scouts is just fun!

We work together with another family to get C's scouts done. It works out nicely and gets the boys together frequently. We have been such slackers through the winter. Last week we completed their physical fitness section. We were plus one with C's friend from Atlanta in town. The more the merrier! It was a great afternoon.

Sprint race

I think this is such a fun picture!
Oh how little brothers so want to be included!

PUSH UPS! How can such little bodies do so many!!?!?!?! SO NOT FAIR!

Piedmont Environmental Center

C had a field trip to the Piedmont Environmental Center. Cheeto prepared C by telling him not to believe ANYTHING they tell us. Sometimes I wonder about him- Cheeto; not C! Anywho... it turned out to simply be a North Carolina Social Studies/History field trip. We learned about North Carolina's state symbols, crops, weather, ya well... you get it... the environment. Hence, Piedmont ENVIRONMENTAL Center. :) We started with a nature walk on some trails. The students were asked to really use their senses on this walk so they could write a paper when they got back to school.
One child found this huge nest of caterpillars. C wanted me to get a close up picture to show his brother and sister. I noticed that all of the leaves had caterpillars hanging from them. So as I'm creeping under this tree getting a close up of the nest, a fly lands on my hand and makes me JUMP! The teacher and the kids in my group thought it was hilarious! Of course, it just gave me the heeby jeebies! How do you even spell that?

After the nature walk, we ate our lunches on the deck of the center. It was such a great day outside. The pollen cooperated for me very nicely that day!

(can you see the city labels? Here is the piedmont triad.)

We then went to this huge, cement painted map of North Carolina. And because it rained the night before there was even water in it for the ocean. :) They divided the kids up to learn in depth about the 4 regions of North Carolina. I actually really enjoyed this part. I have lived here for almost 11 years and know little about North Carolina's leading crops, state symbols and such.

They gave each group a bin full of symbols to lay out across the regions. What a learn experience for those kids. Cheeto, are you saying all of that is a bunch of lies? :)

They showed the kids a turtle shell that had the skeleton of a turtle inside. It was pretty cool.

I really enjoy going on field trips with the boys. Thank you mom for always watching the girls and for Cheeto who works like crazy to allow me the opportunity to stay home with the kids! I am very blessed!

Quantico, VA

SPRING BREAK DAY 5

On day 5 of our trip we made the 2 hour drive north to Quantico,VA. Adam was graduating from officer something or other. I don't know the technical terms. :( But Wednesday was "Warrior Day", other words, bring your family and show them around. It turned out to be a VERY COLD, WINDY day. Cheeto hung his jacket on the door of the condo and "assumed" someone would see it and bring it. Nope... I saw it when we got back. Needless to say, he was chilly most of the day. The boys were super excited and wore themselves out looking at all of the guns, tanks, helicopters, obstacle course, and exhausting Tio Adam with lots of questions. I have to admit it was pretty darn cool when the 3 choppers landed. I love the sound of helicopters, especially really big ones. They allowed everyone to go inside each one. The kids were pushing buttons and leaving no stone unturned.

After lunch we boarded a bus and headed to the shooting range. When Adam asked us if we were interested in shooting some M16's, Cheeto and my dad jumped at the opportunity. About a week later, he talked me into it. I have to admit I was nervous. I AM NOT a huge fan of guns. When I was finished shooting my 10 rounds, my entire body was shaking. No future for me in any field that requires me to shoot guns. :) Nola's was hilarious. The helmet wasn't big enough so she couldn't buckle it on. Everytime she pulled the trigger her helmet would jolt, after about 3 rounds it fell off. The marine that was assisting her picked it up, put it back on, and then just held it on with his hand for the remaining 7 rounds. FUNNY! Sassy did not enjoy all the noise, even with her earplugs. They pretty much lined up 100's of family guests and we all took turns shooting. There was a lot going on. The boys thought it was awesome! After we got off the bus we went to the "on base" store. It was an interesting mix of everything. Mom's leg is still broken and she was tired from walking on it so we got her a wheelchair. Sassy said she was just as tired and climbed aboard. Those kids walked a lot that day. We really did have a fun day. THANKS ADAM!
We had an interesting ride home. For the first 60 miles we followed an idiot teenage driver that. He would speed up, pass a bunch of cars, then slam on his breaks in front of you. He was following (or was suppose to be following) another car. About 40 miles into our trip, we decided to call the "How's my driving" number on the back of his car. That was kind of fun- it was like tattling. :) About an hour later we had to stop for gas. We pulled into the gas station parking lot, and this car looked like she was pulling out and in a BIG hurry. Cheeto paused to let her pass, nope she took the last available gas pump. The one Cheeto was signaling to pull into. He, being Cheeto, had to roll down his window and say, "What the? I was here first." Her reply (with much attitude), " Nope, We got here at the same time." Her plates were from New York so Cheeto's comeback was, "Oh, go back to New York." She said, "I AM FROM HERE!!!!!!" Cheeto, "Whatever." So we drove around and got another pump and thought we were finished. I, of course, was telling Cheeto to back down and forget it. Well, my parents take the kids into the bathroom and I start to changed A2's diaper in the car. This lady and her attitude gets in Cheeto's face and says, "Say what you really meant. What you really meant was GO BACK TO AFRICA- right?" Oh did I forget to mention she was black. OH GEEZ.... come on. Then she said, "You are an embarrassment to you kids!" I finally said, "Everyone grow up and forget it. Go back to your car and forget it." She went inside to pay after this. There was a good southern man pumping gas next to Cheeto. He asked what that lady's problem was. Cheeto explained what happened. The guy said, "I was born and raised in these parts and I'm telling you, she is not how we act like here in Virginia!" Funny guy! I had to use the bathroom too so I had to walk past her. As I got in there, she was with her 2 DAUGHTERS!!! And she thought Cheeto was an embarrassment to his kids? WOW... some people this a days!!!! Cheeto may be a lot of things.... BUT RACIST IS NOT ONE OF THEM!!!!!

Spring Break- Day 3 and 4

Day 3 was spent driving around Virginia Beach, Newport News and Williamsburg. Later that night that Mom and I went shopping for at the outlets. Lots of cute stuff but spent little. It was so much fun to shop with my mom again. Oh how I miss shopping with her and my sisters! We had such fun "trips to town"!!! :) Anywhoo..... we got back, ate dinner and went to workout with Cheeto. Having "in-house" babysitting is AWESOME!!!

Day 4 we found a museum that accepted our Natural Science Center membership so it was free for all of us. Right inside the door there was a flight simulator. Thankfully both boys were big enough to go without an adult. If you stop reading this post now... at least watch the video of them in the simulator. IT is HILARIOUS!!!! Listen really close and you can hear them screaming, laughing, and fighting with each other. Total AWESOMENESS!
I swear this child can't just smile for a picture anymore. He is for sure ready for the experience!

C is pretty fired up to go as well.

The guy that was "watching " the "All things Gross" exhibit said there was no way anything like this would ever be allowed 20 years ago. It's amazing what our world is coming too. There was some pretty NASTY stuff there. I purposely didn't take pictures of those. The places and were interesting and definately a hit with the kids. We spent almost all afternoon there and still felt like we rushed through it. If you are ever in the area, you should check it out. They also have a IMAX theatre there that shows eductional and "theatre movies". We didn't have time to do all that though.

Their heads look huge on these little bodies. :) But we thought they were so funny.

Silly looking astronauts

We ate at Smokeybones for Lunch/Dinner. One of parent's favorite place to go when they come out here. We needed to get mom a birthday cake so we went back into Williamsburg that night to find a Baskin Robbins. We did fine one but right across the street we found a frozen custard shop. It was YUMMY!

Inside the custard shop they had an entire wall covered in Chalkboard with thousands of signature and notes left from the customers. K and "G'ma" had to leave their mark. Look close.

1 scream, 2 screams, we all SCREAM FOR ICE CREAM!!!
(well... frozen custard that is!)

Are you at all shocked that A2 found many friends around that table.

Across the street from the custard shop there were these fabulous "popcorn" trees. My mom hasn't spent much time in the south during early spring. She just LOVED these trees. I made them stop and take a picture! I love this picture of them. :) I have the best parents.
And yes, I know I say that a lot!

Colonial Williamsburg

My parents drove across country to hang out with us for spring break. They had some stops along the way to pick up parts for the farm. We have been talking about going to Williamsburg for a few years now. It finally worked out. We left Friday morning. Well, Mom, Dad and the older kids left Friday morning. Cheeto and I with A2 left towards the afternoon. It was very strange only dealing with one child. She slept most of the way but got a bit fussy towards the last 45 minutes. We don't have a dvd player for our car so this is my make-shift dvd player. I put my iTouch between the headrest and started a movie. It worked great. She was very content after this. :) I am a genius. HA HA!

DAY ONE

We spent most the day Saturday touring Colonial Williamsburg. I had been there almost 12 years ago when I went a American/Church history tour with Ricks College. There really wasn't a lot for the kids to do but they were such little troopers and put up with it. It was a very cold day. The high was barely in the 40's. We huddled and cuddled to stay warm. A2 had the sweet ride all bundled up in her stroller. Ah.... the life as a baby!

Pretty cute right?

aaaaa..... not so cute! This little turkey colored up and down the stair case at the condo with a RED CRAYON!!!! C left the crayons out. They all went to take naps. Mom and I asked each other, where is A2 she is very quiet. AH OH!!!! Dangerous sound! Long story short, Cheeto and I ran to the store to get a Magic Eraser to clean it up. There was a $250 fine if you stained anything in the condo. YIKES!

Thank you Magic Eraser and MOM for helping me get it off the walls!

Such a cute little STINKER!

DAY TWO

I took this picture of K looking out the window at the Magazine.
I LOVE IT! That is my sweet little boy!

We went to church Sunday morning and went back to finish walking around Colonial Williamsburg. It was a nice Sunday afternoon. I get frustrated sometimes because I take a lot of pictures of everything we do, however, I'm in very few of them. The only ones I get in are the ones I hand my camera to someone. I joke with Cheeto at times that our kids will grow up and look back at our family trip pics and say,"I remember mom being there but where is she in the pictures?" HAHA!!! So that's why I took a few of myself just to document that I was there! :) We had such a great time with the kids. Sunday we decided to let mom and dad do their own thing while Cheeto and I took the kids and let them look at what they wanted and as little and as long as they wanted. It was nice. I didn't feel like we were pushing mom and dad to rush their touring opportunity. We ended up getting done before them so we found a bench just at the end of Colonial Williamsburg and across the street from William and Mary.
It was GORGEOUS afternoon to sit and enjoy our kids and the sunshine!

Damma's Birthday

Mom wanted a "homemade" German chocolate cake for her birthday. I have never attempted such a thing. I was a bit nervous because I don't even like German Chocolate cake. Well, I guess she really just wanted "from scratch" frosting, not the nasty premade stuff you buy off the shelf. It tasted fine, i suppose. But I am NOT the one to be asking. K was singing Opera-like for her in this picture. It was pretty funny.

My parents got here the day before Mom's birthday. A1 found a friend where-ever there was food. You will see in future posts- what I mean.

Discovery Place Charlotte

We decided to take the kids to Charlotte to the Discovery Place. Because we have a Natural Science Center membership we were able to go for FREE!!! Pretty much the reason we went. We packed lunches and at in the car. A1 likes to pack lunches because she feels older, because the boy's "get" to pack a lunch for school and work every day.

I was only able to get a few pictures before my camera died. GRRRRR... the boys had a great time building cars for the "pine wood derby" track. It was pretty much the same thing. They have great imaginations and built some amazing looking cars. One of K's inventions.

C intensely working on his car.

They had a great toddler area for A2. She was very content playing there. There was a bridge thing that she kept walking back and forth on.

I love Sassy's smile in this picture!

They had a LIFE SIZED "light bright" center. Do you all remember those from you childhood. I do! We loved them. I would want one of these in my house. Sassy played here forever!
I'm very serious.... I want one in my house!

This room was fully of physic experiments and science stuff. C and A1 thought this center was lots of fun. You had to jump and sit on this seat things, it would push air through the tubes and make a ball hit a bell at the time. A1 couldn't jump hard enough to get her ball hit the bell. C was pretty close. Sorry for the motion sickness at the beginning.
I bumped into someone while I was filming. :) OOPS!