Delainey is ONE!!

Delainey turned one on Thursday, July 23. Since she was down in Hilton Head enjoying the beach and her grandparents and aunts, Sarah and Devin graciously hosted another party for her Sunday night.

Delainey got some new toys
She loved them all!!

She got to blow out the candles and eat a cupcake all by herself



Yum!! Icing!!! :-)




And her biggest accomplishment of the evening: She walked!!

She is hilarious when she walks--because she really doesn't walk--she runs!! And by the end of 8 or so steps, she's leaning and about to fall down.

We all have loved our first year with Delainey and can't wait to see what this year brings!!

swim team

Jamie started swimming for a summer swim team when she was 7. Jenna followed the next year when she was five and then Darin began when he was five. If I'm counting right, then for the last 18 years, we have had at least one swimmer on the summer swim team. Last Tuesday night was the last swim meet for the Gilreath family. Greystone Swim Club always honors their seniors on the last night so it was fun to see Darin standing with his friends. All seven seniors attended the same high school and four of them have swam together for more than 10 years.

Darin going off the block

Honoring the seniors

Wednesday was swim team awards and again they honored the seniors and gave them a gift to send them on their way. The swim team has been so much a part of our lives and we have grown to love so many families that it's hard to see it end...

My three swimmers

San Francisco and Monterey

After a fantastic week with family in Oregon, we headed back to San Francisco. We decided to take the coastal highway which is very scenic--but definitely the long way there... We reached San Francisco at 10pm and we were all exhausted!!

Our first morning in San Francisco we were up early and walked to Fisherman's Wharf. We had a 9am reservation on a ferry over to Alcatraz. Alcatraz was Darin's number one thing to do on our trip and it did not disappoint. We took the narrated tour (through headphones) and were just amazed by everything we saw. It is a beautiful island setting for such a notorious setting. It was amazing to see San Francisco from inside the prison and to realize how hard that must have been for the prisoners--as it should be!!

A cell from Alcatraz--on a higher level--they had three levels of cells, one on top of the other...












Miss Delainey behind bars!! :-)














The beautiful view of San Francisco from Alcatraz....











After Alcatraz we met up with some of our favorite friends from Southern California, the Draughons. We ate at Boudins and then wandered along Fisherman's wharf and the "discount" shops across the street for the rest of the afternoon. We especially enjoyed the sea lions at pier 39. We also walked down to Ghiradelli Square. We got our free chocolate, but much to Darin's disappointment, no ice cream. (We had just had lunch and we were all too full!!) Dinner that night was at the Rainforest Cafe--overpriced but fun. After a day filled with walking, we were happy to finally head back to the hotel after dinner.

Thursday morning, Devin, Sarah and Delainey headed back to Fisherman's Wharf while Donald, Darin, Jamie, Jenna, Erik and I headed to Chinatown. Jenna and I both regret not buying some china in Chinatown, but we did get some great t-shirts--and what is a vacation without some new t-shirts!!

Everyone got back together and then we headed to Lombard Street--the crookedest street in the world. We drove down and enjoyed both the crookedness and the beautiful homes and flowers. From there we went to see where Full House was filmed (Jamie's idea) and then the actual park that they showed in the credits along with the "painted ladies" that border the park.








Beautiful flowers--and homes!!















The Tanner house from Full House















The "Painted Ladies"










From there it was off to the Golden Gate Bridge. We walked across the bridge and back again. It was SO windy and so crowded. We had considered biking across and I was so glad we didn't! The views were spectacular and I'm glad we did it--but we were all wind-blown and cold by the time we were back to the cars. We then began our trip to Gilroy (south of San Francisco) to stay with some friends that used to live in Raleigh--the Rose family.








Friday morning we headed out to Monterey. What a beautiful little town!! We enjoyed some pizza, some window shopping and some actual shopping and then we decided to ride bikes along the bay. Jenna and Erik and Jamie and I were both on tandem bikes; Sarah and Darin opted for their own bikes. (Donald and Devin stayed with Delainey since she was not happy about having to wear a helmet.) Riding a tandem bike was so much fun!! Jamie and I laughed so much at each other and finally got it together and then had a great ride. I wish we had a picture of the two of us--but we were almost as cute as Jenna and Erik!! :-)




















After saying goodbye to our friends, we headed out Saturday morning for Oakland. We decided that a stop at the Oakland temple was something we all wanted to do. The grounds are beautiful and the views of San Francisco were amazing. We walked all over the grounds and enjoyed some quality family time. From there we headed back to an In-N-Out for our "good-bye" burger. :-)

Erik, Jenna and Jamie were all flying out Saturday night so after checking into our hotel, we decided we needed one last California treat so we headed back to Ghiradelli for some ice cream--a great way to end an awesome vacation. I think Delainey should be the poster child for Ghiradelli Chocolate, don't you? :-)


Sunday was a long day with long flights and then finally we were home--and to my delight there was food in the house and a great meal thanks to special friends.

Oregon

Lest you think this blog is all about Darin--the ENTIRE family took a wonderful vacation to Oregon and California this summer. The last time we had been in Oregon to see family was in 1998 when the kids were 16, 13, 10 and 7. Needless to say, much had changed in our family in the 11 years since we'd been there... Sarah, Erik and Delainey had yet to meet the Oregon/Idaho relatives and so a Pritchett reunion needed to be held.

We started by flying into San Francisco, CA on June 30. We were scattered on 3 different flights so I was delighted when we were all actually in California and able to get our rental cars. We had to have two cars--a minivan and a smaller sedan. Donald and Devin split the driving in the van and I drove a Caliber for the most part. We immediately headed north to Oregon. Our first stop was at In-N-Out for a great burger. We are all huge fans of In-N-Out and only get to go there when we're in the west. Delainey wondered what the big deal was until we gave her a taste!!

After In-N-Out, it was on to Medford, Oregon to stay with some friends that moved to Oregon two years ago. We spent the night with them and then left Wednesday morning for Crater Lake.

No one in the family had ever been to Crater Lake. Although I grew up in Oregon and have been back to visit numerous times, I had never been there. Crater Lake was one of the top things on our "to see" list and I am so glad we went. It is an amazing place and if you're ever in that part of Oregon, it's worth the drive.

After taking lots of pictures at the rim of the lake, we decided to hike down to the bottom of the lake. The hike is only one mile--downhill--and that means one mile uphill to get back to your car! They told us that it was the equivalent of taking the stairs to the 75th story of a building!!
Erik was the only brave enough to jump into the water--but the rest of us all got our feet wet so we could say that we had been "in" Crater Lake.

From Crater Lake, it was off to Newport. After trusting our GPS too much and taking a logging road for about 30 minutes, we were finally heading west and arrived in Newport about 10pm.

We spent a week in Newport, Oregon and were able to visit with my brother and his wife and kids, my aunt and uncle and their daughter (my cousin) and her son. We walked on the beach, ate wonderful seafood, went to the aquarium, spent two hours out on the ocean for a cool cruise where we saw seals and a whale spout, enjoyed the 4th of July (and Devin's birthday) around a fire and watched the fireworks over the bridge, went crabbing and even ran into an old friend we hadn't seen for years at church. It was awesome and we are all so glad we are able to be there. I wish I had more pictures of all my family, but I was so busy enjoying being there that I forgot to take pictures!! Below are some pictures I borrowed from Sarah and Jamie....

Graduation

On June 13 Darin graduated from Sanderson High School. Devin started there in 1996 and since then we have always had at least one child there. It's hard to believe my years as a mom with a child in public school are over!!Here's Darin after graduation with one of his best friends--Dean. Darin and Dean will be roommates in the fall at North Carolina State University.

Darin is an Eagle Scout

On May 30, Darin received his Eagle Scout award. We had the ceremony in the backyard of a friend's home and the weather was perfect for it.






Devin spoke during the ceremony and that was fun for us since he received his Eagle Scout award 10 years earlier. My mom and her husband, Jim, were in town so it was nice to have them here as well. We are all so proud of Darin and his hard work and all that he has accomplished.