Atlantic City Girls Weekend

A couple weeks back I took a trip to Atlantic City for a girls weekend to celebrate my mom being done with her surgeries, chemo and radiation for Breast Cancer.  She is now cancer free and we wanted to celebrate with a special trip away.  We chose Atlantic City because it was close, it has a beach, and its a place my mom loves to visit.  Eric's mom flew in Thursday night and stayed with us so we could leave Friday morning.  My sister drove up Friday morning and the 3 of us rode together for the 3 hour drive.  My mom and Aunt Betty were there to greet us at Bally's Casino when we arrived.  We got settled in our room and then headed out for a late lunch.  It was a beautiful day so we were able to sit outside.  After lunch Vicki, Mel and I hit the beach bar across from Bally's to bask in the sun and have a drink.  Saturday was more of an overcast day with a chance of showers so we all started the morning off with a walk on the boardwalk.  I split from the group to get in a quick run and then walked the beach after.  When I got back to the room we had the best room service brunch and just sat and chatted for over an hour.  We took our time getting ready and then headed out for a little shopping at the boardwalk mall.  For dinner that night we had reservations at Guy Fieri's Chophouse.  The service, atmosphere, and food were awesome.  We did a little gambling after and then relaxed in the room.  We left Sunday morning to get back for Mel to catch her flight and spend a couple hours with the boys.  It was a fun and relaxing weekend with some of my favorite ladies and I am so grateful to my mom for pretty much comping our whole stay.  We were there to celebrate her but she sure did spoil us!  Here are a few pics from the weekend....

Me and my sis hanging by the beach

Mel & Me

Vicki, Mom, and me

All the ladies heading out to dinner

Pops' Birthday Weekend

We traveled down to St. Mary's recently to celebrate my dads 60th birthday.  My mom threw a party for him with family and friends at their house.  It was a beautiful day and it was nice to catch up with family I had not seen in a while.  The cousins played outside all day and even got to take a dip in the hot tub.  Our gift to dad was two tickets for him and my mom to go to the Orioles game the following Labor Day Monday.  It was a very hot day but we had fun watching the game and being at Camden Yards with my parents.  Here are some pics from the weekend....

Pops enjoying lunch with family and friends

Sarah, Ryan, and Hayden

My lovely Aunties

Eric was in charge of the grilling

Dad blowing out his candles

Hot tub fun - Linc chose to have cake instead  :)

Hayden and Pops at the O's game

Me & E

Hayden loves some cotton candy!

Hayden's 1st Day Of Kindergarten!

Hayden's 1st day of Kindergarten was on Friday, August 29th.  He is going to Monarch Academy in Glen Burnie, which is a public charter school for Anne Arundel County.  We met his teacher, Ms. Grace, the Tuesday before and he was super excited to start school.  He was a little apprehensive about riding the bus but we talked about it a lot and were confident he would like it once he tried.  One of the bus stops for the school is right in our neighborhood so it is super convenient.  It is a very long day for Hayden....getting on the bus at 7:50am and getting off the bus at 4:20pm but he has handled it well.  It was so nice having Eric home for his first day and first ride on the bus.  He was so excited to tell us about his day and we were so proud of him for being such a big boy.  After school we took the boys for Frozen Yogurt at Hayden's favorite spot, Yogi Castle.  Here are some pics I took from the day...

I'm ready for school!  Tradition to get a shot with Georgia looking out.  :)

Daddy decided to match Hayden in his cool uniform.  Hayden thought that was hilarious.

Chatting on the way to the bus stop

Waving back at us

Bye Bo!

He was so excited to see us waiting when he got off the bus.  He ran right to daddy and gave him a huge hug.

Yogi Castle

Happy boys

Sesame Place

Eric had a week of vacation the week Hayden started school.  Because our county is a staggered start, Hayden only had to go in to meet the teacher on Tuesday and go for his first full day Friday.  We decided to plan a fun overnight getaway with the boys since we were not able to do a family vacation this summer.  I had found a program on-line that gave active duty military free tickets to a variety of parks so we chose Sesame Place since it was the closest and most age appropriate.  We surprised Hayden on Tuesday night with the news and he was super excited for the trip.  We drove up Wednesday morning and spent the day at the park.  It was a really hot day and the park was really crowded so the lines were crazy.  Hayden picked a couple of water slides and did not seem bothered by the fact we had to wait an hour for each.  We rode a few rides, had lunch, and enjoyed a trip down the lazy river.  We left the park around 5:00 to head to the hotel.  The boys had a blast at the heated indoor pool and it was much more relaxing than the day spent at the park.  Eric and I ordered room service and we watched a movie before bed.  We both agreed we would probably not go back to Sesame Place but we enjoyed the trip and were glad we could get away one last time before Hayden started school.  Here are some pics from the day.....

Hayden in the Monster Clubhouse

First ride with mommy

Daddy & Linc

Fun at the water play area

Eric & Hayden on the big tube ride

Cooling off!

Vaillant Family Summer

I haven't posted in a while so I thought I would combine a lot of photos from the summer into one blog.  Eric has been working at Johns Hopkins the last two months which has kept him busy but we had lots of camps lined up for Hayden and tried to take advantage of our days together with fun family time.  Hayden did Nature Camps, Soccer Camp, Multi-Sports Camps, Vacation Bible School, Gymnastics Camp, and Lego Superheroes Camp.  He really enjoyed them all and its so nice to have so many options in the area.  Mommy even got to get away to the Origami Owl National Convention in Phoenix.  The summer went by way too fast and I am a little emotional about the fact that Hayden starts Kindergarten tomorrow so I thought I would keep myself busy with blogging.  :)  Here is our summer in pics.....

First week of camp was Nature Camp at Robinson Nature Center

Ultimate Junior Sports Camp - Hayden playing hockey

Hayden's 2nd week of Nature Camp with his friend Landon

Soccer Camp...one of his favorites

Vacation Bible School at Glenmar

We tried to hit the pool up at least once a week

Summer bliss.  :)

Boys first game of putt putt

Me at the Origami Owl Gala

Sports & More Camp

Linc and I enjoyed many walks at the park while Hayden was at camp

Hayden got to go to Great Wolf Lodge with Grammy & Pops and his cousins for the weekend.  What a treat!

Hayden finally got to climb on the wall at our gym.  We made a few trips and he got better with each climb.

Lincoln went to his first movie at the theatre. Good thing it was only a $1.  :)

The boys at the Howard County Fair

Fun with mommy at the Maryland Zoo

National Aquarium for Shark Week!

Lego Superheroes Camp at Snapology

And lots of sweet brother time.  :)