Our Beach House

This is the beach house we stayed in. There we're a total of 7 adults and 5 kids. Neal's parents and sister in her husband came along with their two children Mara who is 11 and Seth who is 9. Another cousin came along down, Megan she is 10. It was nice because our kids loved having the company of the older children and Mara is so good with them and she enjoys them. I like that. We started our trip on the 15th at 2:45 AM. We woke the kids up and put them in the van. They both stayed awake for most of the time (Arghh, I was wishing they'd go back to sleep). Aliana pretty much screamed the entire first three hours. That was tough and totally what we were prediciting. But then out of pure exhaustion she finally fell asleep. And rowan woke up. He was so good the entire trip. He enjoyed all the new things I got for him to do. I think we made it down to NC around 11:30-12:00. It was refreshing to get out of the van for a while. It's a long drive. Rowan was sleepy a lot of the trip because he was sick. He woke up the day before we left with a fever and vomiting. So I took him to the doctors and they said strep and gave him an antibiotic. Well we finished the antibiotic, but he continued to get more sick, but the vomiting stopped. Just once on the way down. He got a bad cold and cough. And then For the first 3-4 nights down there Ali kept waking up spiking a fever. She was sick too. They both finally slept, and we finally slept on friday and saturday nights, before we came home. It was exhausting and felt like a terrible vacation at first. But as I look back and reflect on the blessing that we were given to go down and experience such a lovely place. I will write this one down in the books as a good trip! Everyone pretty much enjoyed each others company. R kept trying to escape outside. He did. And was missing (for the first time) I was about ready to have a heart attack and everyone else was worried too. We kept rechecking everywhere. And we we're worried he had gotten into the pool. (Oh yeah did I mention we had our own pool and hot tub, which R loved). Anyway I found him in our van. He said he was looking for his mater candy. On the way down I had promised him a pez dispenser of Mater (from the movie cars) if he did a good job. So he was safe, but what a scare. We didn't do too much except for go to the beach, swim in our pool, or hot tub. Spoiled I know. We didn't have a long walk to the beach and there was hardly anyone there when we would go. The water was very clear and clean! The house provided us with many many amenities. Okay there was the whole toilet paper thing, but I won't even get into that! And then much to our dismay (because we had to leave) we started our trek home. And suprisingly it went well. Every 5-10 minutes I would turn around and stick like 10-15 stickers on ali and rowan and that would keep them busy a while. We had a portable dvd player which R enjoyed more then ali. But I don't know if we really would have needed it, they weren't too interested. I am sure there is much more but this is about all I can think of for now. I'll write more later.

"Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!"

On saturday we visited the educational center in corolla. They had a neat movie about how the outer banks formed and changed and formed again. They also explained about preserving the wildlife. And I know we hear that all the time. But when you are down there in such a beautiful place you really see why it is so important to take care. And they really do down there. That's one of my favorite things about it. It was so clean and well preserved. I kept asking R to look at me and smile and he kpt saying "Roar" and now when I look at this pic I am glad he has this look, it makes the picture even better.

Sandbox

Mara (R's and Ali's cousin) started putting sand on them and they liked this idea. I was a little surprised that rowan wanted to be completely submerged in the sand. But he did like it. And Ali liked to get on top of him and sit. It was funny!

"Rowan, where did you go?"

If any of you remember when he was little, this was one of his favorite sayings.

Before we even got to the outer banks Neal had told R that he would be able to play in the worlds biggest sandbox. And finally on the last day before we left both him and Ali really got into playing in it. One of my projects this summer is to build them a big sandbox. But I am still looking for the cheapest way to do it. Any ideas?

Outer Banks

We have just returned from one of the most serene places I have ever been. We spent a week in the outer banks, NC. There was such a slow pace about it, you felt like you we're in a different world. I absolutely loved it and we will be returning again. My kids got to see the ocean for the first time and they enjoyed it. I will post some pics now and then more throughout the week, mayby along with some fun stories.

Glow Sticks

I thought I would post to let you know that if your child breaks a glow stick and it gets in their eye. Most likely the contents are not toxic! How do I know? Well from experience of course. Sunday night rowan broke his in his bed. It splattered all over everything. And he was screaming, "It's in my eye" So I went to wash it out. And then I called poison control. They told me to irrigate it and go to the er. But hubs said lets call the doctor. Good thing he was calm! The doctor called back and said that we could bring him in on monday if it was irritated, but no urgent need. He said he thought that there really wasn't anything toxic in them, it's just a water solution. Just thought I would pass along some newly learned knowledge.

Barnstormers Game

Checking out the whole park.

We're clapping again.

Big Girl in her own seat. This chair kept sandwiching her in.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

I love these pics of the kids at the barnstormers game. And have been wanting to post them for some time, but just never got around to it. Well, now I am finally doing so. Their favorite thing was clapping. And the crowd claps a lot. So it kept them interested, at least for an inning! Hope you enjoy these as much as I do!

An Emotional Goodbye

Today we had to put our 4 year old cat Ella to sleep. She hadn't eaten in three weeks, and the vet couldn't find what was wrong with her. We didn't want to see her suffer, so neal made an appt this morning and off to wherever kitty's go. I will admit I cried a couple times today when I thought of her. The house seems empty without her here roaming the halls. She has always been such a good cat, so good with the children. Ella liked to snuggle at my feet when I wasn't pregnant and when I was, she would sleep near or around my belly. Almost as if she could hear the heartbeat from rowan and aliana, and she would purr! But it was the best decision. I know rowan will start asking for her in the weeks to come, we did try to explain it a little. Hubby's orginal plan was to take her out to a field and well, get rid of her the old fashioned way. He was trying to be frugal. And I prayed about the whole thing, (can you pray for an animal?). I was already having horrible nightmares of him doing this dirty deed. And God totally blessed me! Last night Neal said that he thinks he wants to take her to the vet to put her to sleep, he didn't think he could do it the other way. And so that made it all much better. I know it was peaceful. It still hurts but I have to keep pinching myself to remind me that it's just a cat, and how I am so blessed to have a healthy family!