Kumquats and such

More travels this week. Wednesday : Pick up Jess & Sean from RDU.  Drive to South Boston, VA to see Sean's mom & her husband. Thursday : Hang out in SoBoVA Friday : Drive to a lake near Charlottesville, VA to see Sean's dad & his wife & kids. Saturday-Monday : hang out on the lake. Run a 5k on Monday. Tuesday : Drive to Winston-Salem to see Lynsey, Brian, & Mason and their new house! Wednesday : Drive to Raleigh to see Colleen, Keith & Max. Thursday : Take Jess & Sean back to RDU to fly home.  Return to Jacksonville. Wow, I'm tired already:)

As Reagan's hair gets longer, her ability to see is decreasing:)   So instead of cutting it, I've come up with a few alternatives: She's rocking this new style!  

A couple years ago, Grandma Goodale sent me a book for my birthday.  I had never heard of the author, but Grandma is an avid reader, so I trusted her judgment and immediately began reading.  And now I'm hooked on Maeve Binchy !  She's an exceptional author from Ireland and I cannot get enough of her stories.  Maeve Binchy is by far one of the most engaging writers I've ever been introduced to.  Her character development is second to none, and it makes you want the stories to go on forever.  I've read the following books already: Circle of Friends Echoes Minding Frankie Nights of Rain and Stars Whitethorn Woods Heart and Soul Tara Road Quentin's Scarlett Feather This Year It Will Be Different (a collection of short stories) There are a few more in her collection that I plan to read as soon as I finish the others in the queue of my kindle.  I highly recommend her books for a relaxing read!

Taken on Friday evening from our house.  

Our good friends Maureen & Brian Donlon had a son shortly after Reagan was born, and from day 1, Maureen and I have been calling them boyfriend & girlfriend.  This did not suit the fathers at first:)  After awhile, they both conceded and we have coordinated an arranged marriage between Sean Patrick and Reagan!  They love playing together, especially at the Donlon's house where there is an abundance of toys!   We were invited to their home on Friday evening to eat pizza and play.  Here are a few pictures from the night: "Mom, I'm not exactly dressed for company!!" Testing out her zebra-riding skills Her boyfriend has a mouth full of teeth:)  Fun times on the kitchen floor Reagan: "Here Sean, let me show you how to do it properly" Sean: "Leave me alone woman.  By the way, how did you get so tan?!" What a sweet boy!

On Tuesday, 14 June, we headed out for a run with the Stroller Warriors (Tommy came too) and then immediately jumped in the car and drove to Woodbridge, VA to visit family and celebrate Michael's graduation and Father's Day.  This was our second daytime trip, and Reagan did very well, especially considering her pacifier is no longer in play. We hung out with Grandma & Grandpa on Tuesday.  On Wednesday, we visited Great Grandma Linda.  She didn't get to spend too much time holding Reagan, but we did manage to get at least one good picture: On Wednesday evening, we celebrated Kristin's birthday (belated) with a wonderful dinner of buttermilk fried chicken & twice baked potatoes made by Cindi.  Reagan LOVED her potato!  After dinner and a bath, Reagan was happy, so she played with her favorite Uncle Geoffrey: On Thursday, Rick went to the US Open with his brothers, so we stayed home and played with Grandma for a bit.  Then, Reagan and I took adv...

We're in VA for the week visiting family, so no new blog entries until next Wednesday at the earliest.  Can't wait to see everyone! I must include this picture of Reagan if for no other reason than her cute hair:)  She got this bowl from Grandma in her Easter basket and it's great!! Hope everyone has a fabulous week!  

On Saturday morning while we were in Raleigh, I received a call from my next door neighbor.  She informed me that a few mailboxes in our neighborhood, mine being one of them, were vandalized.  She passed the phone to a sheriff who took my information for a report, and he informed me that this happened in several other neighborhoods and they actually think they might have a suspect.  The damage to our mailbox wasn't nearly as bad as it was to the others, so I'm thankful for that.  But it's infuriating that someone would do such a thing.  I guess there's nothing fun in J'actionville to keep the local kids occupied.   No wait, we have several beaches, clubs, parks, etc to entertain them...guess they just suck! When I got home, the mailbox was almost on the ground.  I managed to pick it up and re-seat it using a rock to balance it until I fill it in with dirt. Not too bad overall, still able to send/receive mail Point of impact I imagine... Geez, hope...

Passy, bink, plug...there are a million different names for pacifiers, but we're done with them!  On June 8th, we got home from a run and Reagan was asleep in her car seat.  I brought her inside and noticed that she didn't have her pacifier in as usual.  Right then and there, I decide to do a trial run for the day without using them.  She normally only has a pacifier during car trips, naps and bedtime, so I wasn't really in any hurry to make her quit, but I figured that the sooner, the better.  I didn't want her to develop a name for them and constantly be looking all over the place for one.   The trial went better than expected and we haven't used one since.  I shared this exciting news after the first successful day with Fil, but was too afraid to tell anyone else for fear of jinxing our progress.  After the third day sans pacifier, I told EVERYONE!  I'm so proud of our little bug.  She's done such a good job with the transition. ...

Just before Jason deployed, I got my oil changed...May 9th to be exact.  It is now June 12th, and I have put 2,847 miles on my car!  This has been the result of 2 trips to Raleigh, 2 visits to Wilmington, and the general product of living really far away from everything else!   But such is our traveling life, and we love it.  This past weekend, we packed up the car on Friday afternoon and headed to Raleigh to visit Colleen on her last free days before she returns to work on Monday.  We were excited to see how much Max has grown in just a couple months and as always, happy to visit with Colleen & Keith.  When we arrived on Friday afternoon, the skies were darkening and the thunder was booming.  Tommy hid in the bathroom while Reagan and I donned bathing suits and went for a quick dip before the rain came.  The neighborhood pool was the perfect temperature (a result from full sun exposure) and of course, she loved it.   On Saturday, a fri...