A Wonderful Weekend!

We had a great weekend at the beach. Daniel was a good rider in the car. I think during the 3 hour drive, he fussed once for about two minutes and then fell asleep. I met Troy at the hotel and from there we had plenty to do. On Saturday we went to the Children's Museum in Portsmouth. I had been able to download two free admissions off the internet so we only had to pay for Daniel which was a real treat. Of course everyone else had also and the museum was pretty crowded! We played hands on for about two hours. Daniel had a blast. We stopped and got him a corn dog for the drive back to the hotel and after two bite he was sound asleep in his car seat! We also swam several times in the indoor pool at the hotel and Daniel learned how to jump to Mama from the side of the pool. He was a little nervous at first and would reach out for my hands before jumping, but after a couple of tries, he finally would just jump and know I would catch him. It was loads of fun. We visited the beach on Sunday, before coming home, giving the waters time to calm after all the rain we had. The water was cold, cold, cold, but we had fun running into the water and then letting the water chase us back out. Daniel liked jumping waves in the shallow water too. He especially liked playing in the sand with his Papa, while I acted like a nut and went further out in the ocean. (I absolutely love the ocean, no matter how cold it is)!!

We all had a great time!! Pictures below!

Finally, I just need to mention that today is my father's first birthday for which he not with us. I have been struggling lately with really missing him. The Survivor premier (yes I watch junk!) came on last week and my dad and I used to always meet for dinner, play Jeopardy and then watch Survivor every Thursday together so we could make fun of the people and cheer on the challenges like a big football game. I know he's in a better place, but boy do I miss him.

Sad News

When Troy and I first started this blog we decided that we would try to keep any negative news out of it so that when our son read our blog it would only be filled with happiness. We feel that out of necessity, however, we must share this bit of sad news with everyone as it will forever affect us and our son.

It is with great sadness, that I write, that my father Daniel Alexander passed away on Tuesday. We are so happy he has become one of God’s angels, but will miss him forever.

I’d like to tell you some of my favorite memories of my father, if you would like to hear them.

When I was a child my dad would run down the hall chasing me yelling “I’m mean and I’m green” (pretending he was the Incredible Hulk) and wrestle with me and tickle me like crazy. I would scream and scream “Help!!” for my mom and she would just laugh and say, “You got yourself into the mess, you have to get yourself out of the mess.”

Every summer for many years, my dad and I would take off from Orlando, FL (where I grew up) and drive all the way to Trenton, TN to visit my grandmother. Along the way we played the “Gas Station Game”. We would each pick 3 major gas stations and count them on the 13 hour trek. The trick to the game is you actually have to see the gas station off the interstate, so as you can imagine, we spent a lot of time denying seeing the others gas stations!! All in good fun of course.

Most recently, my dad and I became hooked on playing Jeopardy and watching Survivor. Since season 2 of Survivor, every Thursday night, with an occasional exception, I would go and have dinner at my parents and my dad and I would play Jeopardy. Now you need to know my dad was a history major at Washington & Lee University and he knew EVERYTHING!! Playing with him was pretty amusing as the only times I even had a prayer was teen week when the categories were ‘pop music’ or ‘5th grade math’. (You get the idea!!) Now every once in a blue moon I would have a good night, but no matter what after the first round when it was announced who would go first in Double Jeopardy (the lowest score) my dad would call out my name!! It was always, “And Rachel goes first in Double Jeopardy!” and of course I would try to argue my points to no avail. We even had a silly ‘song’ we sang each time a daily double popped on the screen!! It was quite hilarious. After Jeopardy we would watch Survivor and bet on who would be voted off. We had so much fun.

One more thing I am so happy about is that some months ago Troy and I decided that we would name our son Daniel after my father as we knew he would not be with us forever. We were planning to keep it a secret (and yes, this is the first time I have posted the name on the blog) but my big mouth just couldn’t do it and one Thursday night, when my dad was feeling good, I told him. He looked so proud and surprised and happy all at the same time and he couldn’t even say a whole lot to me the rest of the night. I just know he has already met our son and is keeping watch over him now.

I miss him so much.

Wedding day next to my mom and dad - 1996

My dad and mom at Lake Michigan, in Wisconsin, 2004 (one of my favorite photos!!)