Avon, North Carolina

We spent the last week and a half at a family reunion (for my Mom's side of the family) in Avon, North Carolina! It was a ton of fun building relationships while enjoying the beach.

This was both of the boys first airplane ride. We had a layover in Atlanta, so technically it was their first and second rides. And we got to ride a train between terminals (which Logan loved because it traveled quite fast. We arrived Friday afternoon at the Norfolk, VA airport, and the boys did fabulous! I was so worried about them being ornery and annoying everyone else, but they were fabulous.

We spent Friday and Saturday night at my Aunt Kathryn’s house. It was great to have a day to get adjusted to the time zone change and become a little less grumpy. Sunday we headed down to the beach, went to church (which ended early due to an electrical fire) and the boys got to see the ocean for the first time!!! 

They were in love! Dustin had no fear. If we let go of his hands he would take off running for the water and squeeled with laughter when a wave hit him. They were also fascinated with all the sea shells they could find! They both collected and brought home a large kitchen bowl full.

We found Lady Slippers, Scalloped Shells, Olive Shells, Coral, Clam Shells, and tons more I don’t know the names of. Every time Logan brought me a shell he would tell me “This one is for (Grandma Linda, Papa Bill, Great Grandma Yoder, Abby, Briggs, my teacher, me to keep… etc.). I tried to remember everyone that wasn’t there so we could give them a shell.

My Grandparents rented a few beach cottages that were just a sand dune away from the ocean. What I loved most about the reunion was that we could pack up our stuff, head down to the beach and all kinds of family members would come down and visit. We had so much fun swimming and visiting!

We saw 3 out of the 4 lighthouses in the area while we were there. Bodie Island, Hatteras, and Ocrakoke. We didn’t see Currituck only because we got lost and it was easier just to skip it. Logan loved the idea of a light house.

 My Grandfather planned a million activities so we wouldn’t get bored while at the beach. My favorite was the Chocolate Extravaganza! All the ladies were invited to bring their favorite chocolate to share with the group. So we sat around and ate Chocolate and chatted! It was great to get to visit without the kids and meet the extended family that I didn’t know very well.

 Logan's favorite was probably the treasure hunt! One of the cousins (Noah Yoder) planned the whole thing. He made (and burned the edges of) a map and led all the kids up and down the beach until the found the X to dig up! There was a treasure chest full of gold coins and ring pops! Logan was convinced it was real! And he was excited to wear his dress up pirate stuff he bought at the Ship Wreck gift shop (one I remember going to as a kid, and my mom remembers from her childhood too).

We also all loved playing in the sand! We made castles, buried each other, and dug pools that filled up with water.

Something we didn't expect but really enjoyed was after 10 at night Dave and I went down to the beach and got to see some bioluminescence! From what we found online, it sounds like some of the sand fleas (aka mole crabs) were eating some Man of War jelly fish (that aren't usually in NC), and as a result when you walked on the sand at night your foot prints would sparkle! It was so cool.

 Logan's favorite night activity was going out with Papa Mike and catching crabs! I don't think he actually caught anything, but he enjoyed the chase. Papa also took us all fishing and Logan caught a fish, but it got away! But he still talks about how next time he is going to catch and eat it.

Over all it was a fabulous but exhausting trip! We had a great time and hope to be able to go again some day.

In which we Celebrate!

This week was my Birthday! It feels like it came up so quickly, but it's been here and gone. Last weekend we were tearing off the roof  and didn't get a chance to go shopping, so Tuesday night after dinner we went out shopping for gifts. It was cute, each boy picked out something for me (Pineapple pi's from Logan & Snickers from Dustin) and Dave got a few things to supplement. We would have gone Monday, but we were fixing the sprinklers.

Wednesday was my birthday! It was busy, but we ate a lot of good food. For breakfast we had Raspberry White Chocolate muffins (gluten free). And for dinner… oh man, dinner! We made Cilantro Lime Shrimp Salad. It was an exparament that turned out heavenly! I made up the recipe, although the dressing was borrowed from Cafe Rio. We will be eating this recipe again, maybe with tortilla chips on top next time. We had chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting for dessert.

Logan sang happy birthday to me all day long, and every time Logan would say "YOU", Dustin would join Logan in pointing to me. And they would clap at the end. I felt so celebrated :).

The elementary across the street from our house turned on their sprinklers this week, so we've spent many afternoons running through them. A lot of the time after the sprinklers, Logan ends up asleep on the couch still in his bathing suit. I guess it just wears him out!

Friday Dave's work had their annual Lagoon day! We got up there at 11 and rode rides until about 8 at night. We stopped briefly to eat lunch, snacks, and have a work BBQ, but other than that we rode. Logan loves roller coasters! He even rode a big one with Dave (he was one inch tall enough to ride Bombora. Dustin doesn't love them. He'll ride if they're one he can sit beside someone in. But if he has to ride by himself, he is out! So Dustin and I did a lot of snacking while the big boys rode. The only one that scared Logan was the pirate ship that swung back and forth. I don't know if it was the ride that was scary or all the screaming that bugged him.

Saturday we had such a busy day! In the morning Dave went for a run. He did 12 miles in 2 hours, prepping for his half marathon. While he was gone, the boys and I cleaned the house (we even dusted), went grocery shopping, put everything away, frosted cupcakes for later that afternoon, and started cooking some pork for Sunday's pulled pork Cafe Rio style salad (why does it take so long???).

At 1 I had my cousin Caitlin and friend Tenille over to exchange more quiet book pages! If I can get all these sewn into pages we'll have quite a few for the books to take to the reunion. I'm stressing about finishing them in time… but we'll see. At 2 Dave went to the eye dr, and as soon as he got home we headed to my parent's house. Then we went to see Insurgent and eat at Zupas for a birthday date.

Sunday Dustin woke up with a 101 degree fever. He is teething too, but this seemed more like sick, so I stayed home from church with him. He slept for half of the day and cried for the other half. Poor boy! But around 5 a neighbor came over and helped give him a blessing. After that his fever went down and he started acting more himself. Today he's been better, so here's hoping we're all better by Friday! Otherwise I won't be able to get anything done!

The Roof, The Roof, The Roof is on Fire

So I guess I forgot to post last week. It's been busy (as always). The only thing I can think of that we did was have Mike, Alison and the kids over. Mike and Dave were designing a board game for Mike, and Alison, the kids and I just visited. It was fun, we need to see them more often. Saturday Dave and Logan also went on a mushroom hunt with Mike & Alison. They found some but didn't bring any home because "if we prepare them wrong they will kill you. So we didn't take any home." Ever since Logan's been talking about looking for mushrooms.

This week was all about the roof. We've been trying to tear off our roof for a month now, but it's been raining for a month. Just about every day. Which isn't conducive to having no shingles. So I think we're finally over the freak rainy streak! All week I was making calls to coordinate/schedule stuff, picking up supplies, and finding people to help us. Friday Dave took a personal day and we tore off the roof! Most of the day it was just the two of us, but at night we had lots of help (which was great, because I was so burned out by then). 

We got all the shingles off Friday, and Saturday the ward came over to help us finish tearing off the tar paper, removing the nails, and clean up the rest of the shingles on the ground. They thought they were there to help with cleanup, but one of the guys insisted the nails and tar paper had to be up too. So we called a roofing guy to verify, and took those up too. So it's good they came over. We were done by 1. Oh, someone from the ward also brought by pizza for lunch (and Creamies)!!! We were totally exhausted.

Oh and the missionaries invited themselves over for dinner Saturday. I was caught so off guard I said yes, but was kicking myself after. We had left over pizza and water bottles. I still can't believe they (seeing us up on our roof) would have the nerve to ask. 

So I've decided: 1. We're never moving unless we move into a house that has a recently redone roof. 2. If we ever have to strip down a roof again, we're going to pay someone to do it. 3. If we DO tear off shingles again I'm getting a pair of work gloves that actually fit me. 4. If we never move, we'll slap another layer of shingles on in 35 years, and in another 35 years we'll just die so we don't have to re-shingle. So now that we have a plan I feel tons better.

Sunday we tried our best to relax and recover from all the work! Dave and I both had to teach, but when we got home we took a nap and played in the sprinklers (it was 92 degrees here). The dead patches in the lawn were created from the plastic tarp we put down to prevent shingles and nails from making too much of a mess. So hopefully the sprinklers helped a little!

Logan loved the water and Dustin was ok with it. He screeched quite a bit, but kept his distance.

He also has been helping sweep the yard for nails (that thing is a big magnet and he drags it all over, just like mom). I can't believe how big Dustin is! He's not a baby any more.

Monday was a clean up day. Our house was totally TRASHED from all the work this weekend. I think I had 30 things on my list to get done. But it was a mess, and needed it (you know things like do laundry, wash dishes, sweep the nails and gravel off the gazebo, paint the side wall...). But now it's all clean and I can start worrying about how to celebrate my birthday!

Buzz, Spiderman & Rain

Yup, more rain here. I don't think we've had this wet of a spring since I moved to Utah. Although it could be that this year I noticed, since we're trying to re-shingle our roof. We were supposed to start tear off Thursday, but it rained all  weekend. We're just hoping we can get the tear off done before we head to North Carolina.

Because of the lack of tear off, we've been working hard on other projects (never ending battle, eh?). Dave's still been working in the yard, it just goes a lot slower with all the rain. He got the rocks laid on the side of the gazebo, and I love how they turned out. I'd take a picture, but with all the rain, it just isn't turning out well.

The boys have been obsessed with playing dress up lately. My mom was cleaning out her costumes, and we inherited quite a few of the manly ones. As a result, Logan's begging for a Buzz Lightyear costume has increased. So I  pulled one together for him. He has been telling me for months he wants to be Buzz for Halloween and Dustin wan't to be Woody. I'll make gloves and a hat when it's actually Halloween, but this should tide him over for now.

I also made a Spider man dress up while I was sewing. I've been designing a Batman blanket for when Dustin moves into the bottom bunk in Logan's room, and Logan has been telling me he wants the Batman blanket and Dustin can have his Spiderman one. Part of me thinks it's because it is something new, but the other part wonders if it's because he has a Batman Costume. So I decided to make a Spider man costume to see if it would help.

They've both enjoyed it, so it was worth the $5 it cost to make (actually, I think it was less than that, since I only had to buy the red material). I made it big so they could wear it for a while, but I'm now wondering if it's too big… Hum, who knows how long they like to play dress up?