Spring Backyard

Our backyard is looking very green this year!  Billy has done a great job with the lawn, and our garden is growing like crazy (this pictures is from last week, and all of the plants except the herbs have doubled in size this week!!).  Even my hydrangea we planted a couple of years ago is blooming and adds a really pretty blue/purple color to all of the green!  We also had some excitement when a baby bird took up residence in our yard for a few days (thankfully it has moved on to another yard or is hopefully flying by now), but Jefferson LOVED the baby bird.  To our surprise, he didn't try to eat/attack it but just wanted to watch it and attempt to get close enough to smell it.  At one point, the baby bird was hopping around a bit, and Jefferson was very excited, thinking it was trying to play with him :)  So, our backyard has been very springy this year, and we're enjoying it very much!! 

Growing garden

Hydrangea is finally blooming!

Closeup - love the color!!

Baby bird - I think it was a dove fledgling

Ready to leave our yard (I keep telling myself that the bird didn't settle in our backyard neighbor's yard, as they have several cats...)

This is actually our front yard, but a young squirrel (so precious!!) was trying to cool down in a tree right outside of the window that is "Jefferson's post"...

...needless to say, it was a very entertaining afternoon for the terrier :)  And, I'm a little embarrassed that I let the windows get that dirty!!  I guess that's the result of Jefferson hanging out here every day with his nose pressed up against the window!!

Cleveland Marathon

A few weeks ago when I was in Atlanta doing appraisal work, Billy went to Cleveland, Ohio to run in a marathon.  This meant a 9+ hour roadtrip for him and his running coach, who is from Ohio and was the initial one to put the bug in some of his runners' ears to do the Cleveland Marathon.  Billy ended up being the only one who went, and they had a great time in the nicer-than-expected city.  I never posted any pictures from that weekend, so here they are...

Lebron welcomes you to Cleveland

Browns Stadium

Pretty Building

Billy's hotel

So pretty!!

Race start

Post race

Billy & Coach (this is the most fun medal he's gotten in marathons and half marathons so far...it's 3-D with a guitar that spins around!)

The week after this, my parents came in town for a fun long-weekend visit that included a day at the beach with perfect weather, dinner at the Bier Garden, and lots of relaxing and hanging out!  We had a great time with them on their annual visit to Virginia and look forward to seeing the rest of my family over the 4th of July!!  Jefferson is very excited to get to play with his "Uncle Sam" and "Aunt Annie" :)

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a very relaxing and fun Memorial Day weekend this year!  We are very grateful for all of the service men and women, past and present, who have sacrificed so much and worked so hard to protect us and our freedom.  We're especially proud of our family members who have served our country and thankful that they all went to and from their deployments safely! 

We kicked off this past weekend with the Elizabeth River Run early Saturday morning, where Billy ran a great race (36:57 for 10K) and I ran/walked for a time faster than my previous ERR (in 2006 when I was in good shape :))), so it was great to start the weekend with a good workout.  Because I ran in the race, we don't have any pictures and Jefferson didn't get to attend :(  There are pictures online though, and we're bib #s 127 and 128.

After the race, we came home, relaxed for a bit, and then went to Lowe's to get supplies for our vegetable and herb garden.  Billy built a 3 x 7 box to put the garden in, we dug up the grass, added some better soil, and planted tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers (the only possible success from my attempt at getting seedlings to grow earlier this spring), basil, and oregano.  So, we're hoping to have some good fresh produce and herbs soon! 

That night, we tested out our new firepit, which I'm sure we'll use a lot this summer! 

Sunday, we headed to the C-ville area for camping at Misty Mountain with Pete, Mollie, and Bella, so that was fun.  It was my first campground experience and my second time sleeping in a tent.  We ate at Mellow Mushroom (love how C-ville has lots of dog-friendly restaurant patios...I wish Va Beach would be better about that!!), roasted hot dogs and made s'mores on our campsite fire, listened to live music from our campsite, and had fun people-watching with so many hardcore campers/RV-ers. 

Monday, we were pretty tired when we got back home, so we cooked some hamburgers and enjoyed eating outside in our backyard and just hanging out before getting ready for the work week to start.