VA Beach Police Better Get Ready For Us!!!

Today I found out that Jeff and I have already had our first run-in with the VA Beach police-without even knowing it! We got one of those mythical photo-enforced traffic tickets in the mail!! They DO exist! SHOOTLES!! While it's too bad that we got one (for "running" a right on red, I might add), the system is actually sort of neat because you can go online and there are not only pictures of your car partaking in the violation, but there is a short video of it too! Technology these days! I, of course, was a moron and was looking at the wrong car in the video, so I thought there was CLEARLY no violation--so I called the photo-enforcement people on "their" mistake! The guy I talked with was (surprise, surprise) not the sweetest of God's children, which really tried my patience as I was trying to explain to him why he was wrong and I was right! In the end he pointed me to MY car in the video (Which was really hard to catch because we were zipping through that yellow/red light so quickly) and explained to me how "the law is written that you must come to a full and complete stop before making a right turn on red".

All joking aside, Jeff is going to be driving for his life when he starts his job up there (not to mention my day to day driving), so this truly was a blessing in disguise because if he didn't realize that those photo enforcement things really are utilized down there, then we may have a couple more of these tickets on our hands!! Plus now, all our visitors can be warned---no running yellow lights in VA Beach!

Brace Yourselves

I want to preface this post by saying that since we are moving soon, with Jeff leaving this Saturday to head to the beach (keep him in your prayers, he is starting Monday in a job where there is no boss--she's on maternity leave--and in a city that he doesn't know!), if there are any more posts this month, they probably won't be very exciting-we've got other stuff on our plates!

That being said, here is a recap of what we've been up to since we got back from VA...

We found a pretty cool park out in Varnell after our attempt to find this huge yard sale

Jacob's first spin on the tire swing--his first swing lasted about 30 minutes-he liked it.

Jacob with his stickers from Great grandma and papa

Jeff had a big find at the Dollar Spot in Target the other day--water balloons! Jeff kept trying to throw them at Jacob and make them splash him, but he didn't want to play like that!

Past 3 Weeks

Trying to show off how big the blackberries were from Great Grandma and Papa's backyard--trust me, they were big.

"Relaxing" in the hammock

Lovely arrangement courtesy of moi (and the next door neighbor's hydrangea bush)

So, I knew this was going to happen. As soon as I talked to my cousin, Allie, the other day, I challenged her to find a gap in my blogging greater than 2 weeks, because she is a slack blogger and hasn't posted in like 3 months--BUT ANYWAY... I was trying to prove to her that I never let too much time slip by without posting something. But, alas, now this. It's been a month, luckily for me, I have a valid excuse-we've been in Virginia for 3 weeks. Jacob and I went up to just visit family for a while, and then we ended up staying longer and longer because Jeff and I had to go to VA Beach to check out the area for a job. Long story short, we are moving to VA Beach September 1st, with Jeff moving up in less than 2 weeks!

I don't have time now to write everything about the trip, so here are some pics, and I will continue to update as I have time...

Checking out the river situation-probably looking at a dead crab or something

Jacob picking/eating blackberries--berry farms everywhere should beware, this child eats his weight in berries out in the field.

Us as a sheep and horse.

Again, "relaxing" in the river

Caleb, Jacob and Papa playing legos in the kitchen-looks comfy!

The beginning of a series of pictures entitled "Mr. Green Thumb"

Helping Papa water the whole yard

Still lending a hand

Jacob and his "best buddy", the wandering cat. Jacob kept saying "this kitty loves me so much"

Floatie-free dive into the pool. He can swim without the floaties about 8-10 feet! He has NO fear of the water, which will be interesting considering we are going to be living at the ocean. I will try to teach him that the water can be fun, but at the same time it can be full of man-eating bull sharks (we watched Shark Week on Discovery channel last night), horseshoe crabs, and rip tides. Honesty is my policy with Jacob.

I know Mom will be thrilled that this picture made the blog! But it was cute, so I did it!

Jacob swimming sans-floaties

He gave in and used a noodle for a bit

From the day we left on our trip, I tried Jacob in a big boy bed, because, well--why not, but anyway, from day one it was no issue! He stayed in the bed and slept like it was nothing! And he slept in about 10 different beds throughout his trip, so we're sure it stuck! While I'm tooting Jacob's horn, I will also add that he does not wear diapers at nap time OR nighttime! He is pretty much a rock star!

This is a picture of Jacob in dad's bed--I was hoping I would have caught him before he fell asleep because he had picked up one of dad's helicpoter magazines, and was propped up in bed "reading" it until he fell asleep.

In our new natural habitat--try not to be too jealous.

Jeff pointing out which wave he was going to dive through, making sure I was paying attention

Jacob and Bayley and Garrett playing trains on our first stop through Roanoke. The whole time we were gone, Jacob was only concerned with when he would get to go back to Bayley and Garrett's house--not concerned with when he would see Mommy and Daddy again.