Another Great Vacation at the Outer Banks!!!

Maya woke up after 6 Sunday morning, so we went for a walk and viewed...
...the progression of a lovely sunrise!!!

Cally's first pedicure at a nail salon!

Enjoing the beach one evening with friends and sparklers!

I have been to the OBX several times and always make a trip to the Whalehead Clubhouse and nearby lighthouse. My friend from high school got married here (which I missed because I was super prego with Cally!!!). The other gals and I went to the winefest they had on Wednesday; we toured the house (always learn something new...found out that OBX was a big site for the Coast Guard during WWII) then tried samples of wine, and then picnicked by the sound.

www.whalesheadclub.org

The girls were soooo good on the trip!

Finally toured the Wrights Brothers Memorial! Very cool! Amazing how far aviation has come in less than a century!

Cally was all about the mermaids!

Maya loved the water! "Like my rashguard?"

Our friend, Shannon, rented a kayak; Mike was able to catch a wave!

Mike and I are sad about returning to the real world tomorrow. We had another wonderful vacation at the OBX in N.C.! We rented a house on the beach (Cally called it 'the castle') with 6 other couples and their kids. We had wonderful weather; it was a blast watching the kids have so much fun! Thanks to my mom and dad for watching Oooooooootis!

Happy 1st Birthday, Maya!

Cally helps Maya with fork.

9/18/11

Friday, 9/9

Maya turned 1 on 9/9!!! We had a busy day visiting Grandpa and then Mom-Mom. We went out to dinner and sang happy birthday/had cake in the evening. Today, we celebrated her birthday with family and friends at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Thank you & Goodbye to Summer

Charlie and I enjoyed a few days at the shore with Jim, Marg, Will & Liz.

All enjoying the fine weather.

Castles to make the beach our home.

 Charlie actually went in the water.

We spent a couple of days in NYC/Brooklyn and got to see Will & Liz perform.

Thank you all for a fine visit.

Announcement from the Tomczaks...

Sal and I are very pleased to announce we will be expecting baby Tomczak around the end of March 2012. I am 13 weeks and today we had an ultrasound where we got to see the baby moving all around and hear the heartbeat. It was the first of many amazing experiences with the baby.

As a side story...for those of you who may remember, although it was unknown to me that I was actually pregnant at the time, Harper predicted the pregnancy during our visit to Maine in July. During dinner one evening she came over to me and put her hand on my stomach and said "baby." Now...at that moment, I wasn't sure if she had just noticed the little bit of extra weight I felt I had put on around my mid section from the junk I had eaten on the trip up or if she was doing what Sara had warned us earlier in the trip about... several of her friends were pregnant and Harper had a tendency to walk up to people, point to their stomachs and say "baby." I like to think something deep down told her the truth...

Bear cubs

I heard noise outside and thought dad and Henry were home from the lake...I opened the front door to 2 bear cubs though!

earthquake, hurricane, and flood, OH MY!

Mother Nature must not be too happy lately...Markie is still covered in poison ivy from helping clean up after a small tornado brought down trees at Stacy's grandfather's house. The guys (along with Uncle John, Matthew, John, and Uncle Dave) spent last weekend cleaning up after the hurricane. Now this weekend will be spent cleaning up after a flood. At 1PM Markie headed home from work because the river was rapidly rising. The Susquehanna river rose in the Wilkes barre area 30ft in 36 hours. The power of water continues to amaze and scare me. Luckily Mark and Stacy's house is fine, unlike so many people in the area...

At 4PM the river was already at the edge of the alley behind the house.

Mark, Dad, and Ava assessing the rising water at 7PM.

Around 2am the river was predicted to crest. Mark and Stacy awoke to this...well they probably didn't sleep much throughout the night. About 18 inches of water in the garage. Luckily it wasn't worse.

Captain Chipper?

Sal picked up his own "classic" vehicle this past week. We took the boat out for a spin yesterday on Blue Marsh Creek. We brought along Chipper, not knowing what to expect... Little did we know that by the end of the trip he would have his little body spread out across the front seat relaxing.

Pottstown Car Show

Dad got to show off his new car at the Pottstown Car Show this past Saturday evening.

Good night IRENE

Fortunately I am married to the Oplinger version of Macgyver who can rig anything. He had the generator running from the garage panel box to the panel box in the house which supplied power to the entire structure. We were able to save all the food in the refrigerators and upright freezer, shower and watch TV. All other household luxuries like running the dishwasher were off limits. We ran the generator for 24/7 from Sunday morning at 8:30 to Friday afternoon at 2:15 when power was finally restored.