One is silver and the other's gold

I made a new friend today!

I took Charlotte to a free trial gym class.  There was a little guy wearing a Red Sox jersey and his mom had on a Sox shirt.  It was an easy conversation to start.  Her husband is from this area.  She asked, as everyone does, if I was from here.  When I answered negatively, she said "Then WHAT are you doing here!?"  Sometimes that question makes me sad (clearly we must've made a mistake) but her candor today made me laugh.  We chatted about the wonderful walkability in Boston and the dreadful drivability in VA Beach.  But ultimately, she is  happy here and has been for many years.  Maybe someday I could be too.

As Matt calls it, I hit on her.  I asked her to lunch and we got to talk a little longer while the kids ate french fries.  Before finishing the meal, a very close friend from college walked in.  Charlotte squealed when she saw Therese's boys.  While walking to the bathroom, Charlotte smiled and said "Me love Jax and Brady...Jax and Brady my favorite!"

Some piece of me wants to have something to complain about; it honestly scares me to think we could be long term suburbanites.  We did have to drive 10 minutes to get to the gym...but it wasn't that bad.  Maybe we really are settling in.

Missing Massachussets

I miss Boston.

I crave the Commonwealth mall. I want to walk to Trader Joes. I want Charlotte to play on all of the deserted toys in the Clarendon St playground. But mostly, I miss my friends. We got to VA Beach about a month ago and we're settling in. But so far, it's not for me. We have managed to find plenty of things to do, but keeping busy isn't the same as keeping relationships. When we meet new people, they say "Are you from here?" (No)..."Oh, so you're military?" (No). We seem to be the only civilian non-lifers.

The physical proximity of friends (and everything else) cannot be matched in a place where people typically drive 20-30 min for everything. We are in a place where we can walk to much more than the average VA Beacher but since we're the only people that walk, cars don't expect us. And walking down roads next to cars traveling 45 mph isn't quaint.

I am trying to remind myself that Boston is cold. And we only had one baby when we lived there. And...I'm trying really hard to think of negatives...oh, it's expensive. We moved down here for Matt's job and it has truly been amazing. He is home every evening. He's reliable. I feel guilty that that's not enough.

We are here for at least 2 years and I'm sure by then, we'll be so woven into life here that leaving won't be an option. Someone's probably wondering what happened to Arlington (our 6 month stop between Boston and VA Beach)... well, I don't long for it. I liked it well enough while we were there but ... well, it's no Boston.

It is time

2 Years and 3 Weeks old. Time for Charlotte's first haircut. By yours truly.

The before - back

The before - front

The after - back

The after - front

Happy Easter!

This is Charlotte's 3rd Easter and obviously Cailin's 1st. Charlotte participated in at least 3 egg hunts (possibly more, but I have a bad memory). She thoroughly enjoyed the hunts but wasn't the most competitive participant. At her future preschool's hunt, she was terrified the Easter Bunny would come near her. At the ChickFilA hunt, she was worried the cow would come near her. She is not fond of mascots. At each hunt, she wanted to investigate each egg as she found it. She clearly didn't realize this meant the big kids were going to take all of the available eggs. Thanks to Dollar Tree, we had plenty of junk food for her on Easter morning.

Much like Christmas, we tried to focus more on the religious holiday than the secular parts (despite the overabundance of egg hunts). I found directions for "Salvation Eggs" on pinterest (shocker, huh) which Charlotte enjoyed. In each of the 12 eggs, there is something to help tell the story of Jesus' death and ressurection. Charlotte could better understand the story with props like nails, rocks, and cloth.

Easter morning, we had to wake Charlotte up so she'd have time to check out her basket before we left for church. She had a great time at church (as usual) and came out shouting "Jesus is alive!" This church is amazing. The methods they use to get through to toddlers is impressive. And it pays off. Charlotte was so hyped up on sugar that she didn't nap that day. We spent the afternoon together and she crashed early.

Cailin celebrated Easter by sampling our sweet potatoes. She seemed pleased.

Happy Easter all. Jesus is alive!

The pictures are out of order but I can't adjust them.

Party time!

I had a blast planning Charlotte's second birthday party. From the invitations ("Chugga chugga choo choo, Charlotte Grace is turning 2!") to the Thomas (dairy free/egg free) cupcakes, Charlotte had a great time! All of Charlotte's buddies in Va Beach are boys, so they enjoyed the party theme as well. Here are some pics from the afternoon:

Snacks!

Thomas ring cupcakes!

Train cookies and Thomas fruit snacks!

More Thomas action!

Me and my girls!

Driving the baby stroller along the train tracks! :)

The kids' table!

Cupcakes! (Frosting!)

Presents!