Zipping

So, if you remember right, my mom came to visit at the exact same time that Shawn was in Vietnam, which totally saved my life (or the lives of my children). Her plane was scheduled to leave the day after Shawn returned home. Then, one day she called me and said she wanted to extend her stay because, and I quote, “I want to watch the kids for a couple days so you and Shawn have the opportunity to do something together.” What? I quickly got a q-tip to clean out my ears because I thought I misunderstood her. Folks, it costs money to change your flight, and she was willing to do it in order to babysit my kids. Obviously she’s a good mom and can sense that I am overworked and underpaid.

Shawn and I spent 2 whole days together, and it was fabulous. I told Shawn, I will plan Monday if you plan Tuesday. If you will notice, there are only pictures from our Monday date because it was the best and there was no topping it. Try as he might, Shawn could not come up with anything as thrilling (at least anything in our city).
I surprised Shawn by taking him to Zipquest, which is less than 10 miles from our house.

We strapped on our gear, got some instruction, then headed out for a treetop tour which include 8 ziplines and 3 canopy bridges…. truly frightening for someone afraid of heights, which I am, but I got over it quickly after the first zip!

Shawn, flying through the trees, weeee!

I look like a total natural, so relaxed! I wish the cables had been longer.
It was hard to resist banging my chest and hollering like Tarzan.

Walking up a spiral staircase on one of the platforms. Hello
   

Shawn bullied me into leaning off the edge of the platform. It looks like the ground is 3 feet away, wrong… more like 60! This got my nerves going a little, and once I finally got comfortable Shawn insisted I let go and hold his hand. I was freaked out, hence the most awkward hand-hold in history! Notice Shawn isn’t holding on at all, what a fool!
 

The best part of the adventure (besides the adrenaline rush of flying through the trees) was seeing Carver Falls. It is a beautiful waterfall and we viewed it from a suspension bridge, then zipped right over the top of it.

It started raining and we got to travel through half of the course sopping wet. It was the most fun I’ve had in a while. (I know, I need to get out more).
Shawn and I survived! The kids survived without us. And most importantly, my mom survived watching 4 kids alone. She’s amazing and I am so thankful for her.

Beach Babes

And by ‘babes’ I mean me and Kennedy.…



Never mind my hideous bathing suit I’m wearing though. I have since replaced it, don’t worry.

During my mom’s visit, we took a trip to the beach. Kure Beach, to be exact. We like it because it’s less crowded, or so we’ve been told. I’ve never actually been to any other beach along the NC coast, so I wouldn’t know. But if you say the words “less crowded”, I’m there!

Kennedy and I sat here along the shoreline while the waves washed over us. She’d flinch for a second, but then she would start splashing. It was cute.


In no time at all, she’ll be one of these beach bums, playing in the waves. Just look at these faces, pure fun!
 


My mom spent her time hiding under this umbrella, making sure no sand got onto the blanket. She let go of the idea of a clean blanket 2 seconds after my kids returned from the water. 

Cleanliness and Beach are not synonymous. We ate sand covered watermelon and chips, yum!
And I let Kennedy go wild with her yogurt. Because, why not?
 

You were beginning to think I only took pictures of Kennedy, weren’t you? I wont lie, she is the cutest.
But I took a few pictures of the kids feeding the seagulls.

Jefferson thought this was great fun, until we had every seagull on the beach swarming around us. It was eerie, and I had to beg him to stop.

 

My mom grabbed the camera and took some shots of me drowning in the water. I'm not kidding. These waves may look small, but I’m smaller! And I was clumsy enough to get sucked under 3 times in a row. I was tossed and tumbled, the boogie board broke in half, my back was bleeding, and came out topless… it was lovely. All 3 of my kids were screaming and on the verge of tears. “I thought you were going to die”, Grant told me. To my mom’s defense, from here it does look like I’m having fun.

After our fun afternoon on the beach, we headed to our hotel. Oh, the hotel! The one that my mom booked that was 1 hr 10 minutes away from the beach! We could have just driven home and slept in our own beds! I made fun of her for a while. Then she discovered that our hotel was just a ferry ride away, and it didn’t sound so bad anymore. Actually, it was the highlight of the trip for my kids.

Who knew a ferry ride could be so fun? And that bread in their hands above… that’s for the seagulls. More seagulls, yay! It became a sport for them. They got really excited when they threw the pieces right into the seagull’s mouths. I wasn’t going to burst their bubble and tell them the reality… that seagulls actually catch the pieces. For now I’ll let them believe they have good aim.


Would you ever guess that these two are related? What happened to dominant genes?


Enjoying the view on our mini-cruise…
See those phantom arms in the picture on the right? If you are ever holding the baby, you will have to contend with those arms. It’s slightly annoying, yet cute, how much Reagan adores her sister.
 

The next day we visited the NC Aquarium. It was pretty small, but we had fun.

Checking out the albino alligator.


And this cute little turtle family. My mom thought it was cute because there were 6 turtles on the log. She thought that I should take a picture because it represented my family. But by the time I got a shot, there was a 7th climbing up onto the log. I’m keeping the picture though. Maybe it will represent my family someday.

No eye-rolling!

Thanks mom, for making a simple trip to the beach into a fond memory.

Aloha Safari Zoo

My mom came to visit a few weeks ago, and her trip perfectly aligned with the time that Shawn was going to be gone. I was alone for 1 week, then she came to rescue me from my plight. 
We twiddled our thumbs for a day, then decided to go on some adventures.

I was told about the Aloha Safari Zoo from a friend. She said it was fun and worth going. So, what the heck, we went. The name sounded cheesy, they are only opened sat and sun, and the location had me worried… it was literally in the middle of nowhere. But then again, everything here is in the MONW.

We drove 30 minutes and we were there. It was a tad upset because I was told that admission was $5/car. False, it’s $5/person. (don’t ask me why I’m giving you this detail, I guess it’s valuable if any of my friends want to come out here and go).
Well, we parked and my mom and I looked at each other and I swear we both said “where the heck are we? Is this really it? did we really just pay $25 for this?” silently in our heads at the exact same time. I know because we can read each other’s minds. But of course, what came out of our mouths was, “Yeah kids, we’re here! This place looks great! We’re going to have SOOOO MUCH FUN!!!!” and off we went.

What I am about to tell you is that we actually had an enorrmous amount of fun at a place we least expected. (I feel prompted to go on and use this as a metaphor for life… but I will spare you). It just really turned out to be a wonderful day. A little hokey… but enjoyable.

Every animal in this “zoo” is rescued. I don’t remember al of the animal’s stories, but it’s probaby for the best, they were sort of heartbreaking. But now they are here, happy and healthy.

First we met this turtle. He wanted nothing to do with us, and kept walking in the opposite direction of my kids.

     Jefferson and an… iguana? He doesn’t look too interested in it though. And that hat… it kills me. Jefferson earned this hat for reading 8 million books this year. He is so proud if it, never mind that it doesn’t fit.
 
An alligator, with his mouth taped shut. I can’t tell if Reagan is fascinated by the alligator, or the tattoo.

Kennedy got to enjoy some animals too. Well, maybe ‘enjoy’ is the wrong word. Here she is, totally unimpressed with the horses.

And you can see how much she loved the giraffe.

The other 3 (as they’re called now), loved feeding the giraffe. She was rescued from someone’s garage, sad.
 

Now, I know I already complained about the cost of admission, but then we bought $3 tickets to go on a safari ride (aka, hay ride). It was TOTALLY worth every penny.
The guide was hilarious and we got to see animals closer than I have ever seen them before. And when I say close, I mean that they were in our laps! I couldn’t get very good pictures because they were too close…. And because I had to console my baby who thought she was going to be eaten!

My mom and the kids on the Safari

We saw so many animals! I was going to list them all, but there where too many. I guess I will just list what we didn’t see: a hippo, an orangutan, a humpback whale.

oh look, a 4 horned sheep

These horns are hollow, fyi

You’re looking at the happiest safari riders


We saw this beautiful peacock on our way out. I fell in love. I may have become a little obsessed with it and taken 56 pictures of the thing!

And made everyone stand in front of it and take a group picture.

Admit it, you think it’s beautiful too!

That sums up our little trip to the MONW to go on a safari, pet exotic animals, and have some unexpected fun!

Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand Six Hundred Minutes

One year ago today we pulled into the driveway of our new home. And one year ago today I wanted nothing more than to pull out of our driveway and move back home. The Home as in “where the heart is,” because I feel like I left my heart on the West Coast, and it’s been difficult to feel comfortable here in North Carolina ever since. At first I wasn’t trying, I was only complaining… about the insects, the weather, how far away everything was, the lack of thrift stores and parks…really, I was complaining about everything. A girlfriend of mine told me to “just give it a year.” Well, it’s been 1 year, exactly.

I certainly don’t love it here, but I am liking it much more than I did 12 months ago.

I actually sat down with the kids today. “Okay guys, we’ve lived in North Carolina for 1 year, I want you to tell me everything you love about it here.” They all looked at me puzzled. I continued, “pretend someone is about to move to NC, what good things would you tell them about it here?” More bewildered looks. Then Jefferson says, “Can we just say what we ‘hate’ about NC?”  

“No, from now on we are only going to talk about the things we like.” (maybe my negativity has rubbed off on them)

Then Jefferson says, “Well, I do like it here, but I just can’t think of anything that makes it ‘better’ than California or Oregon.”

So true.

Anyways, all 3 kids put their heads together and came up with this list. (this small list).
1. We have friends
2. We have good schools
3. The rain is warm and we can play outside in our bathing suits... unless there is lightening and then we have to come inside

That's what they have, after contemplating for about 10 minutes. I know there's more they like, but it's hot and humid, school is out, and our brains aren't functioning up to par.

The fact is... we're liking it. In a different way. Different because there is nothing that can compare to CA or OR. Other than say... Italy, but we're not headed there any time soon.

I thought perhaps it's time I show you pictures of my house, since it has been a year already.....

Mi Casa,

 

The boys, on the front steps. No, we're not going inside. At least not today. I was not in the mood to clean my entire house. I guess I could take pictures of it actually lived in and realistic... but right now I want to live under the façade of having a perfectly clean home. We'll go inside later, right now I'll just bore you with outside pictures.

 

 

Our view from the front door. We live in the most beautiful neighborhood, just saying. I love it!

 

Part of our backyard (the grassy side)

 

The other part of our yard (the pine straw side), and my garden in the corner that has overgrown into the Amazon.... I swear, my tomato plant is taller than Shawn!

 

Well, that is our home. Yes, our home as is in "where the heart is."

To get into the mood of loving this area even more, I created my NC/East Coast bucket list.
Some things have already been completed, and some things I haven't added on yet. But don't you worry, I will keep you fully updated.

Cape Hatteras
Chimney Rock
Craggy Gardens
Hanging Rock State Park
Lake James State Park
Stone Mountain State Park
Roanoke Island
Monticello
USS North Carolina
Kitty Hawk
Biltmore Estate
Sliding Rock
NC Aquarium
Lowes Motor Speedway
Blue Ridge Parkway
Wright Brothers National Memorial
NC Pickle Festival in Mt. Olive
NC Zoo
Carowinds Amusement park
ZipQuest
Aloha Safari Zoo
Orton Plantation
Myrtle Beach
Cape Canaveral
Savannah, GA
Charleston, SC
Washington DC (which has an entire bucket list of it's own)
Church History (which also has a bucket list of it's own)
Disney World (if we have money left after everything above)
 

And by the way, I am promising to update this sucker with some real blog posts... some really juicy ones, with pictures of actual people (instead of trees), and events (instead of my boring thoughts). Really, this isn't an empty promise this time.