Nephew weekend!

Last weekend I picked up my nephews Joseph and Adam and we had a fun-filled weekend. On Saturday I took them to the Richmond Metro Zoo....















and then we played some mini golf at Patterson Sports Park...












and I treated them to some gelato from Deluca Gelato...







we visited World of Mirth in Carytown and they each got something special...




then we walked around Maymont and checked out the animals and trails...









and then we had dinner at Mary Angela's in Carytown, with Pearl's cupcakes for dessert.






Once we got home to my place, the pool was open (it had been closed because of the hurricane the week before), so we quickly changed and jumped into the pool before we headed inside for the night to watch movies.





I took them home on Sunday and we were all sad to part, but it was a great weekend!

Irene

Now that hurricane Irene has come and gone, and me and everyone I know in Richmond has their power back (I think some other people in the area may still be without?), I thought I would share some photos of the aftermath.

I was on vacation during the hurricane. My vacation started the day the hurricane hit Richmond (Saturday August 27 th). I woke up, did some things around home, and as soon as I sat down to eat breakfast, the power went off. It was off for around 127 hours. Most of my vacation (staycation) week. Thankfully we didn't have any damage where we live, but it sure was awful living almost a week without electricity. I think I am over it now, but I know if I think too much about it I will probably get angry. But again, thankfully, we are okay. Next time I just won't take a vacation during hurricane season.

6 months

This month marks 6 months since I have been soda free!



I have been drinking water for six months now. Every once in a while I may have had a little bit of tea, but I try to get unsweetened. I have tea at home but it's decaf. and I recently bought some Truvia sugar to substitute for regular sugar if I want it in my tea. But pretty much I've just been drinking water. Plain water, too.



I have a container of Mio water enhancer, but have only used it a couple times. I seem to really just like my water plain. I like the Hint blackberry water, but only had that a few times at the beginning of Spring to get used to just drinking water (plus they are kind of pricey).

We have a Brita water filter attachment on our kitchen sink, which has been very handy this whole time. We also have been recycling the sturdier water bottles we've bought in water packs. So, we just clean them out after each use and refill them with filtered water, and then put them back in the fridge to get cold again.




I have a big water container (32 ounces) that I use at work every day. In the morning I fill it up with ice and filtered water, and it lasts me through the workday. When I get home I drink another 32 ounces of water before I go to sleep. Usually I have more than that, though. So I get well over 64 ounces of water every day (64 ounces is over 1.5 liters). I haven't had any headaches in a long time, either. I am sure I have had one or two since I started the water thing, but I honestly don't remember them. I used to get terrible headaches!

We have a lot less trash since there's no sodas, and it's a lot easier bringing groceries in because we're not hauling around 24 packs of soda (we're not really hauling packs of bottled water either, since we recycle the bottles, or use a cup to drink from at home).

8/23/11

Since I live in Richmond, VA, I definitely felt the East Coast 5.9 earthquake on Tuesday.


This was what we found at home:

Our bottle of EVOO on the stove fell. We also had some crooked frames and a couple things fell down in the shower. That was all.

It was a neat experience. There have been several aftershocks, but last night was the first aftershock I felt. It actually woke me up and kind of made me mad because I was trying to sleep..had to get up extra early today so I could find parking before the madness started on campus. Today's the first day of classes for students here and I did not want to have any trouble looking for parking. Luckily, I found a free all-day spot.

I am glad that everyone's okay after the earthquake. It was a neat experience for me. My second earthquake ever (the last one I felt 7-8 years ago while in Richmond, VA). I am sort of looking forward to more aftershocks just because it's such a neat phenomenon (as long as no one gets hurt). I heard that the aftershocks can last about a week or so. We shall see!

Hot Air Balloon Festival 2011

My sister Bonnie and I went to the Hot Air Balloon festival at the Flying Circus on Saturday evening. It was so cool!



I love hot air balloons, but I am not ready to ride in one (they are expensive to ride, but I am also probably too scared). One day I do want to ride in one, though.

It was so neat getting to see all the colorful balloons. When we got to the Flying Circus, we checked out all of the planes that were flying around and were on display. We took a bunch of photos, too.



This is a basket for a hot air balloon that we saw in the back of a truck. It was so small and not what I imagined! I always thought hot air balloon baskets were huge and could fit a bunch of people to ride in them. I was wrong!





We rode this hay ride for $1 and the man, "Grandpa" drove us around for about half an hour, stopping every now and then to tell us about the history of the Flying Circus. He was so nice and really interested in the place and I could tell he really enjoyed driving the tractor around and telling people stories. He almost reminded me of my dad the way he played jokes on us during the ride!




When we were riding the tractor, we spied this behind some trees:




We also saw this guy sneak around some trees:




When we went around the other trees, here was a rainbow balloon being blown up:




We were really close to it and could feel the fire!





Here it is taking off:




This guy set his up all by himself, and he even wore it like a backpack.





This was my favorite hot air balloon (they were all gorgeous!):



And some more balloons..






Here's a bunch of the hot air balloons in the sky:




And another sky shot:




It was a great day! I will definitely go back again (maybe in several years), and hope to take my own kids to this one day. It was very exciting!

Movin' in!

On Saturday morning, I helped Daniel's little cousin Paige and her mom get her moved into her dorm room! She is starting her first year of college!! I remember meeting her when she was just 8 years old, over 10 years ago. Time has flown by..

We had 2 cars, and we parked on the side of the street next to her building and unloaded. I moved the cars to parking after we were unloaded and we took turns taking items up to her room (we took the stairs, her room isn't very high up). Eventually we got a cart to take the rest of her bigger items up with the elevator, but we got her moved in pretty fast, considering the craziness that move in days usually are.


Here is Paige and her mom standing on the sidewalk with all of Paige's college belongings:




We saw so many other students with TONS of stuff. She definitely did not bring as much as most other students brought. I saw one student with cases of drinks and snacks that they must have bought from Costco....! You probably won't even eat all of that in one semester..

We also saw some VIPs walking around, like the university president, some other staff members, and the dean of the students. It was neat seeing everybody involved with move-in day!


Here is Paige after we got her moved into her room and set up for the most part:







Hope her first semester is as amazing as ever!