Chesapeake Birthday

Last year for my birthday we were supposed to go on a Caribbean cruise.  Instead, we spent the day in our Bogota apartment in lockdown.  For my birthday this year, I knew that cruising still wasn't an option, but I really wanted to get to the water.  The easiest body of water to get to from where we live in Virginia, is the Chesapeake Bay.  We picked the part where we didn't have to go over a long bridge, just through DC and to the edge of Maryland.  We found a lovely house in a town called Deale, and the first thing we did once we got there was go to the water's edge and take some pictures.

The house itself was really special, and it had a lovely wrap around porch, so that we could enjoy as much outdoor time as possible.

The backyard was really cool too. It had a fire pit surrounded by bushes for privacy, lots of grass to play on, and then a low stone wall to sit on. The part between the wall and the water was communal property, so we discovered we could walk on the grass along the water to the public pier.

Stalker Vivi caught me and Jeff admiring the view.

We took the girls and my dad for a walk along the water.

There was an osprey nest with a chick in it, so we had fun checking that out.

For my birthday dinner, we had hired a chef recommended to us by the lady who owned the house.  Turns out, he was the son in law of her next door neighbors.  He prepared grilled seafood, grilled vegetables, and paella for us.

We kept it simple and ate outside on paper plates.  No cooking and no major cleanup makes for a perfect birthday dinner.  It was getting a little chilly though, so we came back in for cake.  My mom had brought all the official birthday cake fixings with her from Virginia, so I had the traditional cake.

It was wonderful to be able to celebrate surrounded by love and next to the water.

Since the house faced east, Jeff and I decided to get up early the next morning to try and catch the sunrise.  He got out ahead of me, but that meant I got to take pictures of him taking pictures.

He got back at me by putting my not quite awake self in a selfie.

I think his sunrise pictures turned out better than the sleepytime selfie.

Eventually, we retreated back to the porch for coffee to warm us through the rest of the sun's rise.

Once the sun was truly up, we enjoyed walking along the water and through the neighborhoods.  Jeff and I took a couple walks, and Elena came with us on one of them.

We also found a really cool Scrabble board that spun to face whoever's turn it was.  The girls had never played Scrabble before, but discovered that the game was a perfect fit for their love of words.

There was a bunny who kept hanging out in the back yard, so we kept the children active by sending them out to run around with it.

We had picked up a yummy lunch from a local restaurant, and we had plenty of leftovers from the previous night's dinner, so we were well fed, but the girls were especially looking forward to s'mores time.

Jeff got into it too, Wolverine style.

My mom had never had a s'mores before, so we made one for her.  She said it was fine, but a little too sweet for her.  We all enjoyed the fire though.

The next morning we savoured coffee on the porch again, took a short walk, and got in some basking in the sun.

Eventually though, it was time to say goodbye to the beautiful water view.

It was a quick getaway, but it was so wonderful to be on the water, even for that short time.  Jeff and I have long agreed that whenever we're done moving around the world, we want to settle somewhere with a view of the water.