Puerta Vallarta

Birthday Week was a little different year. We spent the week childless, in bathing suits, relaxing in lounge chairs, surrounded by lush green palm trees, and spending time with dear friends. Yes, this is the view from our condo at Villa La Estancia in Puerta Vallarta, Mexico.  Breathtaking, right?

This trip is just what Matt and I needed.  With Matt's new job consuming most of his time, we've barely had time to catch up.  As soon as the kids were tucked in, I was pooped and had little energy to wait up for him. This trip rejuvinated us, and allowed us time to catch up and spend some quality time together.

This guy was crawling along behind me as I sat in my lounge chair at the pool

Monday evening we took a cab into the small quaint town of Bucerias, right on Banderas Bay.  The locals set up tables selling their wares in the courtyard just to the left of where we are taking this picture from.  At the far end, booths lined the streets, with more vendors.  This is where we picked up our souveniers. Luckily, many of them knew the US Dollar to Peso conversion and were able to give us accurate prices - which of course were negotiable.  Thank goodness for Matt, because negotiating is not.my.thing.  (Actually, Doug was the expert.)

 The sunsets were the most beautiful I've ever seen.  Our camera doesn't even come close to capturing the true magnificence of them.

Chiveros on the Beach...on.the.beach...literally. Our feet were in the sand. We enjoyed our dinner by candlelight once the sun set.

 Tuesday...my birthday!  We spent the morning at the pool.  Matt took this picture from our balcony.  Sally, Doug, and I are the three people in the lounge chairs by the pool.

I was pleasantly surprised when our favorite pool butler, Juan Jose a.k.a. "JJ" and his buddies strolled up banging dishes and singing "Happy Birthday" to me.  They had a piece of cheesecake with basil, yes basil, ice cream for me.  We all wondered if basil ice cream is truly authentic Mexican or whether they just tossed some leftover basil into some vanilla ice cream and mixed it up :)

Then we headed out for a half day trip Whale Watching.  On the plane, a woman sat next to us who visits Puerta Vallarta often and she recommended taking a whale watching trip.  Our intial plan was not to leave the property and spend the entire week relaxing at the resort.  But she really enticed us!  Apparently, humpback whales make the trip from the waters of Alaska to Bandares Bay each year from December to March to mate and birth their young.  I must admit, we were a little apprehensive when we saw the size of the boat we would be taking out into the Pacific...see it below!  Yep, it's like a blow up raft!

This guy must've been really trying to impress a female, or us, because he continually performed for us!  A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!

Then we went out to Mezzogiorno for an Italian dinner.  Yes, even the Mexicans can cook Italian!  Our food was delicious, but the view and company really made it extra special.

(And, yes, contrary to what the pictures portray we all wore sunscreen and reapplied regularly!)

 This was one of our favorite spots.  This hot tub was right on the Bay and adjacent to a fire pit.  We enjoyed a few fruity drinks in here, wathcing the sunset wondering how on Earth we could ever explain this to anyone.

The rest of the week we did more of the same...relaxing, reading, talking, swimming, walking, eating, repeat!  WOW!

What a wonderful, wonderful trip! 

This is definitely one birthday I will never forget!

Adios Amigos!

Birthday week will be spent in Puerta Vallarta this year!  We will be at the beach in sunny 83 degree weather tomorrow at this time...Woot!  Woot!

Happy Heart Day!

 Everyone always asks what we did for Valentines, so here ya' go...

for classmates

and teachers/Administration

Wordless Wednesday

She's 6!

I know I say this each year, but I just can't believe that she's really six years old. Time is just getting away from me. I'm holding on for dear life.

Sweet Carly - you have grown so SO much this year, yet you are still the sweet little girl whose smile can brighten any room and whose laughter is contagious. Your tender heart is still very sensitive and you care a great deal about others' feelings and I can't imagine our lives without you. You add so much joyfulness to our family.

Here are some things I never want to forget about YOU this year:

Your ear-to-ear smile on the first day of school as you got off the school bus for the first time.

Your eagerness to learn and determination to read and write (and memorize your addition and subtraction facts faster than your brother).

How easily you make friends. You have such an outgoing personailty and have no problem making friends. Within minutes of arriving at a playground, library, sporting event, you will undoubtably be seen running around, playing, or having a conversation with someone new.

Your willingness to take risks. Girl, you are unbelievable at times. Riding on a tube being pulled behind a boat, swinging from the monkey bars, roller skating, diving off the diving board...are you afraid of anything?

So, Snuggle Bug, Sweet Girl, Mimi, Carly-girl...it was such an honor to celebrate you this week!

This weekend we celebrated Miss Carly's sixth birthday. The house was full of five year old girls and lots of laughter and all things girlie! This year's theme was Candyland.

The invitation:

First stop: Peanut Acres

The girls searched through bags of packing peanuts to find the real peanuts and then hurled them over their heads to their partner who had to catch them in a net. There were peanuts flying everywhere!

Next up: Peppermint Forest

Here, teams competed in the Peppermint Relay, balancing a peppermint on a spoon.

Then, Lollipop Woods

Several varieties of lollipops were on a tray and the girls had to examine them. Each girl took turns removing a lollipop while the rest of the group guessed which one was missing.

Then is was time for cupcakes!

How cool are these cupcakes!? Yes, I made them (got the recipe from here) and will not, most likely, make them again. They were very tedious and time consuming.

We love this face :)

Last stop was the Candy Castle, where the girls filled their bags with sweets from the "Candy Bar".

Each girl went home with a Whirly Pop from Sweet Spot and a toothbrush.

Bedtime Stories......and memories that last.

Thanksgiving 2011 was another great trip to Long Island to see family, relax and enjoy spending time together. Among so many memories, conversations, good meals, belly laughs and blessings, we took time to go as a family to visit Cedar Hill Cemetery. While that may be a gloomy topic of conversation and may spoil the mood of all the time we spent giving thanks over the holiday, I believe that is where thanks is most deserved. Nevertheless, my motivation tonight for posting a blog entry is not to share about a cemetery visit or to reflect on our lost loved ones, but instead to comment on how the little things that often go undetected can be so meaningful. Connor, or should I say Thomas Connor Terry, is standing among many Terry's in the picture. He's still too young to really understand where his name came from, but he knows that he is standing beside his great grandfather with the same name while facing his great, great grandfather up on the hill also with the same name while his father takes his picture,...who shares the same name. And there is even more to tell, but that will wait until he ages some more. Standing there, Connor said little and ran around the place more than he participated in any discussions. It wasn't until tonight that he shared his thoughts and began talking about it during bedtime.

Jenn and her mother went out for the night. I had the kids for the night. For me, it was a long day, but spending time with Connor and Carly almost always rejuvenates me and keeps me positive. Among the chaos and bedtime routines there is almost always a moment that I am so grateful for and that makes me feel so blessed to be a father. Tonight, was no different.

I chose to tuck Carly in first and then went to Connor's room. As we settled in and I was getting him all tucked in, he surprised me with his questions. "Daddy, why do girls change their name when they get married?" "When I get married will that happen too and will the girl have the same name?" I will spare you my answers, but this sparked a deeper conversation. We talked briefly about his name, where it came from, how he is the only boy with the Terry name, and that his name is special.

Afterwards there was a brief moment of silence.

"Daddy, thank you for my name. When you die I will always keep my name and when I have a son I want him to have the same name too".

Now the brief moment of silence was for me.

I was proud. I told him I would like that and hope he has a son one day. "Daddy, I'm sorry I said you were going to die, that would be really sad wouldn't it"? I told him not to worry, I will be around a long time. I pray I do meet his son one day and have the same opportunities my grandfathers did with me to share stories and memories down to the younger generations. That will be special.

So, we talked a little more and I did not want to lose the learning moment. It just so happened that after our visit to the cemetery, I felt a strange desire to find another landmark that would be meaningful to Connor one day and so we found a sign in Terryville that was on Terryville Road. We pulled over and the Terry guys all stood by it and smiled. (This is not easy to convince my Dad AND brother AND son at the same time that this is a good idea, but it happened and worked out this time!) I reminded Connor of the picture we took and explained to him that he was named after some of the people that were responsible for Terryville. It wasn't the first time I has shared this with him, but you could almost see the light bulb turn on and the pride he felt. It was a memorable moment. One that I feel blessed to have had time to experience.

While he may soon grow to realize he was not born into wealth and amazing good fortune, or he may not be the next generation of a famous family in People Magazine, or even be among the children who have families that have accomplished incredible heroic feats, he will know that he is a Terry. That may not be meaningful to anyone but us, but I believe that giving children a sense of pride in their identity and allowing them to learn about their heritage is priceless. All too frequently I meet with students who are lost, unsure of who they are, searching for esteem, self-worth and more confidence. It is alarming. I only hope that I can foster this sense of confidence somehow in my children and I have learned tonight that it is often the little things we do that get our children thinking and asking the right questions. This time it was a visit to the cemetery and a drive around Terryville that stuck with him. The result was this picture that will last a lifetime and hopefully stir up even more questions one day:

Good night Thomas Connor Terry. You are one special kid! I love you.

HaLlOwEeN

Because Matt and I weren't too keen on the idea of trick-or-treating on a school night we came up with an alternate plan. Both C&C went for it and were pretty excited. The plan involved trunk-or-treating Friday and Saturday nights, tick-or-treating through Nonnie's community Sunday (each year, a number of residents call her specifically to ask if her grandchildren will come trick-or-treating at their houses), and then on Halloween, all dressed up, we sit on our front porch and greet other trick-or-treaters and hand out candy. I think they wore their costumes more this year than they ever have - and still made out with a bucket load of candy (for the Candy Fairy, of course). It really was a lot of fun and we have talked about doing it again, although it will all depend on what day of the week Halloween falls on.

Father Daughter Date Night

A few weeks ago, Matt and Carly attended the Father Daughter Date night sponsored by Henrico County Parks and Rec. They both dressed up and off they went for a night of dinner and dancing! Aren't they so cute!?

Lake Anna

It's been over a month and I've got some catching up to do!

At the end of September, Matt's parents rented a house on Lake Anna and invited us all to join them. The house was BEAUTIFUL and sat on a delightful piece of property right on the water. Matt and Kris rented a pontoon boat for the weekend which we thoroughly enjoyed. It even came equipped with a tube which was taken advantage of...by the brave (and hot-blooded). The water was actually about 75 degrees so (I'm assuming) it was somewhat bearable and refreshing. We enjoyed s'mores around the fire pit, fishing, fishing, and more fishing, sand play at the "beach", ping-pong, boat rides, and some precious, precious family time. Here are some of our memories of the trip.

Carly Starts Kindergarten!

Today was the day. Carly's highly anticipated first day of Kindergarten began at 6:15 this morning when Daddy woke her up (he went into work late so he could see her off to school today). After (slowly) completing her morning routine, she came downstairs to a homemade breakfast of blueberry pancakes - Daddy's specialty, a family favorite. A few pictures on the front porch and then it was off, with rain boots and umbrellas, to the bus stop. I don't think she ever stopped smiling the entire wait. As soon as the bus arrived, she got into line and boarded the bus like she'd been doing it for years. She is so grown up.Of course, big brother, was there to comfort her if she needed it. He was so sweet.

When she got off the bus this afternoon, she still wore the same smile that she had on when she got on the bus in the morning. Of course, I asked a million questions (and got maybe four or five answers) about her day. One of them...

Me: "Carly, did you meet any new friends today?"
Carly: "Um, no, I didn't really feel like it today."

OK, then. Hopefully she was at least pleasant. Here's to making some friends tomorrow!