Visitor Adventures

We are so excited to already have already had three sets of visitors to our new home! 

Grandma and Grandpa A. made it out for a few days shortly after we moved in and were a huge help with some of the heavy lifting of trying to find a spot for everything in a new place.  They also were very helpful entertaining a certain little toddler so we could unpack and organize without everything being immediately "unorganized".

Unfortunately we must have been in full move in/stressed out mode during their visit as it appears they got the short end of the picture stick this time!  The only picture I could find from that visit is Grandma A reading to BB.  (Hint for any future visitors:  it has been proven three times now that this is the one sure fire way for a visitor to win their way into BB's heart!)  This does give a good starting view of our undecorated living room and the pictures from the follow on visitors show it becoming a little more "homey" and "cozy" as time goes along!

Our next visitors were Hubs' Uncle P and Aunt T.  This was SUCH a fun treat!!   They are perhaps the most easy to have house guests ever, not to mention I can't imagine anyone being a bigger hit with BB!  They also took/shared some great pictures while they were here. . including the family ones from my last post!

Do you see the look of suspicious concern on BB's face?  This is him realizing his new buddies are saying "bye bye" and he is just stuck with boring old Mom for the rest of the day!  We so appreciate them taking the time and making the effort to drive out and spend time with us.   Moving so often and living so far away from most of our families makes fun little visits like this mean so very very much to us!

And lastly, Grandpa and Grandma H also made it out for a few days!  They were even game for helping us take BB out for his first time apple picking.

He didn't really contribute too much but the apple picker was a bit hit!

And of course, lots of books were read during this time as well!  Grandpa H may have actually lost his voice on one occasion due to about 500 consecutive (very enthusiastic) readings of a new favorite book. . . .

Thanks to all of you for visiting and we hope you enjoyed your little taste of Newport!  And on that note, it has been a whole month since our last visitors so. . . who is next? :)  Only requirements are you must be interested in exploring a seriously cute little town full of shops, mansions, and beautiful views.  Also. . our only charge for room and board is being willing to read to BB at least 3 straight hours every day. :)

Newport Adventures Part I

So. . let me just say we are LOVING our new home for the next year!  We are about as excited as this little boy is about a giant tree stump and a little stick.

For those of you who don't know, we are currently living in Newport, Rhode Island.  RI has been such refreshing change for us after two years of isolated desert.  First of all, we are just a 10 min walk away from water, there are trees everywhere, and we are living right downtown and are in walking distance to all sorts of shops, restaurants, and parks.

Additionally, we are here so Hubs can take classes at the Navy War College which means a pretty predictable academic schedule and the opportunity for much more family time that the hectic Army lifestyle sometimes allows.

Newport is literally on an island and is a tourist town during the summer but is also very quaint and historical and has a cozy comfortable vibe.  During the summer in particular there is always something going on; live music at the park or beach, various festivals, firework displays,etc.

Summer has already turned into fall here but I wanted to show you a little glimpse of what it was like!

We thought it would be fun to take BB to the Kite Festival one weekend.

It WAS fun and he loved looking at all the kites.

However most of our time was spent trying to keep him from running and grabbing all the various kite strings and crashing people's kites as well as grabbing things from people's picnic lunches.  We appear to be in the "running and grabbing" toddler stage. . maybe that is the whole toddler stage?  This is a fairly descriptive shot of what the afternoon was like.

We also have enjoyed several trips to the beach.  BB is absolutely in love with the ocean and goes crazy pointing and yelling at it every time we drive by it.  He loves to find a pack of older boys on the beach and latch on to them and try and join in whatever game they are playing (usually involves either digging a big hole or filling in a big hole with water or sand).  They usually are good sports about letting him grab their shovels and try to be involved.  He is a little too fearless around the water for my liking.  He literally will just charge in and keep going until we stop him.

"Well hello Ladies.  Yes, I do work out."

These were taking at a park overlooking an harbor just a short walk from us by some of our recent visitors (see next post!:))