Years last beach trip and family goings on...

It has been a nice last almost 3 weeks since my last post. We went on our last beach vacation, went to Amy's aunt and uncle's 50th wedding anniversary party and done a few other fun family activities. When we went to the beach, the waves were crazy big there those 2 days. We got to eat at a few of our favorite places, and the kids had a blast on the beach. We met my folks there along with Emily and John. When we got back that Saturday night, we went to the Arboretum in Raleigh for the 50th anniversary party and renewal of vowels. It was great to see so many of the family. Most recently, Steven just tested for another tip towards his black belt in Tae Kwon Do. He did great course and is that much closer now to his black belt. I will post some photos of our recent doings.

Our kiddos playing at the 50th anniversary party

Steven testing for his belt tip

Mommy and Emma walking the beach

Steven running from the waves

The kids outside Jolly Roger after dinner

Sunrise approaches

A perfect sunrise
Last but not least, our puppy doo taking a nap. We hope you all are doing well and we will post again soon!!

Labor day - 2009 - We're still here

It's Labor day, 2009!! A nice day off from work, but the kiddos are off too so we will have a day to hang out together. It will be nice. It has been over a month since my last post and I had hoped to have more to write on but there has not been too much going on other than normal "nearing fall" stuff. I started back to school at Wake Tech and Steven started back to school and now is in 3rd grade. It is really hard to believe. He is getting so big and is so independent allot of the time. He really does well in class though. I think we will be really lucky when it comes to how smart both kiddos are. Also Amy and I just came into the year 2009 and were hearded into joining Facebook. I was thinking that we had done stuff that was photo-worthy, but the only thing I have some pictures of is from Saturday before last when Steven and I had high hopes for the NC State football team and went to meet the pack day at Carter Finley. We did have a great time and got plenty of pictures that I will share some of. This was Steven standing in front of the new wolf statue

Daddy doing the same thing... Steven with the field behind him And this is Steven with one of his happiest moments of recent memory...

It was hard to wipe the smail off his face when we left...

That is all I have for now. Hopefully all is well with everyone. We are going to the beach and an anniversary party next weekend so we should have plenty to report. Take care.

Much to do about alot...

Hey everyone. We have actually been up to alot lately and each time I go to blog, I remember something else that is coming up so I wait and now have a real big blog to post. Watch it be short now... Anyways, we have been first and foremost doing some home improvements. We started by painting an accent wall in a burnt orange in the bedroom. Then we used that color to do under the chair molding in the kitchen. Then last but not least we did the master bathroom in a nice soft mocha color. It looks like a frosty melted and we rubbed it all over the walls. It really looks good. I thought I had some pictures on here but I guess I did not load them yet. I will have to post them at another time.

Then last Tuesday we took the kids to Wet N Wild in Greensboro. It was Emma's first time at the water park. I think she did well, but she was really a little young to go. She could only ride about a 1/4 of the rides there. I have a few of the pictures we took with the waterproof camera we got just for that.

Amy and the kids ready to go

Emma and daddy in the wave pool

Steven right off the waterslideWE HAD SO MUCH FUN TODAY!!

That was a really good time and we still had a birthday to go this weekend. We had my parents come in town this weekend for Emma's birthday with my sister and niece and other sister and her fiancee'. We had the party along with Thomas for his 2nd birthday since they are only 2 days apart. It was at the Marble kids museum in Raleigh. I had never heard of it before but it was really cool for the kids and alot of fun. There are huge legos, a pretend mini town, a pretend hurricanes hockey rink, ball pit, tool area, drawing and craft area and that is just some of what is there. Most of Emma's friends from daycare were there as well as 2 freinds from where she used to get taken care of that she doesn't get to see much and alot of family. Here are a few pictures from there. This was all the mini bug cakes

Steven building a huge lego house

My beautiful Emma enjoying her juice and cake

Steven playing hockey

Emma in the "peas and carrots" ball pit

The beautiful dancing birthday girl

Steven got his face painted up like an old man

Emma and Gabby driving the bus together

Heading home after a great time at the Marbles party!!

It was really a great 2 weeks as Amy was off so it was nice to have her home every day for 18 days. She is back to work now so that is the pits, but we are getting used to life as normal again. Hopefully everyone enjoys the post and pictures because we sure did have a good time. Just be glad I cut it down. I had over 200 pictures from the party and gift opening at the house. We miss everyone that had to leave and that we did not see. Will try to post again soon. I am still debating on switching blogs. Will keep that updated as well. Bye!!

July 4th weekend

Hey everyone. We have just been busy doing our work thing, camp thing and preschool things. Now it is nice because Amy is off for 18 days, so we can do lots of stuff together. Last weekend we went to Greenville to build up some good memories there and we had a great time. We went to ECU and saw the campus and all the changes, went by Amy's old house to see how it looked and went to some stores and then to sonic and their really cool playground. We also hit the pool last weekend and hopefully will this weekend. I also chucked Steven way over the pool. Check out some of the pictures. This is the throw from IN the pool.The throw from OUT of the pool. (no children were harmed in the taking of this photo)

Emma LOVED playing with the tea set at the pool.

Steven and Emma and the 50 cent ride at Sonic.

Mommy and the kiddos down the slide.

This was all of us together right before leaving Greenville.

It was a great weekend, and hopefully this one will be just as good. Emily, Katie, Thomas and Grandma are all over here today for the day and we are going there tomorrow. I will be back with more when I have it. Lots is coming up in the coming months. Have a great 4th everyone.

Post fathers day blog

Hey all, this is my short post fathers day blog. We had a great weekend last weekend with a little pool action, playing together and relaxing. We are actually going to Greenville today down by ECU where Amy went to college. There are a few things we are going to try to do while there: see the old house, go by campus, eat at Sonic so the kids can play on the playground, just basic stuff like that. I am about to wake them all up so we can get started, but first, some pictures from last weekend.

First off, Steven and I got matching haircuts last week.

Yes, we had mowhawks...

We also had fun at the pool...

Amy and the kids at the pool.

Emma giving daddy a kiss.
Daddy chucking Steven across the pool.
Finally, for those of you that did not know, there are super heros in Johnston County. After we got back from Greenville today, the kiddos were playing around upstairs and dressed up and thjis was too cute not to include. I think we may have Halloween covered already of it is not too cold yet. We hope everyone is doing well. Be back soon.

The June update

Hello all. This is the June update as to our goings on. I just got over some funk of which I am not sure of. Monday morning I woke up with a sick feeling and body ache and left work after 1 hour. I was out yesterday and today with low temp, stomach issues and overall body aches. Amy thinks I got food poisoning from bacon bits, but who knows. I am just glad I am feeling better. Everyone else has been fine. Not much of record has been going on. Just working and playing on the weekend when Amy and I have been off. I must admit, I really do like her new schedule and her being off every weekend. Emma's birthday is sneaking up next month and it is hard to believe she will be 3!! Amy also has her 2 week vacation next month which will be nice. I don't know that we are going anywhere but that is OK by me. Over the past few weeks I was in a golf tournament, Steven was in a Tae Kwon Do tournament and we took them both last weekend to Pullen park and they had a great time. I will post a few pictures of our latest adventures: This was Steven practicing his zen pose before competingSteven running towards the target... A perfect split in mid air... Man that kid is flexible!!

Grandma with Steven and his trophy

This was one of my best golf shots ever. In the golf tourney I was in, I hit a 9 iron from 155 on the par 3 3rd hole to about 5-6 inches. I am placing my closest to the hole marker (which I won by the way) to show the way. Yes...I did make the birdie.

This was the signature par 3 at the Neuse where we played. Great hole.

Emma and daddy on the slide at Pullen Park

Steven, Emma and Mommy giving a poseThe kids ABSOLUTELY LOVED the train ride!!

That is all I have for now. Sometimes I wonder if I should make stuff up to make this more interesting. (LOL) I guess for now I will settle for normal and simple which is just how I like it. I hope everyone is doing well. Till Later~

Our trip to the Outer Banks

Well it was a great last week as we ended it up at the beach. I had some back issues earlier in the week (again) and had to get on steroids again, but hopefully after some physical therapy, they can show me how to help prevent this from happening every 6 months or so. (It seems that way anyway) We were able to go to the beach though down at the outer banks for the weekend and had a blast. There was a little rain here or there, but mostly it was around 80 and sunny during the day and 60 at night. Most places were not too busy either, so we may start making mothers day weekend a beach trip weekend as things were not too pricey yet and it was not over crowded. The only bad things were that the ocean was like icewater and the outdoor pool was chilly too, but the indoor pool and hot tub were nice. We even had a full kitchen in our room with stove, fridge and microwave. The soap and shampoo were from bath and body works. It was just really nice. I will stop expounding on amenities and get to what we did there. (Duh)
When we arrived Friday morning, we got there just in time to eat breakfast at our favorite place, The Ship’s Wheel. Huge breakfasts, and very affordable. It is also VERY tasty. We then left there very stuffed and went to see if we could check in, which we did. Our room was very nice, and we were right beside the indoor pool and hot tub as well as beach access, so it was really good overall. We went out and hit a thrift store, (I know, I can’t resist) and then Emma came back for a nap with Amy. Steven and I went to Brew-Thru and 7-11 and then back to the room until nap was over. We went out to play putt-putt and made the mistake of not bringing the stroller in… (Big mistake). ** NOTE: children ages 2-3 will not be able to focus at putt-putt for more than 15 seconds and will want to run EVERYWHERE. Anyways, we survived that and went to American Pie for pizza and Ice Cream. (If you want the best homemade ice cream ever, go there) It was great. Then back for pool and hot tub, showers and bed. That wrapped day 1. Day two began with another breakfast at The Ships Wheel and then a trip to the NC / OBX aquarium. The kids LOVED it. They saw all kinds of fish, alligators, snakes, otters, turtles, ect. There is a ray touching tank as well as a place to touch hermit crabs, starfish and sea urchins. After a visit to the gift shop, we left there and headed out thru Manteo and the OBX for some more thrifting and general shopping. (Amy found a new coach purse…) We got lunch supplies at K-Mart and ate lunch at our room. Then we all napped except Amy, who went out looking around and found a great new swimsuit. We then went to dinner at an old favorite called The Jolly Roger. The food was excellent. Then we headed back to American Pie for ice cream and then to the beach until the sun went down. We then headed to the pool and hot tub again and bath/ bed. The kids were really good for the most part. I got up early Sunday and watched the sunrise on the beach, and then headed out for coffee and to gas up. We grabbed some continental breakfast and hit the road to get back in time for Amy to get a nap before work and Emma to get one in general. All in all it was a great weekend and trip. I could have used maybe 1 more day to just lounge the beach, but hopefully we will get to go back by the end of the summer. I will now give you some photos of our doings while on vacation. WELCOME TO THE BEACH!! SHOW ME THE WAY TO THE WATER

WE ARE RIDING THE TRAIN TO PUTT-PUTT GOLF

COME BACK KIDDOS!!

I LOVE BEACH PICTURES...

ON OUR WAY TO THE AQUARIUM

THE KIDDOS ENJOYING THE SIGHTS

WE ARE TOUCHING ANIMALS

YUMMY DINNER AT THE JOLLY ROGER

THE SUN IS PEAKING...

NOW THE SUN IS AWAKE!!!

JUST HEADING BACK HOME...

WE HAD A GREAT TIME!! MORE POSTS SOON.