OBX or Bust Baaybee!

We made it! We are here, unpacked with beverages in hand! This is the view of the beach from our house.

Margie, Tim, Ella, Mom and Dad

The beautiful water!!

Heading out to the beach now!

Almost to Richmond!

8 hours + (3 iPods + 2 DVD players + 1 laptop w/internet access) = SMOOTH SAILING!
Less than 4 hours to go...Justin says we'd better have a really good alternator in this van with all the electronics we're running! We might end up along side the road.

We're making good time and the kids have been great (knock on wood!).
Driving and blogging through the mountains was a bit tricky but I got a couple pictures on my cell phone:



To be continued...

On the Road Again

We did it! We were actually packed and loaded and on the road at 3:30am! That is a first for us to be ahead of schedule when it comes to a road trip.

Silas was up for the first 2 hours - gabbing most of it. Yesterday he said a 1000 times "I want go to beach right now"! He doesn't have much patience, even for a 2 year old!

All 3 kids are sleeping now. We'll have a long 12 hours in the car and I am envisioning a cold beverage on the beach and a cat nap by 4pm :)

We are driving through the WV mountains right now - foggy but pretty - first hint of daylight is just arriving. I'd post a picture but that camera is in the back of the van...so this one will have to do!


Wow, it's pretty cool driving in the car with internet access - I can post about every 10 miles!

Good Morning Sunshine

We've had a big honkin' weed in the dirt pile in the backyard - we were too lazy to pull it but then as it grew, we started to get curious as to what it might be. Here's how it looks this morning. Too bad we'll probably miss it in full bloom.

August Insanity...Hocking pics...arm update

August is shaping up to be an insanely busy month for us. We started it off with our great Hocking Hills trip, and then went to Zoombezi Bay on Monday (that was a lot of fun - but won't have any pictures to show until the waterproof camera gets "developed" - THAT is a term I haven't used for photography for awhile!).

This week Justin and I have been trying to get lots of work done so we are all caught up before we leave for the beach (Nags Head/Outer Banks, NC) on Friday . We are aiming to have the kids and van all packed up to leave by 4am Friday morning - wish us luck!

Justin went and picked up our 3500 pounds of hardwood flooring for our entire first floor last night (thanks Greg for your help!) and now it's all sitting in our front room "acclimating" until we get home from vacation. I am totally dreading the entire installation process - I'm not sure how we'll manage to rip up all the carpeting and linoleum, and then get all the hardwood down without going bonkers. I hate to have the house all a mess while it's getting installed but I know that it will be amazing once it's done. We got a beautiful teak that we could not take our eyes off of while we were at the flooring store.

Here is my mess of a front room right now with all the wood...ugh...it's stacked 3 or 4 deep...

A few pictures from this week so far...

Miss Ella woke up today with some really wild hair. We usually braid her hair at night so it doesn't look like a bird's nest the next morning!

I played around with a picture - same crazy hair!

Si looking at the strawberries today - we've got a bunch that will probably ripen while we are gone.

One of my roses in bloom

Ella spacing out -

We'd better come home from the beach rested, because the day that we get back, we've got 4 birthday parties to go to, the next day a Clippers Game and then Ella starts soccer, school starts that Tuesday (kindergarten and 8th grade!) and, and, AND then we end August with my 20 year class reunion! And through all that, my house is going to be a MESS! I can't seem to get over that...

I finally got the weekend Hocking Hills pictures uploaded. Here is a link that is a combo of all our pictures taken by the group - this will link you to a Google album.

Hocking Hills - 2008

AND, last but not least, Mason got his cast off today - just in time for the beach trip! It's a little stiff and sore right now but will hopefully be back to normal within a week or so. Do I dare let him ride the RipStick again??

A Perfect Weekend Getaway!

We had a fantastic weekend! I always forget how beautiful Hocking Hills is and it is just an hour away from us. The weekend went off without a hitch - the cabin was wonderful, the weather was beautiful and the company - well...perfect of course!

We ate, drank and were very merry. We played games, roasted marshmallows, sat in the hot tub, danced, fished, hiked and gabbed and gabbed away. We had a few oopsies - one when someone fell down the stairs and another when a kitchen chair broke and someone landed in the floor...no injuries though luckily!
Of course there were some things forgotten - toothbrush, underwear, pancake syrup, make-up, tobasco for bloody Mary's and we all forgot to pack body soap...so there was a Walmart run made.

We have a ton of photos from the weekend but here are a few of my favorites and I'll upload an album sometime this week.

Here we are on our hike - I found a log to put the camera on and set the timer.

Keith, Jen, Justin, Me, Jodi, Kevin, Greg and Beth

The boys - being silly :)

Greg was the perfect picture spotter - he found me all kinds of things to take pictures of - here are a few.

Mushrooms on a log

No idea what these are but they were beautiful- they reminded me of grapes.

Purdy 'lil flower

Another group picture in front of the cabin -

Thanks guys for a fantastic weekend and to all our sitters for watching the little heathens!

Very Quick Friday post

I am in a big rush to get packed up and ready to go for a weekend couple's trip down in Hocking Hills - it should be SO much fun and I'm sure I'll have a few pictures to share when we get back. Here are a few pictures from this week:

Silas got a new Spiderman backpack which he loves! He says "I go to school now?"

My rose bush AFTER cutting off about 20 blooms - it's going nuts this year

Another gorgeous sky one evening this week

Justin and I got invaded this morning...good thing we have a king sized bed!

No salmonella test results yet...Si has been fine though so I'm sure it will be negative!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

Oh, I almost forgot - I spent 3.5 hours at the dentist this morning!
My teeth are free at last!!