Thursday, August 31, 2017

Summer: August

In August, A & L celebrated their 13th wedding anniversary with a nice dinner at Freemason Abbey Restaurant in historic downtown Norfolk.
Built in 1873, this church-turned-tavern/restaurant made for a fun atmosphere.   
 
This chickadee lost another top front tooth, too cute!

We enjoyed a free family paint night at our base library.


We had a darling little visitor at our door on a rainy day. Animal control said this teenage opossum was actually harmless and carried no diseases, so we got to pet him before releasing him into the backyard again.


We had our first family visitors this month, A's big sister and nephew from Maryland!

Fun outing in Norfolk's Waterside District. 
Games in the park.
 Dinner at Blue Moon Taphouse.

The cousins had a great time!

As the new EO (equal opportunity) rep at work, A had a week of training in Camp Lejeune, NC, so we decided to join him for a few days. Not a lot to do here, but it's a very pretty base.  



While in North Carolina, we enjoyed a fun day in Emerald Isle with some old friends/military neighbors that we haven't seen in almost 4 years! Austin was one of Z's first friends in Camp Pendleton and his little sister was just a little baby the last time we saw them. 

 We had a blast at lunch and the beach.



Until next time (and hopefully in less than 4 years)! 

The lovely but long country roads back to Virginia.

A pretty new pillow arrived in the mail (thanks, Gigi!).

 The girls enjoyed a beautiful evening kayaking on Lake Bradford on base.

Check out the eagle's nest just above Z's paddle.

Our local rec center is the perfect place to spend rainy days.

The evening routine for the lazy fat cat.

Beautiful day our local botanical gardens.


So much fun in the butterfly house!


Cooling off in the children's garden.

It's been such a wonderful summer back in Virginia; we're so thankful to be here!

Tuesday, August 1, 2017

Another Chicago Trip

The Panos girls made their way to Chicago, IL once again to visit dear family!
We caught a beautiful sunset on the flight over.

The sweet cousins happy to be reunited.

Enjoying a lovely thunderstorm.

Family jam session.

Sisters at Lake Michigan, just south of the City. 

Cousins having a blast in the gorgeous lake.

The newly weds, Mr. & Mrs. J. Allen.

Such a beautiful day with perfect weather!


Random lake art.


"Ballet lesson."

The sisters looking groovy and ready to see Paul McCartney in concert!


View from the top at the Hollywood Casino Amphitheater in Tinley Park, Illinois.

The show sold out within minutes, so only managed to get lawn seats, but it was better than nothing!

Yay, it's Sir Paul! So fun finally seeing one of The Beatles!

For nearly 3 hours, he sang and played several instruments without a break, and sounded awesome! His band was rockin' too. 

I have way too many fun videos of the night's highlights, so here's a clip of the finale, "Hey Jude."

Before we headed back home, we enjoyed a fun day with the kiddos at their local water park. Thanks again to J, M, and the kids for hosting us!
Hope to see you next in Virginia!