Our First Family Vacation!

We went to Raleigh and Durham, NC on our first ever "family vacation". By "family vacation", I mean let's go have fun and do whatever we want, whenever we want to. Going home to LasVegas doesn't count. We usually have to follow a schedule, dividing our time between families, and by the time we get done we need to go home to re-coup! We have done that for over 8 years, its about time we get away and do something strictly as a family!

Play Space Kids Museum

We went to Playspace in Raleigh. It was a (very) miniaturized version of the Boston Children's Museum. Not nearly as fun, but fun enough. The boys are having duck races (and for some reason they loved it, go figure).

Sara discovered how much she really likes dolls. She has dolls at home, but they don't look like real babies. She played nurse and took their temperatures and x-rays. Guess who's getting a baby when we get home!

Drewby was a wild man. We didn't know where he was half the time because he didn't stay in one place for too long!

Jace spent most of his time riding in, jumping off, and climbing on the fire engine.

Nate concentrated on mastering the fireman's pole. He tried to climb up, while his brothers tried to pull him down so they could have a turn!

Exploris Museum

The Exploris Museum is an interactive museum that encourages creativity in children. It was all right as far as children's museums go, not as fun as it could be, but the kids didn't complain. They thought it was great. The best part was watching a shark IMAX movie.

Andy had a lot of fun building a giant lego house around the boys. Their favorite part was busting out of it!

We Love Grandpa!

Grandpa Brox came to visit for a weekend. He didn't get to stay very long, but it was awesome getting to spend some time with him. The kids talked him into going shopping (he really didn't need much convincing) and they came back with all kinds of sugar cereal, toys, candy, and other good eats. He also treated us to ice cream at the airport, both times, picking him up AND dropping him off. Nate was so excited to show him his new martial arts moves, the others were excited to be chased around the house and tickled, and I was excited to have him help me paint the kids rooms, (since my hubby refuses)! My camera was experiencing some difficulties, so I was unable to get very many pictures of his time with us, but we were so GLAD he came! WE LOVE YOU GRANDPA!

Sara's Cut Head

Sara cut her head. I don't know how she did it, I can only speculate. I was in the office working at the computer one lovely Sabbath day, when I hear this huge "Crash!" I could hear Sara running around in the hallway, so I knew it had to be her. I sat and waited for screaming that was sure to come when associated with a noise of that magnitude, but...no. No crying. I figured the hallway vent fell down again, and quickly finished typing up the email I was writing. I only had two lines left. Ten seconds later, screaming, not just crying "I got hurt" cries, but panicked SCREAMING from my little baby. I run to her, and all I could see was her beautiful little face covered in blood. I see the cut, and instantly know that it's not as bad as it looks because head wounds are notorious for large amounts of blood. I wipe the blood out of her eyes, and abruptly the crying stops. She wasn't crying because she cut her head. It was because blood was dripping into her eyes! She smiled up at me, and tried to get up to resume playing! I searched around for what could have caused a vertical cut on her forehead...nothing. I think she may have run into a corner on the wall. Andy was at a meeting with the Young Men in the minivan, so I had to book it over to the hospital with all four kids in the impala. Easier said than done! Not only was getting them all seated and buckled difficult, but keeping them happy and occupied for the sake of everyone in the waiting room, including the really mean nurse who attended to us. Luckily Andy met us over there a little while later, and he stayed with Sara while they put in three stitches. It was very traumatic, but she ate up all the sympathy from everyone! My poor little baby.

To Bite, Or Not To Bite...

Jace got in trouble at the DMV as Andy and I were waiting in line to get our new South Carolina licences. He bit Drew on the arm. This is him sitting in time out. Andy and I were discussing whether or not we should put him in a shark tank, or in an alligator sanctuary, so he could see how it felt to get bit and maybe learn his lesson. He was certainly regretting having done it; the thought of his own parents letting him get bit by a wild animal was more than he could handle. His frowny face was precious...I had to get a picture. He almost hated that more than the thought of getting bit by a shark!

Chalkin' It Up

One day after swiming, we decided to have some fun in our driveway with sidewalk chalk and paint. Nate drew all Star Wars characters.

All of the kids, especially Sara, enjoyed getting dirty. She liked painting herself more than the sidewalk. She also liked to paint where everyone else was painting. Her brothers didn't appreciate her painting over their pictures.

The paint was very sticky and thick, like jello. It was easier to pick it up and rub it onto the ground, rather than using brushes. Drew liked to sit at the paint box and smoosh the paints around so it was ready for everyone else to paint with.

Jace is was also drying off while trying to paint. It looks like he's doing the cha-cha.

Nate's rendition of Yoda.

At the Grocery Store

I am so glad the "powers that be" make shopping with children so much more convenient. I am referring to the shopping memories I have as a child with my two younger brothers and two newborn baby sisters. I truly do NOT know how my mom did it without the nifty carts they make for today's child. Seriously, shopping with five little kids? Bad enough. But to go shopping without any form of entertainment? At least any LEGAL form of entertainment (for the little ones with sticky fingers..ahem..Travis...)? I just don't know how my mom did it!

Adios Hermano!

Yep. It's that time again. Time to say goodbye. Adios Hermano! It was fun while it lasted...

Fun with Tyler

We all loved having Tyler come and visit. The kids especially loved it because that meant a lot of extracurricular activities. We went to the park and had donuts, and played the game "Tyler the evil bad guy". It was great for me because I didn't have to be the one to chase them around in the nasty, hot weather!

Sara loves her uncle Ty. She took to him right away and they have been fast friends ever since.

Tyler also liked to toss the kids around on the trampoline. I don't know who was having more fun, the kids for getting thrown about, or Tyler for doing the throwing!

Sara's favorite thing to do is jump on the trampoline. She was always wanting Tyler to jump with her, especially if he was jumping with someone else!

Jace had an experience of a lifetime. He learned to fly....briefly.



Drew had the most fun out of all the kids with Tyler. He was Tyler's little sidekick. His favorite move on the trampoline was twirling in an endless circle until he couldn't stand up straight from being dizzy.

Tyler wowed us with his backflips. He even tried to teach me how to do one. Ya...it didn't work. One thing I always wish I could do as a kid though, was a backflip. Maybe one day...maybe...or not...

Savannah Sightings

Savannah claims that they are the number one haunted city in America. The main attraction there is going on a ghost tour. There are different kinds of tours you can go on through many different companies; walking ones, driving ones, and trolleys. They all vary in price and I would say that they are more or less the same, only different in the stories and sights visited. We had already been on a walking tour, so we decided to try something a little different when Tyler stayed with us. We went on a tour travelling inside a hearse. I do have to say, it was a lot of fun!

Our tour guide was a little on the freaky side. He's the kind of guy that would take that as a compliment. He told us he was excited when he got this job, because he didn't have to change the way he normally dresses (he's the guy standing next to the hearse).

When we first got on the hearse, we travelled down River St. which is the main street of downtown Savannah. On this street, we were able to scream at people as we drove by! It was so funny! The tour guide would target a passerby walking down the street, and he would count to three, and we would all scream at the top of our lungs. One lady had her back to us and as we screamed, she dropped her bags and yelled back some expletives as we drove by. Another gentleman we yelled at almost tripped and clutched his chest. The poor guy, I thought he was going to have a heart attack!

This is a picture that the tour guide sent me on my e-mail. He claims that it is a picture of a ghost peering out of a window in a haunted building. It is thought to be the ghost of a doctor whose family died during an outbreak of the yellow fever. He barricaded himself in his home because he was so distraught, and died of hunger. It totally looks faked to me, but the tour guide "swears" it's the real McCoy! Judge for yourself!

AAAAGGGHHHHH!!!!!! Psycho tour guide is trying to kidnap me! HELP!

Uncle Ty's Visit

My brother Tyler was able to come and see us for a week. We had such a great time showing him around Beaufort. We, of course, first went to hunt for shark teeth at Sands Beach. That seems to be the go-to activity when people come and visit! It's fun and we can get there without much effort.

This time, however, we were able to spot some dolphins playing just off the shoreline! It was awesome! Andy sees them off in the distance....

Nate plays in the waves while the dolphins play together just beyond. Can you see them? A dolphin's fin can be seen directly in front of Nate's chest.

Nate and Jace are watching the dolphins bobbing in and out of the water.

Soccer Stars

We signed the three boys up for Spring soccer. The boys loved it. Nate already had some experience playing so it was fun for him since he knew most of the drills and had a better understanding of how the game works. He decided to up his game, and in so doing volunteered to play goalie for a short time during every game. In California, they never played with a goalie. But here in South Carolina they do, so this was a learning experience for all of us. Nate is a wild little boy, and by wild I mean goofing off and acting silly (which usually means not paying attention to what he is supposed to be doing, like playing goalie). So if I would see him called into goalie position, that was my cue to get next to him on the sideline and coach him through it. He had some great saves, and it was a huge relief (on both of us) when someone else took his place. He also had some great scores and finished the season with Grandpa Stubbs owing him six dollars-- a dollar for every goal.

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Jace was the most excited about being able to play soccer. He had been waiting since Basketball season! This boy was a natural on the field. It was hard for him to stay in the game the whole time, especially at first in this nasty wet heat. All we would have to say is "Jace, go get the ball!" 99% of the time he would take after it like a man on a mission. He was very serious about getting that ball away from whomever had it (even if it was from someone on his team). Then he would turn around and come sit back down on the sideline. Grandpa Stubbs owes him nine dollars.

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Drew is a different story all together. He reminded me of Froggy, in the book "Froggy plays soccer". He payed more attention to the ants on the ground, taking his shoes on and off, rolling around in the dirt with some other kids in the middle of the game. He would be the last to get on the field and the first to come back and sit out on the sidelines. He would come and go as he pleased. Instead of scoring goals, his main objective during a game was to touch the ball with his feet. He would earn ice cream for the family after a game if he would kick the ball 10 times. Hey, we aren't beneath bribery!

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