Paradise On Earth

Shan and I just took a trip to Hawaii to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. We stayed in a rental house just across the street from Shark's Cove on the north shore of Oahu (pictured above).

First of all, the only reason we were able to take a long-awaited couple's vacation was because of Shan's mom, Peggy. She is the kids' Mimi and they had a blast with her while we were gone. I missed the kids a lot, but it was so good for me to realize that they are happy and fine without me. Shan's sister Chelsea and her son Henry, also came, for which we are so grateful. They left before we got back though, so I didn't get a good picture. Thanks guys.

Top 10 Things We Loved in Hawaii:

1. Our Mustang Convertible rental. It made all the drives, mountains, smells, and views just really spectacular.

2. Snorkling in Shark's Cove. We loved this place. It is absolutely full of beautiful tropical fish and we even swam with a big sea turtle each time we went.

3. Polynesian Cultural Center was awesome. The dancing, and the food were pretty amazing.

The luau.

4. Watching sunsets over the water almost every day.

5. Cliff jumping at Waimea Bay. Shan was brave. I did the little one.

Isn't the water sooo blue?

6. Our nature hike at Waimea Arboretum. It ends at a waterfall/swimming pool.

We couldn't get over how gorgeous and natural everything is. Trees, vines, flowers, tons of foliage- it just grows and grows and grows.

This is the falls. Any Lost fans recognize this from the scene where Kate and Sawyer jump in and take a swim?

7. Taking a boat out to Sunken Island in Kaneohe Bay. The view was amazing.

8. Our sunset drive up the moutains overlooking Honolulu. Wow.

9. Dole Pineapple Plantation. Have you ever seen a pineapple plant???

The pineapple sorbet was out of this world. If you look behind me, you can see a pineapple growing from the middle of the plant. It takes 18 months to grow one pineapple!

10. Playing golf on the waterfront course at Kaneohe Bay. It was so gorgeous. Shan did really well. I, um, hit the ball.... sometimes.

This military base isn't half bad. Right on the beach!

Halloween Funny

This comic was emailed to me by my friend, Jennifer. Hopefully, I don't cause any grief for posting it. Sometimes we just have to laugh at ourselves though and I thought it was hilarious.

Camping at Lake Badin

So this was our last week of our fall break. We made the most of it by taking the kids camping in the Uhwarrie Forest, and it was seriously beautiful. Wow! We didn't know we lived only an hour away from such a gorgeous place. Our campsite was right on the water so the kids fished for two days and loved it. I can't say I'm a fan of fish/worm hands, but they were all thoroughly scrubbed before bed. There is something about camping with your family that is hard to replace through any other activity. Instead of worrying about the economy or the upcoming election, we had FHE around the campfire, eating smores and singing songs. It was just so fun to watch how excited the kids are about everything from getting in their sleeping bags to carrying around their own flashlight.

All you parents out there know that going camping with children is a MAJOR production. You have to pack the kitchen sink! So Shan always complains that I take too much stuff. Hello, he is Mr. ARMY survival guy who thinks you can just go into the wilderness with a pocket knife and kill or find your food. Um, fruit snacks and granola bars don't cut it for three days when the kids need wholesome nutritious food and their is no fridge. So this time, I had the bright idea of asking him to be in charge of the planning and preparing the food and it was awesome. He realized how hard it is and told me I do a really good job! He was pretty surprised at how much effort and planning it takes and how much you have to pack (condiments, cooking utensils etc). I don't think I'll have any complaining from here on out. And I have to give him kudos for his fantastic Dutch Oven breakfast hash. I definitely can't rival it, so I think he's in charge from now on.This caterpillar was HUGE. I've never seen a bigger one.

Happy Emma after she caught a catfish that we grilled up and ate for lunch.

The lake was full of fish so each of the kids caught a bunch of fish. Most of them were small, but it's still so fun for them to reel it in.
Lake swimming. We saw little fish swimming around our feet, but I'm a tough mama and kept my cool. Madeline couldn't get enough of the water and we had to beg her to come out. She loved playing with her daddy.
So there are probably less than 10 pictures of me on this blog because for the past 15 months, I had no one else to take pictures! Yes, kids, I really am a part of the family and now I have a picture to prove it.

We thought this sign was classic. We pulled off the side of the road to buy some firewood and this was the "self pay" system. Just put your cash in the slot. Yeah..... um, only in back country North Carolina.

Wilmington Beach Trip

The kids are on their fall break from school, so we are taking advantage of every day for family time. Last week, we went out to Ft. Fisher to stay and enjoy the beaches. At the beach we made stick forts, drew in the sand, built sand castles, flew kites, played Bocce, and boogie boarded. I am convinced the beach is the best place for a family vacation since the kids are in heaven all day long and are exhausted for bed at night! At night, we put puzzles together, watched movies, played games, and ate a shrimp dinner courtesy of Shan.

Shan and I built the towers, Ryan built the wall and dug the mote, and Emma decorated the tops with shells and made a seaweed flag for the center. Madeline helped by patting the sand down over and over again.
The finished product.

Mr. Jokester

Madeline played in the sand all day. She loved building little stick forts with the sticks on the beach. I found a live clam and she played with it forever, putting it on top of the sand in her bucket and watching it dig down.


Mermaid Princess, complete with seaweed belt and crown.


Emma wrote the entire alphabet in the sand. She also searched for sand dollars and seashells the whole time and we came home with 2 tons of "special" shells.


Madeline doling out the kisses.


cool kite flyer

The kids in the car when we got on the ferry heading down to Southport.

Ryan is now "cool guy" and I am not ready for this phase.

Emma

Shan and Madeline

5K Autumnfest

Southern Pines had the annual Autumnfest celebration and Shan and I ran in the 5K with our friends, Julie and Dave Kimsey and their cute boys.
Miss Madeline got a flower crown since she was too small for the bounce houses.
Ryan and Emma have been fighting a lot lately, so we thought they should just go at it.

Cotton Fields

My Southern friends will think this post is lame, but seriously folks, this is COTTON! I think it is so cool. I made Shan pull over from the highway just so I could take a picture. I mean, it's just cotton!!!