More fun with Nana and Bapa

Besides the beach, our time with my parents really went by quickly. They helped a ton with yard and house projects, spending time with the kids, babysitting, etc.

 Going to the library is so much more fun with grandparents.

 Matching yellow!

 Lots of reading happened during their visit. Bapa read a lot to Clara from Calvin and Hobbes as well. (What a trooper!)

 Nana reading with Henry--my mom helped to smooth out/distract during rough moments with the kids, as well as cleaned my floor and floorboards, did my mending, made freezer jam, meatballs, helped in the yard, etc.

 I asked my dad (Bapa) to teach our family home evening lesson, which he did on our family tree.

I am grateful that my parents know so much about family history--I need to follow their example.

My dad helped trim the crepe myrtle despite his pulled back (which he'd done helping move bags of soil, sadly). I am so happy that he has taught me how to trim our trees. He also fixed Robbie's Lego table, the curtain brackets that had bent, cut edging and helped install it around our beds, and more.

We had fun playing Headbanz with the kids tonight after church. I should have snapped a picture of everyone with their sweet headbands on.

We love you! We will miss you!

Henry's 3rd Birthday!

Henry turned three while we were at the beach. Three! How is that even possible?

Henry was super excited to be able to eat his chosen birthday cereal, Trix. (The other kids enjoyed it, too.)

 He loved being sung to. This grin. So great.

 Opening a card from Nana and Papa.

This picture cracks me up because Robbie is really into opening Henry's presents and Henry is distracted by the Legos. My dad called Henry "the happy wanderer"--he really is generally laid-back and gets distracted by things easily. It was funny/exasperating trying to leave the beach and having him stop to pick up one more shell.

Henry got two Transformer Rescue Bots of his own and an electric toothbrush (he was jealous of Clara and Robbie's). He also got to open a family gift--double Stomp Rockets--which the boys enjoyed playing with in the beach house driveway.

Happy birthday, Henry! We love you so much and are so happy that you are part of our family.

Trip to the Outer Banks

Last week, we went to Corolla at the Outer Banks. We had planned the trip for months and were very excited. Even though I am great with child, I was looking forward to the getaway as well.

 Here is Never Ending Shorey, our home away from home for the week. We had fun looking at the names of the different houses all around Corolla. Michael's favorite was "Life's Porpoise."

Because our house was a little ways from the beach, we opted to rent a "limo" golf cart. It was great not having to get sand in the van every time we went back and forth to the beach, and the kids had a blast riding in it. Since it was street-legal, we could even drive to the grocery store. (Of course, its speedometer said it was going 35 but in reality topped out around 23 miles an hour.) Too bad we got a ticket one day for parking in the wrong spot . . .

 The beach was lovely despite having riptides most days we were there. The boys caught a crab and were excited about watching it crawl out of this bucket.

 My dad and Michael played bocce ball.

 I was very proud of Clara for going to the beach--she didn't want to go, but she went anyway and had a fun time. The pool was definitely a favorite for the kids. Henry insisted on trying to swim without his floaties, and he did surprisingly well. Robbie even practiced diving, and Clara impressed us with her freestyle.

 Seriously one of my favorite pics of this beautiful girl.

 Our second night, we went to Mama Easley's, a fun restaurant where we enjoyed calamari, fried green tomatoes, salad, mac 'n cheese bits for the kids, scallops (for Mom and Dad), and shrimp (for Michael).

 Love these people.

 Sunday was church in Nags Head, and I enjoyed attending class with Clara (who was not thrilled about being in a different ward, to say the least). My dad went to nursery with Henry :-).

Monday was the beach and the pool again, and Tuesday we drove down to Duck Town Park and enjoyed walking along this boardwalk.

 This year will be their fifty-year anniversary (!). They were kind enough to babysit for us one evening as well so we could go out to dinner with the Wright families (who live here in Hburg but were in Corolla at the same time).

 Getting a boost from Dad at the park.

 What kid doesn't love a grandpa who slides down the slide with them?!

 We were thrilled to discover this tidal pool a couple of mornings at the beach. It was nice not to have to worry about the riptide and the kids loved playing in the water. Robbie made some friend with some other kids, and it was really cute watching them dig in the sand together.

 Sacked out on the sand.

One night we had a low-country boil, which was super fun. I had always wanted to do one, and this was easy because the restaurant prepped it all for you, and all you had to do was boil it in the pot at home. Thanks to my mom doing all the prep, it was easy for me!

I have only had crab legs a couple of times, so it was great having my mom there to instruct us on how to remove the meat, how to cut the lobster tail, etc.

 The kids were quite the troopers and I think enjoyed the novelty of the experience. Fortunately we had ordered some corn muffins, which they devoured, in addition to the seafood. Even though I'm not a huge seafood person, I enjoyed trying everything and everyone had a lot of fun.

 Brave Robbie tried some crab and some shrimp.

 One morning we drove to the Wildlife Refuge Center and had a nice time inside the museum briefly and walking on the grounds.

 The house where we stayed had a lot of fun toys, games, etc. for the kids. They had their usual squabbles, but it was great seeing them play together nicely.

A highlight of the week was collecting shells. My dad took the time to help label them the morning before we left. (Now I have to figure out what to do with the dozens of shells we have . . . ) A favorite memory is of Clara on her "shell phone"--a large shell we'd found on the beach--talking, texting, and even videoing. One day she told Robbie to text her from his "shell phone." He did so and then asked her, "What did I say?" She whispered it (whatever "it" was) to him, and he responded, "Yep!" Too funny. Dad asked her if the coverage was good and she said it was. :-)

 On our last morning, we tried building a pool to sit in, but unfortunately the water kept sinking down. But it was still fun when everyone was working together to build the walls, etc. Michael had fun using the boogie board in the ocean as well. I loved watching the kids play and run away from the waves as they broke on the shore.

On our way out of town on Friday, we stopped by the famous Duck Donuts (in Duck, no less!) to enjoy a donut.

And then we were home and back to yard work, housework, office work, etc. It was a wonderful time, and we couldn't have asked for better weather.

A quick weekend trip

Because my parents were visiting on their way home from completing their mission in Salt Lake City, Michael and I were fortunate enough to be able to drive up to Philadelphia for a night and spend some time away. We had a wonderful time.

We left before 5am and made it to our temple session at the Philadelphia temple in time. It was great being together in the House of the Lord.

 Then we drove out of Philly to the charming bed and breakfast that Michael had booked for us, the Inn at Whitewing Farm. It was lovely and so fun.

 They just had opened their pool, and Michael enjoyed a dip that evening and then in the morning after his morning run. It was heavenly just lying by the side of the pool, hearing the birds sing and feeling the breeze on my face.

This was part of our yummy breakfast in the morning. So so good!

 Right before we were going to head out to Longwood Gardens for the day, though, Michael's truck wouldn't start. He had just replaced the battery the day before, and apparently it hadn't been tightened properly. Mercifully, the super nice b&b owner, Lance, jumped the truck with his. Success!

Longwood Gardens were absolutely beautiful. You could spend a couple of days there and still probably not see it all.

 I spy Michael . . .

 These fountains, newly renovated last year, were incredible. They were designed to go off to choreographed music, and wow, it was very cool.

Wish I could capture all the beauty.

 Anthurium.

Other beautiful plantings in the conservatory.

After the gardens, we stopped by a movie theater to watch the Solo movie about Han Solo. It was fun. A highlight of the trip was being able to talk in the car about the kids, summer plans, the yard, etc. It was so great.

Thanks again, Mom and Dad, for watching the kids in our absence!

Robbie's preschool "graduation"

Robbie finished his second year of preschool at Massanutten Presbyterian Church. He had such terrific teachers, and I fear that Kindergarten may be a bit of a letdown in comparison. Their end of the year celebration was very cute, and I confess, choked me up a bit. I blame pregnancy hormones.

 Robbie intently watching for when it was his turn to play his bell.

His smile is seriously the cutest. I loved watching him dance to the songs--my favorite was a song about a robot, and watching Robbie do his robot dance was awesome.

 After the graduation.

A big highlight of the evening was having my parents be in town--I think that was one of the first school events that we'd had grandparents be able to attend.

Robbie is ready for Kindergarten! (The question is, am I?!)