I'm Back...

My sisters and I had the most relaxing trip!   I got back last night and it's back to reality here...and because of the timing of a few things, it's a harsher reality than normal.  I hope to get pics from our trip up soon.  I'm so thankful for a safe trip and good times with the sisters.  And all went well at home too.

On My Way to Paradise...

I am on my way to Naples, Florida...to enjoy this view...

And hang out with the Egrits...

That's right!

My sisters and I are going on our first EVER girls trip!  We are doing it to celebrate my oldest sister Angie, turning 40 in March.  Our plan is to go on a trip together every time one of us turns a decade older.  I know the husbands are excited about that plan. :)

For real though, the men are supportive and G has actually been excited for me to go...considering I have NEVER been away from the kids/house on a trip by myself, since having Luke.

Honestly, I am sad about leaving them.  Nervous about letting go of control of things here.  Bummed they won't be with me in Naples...we had such a great time last summer!  BUT I'm sure I'll get over all these things as soon as I hop off the plane in Naples.

So pray for our safety if you will, and for G and the kids here.  I am looking forward to some R&R and spending time with the sistas!

Be back later!

Random...

Only 28 days left of school after today!  We are all ready for summer break!!

A few random pics from this month...

Rainy has a new favorite spot on the landing, watching out the window.  She fiercely growls and barks at every passing person and dog (luckily not many pass).

The kids thought this was a hoot.  And for the record, G had no permanent damage...



I'm enjoying my last weeks with just these two.  They love to eat out on the deck...

This is Kendall's 3rd grade teacher...same teacher Luke had last year.  K has loved having her.  She just had a baby and is out for maternity leave (this was her last day and I'm sure she was so glad I took her picture...I thought she still looked great!).  Kendall misses her but she has a great sub...

If I'm gone for any length of time and G is home with the kids (on weekends), I can come home and find them doing yoga together.  Will and I share a view on yoga.  We hate it. :)  (yoga lovers...I know it's a great workout, I just get bored and also find it quite hard).

Have a nice Wednesday!

Wilmington During Spring Break in Pictures...

(sorry about some of them being sideways)

Watching Mason's baseball game...

Making many sandwiches for the crew (this is all I did to help...Amy was the cook/hostess extraordinaire)...

These 3 are good pals...

Kickball.  And the only picture of the beloved Bomber.  Sweetest dog ever (sorry Rainy)...

Reading the journal at the mailbox on the beach.  Cool...

Thankful for this crew...

Shoes.  Lots of them.

Noah's, or Should I Say Zoe's, Bed Tent...

In the closet clean outs I got this IKEA bed tent we had bought for Luke several years ago out.  Thought I'd give Noah a try with it.  I honestly thought it would last for one night and then I'd have to take it down.  Well, to my surprise and joy and it has been over a month since he's had it on his bed and he LOVES it.  He has not 'messed' with it or gotten 'crazy' with it...2 things he was warned against...but has simply enjoyed sleeping in it!

Someone else has found a new place to sleep as well.  Zoe has always chosen Luke's bed to sleep in, but ever since the tent we can be pretty sure of where to find her.

And Noah loves her company.  She emerges occasionally for a bite to eat and other things, but then goes straight back.

Baseball...

We are enjoying baseball season!  Here are our two handsome players. :)

Last Saturday we had a 4 pm and 6 pm game at the same park.  It was a long but fun evening.  Will had to play 2nd and I think he was thinking about his upcoming game while watching Luke play.



Bo and Noah with their bag of stuff.  They (and Kendall and Will) have so much fun playing with other kiddos or just each other during Luke's games.  I'm just glad we are outside getting fresh air and lots of energy out!



Will at bat.  His team isn't doing so hot, but he is having a blast anyway.  Not sure about the coach (Geoff). :)

These pictures were from a couple weeks ago.  The boys all playing a game in the back yard.  It is quite entertaining to watch through the window.  I stay out of it...it goes better that way.



You hit at pretty much anything during these games...



And sometimes you even close your eyes...



Noah has a habit of forgetting to drop the bat after he hits.  And boy can that kid hit.



Busytown...

Bo and Noah and I went to see the Busytown play at the Children's Theatre today.

They are big Busytown fans and have seen lots of episodes, thanks to them being on Netflix's instant play.  The play was cute.

Their very favorite part of today, though, was playing on the computers at the library (where the theatre is).  They have great touch screen ones at this library and they played while I picked out books for the kids.

Then we went out to lunch.  On the way home Noah got a bad belly ache and was pretty uncomfortable.  After taking care of business at home it still hurt so I told him to lay down on the couch, and after 5 minutes he was out...

That was unusual, so I thought he might be sick, but after his nap, he was back to 100%.

Maybe it was Rainy's TLC...



Acrofitness...

Bo and Noah took Acrofitness every Wednesday evening since September.  We just recently quit (2 months before it closes for summer break anyway) because of busy baseball season.  Wednesdays (and Sundays) are our only non-baseball days, so we really needed a night to be free.  It was hard to quit though because they really enjoyed it and were pretty good at it.

They had 3 teachers (2 male and 1 female) for their all-boy class.  Their class was a mixture of fitness and tumbling.  Perfect for my 2 springy and strong boys.

Here Bo and Noah are with Cody.  I cannot tell you how impressed I was with this guy.  He was so kind and patient and fun, but also was able to keep teh boys in line (there were about 15 or 20 in the class!).  Bo and Noah really enjoyed him and the other teacher Garrett (who they told me was named Jack for about half the year...not sure how they confused the 2 names).

Here are some videos of their last class.  It was actually a make-up class, so it's a class of mostly girls...and the female instructor is not their usual one.

I like this one of Noah with Cody...shows how much fun he had. :)


Bo with Cody working on his back handspring...



Noah again...


Bo with his floppy armed back handspring...

Carolinas Aviation Museum...

We got to get in free on Saturday.  We had never been before and we all went, along with Grandad, to look at the planes.  Here is Flight 1549 that landed in the Hudson River...

It was really neat to see that, and even neater because it just so happened that a friend from our church was at the museum and she was actually on the plane when it 'crashed.'  It still blows my mind that she was on it and hearing her talk about her experience is wild.

There was a map at the museum for visitors to pin where they are from.  So far Haiti was vacant, so Bo and Noah pinned it. :)



This 'gas station in the air' airplane was the only one we could get into. 



They could have spent hours in here pretending, but there was a line behind us so we had to rush.

I'm sure Will's imagination is running wild here....



Cool...



There were lots of 'war' planes that were cool to see.  So neat to see up close the airplanes/jets, etc. that you see in old war movies like Pearl Harbor, etc.

The main reason we went was because they were having a special thing about the Red Tails (first black men who were able to be pilots for the military), but the line for the exhibit and movie (not the same movie in theatres) was like 1 1/2 hours, so we missed it.  Bummer.