More Fun at Pullen Park

I'm going to let you in on a little secret-  we have found the best time to go to Pullen Park, Sunday mornings.  If you get there right when it opens, you beat the lazy crowd (whose kids aren't up at 5:30 like ours and aren't searching frantically for some idea to keep them busy and wear them out before nap time at 1:00) and the after church crowd (we can skip church everyone once in a while and celebrate God with family felllowship in the great outdoors, right?), and best of all you don't have to wait in any lines whatsoever.  It's great.  We've been taking picnic lunches and grabbing dessert there which has also been a nice treat.  This time, Nana was visiting and she finally got to go with us.  We did our usuals-  rode the boats, played on the playground, spent extra time on the swings, rode the train, rode the merry-go-round......

I know I'm wearing a Batman shirt,

but I really think I'm Spiderman

Race ya to the slide!

Here I go!

Proud lion tamer

Nervous, but still diggin' the giraffe

Family train ride

Nana not willing to break any vital body parts and steering clear of the carousel

Same thing goes for Grandaddy

Grandmama on her favorite-  the ostrich

"I always thought it went the highest."

Baby's First Hair Cut

Well, it only took 22 months, but we finally got Sam's hair cut.  We were loving that baby mullet and were having a hard time saying goodbye, which is why it took so long.  Both boys were bald for such a long time after their birth, we just didn't have to worry about haircuts for quite a while.  Here's some shots:

BEFORE:

Just a little off the back, please

DURING:

Mommy!  I can't believe you're doing this to me!

AFTER:

We Belong in the Zoo

We went to the zoo.  There is a lot of walking at the NC Zoo in case you forgot from the 4th grade.  And it all seems to be uphill too, no matter where you are walking!  Aside from the workout we all got, we also got to see some fantastic animals, had a nice picnic lunch by a lake, got to ride on the tram a few times for a break, and all took a nap on the way home (except Daddy-  thanks for driving sweetie!).

The giraffes were first up on the agenda and boy did they impress.  Sam and Tyler were both absolutely amazed at seeing a real life giraffe.  They were both giddy with excitement and this excitement held thoughout most of our trip.  Sam also really enjoyed the zebra and crocodiles (all animals from one of his favorite books, "Where's Spot?").  Tyler's favorites were the chimpanzees, dinosaurs, puffins (they were actually pretty cute), and the turtles (he is really into the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles right now).

Watching two chimpanzee brothers wrestling 

Aaaaahhhhh!  A T-Rex is chasing us!

First Soccer Game

Here are some thoughts from Tyler's first soccer game this past weekend.

It was awesome.  By far, much, much better than I could've imagined.  I thought it would just be the kids all gathered around the soccer ball with a couple of break through kicks, but nothing too much more than a mob chasing around a ball.  Although a lot of this did happen, there was some resemblance of a game going on, which made it very interesting.  Even more interesting, Tyler just happened to be the star of his team - of course!  He was by far the most tenacious player out there- both on offense and defense!  He scored 4 goals for his team, 2 goals for the other team, and maintained an excellent sense of camaraderie throughout.  Well, not much teamwork going on I guess now that I really think back on things.  Tyler's coach did have to make him stay behind and play "goalie" for a few plays so someone else could have a chance with the ball.

Tenaciously playing defense

We all had a great time and I think I've caught a glimpse of what my future will be like with 2 boys.  Looks like fun.  Glad the whole family, plus Grandmama and Grandaddy, got to enjoy the big game.

Directly after the game,  Mommy:  "Tyler, how many goals did you score?"
Tyler:  "20."
5 minutes later, Daddy:  "Tyler, how many goals did you score?"
Tyler:  "30."
Later that morning at brunch, Nana (on the phone checking out how the big game went): "Tyler, how many goals did you score?"
Tyler:  "100."

Sam even had a good time.

We Head to North Myrtle Beach

We changed it up this year and decided not to go to Oak Island for our annual summer beach trip.  Rather, we did pretty much a U-Turn as far as beach accommodations are concerned 

and went to North Myrtle Beach!

We stayed right on the beach at a condo with 4 outdoor pools, 3 indoor pools, numerous hot tubs, and 2 lazy rivers!  There seemed to be endless opportunities to get your feet wet.

Both boys had a blast.  

Sand digging and playing in the shallow pools were big hits oceanside.

Poolside, the boys particularly like the "shower pool"

(a one foot pool with a fountain in it)

Here's Sam doing his "crab walk"

Poppa spent a good amount of his time doing this

:)

One day, while Daddy was playing golf, 

Nana, Tyler, Sam and Mommy headed towards The Pavilion and decided to take a ride on

 the Sky Wheel.

Tyler, Nana, and Mommy certainly enjoyed it.....

Sam not so much.....

especially at the beginning, but lightened up a bit at the end to at least point out some of the planes he saw.

Kelsey, Michael's girlfriend came with us.  We celebrated her birthday mid-week.

More pool shots:

Jumping the waves

We had our Second Annual Talent Show.  Tyler and Daddy were "flash" and showed us how fast they could run down the hallway.  Michael and Kelsey taught everyone the Chicken Dance.  Mommy and Sam attempted to sing a favorite Wiggles, but Sam was feeling a little shy.  Nana and Poppa did a great rendition of Patty-Cake  (aka a hand clap game Mom knew from childhood).

We also spend some time doing this.

Especially right before naptime.

Had to quickly grad my phone to snap this picture.

WHAT?!?!  Poppa in the Lazy River?!?!?

Yes, it really happened!

Playing Bochi Ball

We had the most wonderful time.  What a great time spent with family.  Can't wait to do it all again next year.  Maybe not at the same location, but hopefully something similar.  Where ever we end up, as long as we're all together I'm sure it will be perfect.

Catch Ups

Yes, I realize it's been since March since we've posted.  So sorry.  And yet again, when I do post, it's just a quick re-cap of what we've been up to over the past few months.  We've been busy, I mean really busy!  But who isn't I guess.



Poor baby Sam got a spider bite in early Spring.

Don't worry, he didn't have to lose his leg.

We went to several Durham Bulls games before it got too hot.

Notice "bee-bee" (blanket) with Sam.

He carries that everywhere these days.

We've been making a lot of trips to the pool this summer.

Here we are a Nana and Poppa's pool when we visited them in July.

Snack break seems to happen at least every 30 minutes or so.

And our big news (and what's been keeping us so busy!) is that

WE MOVED!

I don't have a good picture of the house to share, but will one of these days. 

Here's Sam playing with a box in the kitchen.

We sold our old house and closed on both the new house and the old house in early July.  We've still got a few boxes laying around, but not too many.  No decor yet and still putting things away, but it's going to be great.

Come visit!

The boys and I stopped by Paw Paw's to visit on our way home from Georgia.

They love to eat all the Lance snacks laying around.

Ross and Susan got married!

Pinehurst, NC

Here we are at the Kentucky Derby themed Rehearsal Dinner

It was a fabulous wedding weekend.

I really like wearing hats it seems.

We also celebrated Tyler's 4th birthday.  But I didn't have any of those pictures on my phone, so am not able to post any of those right now.  Maybe I will get to sit down at the computer for an extended time at some point to work on that sometime soon. 

Not next week though! 

Next week, we're off to the beach for our summer vacation!  Yay!  Finally!