Monday's playdate

Monday our playdate was at the local children's museum.  We haven't been in a long time, and it was fun to visit it again.  I think Amelia has done this before, but here is a picture of her climbing the beanstalk:

(The big girls like to wear sundresses and skirts, so Amelia has to wear a dress if she knows Seth's friends are going to be there).

The alphabet exhibit has been gone for a while, with the letters hanging out at schools and libraries and other places of interest, so that several travelling exhibits could use the space.  I think my kids were glad to have the letters back (some of the travelling exhibits have been better than others):

The highlight of the day was that the Big Bang Boom Band was doing a concert.  Those daddies put on one heck of a show.  Seth didn't like it at first, but that afternoon he was singing one of their original songs!  I bought both their CDs...move over Laurie Berkner, the kids want to listen to Big Bang Boom! (different link)  They played their own songs, along with covers of kid songs (hokey pokey, ants go marching, etc), and some mainstream songs (Jack Johnson's "Upside Down", it was on the Curious George soundtrack.). 

skate date

Our Monday playdate this week was to Skateland.  Amelia stayed home with a baby-sitter, and Seth and I had a skate date.  This was his first time skating, and I was going to be happy if we made it five or six times around the rink.  Seth was a little wobbly at first...

...but he got better with every lap.  We'd skate a lap, then I'd skate a lap by myself, then off we'd go again.  By the end of the afternoon, Seth was trying to skate in the middle of the rink, and when I'd do my solo lap, I'd turn the corner and find him skating by himself on the other side.  We did the ChaCha Slide and the Chicken Dance, and he didn't mind if I sang along with the music (when they weren't playing Justin Bieber.  Like with Miley Cyrus, I'm glad my kids aren't quite old enough to be part of the craze).

Nathan and I used to go skating once a year in college, when one of the other sororities had a fundraiser for domestic violence.  Nathan usually came home with some hefty bruises after those nights.  Looks like Seth didn't inherit his daddy's lack of skating skills!

fish update

It's been a month, so I thought I'd give a little update on our fish tank.  Amelia noticed that the snail was missing before our trip to the beach.  The tank was starting to get a little gross, so Nathan took Seth to buy a new snail yesterday after he cleaned the tank.  We now have an all-black snail named "Night".  Nathan also got two gold algae-eaters.  I think they are ugly and they remind me of the little pink things in the Mahna Mahna song.  I call them "Thing 1" and "Thing 2".  We had two new babies that had been big brave enough to start swimming around, but I think they were someone's lunch yesterday.  We are also missing a neon.  There are three possible scenerios:  1)it was a casualty when Nathan was cleaning the tank, 2) natural causes, and the others took it inside the tower to munch on, 3) we found Amelia with her hand in the tank yesterday.  In her defense, there was a touch tank at the science museum Friday.  We have reinterated that we do not open our fish tank!

racing day

(I have a Backyardigans song stuck in my head now that I decided on this title.)  Saturday our neighborhood had a kids' biathlon as a fundraiser for the pool.  Seth wanted to do it.  We tried to prep him and focused on not trying to win, but just trying his best and having fun.  Here is the 6 & under heat.  Seth was the only non-swim team kid.  Who do you think won?

Seth shocked us by swimming the length of the pool probably twice as fast as he's ever done...he did well with friendly competititon!

Off to run a quarter of a mile!  He was so focused!

Seth's first race shirt.  He placed fifth in his age group, and was totally fine with that.  We are so proud of him!  (note:  the girl with the "4" on her arm won the race)

After the race, Seth had a birthday party for one of his best buddies, and we drove home in one of the worst deluges we've had this year.  Nathan and the kids had naps, and we watched the weather, because we had one more thing to do...Beat the Heat 5k.  I chose not to run, because who wants to run in 90+ degree heat?  Well, the joke's on me, because after all that rain, it was in the low 70s.  If you click on this picture, you can see the arrow I drew to Nathan.

The kids doing what they do best at races:

summer learning

Amelia has not been a fan of being home from vacation.  The highlight of the week was when she locked the door between the house and the garage, causing us to miss Seth's dental appointment and making Nathan have to come home only one hour into his workday.  Marie suggested we get together for a playdate.  After Seth's (rescheduled) dentist visit Friday, we met Marie and the boys at the Catawba Science Center.  We have not visited in three years, and ironically, the same travelling exhibits were there this time.  Oh well.  The kids still had a great time.  A very nice aquarium has been added though, especially when you consider the location!  Here is Ryan pumping iron:

Willie and Millie fishing with magnets:

Evan pulling himself up:

I don't know if they do it every year, but this is the second time we've seen the butterfly exhibit.  You can have your finger sprayed with sugar water to entice the butterflies into perching on your finger.  Those who wanted to hold butterflies, did:

After the museum we went out for ice cream.  The four boys wanted chocolate cones, but Amelia wanted lime sherbert in a cup.  Tummies full, it was time to hit the road.  I don't think they even knew it was an educational day, Seth wants to take his cousins to his science museum now!

beach time

It was quite a production to make a trip to the beach.  Step 1:  find the least wet bathing suit (times four).  Step 2:  sunscreen application.  Step 3:  locate towels.  Step 4:  load children into the bike trailer and listen to their complaints about who was touching who.  Step 5:  load a wagon with beach chairs, umbrellas, buckets and shovels, and either a) one beach bag or b) boogie boards.  Step 6:  walk a fair distance to the beach  Step 7:  have two people carry the wagon down the stairs from the boardwalk to the beach.  Step 8:  find a prime location on the beach.  Step 9:  carry contents of the wagon down the beach (since it was too hard to push the wagon through the loose sand)  Step 10:  set up camp.  The kids didn't like building castles nearly as much as in years' past.  They were always ready to leave the beach before I was.  We learned the first day that the sand gets HOT fast during the day, and planned our trips either mid-morning or after dinner so we wouldn't burn our feet.  The ocean was very peaceful until Friday, and then there were some crazy riptides.  We didn't see a lot of shells, but we saw three different kinds of crabs, some small beached jellyfish, pelicans, dolphins, and flounder and a sting ray a man caught while fishing on the beach!

We attempted to fly kites...not so much.

Thanks to Michael, the big boys got in some frisbee and football time.

On Friday night, Seth didn't want to go to the beach, but Amelia did.  Lisa took this fun picture on the beach:

My sweet husband wrote this:

That's the end of the beach pics, I promise!

Jockey's Ridge

Tuesday night we drove down to Jockey's Ridge to watch the sunset.  Mom stayed on the observation deck, but the rest of us hoofed it to the top.  Seth climbed both up and down the sand dune by himself...tough guy!

Amelia had a little help...sometimes she rode on her daddy's shoulders.

It wasn't castle makin' sand, but it was fun to dig for a little bit.

We got to see an amazing sunset:

Dad got a good picture of me and Nathan:

We took a sibling picture...

...similar to one we took in thirteen years ago:

vacation interruption, part 2

Seth had his 5-year-old check up yesterday, so excuse me while I squeeze this in before I forget.  Seth got a clean bill of health.  For the first time ever, they checked his BMI (a calculation of weight vs. height).  When I saw the reading, I laughed out loud, because I didn't know the number went that low.  When I googled it, I found out his BMI is at the 5th percentile.  He was 37.2 lbs (25th percentile) and 43 inches tall (50th percentile).  If you have followed the blog for awhile, he is still right on his curves.  He needed three boosters for kindergarten.  The new doctor's office has a prize box if you get shots, in addition to the usual sticker.  He wimpered a little bit, but settled down as soon as he realized it was done.  Amelia was so upset about the prize box, she was asking for shots, too!

posing

Having just returned from a cruise with her family to Bermuda, Bryan's girlfriend had to leave on Tuesday to go back to work.  We took some pictures before she left. 

vacation interruption, part 1

I am interrupting the order of the blog to recap Nathan's triathlon, because I've just scanned all the pics and want to get it out of the way.  Sunday, Nathan participated in the Triangle Triathlon, Sunday edition.  It was a 750m lake swim, 17.5 mile bike, and 5k run.  We drove the race route the day before we left for the beach, and drove back to Cary a day early so Nathan could do this race.  I was using a disposible camera (more on that later), so I didn't get zoomed pics, so this time I've give you the random shots that usually get deleted after a 5-year-old takes pictures. 

On Nathan's shouder, you'll see the only remaining booboo from his encounter with the gravel truck the week before (although he does still occasionally have a sore shoulder):

I thought this was funny.  There were "No Swimming" signs at both ends of the swim. 

I didn't pack the kids race shirts this time, but they were more than happy to wear their new Duck shirts!

Everybody is super friendly at triathlons (especially post-race).  One athlete offered to take a family picture when he saw Seth playing with the camera:

Harris Lake had a nice playground, so I had no trouble entertaining the kids throughout the race.  They even tolerated the hike back to the car okay!  (There was a shuttle pre-race, but we left before the roads were reopened to vehicles.)

4th and 5th

After we got settled at the beach house, we ordered pizza, played volleyball, and waited for Lisa and Michael to arrive(they couldn't leave Boone until after church on Sunday).  The big kids (and Seth) went down to the beach to see if we could see the fireworks in Corolla.  Fireworks are prohibited in Duck:

Or maybe just on paper they are.  As far as you could see in either direction, family fireworks displays were going off.  It was impressive.  We got our fill and headed home after one misfired close to us. 

The annual parade was held on the morning of the 5th, to not cause any further congestion over the weekend.  (I don't think I mentioned that people were jogging faster than we were driving into town on Sunday).  The end of the parade was a couple of blocks from the house.  Nathan and I took the kids on the bikes early to stake out a spot, and Dad and the other big kids met us there.  Don't worry, I washed the kids clothes between Saturday and the parade:

Seth freeloaded for most of the parade...I tried to get a picture of Amelia, and I ended up with our little family of four:

I think we had some beach time that day as well, but I know we used the pool and hot tub that afternoon and evening, because that was the last night Mo could stay with us. 

ps-Bryan got a fantastic hair cut Tuesday, these are the last "mad scientist" pics (for now)!

raspberry duck

We are back, after a quiet week on the Outer Banks.  Lisa asked us last year if we'd like to take a family trip to introduce Michael to the Outer Banks, and we all jumped at the chance.  The week was picked, and then Dad did an extensive house hunt.  And the winner was...

...Raspberry Duck.  This was unlike anywhere else we've stayed at the beach.  The owners provided almost everything, including a Wii, wagons, and pool toys, and it was so kid friendly (think toys, safety features...even a bumbo!)  The house had supplies for theme nights (fiesta, cowboy, toga, etc), but nobody else seemed to think that would be as much fun as I did.  This is a panoramic pic Dad took of the main level, from the kitchen.  Beyond the swordfish on the wall was my parents' bedroom.

The middle level had four bedrooms, each with its own bathroom.  The bottom floor had the laundry room, a bonus room, another bedroom, and a bathroom.  It led out to the pool:

We spent a LOT of time in the pool.  Seth never put his swim belt on all week, and Amelia scooted all over the place in her float.   Above the stairs on the left, there was a tiki bar, with a clock permanently set at 5pm.  Below the same stairs was a hot tub.  Nice!

Behind the pool was a volleyball court.  We used it three nights, but we all ended up with sore wrists, and it was hard to play around Amelia, who liked to dig in the sand while we were out there.

The house was in the village of Duck, and we walked and rode bikes to get around town.  We rented a bike trailer to pull the kids along, which was really nice, since it was a little bit of a walk to get to the beach. 

early 4th parade

Saturday was our neighborhood Fourth of July parade.  The kids dressed up in their red-white-and-blue (Amelia was mad that she didn't get to ride a bike, too):

Seth decorated stars to put on his bike...he was very creative!

We were the caboose of the parade for a long time, but Seth biked the whole way; his mantra was "slow and steady wins the race", and he ended up passing a lot of his friends towards the end of the race.

All finishers earned a popsicle; and prizes were given to the best-decorated bikes.  We did not hang around for the festivities at the pool this year, but it was fun to see most of our neighborhood buddies at the parade!

book nerd

I don't know if you've noticed my little button above my book list.  Yes, I am a proud book nerd.  I have more books than I know what to do with.  I get lots of hand-me-downs and loaners.  And sometimes at the consignment shop, while I'm waiting to see which of my stuff they'll keep, I get sucked into the 75% off rack, and I score a hardback book for $1.50.  About a month ago, I received a chain letter that screamed my name.  One of those where you send the letter out to six people and send a book you've read to the person at the top of the list.  Now I've done these things for recipes, dish towels, and children's books, and I'm tickled if I break even.  So far I have received four books in the mail.  It makes my day when I see a manilla envelope with my name on it.  I tear them open to see what the title is.  I have read two of them already and loved them both.  Yes, I am book nerd, but there are worse habits, right?

what a week

I've said it before, and I'll say it again.  Our life is pretty plain, and I'm grateful it's that way.  But this week has been tougher than usual.  Monday, we went bowling with our little playgroup.  One round took an hour and fifteen minutes.  So we skipped the second game, and headed home so I could get ready for work.  Seth really liked it, so I think we'll go back on a rainy day.

Tuesday we took Colette to a new vet closer to our home.  The vet was so good with Colette (and the kids), and Colette got a clean bill of health.  In fact, they ran her "geriatric lab panel" twice because they thought they had mixed it up with a younger dog's blood.  We then ran some errands in town, and things were going fine until we hit Walmart after lunch.  The kids weren't nice to each other and Amelia had a meltdown.  I hate shopping when they are like that.

Wednesday we went to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs with the neighborhood crew.  We were kind of pokey leaving the theater, and then I had to go to the bank and return some books at the library.  Nathan had come home to ride his bike on his lunch break, like he does most Wednesdays.  I passed him driving back to work on the road behind our neighborhood.  He called me a little while later and started the conversation, "Don't freak out, but...".  While he was riding, something on the side of a gravel truck hit him and knocked him down.  The speed limit there is 45 mph.  The truck kept going.  A good samaritan stopped and drove him home.  He got cleaned up, dropped his bike off at the shop, and went back to work.  His work sent him back home.  LUCKILY, he only has a scraped knee, elbow, and shoulder.  It looks like he fell in our driveway.  He must have had a guardian angel to soften his fall. 

Thursday, I took Amelia to the doctor.  She has a sinus infection.  Still lovin' the new office.  Appt at 10:15, nurse left the room at 10:20, PNP left the room at 10:25 to write the prescription, in our car at 10:30.  Amazing!  During naptime, Amelia made a mess of her carpet.  She was almost potty-trained, and then she got jealous of Seth's birthday and mad about being in the nursery for VBS, and we've taken multiple steps backwards.  I am going to have to call in the professionals.  This is not the first time she's done this, but this time she was non-remorseful.  Seth wisely stayed in his room for some extra quiet time, as he's no stranger to this situation.  Argh!

After yesterday, I decided to put Amelia in underwear almost all day.  First hour, fine.  Grocery store, fine.  Another hour, fine.  Driving to Bounce U (where I was going to put on a Pull-Up)..."Oops.  I sprinkled."  AMELIA!!!  She got overly tired playing wiht the big kids, and had a fit about a juice box before it was time to leave, which turned into a hissy about Seth getting a postcard in the mail, which turned into a tantrum on the kitchen floor because I let Seth pick out which box of mac & cheese to have for lunch.  And then...we could not find lovey.  She napped okay without it (she was exhausted), but I didn't really like the thought of not having it.  I looked EVERYWHERE.  Nathan came home, and he looked around...nothing.  I had a neighbor ask her where lovey was, and she said under Seth's bed.  Nathan found it hidden under a book on Seth's extra bed.  He saved the day!  I had literally called the local shop that has the same ones, I was that desperate.  Phew!

Charlotte is 3!

Little Miss Charlotte is Nathan's cousin's daughter, and like Amelia, she only has male cousins on her branch of the Huss family tree.  Besides Homecoming, the girls have never really gotten together to play.  In fact, Amelia thought we were going to see a spider.  The kids quickly befriended their second cousins and had a great time at Charlotte's third birthday party.  You really can't go wrong with a water play theme.

Alex and Seth and the doomed water ball:

Amelia not quite getting the slip 'n slide:

My college roommate's son, Oscar, lovin' the whale pool:

Hugs from the birthday girl!

Thanks for inviting us!  We had a great time!