Tourist in my new home

Tuesday we saw Virginia Beach, Wednesday was the "Virginia Living Museum" and Thursday we jetted off to the "Air and Space Museum". I'm officially a tourist in my own new town.

Virginia Beach was traditional beachy fun (see earlier post). The Virginia Living Museum offered a mix of natural earth science and mini zoo. Everything there is native to my new home, Virginia. We pet spider crabs, horseshoe crabs, and saw all the native waterfoul, fish, snakes, etc.

The Air and Space Museum (see my profile photo)had every kind of flying machine, including a large Delta plane where Allison spent most of our time. We (my parents and I) sat in the first class seats, buckled in and listened to Allison talk into the mic as a flight attendant. My favorite moment is when she stormed into the cockpit and exclaimed "Excuse me, could you please fly to Paris because that's where everyone wants to go"

We also took in an IMAX version of the 3-d "Fly Me to the Moon", an adaptation of the apollo flight where 3 houseflies accompany the flight crew to the moon. I have told Allison the story about Neil Armstrong and the trip he took to the moon so it was neat for her to get to see the story in a movie. When the movie finished, we passed by the space capsule in the museum and talked about how it was the same kind as in the movie, and my dad reminisced about staying up until 4:00am that day to watch the moon walk live on tv. When we got home, Eric asked Allison what she had learned at the museum. "Nothing really" was her response. Dang. I guess I can't count that as a homeschool fieldtrip day.

Phase II of the "Grandparent Parade" has finished. (Phase I - Eric's mom here last weekend, Phase II - my parents here during the week, Phase III - Eric's dad coming this weekend). It's 9 straight days of people we love, and so far its going well. I don't know what else there is to see in town, but I imagine my tourist week isn't finished until the last grandparent leaves.

"Faye" joined us at Virginia Beach

We visited Virginia Beach today with my parents. Hurricane "Faye" is showing herself strong in high winds and rough surf. No rain, just clouds. Despite the windy day we still managed to have fun together. We rented a giant surry (family bike) that seated the four adults, and the kids sat up front in the basket. Because the surf was so rough, the lifeguards had red flags out, meaning no one could swim. We found a kite and flew it instead. Another fun day at the beach.

Watch Out, Rookie blogger ahead!

So I decided to start blogging since everyone told me to. I don't make a practice of reading blogs. In fact, the 3 I read tonight represent my whole research on the subject. As a rookieblogger, I'll just do my best and you can feel free to "guide" me as you see fit. Please don't print out my post, mark it up with red pen and send it to me for corrections. On second thought, please do that because I need some good mail.

I miss being around familiar things. The area of the country we live in is breathtaking. Every once in awhile Eric and I look at each other and say "Where do we live?" because it's so pretty. Last week, we went to a festival for a regatta race where the bridge was closed off, and the festival took place right on the bridge. It was soooo cool sipping Bud Light Lime (our new fav) and listening to a band whilst surrounded by water on a summer night. But, it's still not home. Everything is new, nothing is familar, no one is my pal yet.

We have continued to look for a house. We have bid on 3 or 4 now (i lose count after awhile) and are signing papers for another bid on Wednesday. This house is an old one in a historic district 2 blocks from the water. It needs a good deal of work, but it will be spectacular when we finish (in 20 yrs). Hopefully we'll have success with this bid.

We are settled into our apartment for now. My parents are visiting, Eric's mom was here last weekend, and his dad comes this coming weekend....we have 9 straight days of grandparents visiting. How spoiled will my girls be at the end of this grandparent parade?

Eric just started teaching yesterday, but has been working for the last two weeks in orientations and meetings. He is very impressed with the university and his office is really nice.

Allison has started kindergarten. We are doing homeschool with her this year since we're moving 2 times and don't want to have to change schools during the year. We've already done 3 weeks of school and she's already started to read some words. She gets mad on the weekend because we don't do school.

Julia's new favorite phrase is "no, I do it", her favorite pastimes include pretending to be a kitty, and doing everything Allison does.

I'm holding down the fort, spending way too much time on the computer looking for house listings, and teaching Allison. I already nanny'd for some of last week for a neighbor. I turned down 2 more weeks of nanny work since then, but I don't want to get distracted from homeschooling and helping our family get settled.

I look forward to starting up at a women's Bible Study in a few weeks, hoping that it will help me meet some other women, moms, homeschoolers...i'm not picky.

well, that's enough of my story for now, send me mail, call my phone these are my love languages.