Crooked Road

We took an amazing trip down the Crooked Road, "Virginia's Music Heritage Trail," over Labor Day. This part of our state is widely regarded as the birthplace of old time music and bluegrass. Venues all along the route feature live music on the weekends. Much of it is free. All of it is affordable and well worth the effort of getting there. We all had a blast. The girls danced until they passed out and we all came back with some new favorite tunes.

Highlight of the trip -- a stop by the Carter Family Fold, where A.P. and Maybelle got their start, where June honed her skills, and where Johnny Cash played his last live show.

Famous Carter Family Fold performers -- Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash and the amazing Molly B!

Harper posing in front of the stage between sets.

Molly barely stopped dancing the whole weekend! She loved dancing with her daddy at every stop.

Posing with Grammy at the Martha Washington Inn Cabaret show. It was much more family-friendly than the title suggests. We really enjoyed the Dixie Bee-liners that evening. Check them out on iTunes!

National Book Festival

The girls had a blast meeting some of their favorite book characters at the National Book Festival. Now if only the Berenstain Bears had been there, the day would have been complete!

Happy Birthday, Miss Molly!

Another year older -- 4 already! I can't believe it. I love you so much, sweet girl!
Here Molly and her Poppie enjoy their annual "Happy Birthday to Us" breakfast.

Easter

I know Easter happened months ago, but I have a few great shots that I just had to share.

Harper and Her Toddler Vogue Spread

Right -- you probably know there's not a Toddler Vogue. But I just thought these pictures would find a perfect home in such a publication if there was one. Harper definitely has a flair for the dramatic, and she's just so photogenic.

Molly

Both of my girls are getting so big. But Molly has really blossomed into a sweet little girl over the past few months. Just see how she has changed...

March 2011

April 2011


May 2011

...and debuting her new bob in June 2011!

Love this sweet (big) girl!

Happy Birthday, Sissy!

We love you! Come see us again soon!

Snow Angels

Our little helper -- out shoveling the sidewalk with Daddy.

Guess who had to settle for watching big sister from inside the house?


Hooray! Harper finally gets a turn to help out!

Molly with our first snowman -- ever. Maybe if her mom had been born somewhere other than the deep South we could have built a bigger snowman. I had a hard time getting the snowball to stick together. Luckily, Molly didn't seem notice.

And Harper just wasn't sure what to make of the snowman period. All she new for certain was that she wanted to eat his raisin eyes, which she did repeatedly for the rest of the afternoon. (I had to replace them three times!)

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas!

Hooray for Fall

With the onset of cooler weather, I ordered a new winter coat for (a much taller) Molly. I splurged this year and bought her a scarf too. She loved it! And I loved having a mini-me.

Thank you, Hannah!

I know it has been a loooong time since I posted, so I will treat everyone to some beautiful pictures taken earlier this month by my uber-talented cousin, Hannah. Her pictures always take my breath away!

Vacation Part 2: OBX

The second half of our trip took us down to Hatteras Island in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We LOVE the Outer Banks. David has been vacationing there for more than two decades with his family. We took Molly down for her first trip to OBX when she was only 3 weeks old. This year was Harper's first trip. We can't wait for many more years of OBX fun with our girls.

OBX fans for life.

Harper enjoys an upclose look at the waves during her first trip to OBX.

The girls loved digging in the sand and building sandcastles with Daddy.

Molly visiting the beach one more time before we head home.

Enjoying the last sunset of our 2010 trip to the Outer Banks!

How To Entertain Yourself in Traffic

Vacation Part 1: Norfolk

Here are a few pictures from our recent trip to the beach. We spent ten days in all on the road. Our first stop was Norfolk, Virginia, where Aunt Marcia's in-laws graciously let us stay in their house just a block from the beach. The girls loved it! I have decided I have amphibians for children -- both girls love the water as much as the land. We were hard-pressed to get them off of the beach or out of the pool!

Harper's first trip to the beach -- or bay -- in this instance. She loved every part of the experience! She didn't even seem too phased when she put sand in her mouth although she decided it wasn't a very tasty treat.
Molly, our original amphibian, was ecstatic to be on the beach and in the water!
We took an afternoon trip to the Virginia Beach aquarium where Molly and Daddy got an upclose look at a komodo dragon.

My favorite picture -- Molly in awe of the aquarium's tropical fish tunnel.

Summer Fun

We just got back from a quick weekend trip to Greenwich, Connecticut. We had a great time with family and friends. And we especially enjoyed the cooler weather!

My Budding Pastry Chef

This year, Molly wanted to help me decorate her birthday cake. We started small -- putting the frosting on in the middle of the cake. She quickly tired of this, let me finish the job and waited for the real prize...the sprinkles.

Things started off well but, when you are three, patience isn't your strong suit. The whole bottle of sprinkles made its way onto the cake.
Next up -- Dora sugar appliques. We like to use sugar appliques because it reminds us of our Aunt Marcia.

And finally..

The main event!

Happy Birthday, Molly-moo!

**I apologize to all of our faithful readers for the lack of a birthday montage for our newly 3 year old girl. We had some technical difficulties when I tried to post pictures from two different computers. I hope to fix everything and get a worthy birthday montage in place soon.**