Another Alameda 4th!

The Fourth of July was a ton of fun, as always, here in the sleepy town of Alameda.  The town held its annual parade (supposedly the second longest parade in the country, I think, although the stats change every year).  We camped out with Virginia along the parade route with her buddies Tasha and Violet as always.  Virginia sported a totally cute outfit from Auntie Lynn which was the talk of the parade.

In the afternoon, we went to Dan, Irene & Tasha's house for a party and cookout and then on to the St. Charles block party.  We had so much fun we forgot to take pictures the rest of the day!  Plus, Mimi and Papa arrived just in time to see Virginia swim at the block party -- two days ahead of our Hawaiian vacation.

Dressed to the nines courtesy of Aunt Lynn (shoes are hand-me-downs from best bud Kylie):

The first of many lollipops and sugar bombs that day:

These three will be trouble when they get older!  (For now, Virginia just loves taking care of "Baby Violet")

Snuggle with mom on the parade route:

Climbing all over Dan - an favorite Virginia sport:

First skateboard ride - we are glad she rode it safely:

June Adventures

June in the Harvey family was filled with lots of hometown adventures around the Bay Area.  To celebrate his 65th birthday, Peter and a few of his buddies threw an amazing dance party with a live band at the Claremont Country Club.  Thomas and I danced 'til we dropped and the babysitter had a late night!  Uncle David and Aunt Ellen came to town for the celebration and we all had a blast.

Then it was off to an A's game with Little V... she was quite the fan and a lot of the more rowdy patrons in seats around us loved her to death.  They said she was the good luck charm that made the A's win.  Let's Go Oakland!

And, it wouldn't be summer without another visit to Gilroy Gardens.  Virginia loves that place.  We chilled out with the garlic mascot, rode the carousel and the "Artichoke Dip" ride, tried on wacky hats, and ate ice cream and pizza galore.

And, of course, we have had lots of fun summer visits with family and friends.  Uncle Biggie is always a Virginia fan favorite!

Back to Bama!

In early June, I decided it was time to brave a solo flight with Virginia back to Alabama to see her Mimi and Papa again.  My high school girlfriends planned a mini-reunion in Birmingham that same weekend, so it was the perfect chance to enjoy a girls weekend and let Mimi and Papa take Virginia for an overnight visit.  Aunt Lizzie flew in from Charlotte as well to lend a hand.

The weekend was a ton of fun... Virginia swam and swam in the baby pool in Mimi's back yard, ate Southern cuisine at Martha's Place, and fed Ginger (my parents' new dog) all day long.  The trip took a bit of a strange and unfortunate turn, however, while I was away in Birmingham for my girls' overnight.  While I was away, Virginia slipped and cut her chin on a wooden decorative garbage can at my parents' house.  Luckily, she was in good hands with Papa's medical connections and they took her to the Baptist ER where they determined that she needed a few stitches.  

But she was too upset to handle getting stitches without me there, so I raced back to Montgomery to nurse her boo boos.  A former schoolmate of mine from Montgomery Academy was the ER doctor who stitched her up.  Virginia was not thrilled when we had to put her in the ER equivalent of a straightjacket to do the actual stitching.  She gave the nurses lots of lip!  Although it was upsetting to see her in pain, we were glad to see that her feisty spirit had definitely not been broken.

Even though the trip involved her first ER visit, we still had a blast with family.  I'm happy to report that Virginia is healing nicely and is well on her way to recovery too...

Silly with Aunt Lizzie:

Virginia went down the slide about 200 times!

Pretending to be shy meeting her first celebrity (Martha Hawkins):

Princess Virginia wearing her tiara from Mimi's grab bag of treats:

Ginger ate more that weekend than she had all year!

A ginger with Ginger!  You can see her little scar and fat lip in this photo:

Virginia stymied our attempts to get a shot with her and Mimi all weekend... this was the best we could do!

Kissing Cousins!

Virginia loved spending time with her cousins Anna and Jenna last summer in Alabama, so we decided it was time to visit them again since they live relatively close in San Diego.  They've had an addition to the family since we've seen them last - little Jon David.  So, when Southwest had a fare sale, we jumped on the chance to go down to SoCal for a weekend jaunt.

By now, Virginia is a master traveler, so the 1 hour 15 minute flight to San Diego with her is just a breeze.  We grabbed a rental car and set our sights on Sea World!  We met Suzanne and Jonathan and their kids there and had so much fun.  The cousins took to each other immediately and spent the day playing, holding hands, hugging, and occasionally looking at sea life.

With SeaWorld penguins:

Riding Elmo at SeaWorld:

Spinning ride with Mommy, Anna, and Virginia:

One of many hugs with Anna:

Another hug with Jenna:

Girls dance to Sesame Street:

Fast friends Virginia and Anna:

Thomas, Anna, and Virginia pretend to be polar bears:

Showing off for the fishies:

Virginia never turns down a chance to hug a baby!

Checking out Shamu and eating an ice cream:

After SeaWorld, we took a break and then met up later in the Gaslamp District for dinner with the cousins.  With four hyper kids, our table was a handful, but we had a ton of fun:

Silly girls:

We stayed at the Omni Hotel adjacent to Petco Park.  Thanks to all of Thomas's work travels, we had free nights to burn and the hotel even upgraded us to a suite.  Virginia loved the free chips and salsa the concierge put in our room on arrival, and the milk and cookies at night were even more exciting!  Here's little V jumping on her big girl sofa bed:

Sunday was Mother's Day, so we spent a little time walking around downtown San Diego together before meeting up with the Lairs later in the day.

Thomas had to leave the trip early to get back for a trial the next morning, but Virginia and I stuck around for one more evening and went to Coronado with the Lairs for dinner.  The girls played in the sand and we all ate at a BBQ restaurant on the beach.  What a weekend!

More silly girls on the beach:

BBQ dinner with the Lairs:

Virginia had to get her hands on Jon David again!: