Friday, October 29, 2010

What's been keeping us busy these past few months...

Both boys are on soccer teams. So we're driving 3 times a week to the fields which are 20 mins. away. We are officially insane. Especially since Chase couldn't care less. This is how you'll see him most games. Not paying attention, but he seems to be having fun. And Tyler has really gotten into the competition of sports-so he's fun to watch! Chase continues to keep us laughing with all his dress-up combinations. He changes his clothes so many times a day that by the end of the day I can't even remember how he started out.
We went to the zoo w/ some friends and they have these really cool lego animals everywhere. Very cool!
Eliza had fun exploring. Do you see that mosquito bite on her face? This is how she looks all summer.
This pic just cracks me up. Her cry face is pretty cute and ugly all rolled into one.
Eliza, Tess and Chasey
Eliza and Hathaway giggling with each other. So cute.
Lexi was baptized last month so Grandma Joyce and the Shafer's came for the special occasion. I made this frightening dragon cake to celebrate ty and lexi's b-days w/ all the family. Sometimes things just don't work out. but it tasted yummy!
This, my friends, is my family
Tyler on his birthday. He was thrilled to get the chance to go to the coin store with Phil and choose a coin. He's really into coin collecting.
We took him out to lunch at Red Robin
My 2 other babies
Some other hoodlums at the other end of the table
Loving his own private sundae
Eliza is slowly becoming a tv junkie.
Tyler's birthday party of madness. The theme was sports and the kids had a blast. There were some tears however. Competition is hard when you're a kid. The game of tug-of-war especially ended poorly. Injuries, hurt feelings and a sore loser or 2. Oh, well.
The fill the bucket with water w/ a spoon game went MUCH better. They laughed and cheered each other on.
Go kids go!
After throwing objects into these big buckets for points, things got boyish and tackling of Phil began. When he's around wrestling just naturally happens. They loved it! After this they played football and I'm still amazed at how boys just seem to know how to play this game. I'm 33 and still don't get the rules. All in all the kids had a blast-and so did we!
And another cake that looks better from far away. Ty loved it, so that's what matters.
Oh, and Lexi was the only girl. And she wasn't into sports so the next thing we knew she was being tied to the tree. Then somebody would save her. It was very dramatic.

Family Summer Trip #3-the finale

Our final trip of this unusually crazy summer was to stay in Oriental, NC. Phil's Aunt and Uncle have a house and some property down there, so his mom invited us to stay w/ her down there. We drove down and split up the drive staying in a hotel on the way. This hotel had to be blogged for our own sake b/c it really made an impression on us. It was HUGE and we wanted to stay here for days and not just overnight! It had a huge sitting area... And THEN the huge sleeping area! It also had a separate kitchen and bathroom area. We were impressed-and so was Chase!
We crossed the Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel. It's so cool. You drive for miles on a bridge and then you go into a tunnel 2 different times so that large barges can go over top of you. It's crazy!
Here we go into the tunnel!
Phil and Ty swimming in the river in Oriental.
the little kiddies had fun on the tiny little beach.
Eventually everyone was happily swimming!
Chase was so content just hanging out doing his own thing.
I can't explain why I love this picture. I think b/c it reminds me of a lifeguard running from the water on Baywatch.
Eliza is a big fan of the sand.
Eliza had fun with Grandma.
One day we took the ferry to the ocean. Here are the boys checking it out from the bottom. They were fascinated.
We forgot her sunglasses and improvised. Very stylish.
At the beach at the ocean. We enjoyed the water and especially building in the sand.
I brought frosted animal cookies that my mom would bring to the beach when we were kids. They're great b/c they have sprinkles on them so the kids have no idea if they're crunching sand or the sprinkles. Brilliance!
See? Sand or cookie? She had no clue!
Digging our own pool.
Ty is a natural swimmer/beach dweller.
Look-a pic of me! And in a swimsuit no less! I do exist!
Phil and I-I like him.
At the property-they have a dock and kayaks. Chase looks like a pelican perched there.
Ty was fooling around and caught a shrimp. Weird!
Checking out our caught treasures-little fish and a shrimp.
Eliza hanging on the dock.
Everyone working hard.
Chase checking on the crab traps. Boy heaven.
At the park in Oriental.
I love my kids on zip lines. They laugh so hard they can hardly hang on.
I can't help but want to tickle them. How annoying of me.
Back in Oriental. They're checking out a horseshoe crab, hoping it's dead.
And no worries, it was. Although it was creepy and I felt like it was slowly stalking Eliza.
She sat here forever just enjoying the tide.
Getting ready to go. She hid in my suitcase and scared me! Little stinker.
Thanks Joellen for the fun trip. The boys LOVED it!