)

Thanksgiving 2007

We travelled to the "motherland" (Ohio) for Thanksgiving to spend the holiday with the Paes side of the family. We had a great time! We took Elijah to the zoo and he got to meet a bunch of aunts, uncles and cousins for the first time! Not to mention, it was his first ever Thanksgiving! Like any good eating holiday, he ate and slept right through dinner, much to my delight since I got to eat! Overall he did really good and we really enjoyed ourselves. Hard to believe that Thanksgiving is over (all the preparation for about an hour of eating!!) and Christmas is right around the corner!!!

(Originally posted 12-01-07)

Gettysburg

November 19 was the 144th anniversary of the Gettsyburg Address. So of course, Gettysburg had lots of things planned for the weekend. Chris and my parents (and Elijah of course!) decided to drive up to Pa for the day on the 17th to check things out. They had a rememberance parade and that night, they had luminaries in the cemetary. The pictures don't show up very well of that, but it was so pretty. They played taps and they read off the names of everyone in the cemetary. I believe that its about 3200. The parade was was really cool too. There were tons of reinactors that walked with their units. Good ol' Abe Lincoln and Frederick Douglas were there as well!!

(Originally posted 11-27-07)

New York!!

On Friday, September 14, 2007, we traveled up to New York so Chris could run his 10th marathon. We drove to Jersey City, New Jersey and spent the night where we met up with some very good friends of ours, Sarah and Chad Coe. It was so good to see them! Elijah got to meet them for the first time and I think he fell in love with Sarah! He was so good for her! We didn't go into Manhatten because we got there really late, but we had a nice view of lower Manhatten from our hotel room.
On Saturday morning (my birthday!!!) we drove the rest of the way up to Schroon Lake, New York for Chris' 2nd Adirondack Marathon and his 10th marathon. The marathon wasn't until Sunday morning, so we just hung out on Saturday. Chris got his race packet, we checked into our Bed and Breakfast (The Silver Spruce, very nice!) and had a nice lunch with our friend Josh, and his girlfriend, Sheryl. There was a nice spaghetti dinner that was sponsored by the marathon that we went to on Saturday that was very good!
Sunday morning was very cold! The temperature was 34!! Chris loved it though, so it was all good. Chris finished with a time of 3 hours and 18 minutes! He knocked 9 minutes off of his time from last year! He finished 15th overall and Elijah and I are so proud of him! (His friend Josh finished in 3 hours, 8 minutes, came in 6th overall and first in his age group) Chris is now training for his 11th marathon, the Marine Corps Marathon next month in Washington, DC.
We left to go home on Monday and decided that we wanted to spend the next day in Hersey, PA. Hersey was so cool! The streetlights on Chocolate Avenue really are Hersey Kisses!!! Elijah took his first trolley ride and did great! Afterwards, the trolley conductor gave everyone Hersey bars, and he gave Elijah two of them (but of course, Chris and I ate them!)

(Orignally posted 9-22-07)

Elijah's first road trip

We had no plans on Labor Day weekend, so we decided to take a quick (well, as quick as you can be with a newborn!!!) roadtrip to Burlington, NC to visit my brother David, his wife Mary and their two kids, Ashton and Abby. We had a great time! We left late on Friday afternoon and drove down with my Mom and Dad. We got there really late, so we didn't see Ashton and Abby until Saturday morning. They were really happy to see their new cousin! They were so good with him too.
On Sunday we decided to go to Jordan Lake, which is about 45 minutes or so from David and Mary's house. We had a good time and the weather was great! Elijah did really good and he even put his feet in the water, of course with daddy's help! After the lake, we went back to David and Mary's house and we had a cook-out with burgers and dogs (my personal favorite!!).
Overall we had a great time and we were a little upset the weekend ended so quickly.

(Originally posted 9-22-07)















My first road trip















With my cousins, Ashton and Abby















My first lake experience