August 2008

At Lagoon on August 18, 2008

Here is a short video of the boys on the mini bumper cars - so this is why 4 year olds don't have drivers licenses. . . It was funny - they came back to this and Eli isn't that well versed in moving the steering wheel to make the car move, so he would get stuck and then finally when he would quit throwing a fit and get moving again - he would make the car just go in circles about 10 times. He'd look around like "I want to go over there" but he wouldn't move the wheel so around he went. I was laughing so hard I was crying!!

Yellowstone Adventure! & more. . .

Last weekend we had the opportunity to go to Yellowstone Park with our good friends, the Cole's. We had so much fun - Jax was quite cranky, though, so you'll have to ask Scott and Mylinda if they also had as much fun as we did.

We stayed in Island Park, which is about 40 miles outside of the West Yellowstone entrance to the park. We stayed in "Grandma's Cabin". It was just the right size for all 9 of us. We were able to see bison, elk, bald eagles and mommy moose. Jonah couldn't get enough of it - he cried that he had to go home to 2nd grade the last day we were there.

So now it's almost 1 month since Yellowstone. We had so much fun on that trip, though. Thanks, Cole family, for inviting us.

We've had the flu, Jax has had gastritis (throwing up daily for over a week), I now have a bladder infection - what a great way to end the summer!!

Jory and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary this last Thursday, and tomorrow is his 33rd birthday. He is so hard to buy for - he has no interests, no hobbies, I buy him clothes for about every holiday - his mom gave him 3 shirts and ties last Saturday. I don't know - maybe some year we'll have the funds I could buy him a nice bike or a really big TV.

Jonah has played every day with the neighborhood kids - they run around in a pack and go from place to place. Jonah really has enjoyed playing with "the old" Shawn ("the new" Shawn moved in this summer). They are the last two to start school because they are the only ones on traditional. Jonah has enjoyed being at his house more because there is no baby (I spend most of my time saying "shhhhh!") sleeping, and he actually has a back yard. They tramp and scoot, and have lots of fun together.

Eli stays at home mostly. He is such a great kid. My only worry is that I see him in primary and he can not stay still to save his life!! He is smart - this last week he noticed that a sign the chorister held up matched her shirt - then she held up something and asked what color it was and he said "red, like James"- then she held up a sign with an owl on it and he said "like a great horned owl". It was so funny - everything is an analogy with him (maybe he'll ace that part on his ACT's in 13 years). He is so ready for school. We've been practicing reading and he does really well - it doesn't seem that he is phonetic, but really can memorize well. Jonah keeps reading - he actually read a chapter book this summer. We're trying to work on money and adding.

Jax is just so cute- he got this TERRIBLE rash after the gastritis - I guess his natural "flora" was gone so he had yucky stuff irritating it - it was red and bloody and he just screamed every time there was poop. My in laws babysat Jax for us to go to the Anniversary Inn last Friday for our anniversary and the rash started that morning - I felt so bad leaving him for his sake, but also with that bad rash for my in laws. They said he was very cute, though, at a wedding reception they took him to. He was very good and didn't cry at all. He is such a youngest brother!! He loves trucks and cars. He goes downstairs and plays with a little toy garage for hours. We had pictures taken a couple of weeks ago - I'll try to scan some in.

Well, I'll post better, and more often - I have a ton of pictures to post - imagine that - Oh, I took the boys to Lagoon this last Monday - they are still too small for the big rollercoasters (not to mention whimpy). So it was like a very expensive carnival. But we were together, no stroller - here to there - the kids LOVED the bumper cars.

Anyways - I'll get the pictures out - thanks for checking back with us - yes we are here, barely. . .

Mommy Tag

I still need to finish up our trip, but Eli got "Mommy Tagged" and I had a chance to "interview" him, so here goes, before I loose it!

1. What is something mom always says to you? "Thank You"

2. What makes mom happy? "I say you are beautiful"

3. What makes mom sad? "That because you loose toys"

4. How does mom make you laugh? "Make me the best"

5. What was mom like as a child? "You were a baby"

6. How old is your mom? "I don't know"

7. How tall is your mom? "16 - let me count you (he counts 1-20) 20! 20 pounds" Now THAT'S what makes mom happy :)

8. What is your mommy's favorite thing to do? "Play with me"

9. What does your mom do when you're not around? "Taking the baby" (which I did last night, although it is very rare)

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? "Toys"

11. What is your mom really good at? "Fun things"

12. What is your mom not very good at? "My whales"

13. What does your mom do for her job? "Make food".

14. What is your mom's favorite food? "Pizza"

15. What makes you proud of your mom? "That's because you are the best"

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? "Sponge Bob Square Pants". I really don't think he knows much about him. (I hope)

17. What do you and your mom do together? "Play"

18. How are you and your mom the same? "The same hair". Okay, maybe back in Jr. High when I was blonde.

19. How are you and your mom different? "That's because we are a boy and a girl"

20. How do you know your mom loves you? "Because I find you are the best!"

How fun! Now we're going to tag Max and Brooklyn, to get a little younger and little older perspective!!

Up to Raleigh

My sister Nicki lives just outside Raliegh in Holly Springs, NC. She has 2 children from a first marriage, and just had her second child with her husband now, Robin. They have a really nice house and let us stay there the night we came in to North Carolina. We also came back up to Raleigh on the 4th to celebrate Nicki's birthday and also hang out with them for a couple of days.

We had a fun time spending Nicki's birthday with her, I think that is the first time in about 20 years I've been able to celebrate with her. Because the fireworks were rained out on the 4th, it ruined all of our plans for yummy dessert and that after fireworks, but we did that on the 5th. We had so much fun, it is actually the first time we've met Alison, Nicki and Rob's daughter who is a little over 3 years old. Nicki's daughter, Madison found a dog they named Munchkin (they call him Munch). He is such a great dog - if I were to have a bigger dog, I'd love to have him. He is a 7 year old yellow lab and was SO great with the boys. As you can see, Jax sat on him, pulled his ears, poked him, you name it. He would just get up and walk away. They played ball with him and just thought he was great. The worst thing was that Jax has this new "fun" thing he does, when he sees an animal, he squeals like a little girl being tickled - SO LOUD! After a while though he just laughs and follows it around, well, like a puppy! Thanks to Nicki and Rob for their hospitality - good food and great company!

The hotel we stayed in was PERFECT because you could sit on the lawn to see the fireworks. They were rained out on the 4th as I said so they had them on the 5th, which meant the kids stayed up late the night before we left for home. Because we were so close, though, it wasn't like they were out all night. It was going to rain on the 5th, too, so they let them all off about 8:30 so the kids were in bed by 9:00.
Thanks, Mom and Dad for the great hotel experience!!

We got off just fine at the airport - I would totally recommend to anyone if you can check in on the computer before going to the airport and then skycap your baggage - do that - now if you don't pre-check in and then go to the skycap, Delta will charge you $3 a bag! I love skycaps! Jax was a little more wiggly, and he threw up just enough to have a naked baby for 3/4 of the flight. The flight on the way home was over 4 hours - it didn't seem that long on the way there, maybe it was the extremely poopy diaper and the puke that just set me over. Eli was AWESOME - he just watched the dvd player the whole time. Jonah was very good too - it is hard being by the baby (on my lap) because he grabs at everything. But Jonah was very helpful. We were so glad to see Jory!! It was like Christmas again!

Thanks to my family for all the fun and hospitality - and Thanks Dad for making it all possible!!

Last Day in Calabash

So tomorrow we go back to my sister's house near Raleigh to celebrate the 4th of July (my sister's birthday, too) and then leave on Sunday the 6th. Today was our last full day in Calabash. This morning my parents took the boys to a nautical museum so I could pack - of course Jax has been napping 3-4 hours, but only a couple today, but I got most of our things together.

I got to go run errands alone for an hour or so - so nice to have a few minutes to actually think for myself!! We then went, you guessed it, swimming.

We came home had dinner and then got the kids dressed for the beach so I could take a few pictures of them at the beach - Eli fell asleep (can you tell) on the way and was out cold. But we got a few. . .

More and More pictures

The only thing that stinks about taking pictures, well, there are 2 things. . . 1- I have to choose only a few to post, and 2- I have to blog every second to keep up!!

On Monday we went to a really fun Alligator park. It was really nice and actually had a good variety of animals. We just took Jonah and Eli, Mom stayed home with a sleeping baby Jax.


We then hit the pool, of course. . .



. . . and then for dinner we went to Benjamin's - an all you can eat seafood buffet. It was SOOO good! You could have all the crab legs you could eat, all the shrimp, any way you could ever want it - it was Paradise! Even Jax gnawed on a few legs.

Oh - and Jonah realized today he has his FIRST loose tooth - it's about time, he just turned SEVEN, you know!


Yesterday morning Dad took Me, Jonah, and my cousin's 10 year old son (is that my 2nd cousin?)Jeffrey from Jersey to the driving range at the REAL golf course. Jonah had a blast, but now I think he knows why my score WAS more like 150 when I played with Dad. We really had fun, though.





That afternoon we went on our last jaunt to the beach. It was really fun - Jonah found this poor dead crab he carried around like his best friend, and, as is par for the course, Eli wouldn't get out of the water until he conquered every last wave. Jax, as usual, wandered and checked out all the girls, and tried to take every last abandoned shovel. He was pretty good about staying fairly close, for a 15 month old.

This morning Jax and I hung out outside and wandered the circle in front of my parent's house. It's nice, although I think he now thinks it's okay to wander into the middle of the street. It was nice for him to get out and just wander. He doesn't get to do that often here because there are no fences and a stream (that is actually all dried up, therefore just as scary) runs right behind their house. So he's not allowed back there, only in the front with someone with him. He actually can open all doors to the outside but one, so if you get bolted out of the house, you have to go to the back open porch to get in. Then Dad, Jonah, Eli, Jeffrey, and my Aunt (my Dad's sister, Jeffery's Grandma)Corinne went mini golfing and then to lunch - and a quick stop to Walmart (I can't believe I filled up a 2GB SD card!). We then went to the pool for an hour or so and then had dinner at Aunt Corinne's. It was a very nice day.