when kira, jon, colin, and bella visisted

Oh, back before we went to the beach, we had some awesome visitors come see us. My sister Kira came with her family for 4 days before we headed to the Outerbanks. It was cheaper for them to fly into Charlotte and then they were able to use our car to drive to the beach and they got to see our house and we got in some extra visiting time with them. They had never met Emery and we had never met Bella. It had been a long time since we had seen them so it was so nice to spend time with them.
Colin and Chandler were cute and I think they got along fine. It was so long ago I can't remember very well. They were watching some morning t.v. here and were so cute sitting all close to each other.
Chandler LOVED his Uncle Jon. He just hung on his leg and wanted to play with him constantly. Luckily for Chandler, Jon's kids had no interest in the pool so Chandler got some fun attention which I can't give to him at the pool when it is just me.
It was so funny to me to see how Kira's kids wanted nothing to do with the water. By the end of our beach vacation though they both improved so so much. It was amazing. Colin was swimming around the pool with two noodles under him and nothing else. And Bella didn't scream when she got taken into the water. Amazing what a week of nice weather and swimming will do for a kid.
This picture is so funny because of the dialogue that was going on. Chandler had his transformer and wanted Jon to switch it into a motorcycle. If you've never done it before it is really hard to figure out. (thankfully it took me one time with the directions and I am now a pro at it:) Anyway, Chandler kept bugging him and wanting him to hurry up and Jon said, "Chandler, I'm an accountant not an engineer!". I guess you had to be there but it was just so funny when he said that. And I think Chandler was just like, "ohh" while nodding his head.
I mentioned in a post from the beach how Jon taught the kids his cool standing on the hands trick. I was actually very amazed that Chandler did it because the kid is a serious wimp when it comes to trust things. I mean, he doesn't even like going on your shoulders. Anyway, with lots of convincing and help from Jon he finally did it and loved it. He still wouldn't even stand up really straight but he did it without me holding his hand.
Emery loved the trick and wanted to do it all the time. Even while swimming in the backyard. Jon had no shame and got in his bathing suit and went in the pool with the kids. I've always wanted to do it but feel a little weird. Maybe now I will have to try.
I'm so glad that Jon took extra days off of work so they could come visit us. It was so much fun and made me realize how much we miss them. I wish we didn't live on totally different coasts. Just the other day we were talking about flying on an airplane and Chandler said, "I just want to go to Washington to see Colin, 'cause he's my favorite". Hopefully we can arrange a visit there someday. It sure would be fun.

for your viewing pleasure......

One day while I was getting the kids ready for bed, Emery just put her head down and did a somersault. All by herself and perfectly straight. I was pretty amazed and Chandler and I cheered for her and kept asking her to do it again. After that night she hasn't really done them as much. But the other morning we did some "exercises" and Emery started doing her somersaults again. She seems so little and young to be doing these things but maybe it isn't? I guess with Chandler we rushed everything and with Emery I don't really rush anything.

While Steve was gone at Scout Camp, I was really going crazy and needed to entertain the kids one evening before bed. It was a huge hit and the neighbors even came over and wanted to get in! I had done shaving cream on cookie sheets a few days before and then thought shaving cream on your whole body would be even more fun. We used a whole bottle in the pool. Just get the cheap 1.87 for two bottles of Barbasol. This video is just from the beginning. You should have seen them at the end.

So last Friday morning I brought the kids to the pool. Now you all should know by now that both kids have no fear of water. This particular day Chandler decided he no longer needed his arm floaties and was diving into the water and swimming along the step with his head in the water the whole time. I was very impressed. Then Emery decided she wanted to do more than jump off the step to me. She started dunking her head into the water and then pushing off the step so she would float to me face down in the water. Let me say it was scary. I was one nervous mom and very surprised I came home with both kids alive! Because at one point I turned my back for one second to help Chandler and Emery decided to jump off the step and I had to scoop her off the bottom of the pool. Talk about scary. She just coughed and then wanted to start jumping to me again. Didn't phase her one bit. Anyway, this video is from when we went to the pool on Saturday. And the crazy thing is Emery actually keeps her mouth closed and holds her breath when she goes under the water.

kids

So I was all set to get on the computer and get some more posts done since I am so far behind. I went to my pictures only to discover that I didn't have the pictures I needed. They are still on the card and Steve has the camera with him at Scout Camp:( So here are some old pictures from the middle of June that never got posted.
Emery went to town with some crayons on the kitchen floor. I didn't care. They came off with barely a wipe and look at that nice rainbow she made. At least it wasn't on the carpet! I love how Emery and Chandler look like they are blaming each other.
A long time ago we had some watermelon. Instead of cutting it up into a bowl like I normally do I thought I would make some wedges for the kids to hold and eat.
Emery loved it and kept gnawing on every piece she could get a hold of.
Chandler tried it out for a few minutes but then gave up. He kept getting mad about seeds. Picky boy.
All I really wanted was a cute picture of my kids eating huge pieces of watermelon. I just think it is a classic summertime picture. I think I accomplished it with Emery. Chandler, not so much. Oh well there's always next time.

If I can remember what pictures I have on the card, I think there will be some exciting posts coming up. That is as long as I ever get them done. I'm such a horrible blogger these days.

Outerbanks {last installment}

Family Pictures

We didn't do any kind of fancy family picture but we had to take the time to actually get a decent picture of all of us since this is the first time we have all been together for 4.5 years I think? And there are 6 more additions since then. And we had never met Bella and Kira's family hadn't met Emery. And Steve hadn't seen Kim's family for 3.5 years and really never met Katie (except for a few minutes in the NICU when she was born). It's too bad we all live so far from one another.
For some reason looking at this picture is so weird to me. It is all my sisters. From left to right: Kira, Kendra, Kim, KayAnna, me, KateLyn. The age order is Kim, Kendra, me, Kira, KateLyn, KayAnna.
I think the reason it is so weird is because I'm thinking about it from a parents point of view. Like, can you imagine if that was all your kids? I can't even imagine looking at all my kids all grown up with families and everything. Just so strange to me. My poor dad and all his daughters. At least he has gotten a fair amount of grandsons:) (I swear we took a picture with my mom but I don't seem to see it.)
This is the best we could get with the grand-kids before one of them took of running. From left to right: Max and Sawyer, Bella and Colin, Emery and Chandler, Megan Katie and Liz. I just realized something interesting- all the girls have super blonde hair and all the boys have darker hair. Weird??

I'm so glad that everyone made the effort and sacrifice to do this vacation. It was so much fun and turned out way better than any of us imagined I think. I can't wait to do it again. Maybe in 2 years?? I sure hope so. Now the question is who is going to plan it and where will it be:)

Outerbanks {part 4}

The Grave Digger

If you know Steve very well, you know that he has this amazing brain that always seems to know everything. So naturally as we were driving into Kitty Hawk he turned to me and said, "be looking for Grave Digger, he's from here". What?? How does someone know that? Turns out we came in from the wrong direction so we never did pass by but during the week, Steve and Jon took Chandler and Colin on a little "man" outing and went to find Grave Digger.

The boys loved seeing the big trucks and big tires. There were quite a few old trucks there on display.
Chandler trying to get his arms around one of the big tires.
They also had a Monster truck set up so that you could take a ride. The boys were a little nervous and scared as we went around the course (which included going up and over a bus that was buried in a dirt ramp). As soon as we got in the car they loved talking about it and how they went over a big bus but during the ride they were terrified looking.

Steve's Note: We should mention that after we went on the Monster Truck ride, some older teens came over and immediately recognized the driver of the truck as the TAZ monster truck driver. I guess that makes sense why they asked us if we wanted to pay some money to have the driver autograph a picture (at the time Jon and I asked, "why would we want the tour guides autographed picture let alone pay money for it?????). He did have a nice big star tattoo on the back of his head.
On the way home they stopped for Slurpee's since the week we were there was record highs and burning hot. It was Chandler's first Slurpee. Sadly, he has never lived in a city with 7-11's. How sad is that?
Colin enjoying his Slurpee. Steve was even nice enough to save some of his for me when they got home. It was yummier than I remember. I thought that I didn't really like Slurpee's but it was pretty tasty.

Jockey Ridge State Park

One outing we tried to do all together was Jockey Ridge State Park which are natural sand dunes. Chandler was amazing and hiked right up to the top and wanted to keep going down the dune onto the next one. Steve didn't let him.
We brought a few kites with us and Emery even tried holding one for a while. The wind made the temperature bearable. They said that the sand can be 35 degrees hotter than the temperature. Crazy. The weird thing was at the top of the dune the sand wasn't too hot but on the slant going down it was.
It was beautiful up there and actually fun. I'm glad we did it even though it wasn't the most comfortable situation.
In the kite bag there happened to be some flags and turns out that was the biggest hit. The kids loved sticking them in the sand. I think this picture looks like Chandler just landed on the moon.
Because of the heat and a few grumpy people we didn't all make it to the top but here's the crew that did. Poor Rusty made it half way with Katie in the backpack but that is the day he started getting sick and that is a lot of weight to be carrying so he turned around and went back.

Wright Brothers Museum

The last bigger outing we did was visit the Wright Brother's Museum. We actually don't have any pictures from it since there wasn't too much to actually take a picture of. My dad loved it and actually went back another day to see the rest and read all the plaques. The kids didn't love it so much. You would think that it would have been more kid friendly being airplanes and all but it wasn't really. This was also the day we took family pictures so that makes things a little more stressful. Plus we had our next victim of the stomach flu throw up on the way there and I think a few other were starting to get it.

Outerbanks {part 3}

Lighthouses

To make things not stressful, we had two activities that the whole family would do together and then individual families could do whatever they wanted. On my list to do was climb a lighthouse. I always love to go see lighthouses. Our first one we went to see was Currituck Beach Lighthouse. It was only 20 minutes away and just North of us. It was a beautiful drive with huge beach-houses along the beach. Wish we could have afforded one of those:)
There were 214 steps to climb and Chandler climbed all of them with barely a break. I kept asking him if he wanted to stop and he told me, "no I'm not tired yet". We had to wait in line for probably 20-30 minutes so that was annoying but at least we were in the shade.
We made it to the top and then Chandler decided he wanted to be held. I think he was a little scared. I actually had to carry him down for part of it. It was scarier going down and made me feel kind of sick looking down and going around and around. After we got down we went to the beach I wrote about before. Poor Chandler got blisters on his feet and had a hard time walking from the parking to the beach. I felt bad because blisters are no fun.

My parents offered to watch kids for couples to go on dates. We chose our date to be a drive south to see Cape Hatteras lighthouse. It was an hour and a half drive and we didn't want to deal with kids in the car and turns out you have to be 42 inches tall to climb this lighthouse so the kids wouldn't have been able to do it anyway. Chandler probably is that tall on his tiptoes. I think he is 41 inches.
The drive there had a few sprinkles and it was a cloudy day but by the time we climbed the lighthouse and came back down there was blue sky coming through.
This lighthouse is the tallest lighthouse in America and has 268 steps to the top. It felt a lot more tiring than the other one. It was neat to see from the top where they had moved the lighthouse from. In 1999 they had to move it because it was going to get washed into the ocean if they didn't. They said that where it is now is how far away from the ocean it was when it was first built. Crazy how much the land disappears into the ocean.

One of the towns we drove through was Rodanthe. So of course I had to find the house they used in the movie Nights in Rodanthe. I now need to watch the movie again because I don't remember what it looked like. They did move it away from the ocean after the movie because it was going to get washed away. We also stopped to get some lunch in Avon. There weren't many options because the towns are really tiny and mostly just beach houses. Anyway, we found a place called the Atlantic Cafe I think. Steve had a tuna burger and I had a wrap that was okay but the star of the show was the fries. They were seriously the BEST fries I have ever tasted. They were so delicious. I still think about them and crave them. They were hot and crispy but they had enough potato in them so they weren't just hallow. I don't know but they were so good. I wish I could have some right now.
After lunch we drove the rest of the way home and stopped just to take a picture of Bodie Lighthouse so we can say we saw it. We didn't even get out of the car because, well you can see why, not much to see while it's under construction.

We then stopped at one of the WINGS stores that were on every block I swear. We promised Chandler we would bring something home for him. So we got him a cool pirates Outer banks t-shirt. Then we got back to the house to Chandler having quiet time and Emery sleeping. Gramma and Grampa did a great job in babysitting. They brought them to the beach and they both had a blast we were told. I wish we had family that lived close because I think we might leave our kids more often. We never go on dates because I have a hard time leaving my kids. I know I need to get over it but it's so much easier to leave them with family.

Outerbanks {part 2}

Around the house

We stayed in a 6 bedroom house in Kitty Hawk. It was great. Very ugly decor but nice enough and way better and cheaper overall than a hotel. Each family got a room and kids slept on the floor. Steve and I actually got a pyramid bed room and the top had a nice railing so Chandler slept up there. He did great and loved it. I think the kids were so tired they were great about going to bed. At least our kids were. I don't know about the other ones. I really wanted a picture of us on the steps with the whole house but Steve must have knocked the tripod when he ran up and that picture came our totally blurry. Thankfully the second one he took was clear (just not the whole house).
There was lots of reading going on on the couches. Liz and Megan are crazy readers and just plow through books in hours. It is really amazing. Colin LOVES to be read to. That kid would sit forever and let you read to him. KayAnna was a good Auntie and spent time reading to kids.
Bella and Colin taught everyone their tricks. Uncle Jon got his exercise lifting all the kids. He actually taught our kids how to stand on his hands in the few days before the beach when they were visiting us. Emery loves it so much and is so funny when she does it. Bella and Colin are hilarious and dance and move around up there. Max was a good dancer too.
One night we used the hot coals from dinner and made s'mores. Turns out it wasn't so fun to make them because it was so dang hot outside. Grandma was a good sport and toasted everyone's marshmallows.
Emery enjoyed her first s'more. I think it was her first?
I just love a messy face.
The kids kept their feet cool while eating their yummy treat. It wasn't long before all the kids ended up soaking wet from playing in the pool a little too much. Guess we should have just left them all in their bathing suits like Grandma told us to!
It was nice because the house had two bins of toys that the kids loved. It entertained them all the time. This funny little guy was in the living room and we found Chandler trying to copy how he is posed (no one was watching him while he did this). Too funny. He got more than one hug and kiss from the little kids.

The house worked out great. It was three floors so some rooms had walking on top of them but some rooms had talking outside them. I don't really think you can avoid that with so many people in one house though. We each took one night to make dinner which worked out great. Lunches were just leftovers or whatever you could find and breakfast was usually just cereal. My mom did make her delicious egg mcmuffins which was so yummy. Everything came together really great I thought.

Outerbanks {part 1}

First some items of business:

1. Last week was quite possibly the worst week in my entire life. I was so sick and miserable. Remember how I said a stomach flu went around and I got it. Well, I got it for way longer than 24 hours. I seriously couldn't do anything for days. I just laid on the couch or in bed with my eyes closed. Steve ended up getting it too but he either dealt with it better or didn't have it nearly as bad as I did.

2. I think I have about 5 installments of our trip for blog posts. I hope to get them up in a timely manner. No promises though.

3. Happy 18 months Emery. She is one crazy cute girl and I can't imagine life without her. She went to a little bit of nursery on Sunday and didn't cry. That's good.

Okay, first round of pictures:

Beach/Swimming

We made it to the beach almost every day I think. We were just a little 3 minute walk to the beach from our house and it was wonderful. Emery loved everything about it. She loved the sand and digging and she loved the water and waves. The girl is fearless.
Chandler loved the beach too. He just would throw a fit to get him there but once he was there he loved it. He loved the sand and the water. He loved to stand and let the waves come and slash him. Kind of scary to watch because they are so forceful. He loved to be taken out a little deeper in the water too.
The beach looks so empty because we would get there at like 9 in the morning because the kids were getting up so darn early. We would eat breakfast and then get ready for the beach and go. That way we were leaving the beach at 11 when it was getting more busy and get home and swim in the pool for half an hour than have lunch and naps. It was a perfect schedule.
We must have stayed at the beach a little too long this day. Bella and Emery just couldn't wait for their naps. Bella fell asleep on the beach and got put in the stroller and Emery fell asleep in the few minutes it took to walk home. There were lots of tired kids during the week.
Besides the beach our house had a nice little pool out back. It was very private and perfect for the kids. Chandler couldn't get enough swimming. That is all the kid wanted to do. One day Uncle Jon and Steve were throwing Chandler across the pool to each other. Chandler loved it. I really need to get him swimming lessons because I bet he could learn to swim without floaties so fast.
Emery was amazing in the pool too. I already knew she was crazy in the water. I think she has given more than one person a fright when she takes a bucket of water and dumps it over her head. She also jumps into the pool no problem (whether I'm ready or not). Anyway, one day I came out to find Steve had put Emery in water wings and she was totally keeping her head up and kicking and everything. She was laughing and having so much fun.
I need to go buy her some water wings now. She loves to have you hold her on her stomach and she just kicks and kicks. Oh and her other favorite thing is to lean her head back and float on her back.
There was one day that we took the kids and went to see a lighthouse and then went to a different beach. I wish we had discovered it sooner in the week because it was awesome. Our beach had a sandbar that we would swim out to and then jump the waves and have fun. But this beach had a way cooler sandbar. First of all you could walk to it and it was only up to your knees so we were able to bring the kids out. Then at the sand bar it was really shallow so the kids could actually stand. And the waves were better. You could actually ride them for a ways where as at our normal beach they would just kind of wash over you and you couldn't ride them. Anyway, we only stayed for maybe 45 minutes but it was fun and I wish we could have spent more time there. I also wish you could hear Emery's squeals of laughter when the waves would come and Steve would pick her up. She loved it.

On our very last night there we let the kids stay up a little later and we brought them down to the beach to see the crabs that come out. I think they are called ghost crabs.
The kids loved it and were so excited when they finally saw a crab. They are hard to see because they are so fast and then scurry into their holes really fast. One night when Steve and I took a walk on the beach, we sat down to watch a crab and it was so cool. He would go into his hole then come out sideways with his claw full of sand. He would fling the sand scurry back to his hole and go part way in and just stare at us for a while and then go back in the hole and do it all over again. I could have watched him for ever.
Emery spotting a crab. Our theory was to keep the kids up a little later so that the next day of driving in the car they would be more tired and actually sleep. It didn't work out. We have the worst car traveling kids (as far as sleeping goes). They must get it from their dad though because I can't keep myself awake in the car!
Chandler just asked me today why we can't go to the beach. We loved it so much. The beach we were near wasn't the most beautiful but it was still great. I did want to see the classic white outer-banks sand beach but oh well. Maybe next time, because believe me, there will be a next time!