The Scientist and the Lawyer: November 2013

We had a really busy Halloween this year. I had a week and a half to get everything ready after we got back from Outer Banks. I was able to get Grayson's costume done in time for him to wear it to music class on Friday. He sure makes a cute little hobbit.

Over the weekend, we were talking with some friends about Halloween and costume ideas. We realized that we really wanted to dress up too. I had written off getting costumes done for us because I didn't think we would have time. We decided that we would give it our best effort and we would dress up anyway. So, Monday I headed out first thing and began the search for our costumes. I hit two Goodwill stores, Walmart and Joann Fabrics and I found some success.

It was a crazy few days with furious sewing and really late nights, but about two hours before our ward (church congregation) trunk or treat, I was able to finish them. There were some definite mistakes made (I sewed the arm holes of the dress bodice shut twice...idiot and then I attached the snaps for the dress on the wrong sides), but I got it done! I had a lot of help from Trevor too, helping me fit the costumes and keeping me functioning with late night Wendy's runs.

Eowyn, Aragorn (Strider) and a little hobbit from Lord of the Rings.

Hanging out with friends after the trunk or treat.

On Thursday, we made some bat cookies and after Grayson's nap, we headed up to the lawn (the original part of UVA grounds designed by Thomas Jefferson) to go trick or treating. We took the bus with some friends up to the lawn.

Waiting for the bus in front of the law school.

Hobbits need their breakfast, second breakfast, elevensies, afternoon tea, dinner, supper.....

Trick or treating on the lawn is a big tradition in Charlottesville. The students and teachers that live in the original apartments first built at UVA hand out candy to all the kids. It was a lot of fun!

There was quite the crowd!

Enjoying our plunder!

A viking hoard fighting a dinosaur, some of the students got really into their costumes.

Waiting for the bus.

After the lawn, we went home, fed Grayson dinner and headed to our next event. Our friends do a Halloween party every year and they serve homemade doughnuts and apple cider. We had a great time visiting with friends and eating some doughnuts. After the party, some friends came over and we watched a movie. It was a crazy few days and we were exhausted, but it was a lot of fun.

For Trevor's Fall Break this year, we went to Outer Banks in North Carolina. The Rex E. Lee Law Society (essentially a club for members of the church at the law school) has a yearly trip where several families get together and rent a beach house. This year there were 11 families that went; that's 22 adults and 11 children. We drove down Saturday morning and had a smooth drive. Grayson slept for half of the five hour drive. When we arrived at the house there was a cleaning crew still there trying to finish cleaning and recover from a leak that had happened in one of the basement rooms. While we waited, we headed straight to the 'backyard.'

Even though it was overcast, it was still beautiful on the beach! Grayson took to it immediately and we had to take his pants off because he got soaking wet and covered in sand within the first few minutes.

We had a fabulous week and spent most of every day on the beach. The house was three stories tall and had a kitchen area and common area on each floor. There was a pool table and foosball table in the basement and two hot tubs and a pool outside. There was also a media room on the second floor, twelve rooms and fourteen bathrooms. Each bedroom had an en suite bathroom and a TV. Grayson loved going up the stairs and being able to play with his friends every day.

The kids taking advantage of the media room.

The view from the top balcony.

Here is the awesome house!

The awesome upstairs kitchen.

Main common room upstairs.

I chose our room because of the bathroom.

Our bedroom.

The weather was better then I expected. It was really windy and overcast most of the time, but it wasn't so cold that we couldn't play on the beach. Trevor and I loved boogie boarding, it was so much fun! The more stormy weather made for some really good waves. Once you got over the shock of the cold ocean, walking around on the beach didn't feel cold at all.

Grayson absolutely loved digging in the sand. We had a hard time getting him to leave the beach on any given day. One day though, he got splashed by a really big wave and then he wanted to go sit in the hot tub. He really loved the hot tubs! He called them pools.

One afternoon, we went driving around and decided to stop and see a park and a lighthouse. We got to see some different birds and ducks.

We had a hard time keeping Grayson out of the water, he loves playing in the water. While we walked around, we had to keep a close eye on him.

Having fun climbing a tree!

Trying to catch some crabs.

We went crabbing one evening with our whole group. We were there for quite a while and didn't really have any luck, but it was still a lot of fun.

The kiddos keeping themselves entertained while we were crabbing.

We went to play putt putt (mini golf as my husband calls it) one day at a really cool place. It was pirate themed and there was a train you could take to the top of the course. I think we rode it four times, Grayson loved it!

He mostly just chased the golf balls around, but Grayson still had fun.

He tried to chase the golf balls through the tunnels.

Here is a collage of some fun beach pictures:

On Thursday, the weather was perfect! It was sunny all day and in the upper 70s. The perfect way to end our vacation, so we attempted to take some family pictures. At first, Grayson was not very cooperative, he just wanted to chase the seagulls, but we managed to get a few good shots in.