BLT Reunion Day 3

Sunday was much warmer (in the morning), so we took advantage of the sunshine until the next storm came in.
Dainty Miss Morgan is all girl! I wish I had a video, but this was exactly how she walked on the sand. She is such a cutie.
After the beach, lunch, and some power naps, we decided to take a nice relaxing walk on the boardwalk. We found a playground, in the sand of course, and decided to let the kids play. I think that saying that Abric loved the slide would be an understatement.
The cousins played in the sand, dug deep holes, and buried each other. I cannot count the number of showers and loads of laundry we did this weekend.
Walking on the boardwalk on an over cast day. Andy packed the boys scooters last minute-- it was an ingenious idea.
There were a lot of sculptures along the boardwalk. We took 1 minute to take a picture with this fish and you would have thought it was the end of the world for Harrison. He was ready to go home. (As for our opinion, he was ready for a nice long nap!!!)
Ewan's turtle. The wind was really starting to pick up.
It was a busy, busy, busy weekend. I think Abric pretty much summed up how we all felt after dinner on Sunday evening.
Being at the big BLT Family Reunion means:

• getting to know Andy's side of the family
• listening to funny stories when Andy and his cousins were kids
• laughing until we can't laugh any more
• playing games
• getting haircuts (Amy is a rock star!)
• eating like kings and queens
• playing at the beach

But my favorite part of all is

• watching the cousins play and build lasting relationships and memories.

You can't put a price on something like that. We are already counting down until next year!

BLT Reunion Day 2

The second day was much colder and windier.

Andy and I were able to run 6 miles on the boardwalk. It was a nice 1-hour date. After the run, we went to the beach and Andy was able to 'ice' his knee in the water. (I'm telling you, the water was freezing! We don't know how the boys were able to stand it yesterday.)

This was the first year we remembered to bring a kite. The fun lasted about 20 minutes…. the boys would much rather dig in the sand and chase the waves.
We had to threaten Harrison and Zane within an inch of their lives to not get wet. Here they are running from the waves with their cousins.
Ewan decided to stay far away from the water today. Notice how all my boys have touristy 'Virginia Beach' sweatshirts? They better last for a while since we had to use part of their college fund to get them. (kidding)
Abric just wandered and enjoyed his new-found freedom.

Decorative mailbox.

BLT Reunion Day 1

The time had come for our annual family reunion in Virginia Beach. The boys had been counting down for months!!! They could not wait to see their cousins and to stay at the beach house. Andy and I had been counting down those days as well. We were in much need of a vacation after a stressful 3 months. The day before we left, the furnace went out in one of the rental properties and we had to replace it. (Dislike.) That didn't even put a damper on our spirits. We were just so happy to be able to get away!

We were able to do a test run on our roof carrier. We bought it for the trek out west, but decided it would be better to try it on the 6-hour drive instead of the 30-hour drive. We call it the Silver Bullet. We barely even noticed a difference in our gas mileage, it was so slick.
First order of business after hours of sitting inside a van: head directly to the beach, even if it is only 64 degrees outside! (Note to self. Next time, pack jackets for your kids so you don't have to buy them at an expensive tourist town.)

These boys were ready to hit the waves and soak up some sun!

Abric wasn't too sure about the whole sand and water thing. It was his first official time at the beach.
We had a hard time restraining Harrison and Zane from getting too wet. Here is the H-man catching some air.
Zane caught some pretty sweet air himself. Andy and I decided that maybe it is true that kids can't feel temperature. We were freezing and we weren't even wet.

Ewan ate it. 'nuff said.

Rule #23 on raising boys: When they fall down, just cheer and give them 'five' and they will forget that anything even happened. (Just do a quick visual for blood or protruding bones first.)

See what I mean? Hunky Dory.

Abric decided the sand wasn't all that bad.

But he didn't want any part of that water. I don't blame him, it was ice cold!
The beach house was a little less-crowded this year because we were missing a couple families. They were deeply missed! But the happiest news of the day was learning that Landon Michael finally arrived. Harrison and Zane are so excited to have another boy cousin on the east coast!

Weekend Adventures

Our weekend adventures began on Thursday night when Michael dropped the girls off. Sarah was heading down to Virginia Beach to help set up for Lindsey's wedding and Michael had to work that night. The boys were so excited to have their cousins over for a slumber party. They didn't get to play until Friday morning. . . .it was a school night after all! It all worked out great, though. I made a big pot of steel-cut oats for breakfast. Harrison and the girls got themselves ready for school and they were all out of the house by 8:45. For having six kids in our little house it was amazingly stress-free!Bright and early Saturday morning, Andy and I dropped the boys off at Mike and Ang's house. They were nice enough to watch the boys for the weekend while we were at the wedding. We are eternally indebted to them for being willing to take 3 of our boys when they have 2 boys of their own, plus a little baby girl. We caught our flight and made it to Virginia Beach by noon. It was so nice to fly instead of drive for 6 hours. We had a left over credit from our trip to Asia and we either had to use it or lose it. Gotta love those Southwest Ding fares. Abric really enjoyed his first trip on an airplane. He was an angel and slept the whole time. The flight was only 20 minutes long (air-time). I had literally taken two sips of my drink when the pilot said we were making our descent.
The wedding was scheduled for dusk. They had some tiki torches set up in two lines for the wedding party to walk through. We were literally 10 yards away from the surf. It was so beautiful and so peaceful. There is something so theraputic about the sound of the waves that makes you feel more calm.
It was a little windy on the beach, so the guys were having some trouble keeping the torches lit. They solved the problem by pulling the wicks out longer and dousing them with the oil. Instead of tiki-torches, we had tiki-flame-throwers. It looked awesome, though, and added a great effect when the sun set.
Here are Andy and I on the beach as we wait for the wedding to begin. Abric is happily nestled away in the sling that my friend Josi made for me. I am in love with it and wish I would have had one with all my other babies! For info on how to make your own sling, here is the website that she used: my karma baby. I actually have Abric in the sling backwards. It was my first time using a sling, but even though I was doing it wrong, I still loved it. Now that I have been home for a couple days and got on-line to read the directions, I am even more in love with it!

Here is the cute wedding couple. Lindsey looked absolutley beautiful. I loved how her dress was so elegant. I loved the sash she had around her waste.
Their first kiss as husband and wife.
Here is the wedding party: Jeff, the "man" of honor, Anya, maid of honor, Lindsey, Jason, a groomsman (Sorry I can't remember his name!), and Matt, the best man.
The wedding cake had the same color ribbon as Lindsey's sash around it.
After the wedding, we all went back to the beach house for some dancing and to watch them cut the cake. It was a nice wedding and we are so happy for Lindsey and Jason.

One funny thing that I have to add was that I have never seen so many cameras at a wedding in my life. As Jason and Lindsey were saying their vows, I felt like they were surrounded by the papparazzi. Welcome to the digital age! At least they will have lots of pictures to remember their special day.

The past two weeks....

Here is an update of what we did when my parents were here the past two weeks. It was so nice to have them here for a visit and to have the help with laundry and dishes! I've already posted about their arrival and about Abric's blessing. Now, here comes the rest of the trip.
We surprised my parent's with a trip down to a beach house at the Outer Banks, NC. It was my mom's birthday that weekend, plus we wanted to repay them for their help in putting in a kitchen the last time they were here. Because the house was so big (it is off-season and we got a killer deal) we also invited our friends, the Christensen's, to come along. Josi ended up having to go to Utah that weekend, but Dave and the kids still came. We stopped at the Washingto DC Temple on the way. It is the perfect place for that first stop for kids to get their wiggles out, use the potty, and see the visitors center. We stopped at a rest stop near Richmond for a picnic lunch.

We made it to the house around 5. Andy and Dave took the kids to the beach while my parent's, Abric, and I went to the grocery store. By the time we got back, the kids were all bathed and ready for bed. We ate pizza for dinner, relaxed, and watched Who Killed the Electric Car. (A very interesting documentary. All I can say is, "Wow.")
The next morning, we went to Kitty Hawk to see the Wright Brother's Memorial. Here is the hangar where they kept the plane.
This is a statue of the plane that was built during the 100 year celebration of flight in 2003. The kids had a blast climbing all over it.
After that, we went back to the house to get ready to walk to the beach. Because of all of the hurrican activity that had been going on, the waves were pretty rough. This is the BEFORE picture.

This is the AFTER picture. We really had to watch Zane. He went all kamakaze on us. That kid loves the water and had no fear. We were afraid he was going to get carried out to sea.
My mom and dad, enjoying the sun and surf. (I hope they don't kill me for posting this picture, but I thought it was cute.)
Awwwwwww...Abric's first trip to the ocean. At two weeks old, he really didn't care too much. All he wanted to do was eat.
Andy and Dave went to the bay to do some kayaking. I snuck out of the house to go get some pictures of them and to buy my mom a birthday cake.
We also went to Roanoke Island to see where the "Lost Colony" had lived. Roanoke Island had the first English settlement, but after three years, everyone disappeared. They had left a message written on a tree trunk that said, "CROATOAN". They never found them and can only speculate what happened to them: Indian attack or just moved to a new area. The earthen mound behind the kids is all that is left of the settlement.

Soccer season is also in full swing. Ewan is dying to play....can you tell?

Here is a picture of Harrison at his first game this season.
After Zane's practice, we went to watch Harrison's game. I thought it was so cute that he went to sit by Harrison on the sidelines.
Here is a picture of Zane getting ready to take a shot on goal.
I couldn't help myself when I saw Harrison's coach. For some reason, I just couldn't keep my eyes off of him and couldn't resist taking a couple pictures of him. What a cute coach. =D