Another Rainy Day

I had all kinds of plans to go out and find some good shopping in Athens today, but the rain put a stop to any of those ideas. Instead, Grace and I hung out inside all day and waited for Mike to get out of class. And because of all the rain, I was really craving some comfort food so we went out in search of a Cracker Barrel for dinner. There's nothing like some chicken and dumplings, meatloaf, and mashed potatoes to cheer you up on a dreary, rainy day.





Blowing raspberries...

Go Hokies!

Even dressing up as a matching Hokie family, complete with our mini-cheerleader didn't help the Hokies last night, but Grace sure had fun playing at the Cagles. Especially messing with their dog, Hokie, who by the end of the night had enough of Grace and made sure to give her a wide berth.

This is a deceiving picture because Grace looks like she doesn't care for Hokie, but in reality, she thought he was hilarious and giggled at him constantly. Except for when he sneezed. Then she would cry and cry.

She loved Hokie's bling, or dog tags.

Deja Vu

When you're a Navy family, the world is a very small indeed, but especially if you're part of the Supply Corps. Mike is currently taking a class at the Navy Supply Corps School and this picture shows him and Grace in front of Winnie Davis Hall. Mike and I are both from Navy Supply Corps families, and this means that Grace's grandfathers, and now dad, have taken classes here.

I didn't expect to see Captain Benson, Mike's former commanding officer in Japan, during our stay here at Athens, but it was definitely a pleasant surprise. His wife, Gemma, helped make the transition to my new life in Japan easier, and for that I will be always grateful.

My little fashionista!

I just adore that sweet smile!


Yesterday was a rainy day so we were cooped up inside all day long. It also meant that Grace didn't change out of her pajamas until it was time for her evening bath.
Lunch time with Daddy and she's still in her jammies.

Three in the afternoon...

Seven in the evening, dinner time, and no change yet. This picture also shows her eating her first pizza (really, just the crust). She devoured that thing. She may look like me, but she's really a lot like her daddy. Pizza lovers!

Georgia's On My Mind

But Virginia Beach is still in our hearts. Grace is missing all of her "spoilers"...

Lola and Lolo who came home early from the restaurant to act silly with their grandbaby.

Grandpa who takes Grace to fabulous Italian eateries.

Grandma who fed her all kinds of goodies.

And Uncle Ninong who bought her cool and fun toys.


Our trip down to Athens was, thankfully, uneventful. We figured out that the secret to a good road trip with a baby is to start really, really early so that she sleeps most of the way. We were on the road before 7 and the first time we stopped was for lunch at 12:30. And by that time, we were only three hours away from Athens.

We've settled into our cute little place which, surprisingly, is not as bad as I thought it would be. There's plenty of room for Grace to crawl around and because it's a suite, Grace's pack'n'play is in the living room and we get our own bedroom. The only downside is no stove so all of our meals will either be frozen food cooked in the microwave or lots of eating out. Or lots of cereal and PBJ sandwiches.

Here's Daddy's solution for changing a wiggle worm- holding her arms down with his legs. This was a tip from Great Grandma Augustine and Grace seemed to enjoy it.

Here's our version of baby proofing.

Some Fall Fun

We met some old friends, the Hartigans, at Hunt Club Farm today for some fall fun. We met in Japan, but it's been a year since we've seen each other. It was nice to catch up with them and have the babies meet. When Lyn and I last saw each other, we were still pregnant. The babies had a great time exploring the farm and checking out all the pumpkins.

Colin and Mike- the two dads. They've come a long way since our days of hanging out in Japan. In Japan, our activities were far from baby friendly and usually consisted of finding a nice bar.

"I like this one!"

Grace and Franklin having a fabulous time.

"Hmmmm...I think I like the bigger pumpkins better."



We found a turkey, aka Hokie Bird!

Grace Tour 2009

The past couple weeks have been a whirlwind of nonstop traveling and visiting. Mike and I joke that this is what it must feel like to be on tour if we were a famous band- on the road everyday, living out of luggage, and a bunch of adoring fans (for Grace) everywhere we stop. Mike and I are the crew of the tour and Grace is the superstar, of course.

The Grace Tour 2009 started in Japan when we packed up our place and the temporary homelessness began...

Say goodbye to all our stuff for 2 months!

At least the Navy gave us some loaner furniture the last couple days we were in Japan. Grace loved this crib, but we thought it looked like she was on display in a zoo.

The Estoestas hosted a Sayonara party for us, which included a fabulous sushi bar.

The triplets- Gracie, Grace, and Jasmine. I'm going to miss seeing these girls grow up together.


THE TRAVELING BEGINS...

All went well up until this point. And then the actual traveling began. We had such high hopes that the trip back to the states would be relatively easy. Afterall, we were headed to Seattle first, which is just a manageable 8-9 hours away from Japan. But because we were on a military flight, we didn't realize that we would be making a few stops. It wasn't a straight shot like a commercial flight. In the end, from the time we left our house to the time we landed in Virginia, we had been traveling a total of 72 hours.

This is the plane that took us back to the States. We were still hopeful that things would go well.

Even Grace was still in a good mood.

But then the trouble began. Here we are stuck in Misawa. In a hot, crowded terminal. For 5 long hours.

Luckily, I had my "friends" to keep me company. Before I left, Julie gave me a parting gift, little paper dolls that represented my three girls- Julie, Jojo, and Melanie.


SEATTLE

We finally got to Seattle and spent the night after an exhausting flight. Grace cried and cried on the plane. The flight attendants kept coming up to us to ask if they could do anything. At first I thought it was sweet. Then I just found it annoying. Didn't they realize that if there was any way I could stop her from crying, I would've done it already? And to top it all off, I spilled a soda all over Mike and my carry-on. It was a trip from hell and every time something happened, Mike and I would just look at each other and laugh. It was either that or cry.

This is the first Starbucks coffee shop!

We also got to see Pike's Fish Market where we saw them tossing fish around. So cool!


ROAD TRIP

After getting to Virginia Beach, we had a day of 'rest', or running around like crazy to get errands done, before we were on the road again. It was good to be back though and Grace did much better in the car than she did on the plane. First stop was a wedding and then off to Ohio to visit family.

Mike with his VT college buddies.



The scenery- I love fall road trips!


OHIO

Four generations: Baby Augustine, Daddy Augustine, Grandpa Augustine, and Great Grandpa Augustine.

Grandma and her boy.

Grace and her Great Grandma. I know it doesn't look like it, but they really are related by blood. I joke that we're the Asian branch of the Augustine family tree.

Grace and Grandpa picking out some goodies at Alesci's, a must-stop for any Augustine while visiting Cleveland.

Mike's new ride. Not. At least not YET. I might consider letting him get one when the kids are out of college.

Checking out a real deal barn with a bunch of tractors inside.

Mike has a picture of himself as a little boy with his dad on this very same tractor. I wish I had the picture with me to compare- then and now, but unfortunately, it's all packed with our household goods at the moment.

We made it back to Virginia Beach just in time to celebrate Lola's birthday.

And there you go- that about catches you up on what we've been up to these last two weeks while we were on hiatus. Our next adventure will be in Athens, Georgia where we'll be spending a month while Mike takes a class. I hope to make regular entries while we're there. Stay tuned....