Father's Day

We were out of town for most of the Father's Day weekend which was just as well as Chris had to work all day Friday and Saturday until very late each night. We made sure to be home Saturday evening so that we'd have the whole day together as a family on Sunday. Our entire crew was pretty tired from either travel or work, so we spent the entire day relaxing. We went to church Sunday morning, took a walk in Colonial Williamsburg, and then came home, took naps (all of us!) and grilled. Eleanor didn't want to take a nap so after she stayed in her room playing for about an hour and a half, Chris finally told her she could stay out in the living room and watch golf with him. When I woke up from my nap, this is what I saw:

Apparently at some point, Chris fell asleep and then Eleanor crawled on to the tiny corner of the couch leftover and passed out herself. And a close up, because after I snuck out there, I realized Chris had clearly gotten Eleanor a piece of pizza as a snack and she passed out sometime in the middle of eating it (notice the pizza on the floor).

Anyway, we are so grateful for Chris. He is (obviously) a great dad. He loves his girls, he loves me, he works hard, and we are so thankful to be his crew.

Happy Father's Day, Chris! Happy Father's Day to Shug, Papa Laser, and Opa, too! They are great grandparents and we are very thankful for them, too!

My sister is moving!

My sister is moving to California. She's actually en route right now! I am so bummed to see her go but happy she and her husband get to have this adventure together. I only hope it's short! Last weekend we went up for a quick visit to say goodbye to them before they hit the road. It was, of course, bittersweet. We drove up Friday morning and I had to run a couple errands that I hadn't had time to do before I left Williamsburg. Then we hung around Leesburg the rest of the afternoon taking a walk to the park, running to Tropical Smoothie to get our free sunshine smoothies for National Flip-flop Day, and having a delicious dinner of ribs.

(Eleanor took this pic!)

(The girls with their "Antelope buns")

Saturday morning my siblings and I were able to take my dad out to breakfast for an early Father's Day celebration! Shug even brought his new puppy Henry for us to meet.

Later that morning we headed to Ida Lee to swim in their outdoor pool. The girls have been loving swimming and water so far this year so it was right up their alley. Eleanor even did the lazy river in her own tube (though this mama was a little worried that she wasn't wearing a life vest)!

At home, Eleanor and Uncle Eric played necklace shop in the basement before we all headed back outside to play Kan Jam.

Jane missed her nap, which never happens and completely passed out during dinner. We grilled burgers and hot dogs and it was delicious!

We took off after dinner to head back to Williamsburg so that we'd be able to spend Father's Day with Chris after he worked all weekend long. Jane had a rough ride in the car, not falling asleep until almost 8:30 on the way home and waking up the last 15 minutes of the drive crying the whole way. Then with those two naps (during dinner and the car) didn't want to go to bed. She stayed up with me unpacking until about 10 pm before I finally got her back down to sleep. The next morning we had to wake her up at 8 am (she almost always wakes up at 6:30 am) for church! Travel is rough. We were all exhausted on Sunday!

We were so thankful though that we got the time with Auntie Lo and Uncle Benny before they hit the road for California. We miss you guys already!!!! See you soon!!

(Lots of the pictures in the post above courtesy of Lauren!)

Girls reunion 2017

My college roommates and I got together for a reunion weekend last week. We have been fairly lucky to have semi-regular get togethers for big events like the early W&M Homecoming years, a few mini- and full-reunions (here, here, and here), and, of course, weddings (in 2008 [ours], 2010, 2011, 2013, and 2013). While there are still a few weddings to come, we have started planning more intentional reunions. The last time we were all together was in 2015. This year we decided our time was too short to bring families like we did last time, so we all left everyone at home and just the girls got together. Our time was short but oh, so sweet. We rented a house with a pool, so people jumped in as we got arrived Friday afternoon and evening. Maggie's husband Dave had made us a delicious lasagna for dinner on Friday night, and it was amazing and so nice not to have to cook! We all sat around sharing our most recent life updates and spent our evenings on the back porch enjoying each others' company, wine, and ice cream. Saturday we spent the entire day in the pool before heading out to dinner. Sunday we had a leisurely breakfast while we packed up and had a brief lunch together before everyone hit the road (either driving or to the airport). We've already talked about trying to do this every year, so here's to this happening again in 2018!

Great to see everyone!!

Dadurday

I went out of town last weekend for a girls trip so Chris came home early from work on Friday and had the girls by himself through Sunday evening. I was obviously expecting things to go smoothly as Chris has the girls to himself multiple days each week (whenever I work), but what I wasn't expecting was to get an awesome video compilation of their entire Saturday. I have to share it because it is so typical of what a regular Saturday is like with a 1 and a 3 year old in our house. He called it "Dadurday." Enjoy...

I think I will watch this video over and over because I feel like it so perfectly encapsulates this season of life, where the days are long but the years are short. Thanks, Chris!!

Water time

My girls are at such a fun age to play in the water this year. Eleanor swims mostly independently now (with a lifevest on) and Jane, while she's not at all independent, is at least coming around on the water this year and can splash and play on the edges of the water by herself. Last year was hard because she wasn't walking yet, but this year has been a big improvement! We have spent every day we can near the water because the heat in Williamsburg is no joke. The summers here are somewhat dreadful in terms of temperature, so the fact that we are surrounded by water makes it all much more bearable. I love the lazy days of summer, but the older I get, the less I like the heat!

Hopefully Eleanor will learn how to swim this summer, too!

Field Hockey clinic

One of Eleanor's friend's moms helps coach W&M field hockey and organized a clinic for the little girls the same day that W&M was hosting a clinic for older girls. We signed Eleanor up and she had a blast. I've literally never seen her sweat so much in her life...she is her father's daughter. Jane even got in on a little bit of the action, though not much! It was set up to teach them how to hold a stick, dribble, pass, and shoot. They were able to start by warming up with the big girls (run a lap around the field and do stretches) and then headed off to the side to do their drills. There were also pool noodles and balloons involved so that the girls could learn how to go after the "ball" without hurting each other since no one was wearing shin guards or a mouth guard.

(The three pictures at the end were taken by other moms whose daughters participated in the clinic.)

After the hard work was over, the girls enjoyed popsicles, a sprinkler, and a slip and slide to cool down. Overall a great introduction to the sport!

SlipAndSlide from Katie Stratton on Vimeo.

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a great Memorial Day weekend. First and foremost, we are thankful to all the heroes who gave their lives in protection of our country and our freedom. Second, we are thankful that our family was able to come down for the day to visit. We all went to Water Country for the day and because it was overcast, it was pretty empty! We rode all the good rides without having to wait in any lines. We had a picnic lunch (wraps) during a bit of a rain shower and Jane, who only ever sleeps in her crib, actually took about an hour nap in the stroller - it was amazing.

Afterward we headed home to grill burgers and play some games. It was so nice to have everyone down to visit for the day.

(Pictures courtesy of my mom)

The next day we actually headed back to Water Country because we didn't have any plans for the day and ran into about 3 or 4 other families we knew. Chris even took the girls on Meltdown - and Jane didn't seem to hate it!

Meltdown from Katie Stratton on Vimeo.

Later that night we had a lovely dinner with some friends we hadn't spent much time with recently and then headed home for bed. Overall a very fun weekend!