ballerina.boston.buddies.

"Whirlwind Weekend"

That's what this weekend should have been called.

We headed up e.a.r.l.y Friday morning and before I knew it I was scooped up in a ballerina, bone crusher hug. Oh, how I have missed my roommate of two years, Samantha. (and yes, "bone crusher" is an understatement, it still baffles me how someone so dainty can squeeze so hard!)

Sam and Peter were our awesome tour guides, and our weekend went something like this...

walk. king's chapel. gelato. ...on the history channel. freedom trail. wow. walk. paul revere. italian food. amazing. fountains. walk. uss constitution. quincy market. boston common. walk. cheers. boston massacre. thai food. they lived here? old north church. walk. faneuil hall.

...it was perfect.

hazel was dressed for some serious site-seeing
taking a quick break, oh, it was so hot and humid!
the u.s.s. constitution ("old ironsides")- definitely the highlight for seth
old north church (i think, we went in a lot of chapels!)...i was a fan of the "box seats"
this might look like a doorstep to you, but we call that a perfect changing table
sam caught hazel cruising in style (i'm not a bad parent- she really wanted her blanket, and we wanted to convince her to sleep...it didn't work)
hazel was a big fan of sam, how can you not be?

it got so hot, half-way through the day, we stripped hazel down and let her play in the fountain
not one nap for this girl, and she NEVER complained. she was spent by the time we got to our hotel
"um, bellboy- take me to my car"

The whole weekend was awesome. I adore Sam. She is the nicest, sweetest person- she and Peter were the greatest hosts. We hope we make it back to Boston before Sam finishes grad school.

For cooler pictures...


Thanks Sam and Peter!!!

water.week.saturday

We decided to ditch Hazel's naps and take an adventure down to Baltimore to go to the aquarium. Thank goodness for "member passes" (and awesome friends that gave them to us), so we were able to skip the crazy long lines and head right in. We saw sharks, fish, more fish, sting rays, starfish, eels, more fish, other stuff, crabs, blowfish, Nemo...more fish...

Our favorite exhibit? The Jellyfish, of course!
Hazel managed to stay awake (and happy) while we waited for the Big Event...the Dolphin Show!
I have never understood the hype of Sea World, until now. I loved the show, of course it was just little show, but holy smokes! It was so fun!! We will definitely make a stop at Sea World if we ever get the chance.
(I hear Hazel's cousin could probably show her all the amazing spots at Sea World)
Hint Hint. Wink Wink.

After our marathon adventure at the aquarium, we were super excited to hit up another Diner, Dive and Drive-In with our Philly-Mils. Oooooh it was so tasty.

We are glad the Philly-Mils made room for us on their trek across the country, even if we are so sad they are leaving the East Coast. We will miss you!!
(You will always be Philly-Mils to us, then again, Tex-Mils has a fun ring to it!)

water.week.friday

Some of our cute, little friends introduced us to a g.r.e.a.t beach, so close to our house! We went down last week, and loved it so much we snuck down again this week.
Might need to make it a habit!

Hazel loves all things "beach". The water, the sand, the waves...all of it!
Hanging' out with Anna & Jack
No, this is not her bitter-beer face, but in between laughing.

Beach Babies!
Hazel thought it was soooo funny when the waves were hitting her. Anna (in the background) might have felt differently. Hazel tried a few times to hold Anna's hand and show her the water wasn't so bad, unfortunately I didn't get a picture of that!

And of course, there needs to be pictures proving Hazel has enough hair to have "beach hair". Yea!!
Seriously, love these two.

water.week.thursday

Hazel loves her evening walks on the boardwalk, especially when we get to watch the sailboat races (or regatta- if you want to be fancy).

North Carolina - Good Ol' 4th of July

The whole reason for our trip to NC was the 4th of July. Now, not just any 4th of July, but Great-Aunt Carolyn style (Grandpa H's sister).
Holy Smokes, do they know how to celebrate our country!!

We pulled up and were a little worried we wouldn't fit in when we saw this...and a few (yes, I said a few) of these...However, we were scooped up in hugs and warm, southern hospitality before we could even get out of the car.
Every 4th of July, Great-Aunt Carolyn's son, Jeff sets up on the back porch and plays the piano. A handful of other musicians join him and we were able to enjoy several hours of the best blue-grass/folk music I have ever heard. A legend in the bluegrass world, Doc Watson, joined in for an hour or two and Hazel just had to dance!
(She wasn't cooperating with dancing for the camera, but she does bust out a few moves, and at least you can hear the music!)

Yes, the music was amazing. But what about the food? Oh! The food- i.n.c.r.e.d.i.b.l.e!
The biggest spread of food I have ever seen at a BBQ- oh, the food!
(Granted, there were over 250 people there! Although, it really just felt like a backyard BBQ with how friendly everyone was)

Hazel was a big hit with just about everybody, it seemed everyone wanted a picture of her.
She hadn't napped at all, so by the time evening rolled around she found Great-Aunt Carolyn who was more than willing to hold an exhausted baby.
And, as always, she found her way back to Uncle Ryan.
They were clearly being entertained watching the cousins play some serious volleyball.
(Serious, because if the ball went "out of bounds" you had to race down the hill to catch it before it hit the barbed wire fence)
Uncle Ryan couldn't sit still long, and soon he had to show off his hula-hooping skills.

It was a perfect afternoon, the music, the food, the games and especially the company - all amazing. We watched the sunset, and everyone headed off to watch fireworks, and we headed back to the hotel so our rock-star, no complaint, tired as can be, baby girl could get some sleep!

A round up of the entire trip:

North Carolina

So, at the risk of sounding cheesy...this trip was amazing for me. I barely remember my grandparents (only one is living), let alone my great-grandparents. So, to spend the weekend with so many generations and to see where they lived (and still live!) was incredible.
Seth is freakishly kind, Grandpa H is just about as close to a saint as you can get, and after spending time with his uncle and his sister, it is clear, it is hereditary! I am grateful to be a part of this family!

North Carolina - Tweetsie!

Aunt S (technically she's my great-aunt...and she is great), said we couldn't go to North Carolina and not go to Tweetsie!
I'm so glad it didn't take much to convince my parents.
What on earth is Tweetsie? Oh...well...it's just a stinkin' amazing place for a kid like me!

I have decided that I will be the best kid ever, because I never want to be in jail. It was no fun.
I rode a horse, but thankfully it didn't go anywhere.
I rode a real-life train, and saw a real-life cowboy!
We had gold in our train car, and we got robbed by a band of Indians! They scared me as they ran through our car.
Thankfully the sheriff and the cowboys were there to protect us.
Uncle Ryan helped me pan for gold.
He's awesome, but I think he and Steven got distracted by something...
I didn't see what the big deal was with girls who can kick really high, so I set off on my own adventure.
Great-Grandpa found me and helped me feed the goats. Mom said they reminded her of her days working at the Animal Park.
We went for a drive in the mini-cars, I'm pretty sure they were only meant for one adult and one child. Oh well, we fit!
Annnd I got to steer!
I loved the train so much, and was very excited when we got to ride it a second time.
(I even make the choo-choo sound and move my arm like I'm blowing a whistle!)
Aren't those two great?

North Carolina - Grassy Creek

For as long as I have known Seth, there have always been stories of Grassy Creek. Grassy Creek is where Seth's Grandpa H was born, and where Seth spent a fair amount of time in the summer, as a kid, with Granny (Seth's great-grandma). She passed away several years ago, but according to the stories I hear, she was quite the woman.
Raising a family, running a full-fledged farm and caring for her extremely arthritic husband.We drove down the familiar lane and Seth got more and more excited. It's been about twenty years since he's been there, and he was anxious to see if it was how he remembered it. I couldn't get over how beautiful it all was. We passed Granny's house (and the barn Seth would spend hours throwing rocks at) and headed across the lane to her neighbor, Uncle H's house, (Granny's brother- yes, that would be Grandpa H's uncle!). He and his son, still run quite a farm.
We all crowded onto the "gator" (flatbed 4-wheeler) and took a tour of the farm. The gator could only take us so far, so we all jumped into the back of the truck to see even more.
Holy smokes, it was beautiful!! Acres and acres and acres of rolling hills, grassy fields, beautiful trees- I loved it!
I was really excited for Hazel to meet her great-great-great uncle H.
FIVE generations. Amazing.