Thursday, April 30, 2009

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

A certain family member was insistent that AJ play t- ball because he would be so good it. When the flier came home from school that our town was hosting a t-ball league we signed him up at the whooping price of $15. By the way mom, you owe me $15 for putting AJ in t-ball.
We had no idea who was sponsoring the teams but we figured he would have fun. Go figure last week he came home from practice with his new uniform. We couldn't have done better if we had been able to choose his team. That's right- it says Dr. Pepper on his shirt. We were more excited than he was.
Here's a video from his game tonight. More will be posted at future games.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Saturday

Since our first trip to the beach Little Peanut has talked about lighthouses. She kept wanting to know when we were going to see her lighthouse and climb to the top. This past weekend was predicted to be warm so Nathan and I decided we would go on Saturday.
We got the kids ready and packed up the van. Planning for contingencies can leave you with lots of stuff in the van. We set out a little later than we planned but enjoyed the drive.
We picked Currituck Beach Lighthouse because it was slightly closer than Hatteras and it was also the one that Jon and Kate Plus 8 visited last summer and the kids wanted to see it. We got to the lighthouse about 1 pm. After a much necessary detour we headed over to the lighthouse. There is a charge for adults but kids climb free. We made it to the first platform, just 12 -15 up and AJ was pulling a Daniel, using his hands on the steps because he was scared. We stopped to read some of the information before going up to the next level. AJ's fear spread to JM and neither one was going to budge any further. At this point Nathan had been carrying Grasshopper and I was holding Peanut's hand. Nathan and I switched and I took the 3 boys back down and outside.
A couple of minutes later JM and AJ saw Daddy up at the top with Peanut. We smiled and waved. At this point JM decided there was no way he was going to miss out seeing what was up there. After Nathan and Peanut came down JM and I started up. I told him that I couldn't carrying him but I would hold his hand. He did great. I was so proud of him. He was very nervous but walked around on the platform and looked out to see. I was very nervous too.
We came down and I thought that was harder than going up.
Next on the agenda was lunch and the beach. We ate in the van and drove across the road to the public beach acess. After being slightly stuck in the sand we parked the van. Once again, Peanut was on a mission, headed for the beach. There weren't many people on the beach so we spread out. Peanut got her feet wet once and that was it. She played in the sand the rest of the day. Yes, they were all well coated with sunscreen. Grasshopper loved the sand as well. The waves, not so much. He screamed at them and was upset anytime one of us went in the water.
It was really cold but the sun and sand were so hot that it felt good. AJ loved being in the waves. JM liked getting his feet wet but not much more than that. Nathan spent a large part of his time helping people get unstuck from the sand.
We got home about 9 pm that night at which point Nathan thought, yeah, it might be nice to get a house at the beach for a vacation. Sounds like a great plan to me, anyone want to go with us???

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Wordless Wednesday









We love Uncle Michael's house.

Thursday, April 09, 2009

Birthday Girl

Peanut's birthday is later this month but since both my family and Nathan's family live around each other in Ohio we decided it would be better to have it here where everyone is. She was so excited to be a princess. The dress and crown were a gift from mommy and daddy. Even her cousin came dressed up for the princess party. It was Aunt Tabitha's birthday so she got to wear a crown too. There have been so many boy parties for so long that it was fun to have such a girlie party.
Grasshopper had so much fun too. He caught some serious hang time.

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

On the Road Again

Day two of driving was. umm. insane. We made pretty good time though. I felt like I was driving from spring into winter. We went from green leaves and cherry blossoms to bare trees and old brown leaves blowing in the wind.
This was the view for most of the day.
Here's my trusty GPS. I knew where I was going but it's nice to have satellite confirmation.
Yeah, we made it. Ooo. Look. Nice rearview mirror and look, there's Nana waiting.
JM flung himself out of the van into Nana's arms. I was just glad to be out of the van.
Coming soon to a post near you, the Birthday Girl.

Saturday, April 04, 2009

Halfway House

Yesterday my plan was to leave home at 10 am. Thanks to very slow pokey people at the supercenter lube place it was more like 12:30. The kids did great though. They feel asleep and we didn't make any stops. My GPS kept saying arrival time 4:30. I thought, "Man, I rock!" Until it was 3:30 and I realized that the GPS hadn't figured out the time change. Darn it! We did good even with traffic though and made it about 5:30.
There were so many motor homes on the road yesterday. License plates from Quebec, Ontario, New Jersey, New York. It was like an exodus north. I get giddy when I see signs for Washington. I know there is something important about that. Nathan and I are loving the adventure that we are discovering in front of us.
And something that makes me so goosebumpy is the Bay Bridge. I do really well driving over it in daylight but the last time we drove over it was at night in fog. Here is was today.
Finally, we made it Uncle Michael and Aunt Melissa's. PLAY TIME!