Raleigh Roadtrip

Mike had the day off, so we decided to drive up to Raleigh. Our plan was to walk around the mall and then take the kids to go see the temple. We ended up getting a late start and had to skip the mall because Jacob was sooooooo excited to go see the temple. We were hoping to get to walk around the temple grounds, but unfortunately they were closed for cleaning and had the gates locked. So...this is all they got to see.

We decided to take them across the way to the stake center and let them play on the grass. There was just enough of an encline for them to roll down. :) (no pictures of them rolling in the grass, just videos which take way to long to upload.) I was hoping to get some good shots of them to post, but as you can see, they weren't being very cooperative.

We had to bribe them with ice cream to get this...

The best shots I got all seemed to be from behind. Oh well. At least it wasn't my behind. :)

We didn't end up staying very long. Mike did a triathlon earlier in the day and was pretty tired and cranky by this time. The kids were being a little uncooperative so decided to go find some ice cream and head home. Next time we will plan ahead and maybe things will go a little more as planned. :) Still a fun day though.

Picture Story

Jacob has figured out how to turn on the hose. He filled this grassless spot in the back yard with water and made a little mud puddle for Jimmy to play in. I now have to remove the nozzle and put it out of reach.

I'll be home for...the 4th of July!

I. can't. wait! We (the kids and I) went last year and the kids had so much fun. They loved having candy tossed at them during the parade. This year, the rumor is that they will have a military fly over to start it off. AWESOME!

We decided that we would just drive this year. It won't really save us any money. It will cost us about the same after gas, hotels and entertainment for the kids, but oh, it will save my sanity. As I've mentioned several times before, I hate flying! If it were just me I wouldn't have much of a problem with it, other than feeling queasy, but I can't handle other peoples reactions to my kids when they so much as breathe in their general direction. Driving, they can be as loud and carefree as they want. Luckily they enjoy road trips. They do start to melt down a little towards the end, but overall they do really well. And they LOVE staying in hotels. My sister Kacey was good enough to agree to drive with us both ways. Mike was originally planning to go, but as he was getting ready to put in his request for leave, he found that he has a split block that month, which means he's not allowed to take leave during that time. So, he will be staying here by his lonesome.

Hopefully June will go by quickly. It's going to be a busy month for us. Mike has a crazy work schedule and is taking a week to go see his dad. As soon as he gets back, Jimmy has to go in to get his little boy bits fixed and then soon after that I will go in for my ultrasound. Woot, woot. Here's hoping for a cooperative baby that will not be afraid to show us the goods. :-D

It will be so good to see my family again. I hate only being able to take one trip home a year. Hopefully this year we will be able to take a couple. (one WITH Mike. :) I'm pretty sure everyone in Richfield thinks I'm a single mom.) I dream of the day that I will live less than a days drive away, and I'll be able to go home as often as I want. It will be a great day. :)

Backyard campout, redneck style!

We really wanted to go camping this weekend, but it just didn't work out with Lulu being sick. We decided we'd just do a backyard campout. Since we don't have a fire pit, we got out the grill and built a fire in it. We were also out of big marshmallows, so we attempted s'mores with mini marshmallows...it wasn't very successful. So the next day we made sure to get some regular marshmallows. Worked out much better.

The kids loved sleeping in a tent. It was pretty cold, but still fun. I guess this was just practice for when we go camping for real.