Tyler's new role in life

No, he's not going to be a big brother. :) He's a COUSIN! Tyler's very first cousin, Landon Hunter Bilyeu, was born on June 19th weighing in at 8 lbs. 1 oz. and was 20 inches long. He is the son of Travis' sister, Jenn, and her husband Brian. In addition to being Tyler's very first cousin, he is Trav's & my first nephew! We were very excited to meet Landon last Friday (on our way out of town to visit Dad & Eddie in Lynchburg). Tyler was less than thrilled to see me holding a baby again, but felt better once he was able to hold little Landon himself. Landon is a very alert little man, and absolutely adorable. We can't wait to have him grow up with Tyler. Congrats, Jenn & Brian!

Last weekend we also headed to Lynchburg to visit Dad & Eddie. We spent Saturday at Cindy's sister's house because she has a pool. It was the first pool experience for Tyler in 2009 and just like last year, he LOVED it. He was jumping in with no fear (but there was fear on all of our parts), and he wanted to swim everywhere (which made me mad that American Family Fitness wouldn't let him take swim lessons at age 2). He had a blast, and we're glad that our community association's pool is open now so that we can go on weekends. We have a water baby - er, toddler - for sure!!! We were joined that day by Cindy's great-niece KK and my dear old friend, Sarah & her little girl Kyra. What a fun day!

We also headed over to Uncle Eddie's house to visit with him & Emily. They've done a lot of work to the house, and I was anxious to see it all. Emily's done beautiful things to that house, and it's looking great! They have painted severeal of the rooms, gotten new TVs (happy early birthday little brother), added curtains, and all sorts of other things. Tyler got to visit with Maverick (Em's dog), Deacon (Eddie's cat), and Nelson (Em;s really big fish). He had a great time "walking" Maverick on his leash in the yard and petting Deacon. All in all, it was an awesome weekend.

And now we are 2 weeks away from our week in Emerald Isle with Dad, Cindy, Eddie, Emily, Mark, Dina, & Erin Hamric, and so many others! This year, the Radicks and Spivas are camping out but hanging out with us during the day, and our dear friends the Bowlers will be there that week too! Tyler will have lots of kids to play with this year and we're so excited! The countdown is on!!!

Gone to the races!

Travis heard that Colonial Downs (horse racing track between Richmond & Williamsburg) was having a Fan Appreciation Day today. Admission was just $0.25, hot dogs, drinks, chips, & programs were $0.25 a piece. Tyler is obsessed with horses these days so we figured that he'd really love this. So after nap today, we drove the 25 minutes to the track, and as expected.....HE LOVED IT. His favorite part was definitely the actual races, as he could clap and cheer the horses on. But he did enjoy watching them at the stables, and just running around. We'll definitely have to find another time to take him there. Here are some pics and a video of our afternoon. (And yes, Tyler did get another haircut today. This is the shortest that his hair has ever been, and he looks like such a big boy! No worries, the curls are not gone!!!!!)

EXTRA: This is our 3 year old hydrangea. We bought this thing as a teeny, tiny little plant back in 2006. We never in a million years thought that it would get THIS big!!!!!!

Annnnnnnnnnnnd, a haircut picture too. :)

Travels galore

The past two weekends have been filled with travels for our family. Two weeks ago, Tyler & I took a little trip up 95 to Fredericksburg to visit with my friends from Mary Washington for my 10 year reunion. (I've been out of college for 10 years???? Yikes.) Travis left the next day for a business trip to New Orleans. Last weekend, we packed Tyler up to stay with Gramme & Granddad while Trav & I enjoyed a relaxing weekend in VA Beach at a B&B. It must be summer!!!

My "reunion", as it were, in Fred-ericksburg was a lot of fun. We met up at Heidi & Riley's house with Shoshana & her two girls, Meredith & Marty and their 2 kids, Andrea & her daughter, and Jim & his new wife Kathleen. We had a great time playing inside and out, and thank goodness that Heidi had some Backyardigans on DVR when things got hairy. I think Tyler had a great time playing with all the girls that were there, though sharing is still something that he has issues with (he's 2, after all). It was great to see some old friends, though it's still hard to believe that it's been 10 years already.

Last weekend, Travis & I celebrated our 5 year anniversary. In some respects it feels as if these 5 years have flown by, and in others it feels like we've been together for an eternity (in a good way). We went to a B&B in VA Beach and have a beautiful room with a great spa bathroom. We enjoyed just being away from home and walking on the beach. It really got us in the mood for our trip to Emerald Isle coming up in just 4 weeks. Tyler had a blast with his grandparents, and got to visit with a VERY pregnant Aunt Jenn, as well as Great-Grandma Smith. He went to cousin Jordan's baseball game in Louisa and had fun just running around. It was a great weekend all around, but we were all happy to be back together.

There's lots more travelling on the calendar for this summer!