Tuesday - September 22

Busy day here with kids off to school and then soccer games (Davis and Drew) and practice for Brady.    Davis's team lost 6-2 - enjoyed seeing him play as its been awhile.   Drew's was out of town and lost his game, too.

 

Blair was her usual very busy self...she just never stops!   She took a good nap and then was rarin' to go again....

 

Tomorrow we head for home....as always, enjoyed out time here in NC.   Happy to see these grandchildren doing well in school, enjoying their sports and then of course, the Princess is in a league of her own!   HA!!!

 

Getting some good photos though is a real challenge.    The boys want no part of "posing" and Miss Priss is "ALWAYS" moving so fast, so most of hers are a blur or back of her head!

 

 

Playing cards with Papa

I-pad time and her favorite "Peppa the Pig"  

Bubbles for Blair while learning her letters

Brady 

Davis

And Drew off to do homework...

 

Nighty night from Bugle Lane...

 

 

 

 

Monday - September 21

39 years ago this morning at 2:20 AM, Mark and I became the proud parents of Philip John who weighed in at 7 lbs., 6 oz.

 

The Birthday Boy!

 

Philip and Annette are back from Alaska - WONDERFUL vacation!

 

Everyone scattered in different directions this morning here on Bugle Lane...Mark took Drew to school; Brady got a ride to school; Brooke and Davis were off to Charlotte for a doctor appointment and Mark and Michael went to the lake to prepare for take out of the boats!   Blair and Grandma just hung around home.   She took a 3-hour nap late morning!

 

I did a bunch of laundry and caught up on e-mails.

 

It's cool today and misty rain off and on.   Michael left for Indianapolis late this afternoon.   Drew had after-school meeting and then soccer practice.  

 

"Pretending" to sleep 

Saying "bye bye" to Daddy...

 

Luke and Daddy celebrating tonight

 

 

 

 

Friday-Saturday-Sunday, September 18-20

We've had a great weekend in Virginia Beach.....

Friday - We left Waldorf at  8:30 and arrived in Virginia Beach around 11:45.    Checked into the Hilton Oceanfront and met Ryan briefly to get passes for today and tomorrow.   Enjoyed the practice and lots of people at Oceana on this HOT day.    Good to see some familiar Blue Angel family members.   Back to hotel for showers and met Katherine (our VA Beach friend and Paul and Kathy's daughter) at Catch 31 for drinks.    This is a beautiful outdoor bar at the Hilton with stone bench seating around huge fire pits.     Always fun to hang out with Katherine.   Ryan met us and we walked to Murphy's Irish Pub for great dinner and visit. 

 

Drinks with Katherine at Catch 31 

Katherine and Ryan

 

Saturday - Mark walked to Starbucks and brought back some treats.    Our nephew, Tom and his girlfriend Smm came for the airshow from Fairfax, VA.    They rode with us in the Blue Angel caravan to the show - took the back roads with several police escorting the 10 vehicles.  

  Nice way to travel!!!   

 

Samm - Ryan - Tom

 

 Katherine and some friends were there....all enjoyed a great show!  

 

Katherine and Pat

 

 Took Tom and Samm back to their car and we cleaned up and went downstairs on patio and sat again around the fire  pits enjoying "Beach Blast" - tons of people there from 6:30-9:30 for music and entertainment, sky divers, and Blue Angels were introduced on stage.   We had great seats enjoying our drinks and dinner.

HAPPY 17th ANNIVERSARY to MICHAEL and BROOKE

 

Sunday - We walked with Ryan to Pocahontas for breakfast and said our good byes till San Francisco.    Mark and I went to Star of the Sea for 10:00 Mass.   On our way to NC and good trip on Highway 58 with little traffic but nice 4-lane road and close to the Virginia/North Carolina border.
 I drove 115 miles.  
Stopped in Danville, VA and planned to eat a late lunch at "Jake's on Main" where we ate in July, 2014.......but Jake's is now closed.   Bummer as it was a really nice place.   Danville is certainly hurting with so many empty storefronts.

Kept driving and stopped in Greensboro at Zaxby's  (1st time and good chicken sandwiches and chocolate shakes).   

Driving along I-40 thru NC is so pretty with all the flowers in the median or along the roadway - today we saw pink and white blooms and lots of sunflowers.

Arrived on Bugle Lane at 6:40 and so good to be here.....

Sweetie Pie with her Papa

 

 

 

Thursday - September 17

Beautiful calm morning here at Tracys Landing....Mark went to the little café in Deale for breakfast (not even a coffee pod on Catrina)!      Today was all about winterizing Catrina - engines and generator + water system, air conditioners, potty, wash-down pump and shower pump.
This will be Catrina's first winter to be outdoors (since we've had her in 2009, she has been in heated storage....so that's why all this winterizing)!

It was a big day and after one final good scrubbing, we left the marina at 6:40. 

Tonight we are in Waldorf, Maryland.    Found a real authentic Mexican restaurant
 (Taqueria Los Compadres)
and had some awesome food and drinks....

A good end to the day...
Dos Equis and margarita

Virginia Beach....here we come!

 

Wednesday - September 16

Oh what a pretty day and perfect for cruising on Chesapeake Bay,   We left the Maryland Inn, put our bags in the truck and walked to Chick and Ruth's Delly (an Annapolis institution that's been around forever) serving breakfast-lunch-dinner.   Had a great breakfast and then left for the marina to have Catrina put back on the water.   

 

By 9:30 we were on our way cruising to Herrington Harbour North (20 miles south) in Tracys Landing and where Catrina will stay put till next spring.   Still nothing decided on the engine issues.    With speeds of 8 knots, we had no problem (it's when you go faster that the coolant starts spurting out and the trouble begins)!    Just waiting for Sean, Tom or Karl to figure this all out!  

And then we will make the final decision!

 

My Captain is so happy to be back on his boat!

Pretty flowers at marina

 

Three hours later, we had arrived, were tied up and  walked around this beautiful facility.   It is huge with so many boats, brick pathways leading to the docks, flowers everywhere, big pool and so much more.   We had lunch at The Dockside - another nice feature and so loved our amberjack sandwich which we shared!   And my orange crush - favorite Maryland drink or anywhere else I can find one!

 

Mark worked on the boat preparing for winterizing tomorrow. 

Our friends Charlotte and Doug from Annapolis picked us up and we had dinner at the Annapolis Smokehouse - very good and so fun to catch up.  We met them in Marathon and they have a PDQ like Catrina.   We were with them for the Blue Angels this past May, too.    After dinner they took us the Jabin Boat Yard to pick up our truck.    Now we are settled on Catrina for the night!

Charlotte and Doug
and her brand new Prius

Thanks again for the ride tonight - much appreciated!