Halloween 2016

The Grim Reaper sporting a broken down hearse limo in a neighbors front yard – Arlington, VA.

Here is a mixed collection of photos from some of our Halloween outings and excursions for this year. I think the highlight of this year would have to be the Zombie Paintball Hayride event at Scream Land Farms…. it was not quite what I expected, but it was still a lot of fun! We hope you enjoy the photos.
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Backyard Project Part 1

Jesse Proctor ‘breaking ground’ on our new Backyard Spa Project – Arlington, VA.

Well we have finally decided to redo our outdoor living space. We have always wanted to incorporate some type of water feature into our backyard living area, but were told that we couldn’t have a swimming pool due to the storm water retention system located underneath our yard. After months of research and consulting with different contractors and county inspectors, we have determined that the storm water system actually belongs to us and as long as the system if functioning properly we have the right to build over and around it as long as it meets code. A large pool would not work since the main storage pipes are only 5 feet underground, but we did find that there is enough area beside the system to build a large in-ground spa that we can incorporate into our backyard landscaping project.

The project was scheduled to start mid October and take anywhere from 6 to 8 months depending on the weather. I didn’t think it was a great idea starting a project like this in the fall, but I was assured that as long as the pool contractor was able to get the pool formed and shot before the first freeze, the project would stay on schedule. This is my first installment of photos from the project… keep an eye out for more to come over the winter!
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Bedford Family Retreat

Dylan manning the rudder of the ‘Godspeed‘ – Historic Ship Museum, Jamestown, VA.

For this years annual family retreat and vacation we wanted to take in a little American history, so we decided to do the tourist thing in Colonial Williamsburg and Historic Jamestown Virginia. I visited this historic town years ago with my family when I was just a child and I thought it would be a nice way to introduce Dylan to some of our country’s early history. I’m not a history buff by nature, but I do enjoy going back in time, so to speak, and remembering the things my high school history teacher us to try to implant into my brain about this early period in American history. Seeing how well everything has been preserved and the attention to detail in the way the tours are run really make you proud to be in such a historic place.

Aside from doing the normal tourist thing and walking for miles through all the little shops and houses, we also spent an evening having a traditional Colonial-style dinner at the King’s Arms Tavern in the historic colony. They do a great job of putting on a show for the patrons and the food is excellent. Every detail, from the early 18th-century building and old original wooden floors to the servers in traditional colonial costumes, truly makes you feel as though you have traveled back in time for the evening. Jamestown was also a lot of fun except for the part where Dylan got attacked by a rouge roster at the old fort. Thankfully I was close by and was able to grab it and kick it away before it had a chance to hurt him.
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Boating at Wades Bay

“M/V ‘Our Pleasure’ anchored close to the shoreline” – Wades Bay, Nanjemoy, MD.

All summer we’ve been talking about making a run down river to an area where the water is a little cleaner and the ‘Hydrilla’ doesn’t grow as thick as it does in Belmont Bay. Our boating friends Charlie and Nichole made a day trip down river a couple of weeks ago and they said that Wades Bay was totally Hydrilla free and the deep water would allow for a near shore line anchorage. So this weekend we decided to make the hour long boat ride down river for some different scenery and shark tooth hunting at Wades Bay. We asked Mike and Melissa to join us for the day and they excepted making it an even more enjoyable outing. The water was a little bit on the cool side, but the weather held and it turned out to be a great day. Can’t wait to do it again next summer!
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Our Bermuda Getaway Videos

08/24/2016 – “A rainy day and a beach day” – Tucker’s Point Club, Bermuda, HS.

As promised, here are some videos from our trip to beautiful Bermuda. The highlight of this trip would have to be our last day which we spent snorkeling at Castle Island. Dylan did such a great job snorkeling with us on the reef! He is really becoming quite the little ‘Aquaman‘ or as Julie would say… a mini-me!
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Snorkeling at Castle Island!

“Dylan and Dad snorkeling just off the beach” – Castle Island, Bermuda

As I said in my previous post, we didn’t have the best of weather this week, but our last day turned out to be perfect… for snorkeling that is! Here are some photos from our boat trip over to Castle Island for a day of snorkeling on the reef and in the shallows of Castle Harbour. I hope to post some videos of our adventures soon!
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Our Bermuda Getaway – Part 2

“Finally a beautiful sunny day to enjoy some snorkeling” – Castle Island, Bermuda

The second half of our week was also mixed as far as the weather went, but we made the best of it and spent one of the rainy days sightseeing with Carlyta at the Crystal Caves. We did have some good days hanging out at the pools drinking margaritas and watching the sun poke in and out of the clouds. I really don’t think anyone would have complained too much about the situation at hand, especially seeing it from our point of view.

On our last day, the wind finally died down and we where able to rent a boat and head over to Castle Island beach for some snorkeling. Carlyta told us she had never been snorkeling before and this would be one activity she would really like to try, so I’m happy the weather laid back enough for us to make it happen. Dylan has also become quite the little ‘Aquaman’ over the summer and he showed his skills on an hour long swim snorkeling around Castle Island reef. I’ll add another post later on with more photos and even some video from our snorkeling adventure to Castle Island.
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Our Bermuda Getaway – Part 1

“Enjoying a nice dinner out at the Beach Club” – Tucker’s Point Club, Bermuda

Our second trip of the season to beautiful Bermuda would also be a less than perfect one due to mother nature. With several storms in the Atlantic, we would have a chance of on and off rain showers just about every day while on the island, but we were determined not to let this get us down. We’ve had such good luck with the weather in past years that it’s hard to get too upset about having one or two wet and windy weeks here… after all, we are still in paradise. This trip we brought along our son’s nanny Carlyta, who helped out with Dylan and also enjoyed relaxing with us on the beach and at the pools.

The weather didn’t turn out to be as bad as expected, so our day outing to St. Georges, Alexandra Battery Park and Sea Glass Beach went very well. Tilman Fertitta’s amazing $40 million motor yacht ‘Boardwalk’ was tied up at the cruse ship dock on Ordnance Island in St. Georges and we got to see her depart Bermuda while at Sea Glass Beach. We also managed to get down to the Dockyards for some shopping, sightseeing and of course lunch at one of our favorite spots… The Frog & Onion Pub. When it did rain it poured… but that would turn out to make for some great sunset photography!
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Boating with Captain Dylan!

“Dylan at the helm of the ‘M/V Our Pleasure‘ before departing the cove” – Belmont Bay, Occoquan. VA.

As my son becomes more and more responsible and his attention span gets better I am more inclined to allow him to do more grown up things, such as help out with the boat and help me with around the house projects. This weekend he told me that he would like to drive the boat. I asked him why he thought he was able to take on this task and he said because he did such a good of driving the one on our Manitoba fishing trip. Hard to argue with a 6 year old when you know he’s right. So I told him that I would start teaching him how to drive the boat, but he could only be at the helm when there was another adult present. I also explained that daddy’s boat was not a small fishing boat and therefor would take more practice to master driving. First thing he had to learn would be how to navigate, so this session at the helm Dylan worked on spotting the channel markers and keeping the boat on the correct course between them. He took the whole exercise very seriously and did a great job! Next time we will incorporate the compass into the equation.
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Manitoba Fishing Trip Videos!

08/03/2016 – “Dylan the master angler catching some Pike” – Eagle Nest Lake, Manitoba, Canada

I’ve finally had a chance to edit the video’s from this past weeks fishing trip to Eagle Nest Lodge in Manitoba, Canada. We hope you enjoy watching them as much as my brother and I enjoyed making them! We’d also like to send out a huge thank you to our guide Troy at Eagle Nest Lodge, for not only putting us on the fish every day and making this a great trip, but for also making my son Dylan feel like he owned the place! Kudos, Troy!!

08/04/2016 – “Dylan learning how to drive & dock the boat” – Eagle Nest Lake, Manitoba, Canada

Click on this link to view more of the Manitoba Videos…  (View Photos, Slideshows, Videos & More»)