A Night on the Town

We are posting a bit backwards now, but over Labor Day weekend Bryan and I had our first overnight adventure away from our little one. Well, it was my first overnight adventure away - B has spent some nights in MD while we have been in NC a few times, but it was time for me to spread my wings and leave Noelle for a night as well. Thankfully, my mom was happy to play overnight babysitter so we were able to leave her in good hands.

The Sunday of Labor Day weekend we headed to one of our favorite places from down memory lane, beautiful Chestertown, MD. I worked in Chestertown for 4 summers during my CTY instructor days, and Bryan worked there my last summer with me as our site office manager so we've spent quite a bit of time in the tiny town. If you haven't been, Chestertown is a cute little place on a river on the Eastern Shore of MD. Bryan's colleague at work grew up there, and he and his fiance decided to have their wedding at his parents' property on the water. The setting was beautiful and the weather couldn't have been nicer!

Besides the weather, the best part of the wedding was definitely the food! Oyster bar, coconut shrimp, bacon wrapped scallops, crab cakes, grilled veggies, and lots of cake types to choose from! We loved our evening out, although I will admit we are way too old to stay out late these days! The buses back to the hotel were at 10, 11, or 12 and we definitely hit the first bus! As we'd been there since before 4 it was plenty of time to eat, drink, and be merry! However, we think Noelle enjoyed her day and night with grandma (and Uncle Mike and great grandma)even more than we enjoyed our night out. I mean it is hard to be the focus of three people's attention for 24 hours! We all definitely survived and we only hope that our next night out isn't more than 13 months away!

Noelle's First Football Game

Last Saturday the Georgia Southern Eagles were in town. Bryan was beyond excited. In fact, Friday night we attended an alumni event in Annapolis so that he could begin getting pumped up for the big game. I was happy to join him, as it was at a gorgeous location right on the river opposite the Naval Academy, and the (free!) food included lobster, MD crab legs, oysters, and other scrumptious (and out of the budget!) items!

The day of the Navy v Georgia Southern game, we actually were able to spend the morning with Bryan's mom and her husband. In Richmond for a race, they drove up 95 to have breakfast, see the new house, and visit for several hours. The last hour of the visit, B started to get antsy, trying on his Eagle gear, finding his car decals and flags, and pacing. We finally left 2 hours before game time.

Since we were less than confident about Noelle's abilities to make it thru the game, we got seats in the endzone grass. Noelle loved it, although she would have preferred we just let her roll down the hill the entire game. Despite her father's lecture that we were going to be cheering for Georgia Southern, she felt it necessary to clap whenever anyone else did. This basically meant she clapped for the Midshipman as we were surrounded by Navy fans. She loved the cannon, the cadets marching in, the Star Spangled Banner, and the people watching. We made it through the third quarter, impressive since she skipped her nap, and probably could have gotten through the last quarter as well if we hadn't felt sorry for our little one who could hardly keep her eyes open but was too intrigued to sleep. In the end, Georgia Southern put up a nice fight and only lost by a few points - great showing for being in a lower division!

Noelle conked out in the car as soon as we got in it. That was about 5:45. She slept through dinner (unusual since our child loves to eat) and ended up sleeping through the night. She even slept through an 11 pm diaper change! Football is tiring!

Here are some pictures from the game!