Outer Banks

 

Our family reunion this year was at Outer Banks North Carolina.  The kids and I flew to DC and spent a some time at Ben and Sarah's house.  My parents rented us the most incredible beach house.  It had more than enough room for all of us, a hot tub on the third floor balcony, and a swimming pool.

 

 Graysen enjoying what he deemed the best burger he's ever had from the Burger Joint in Old Town Alexandria Virginia.

Ben and Sarah are so close to so much history.  In this part of Alexandria the sidewalks are brick, there are gas lamps, and  people in George Washington-esque attire lead tours.

 We were able to see a few national monuments before it got too late, the Washington monument, Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial. 

 It was amazingly quiet at the Vietnam Veterans memorial, definitely a feeling of reverence there.

Dad with the boys before leaving Virginia and heading to the beach.

 Naomi planned that when we arrived at the beach house, she'd explore the house, pick a bedroom, and jump in the pool.  I think she reached the jump in the pool stage of her plan in less than five minutes!

 After church we took a few pictures of the family.  I love this one of Mom and Dad surrounded by their grandkids.

  

 Naomi loved her time to soak up the sun, you can't tell from this picture, but she's in the process of being buried in sand from the waist down.

 Lot's of sand construction.

 This was my first experience crabbing and I had no idea what to expect.  It was so much fun to chase crabs, stun them with flashlights and get them in the bucket.  I know there's a popular theory out there about crabs in a bucket and how if there's one crab in the bucket it will climb out but if there are more than one in the bucket they won't get out, they'll just keep pulling each other back in.  No one told our crabs about this rule.  Notice in the picture how none of us will get very close to the bucket?

 Gray and I got up early one morning to watch the sunrise, it was kind of fun.  We'd only ever seen a sunset over the ocean. 

 Each family took turns making a dinner.  Abe and Erin made us a yummy Indian meal (and I don't like Indian food).  The kids loved helping make the samosas.

 Sunset on the Currituck Sound.

 We went to the Roanoke Island Festival Park with Mom, Dad, Erin and Jonah.

 We explored a Native American settlement.  Jonah's so cute!

 We also got to board a ship.  Might I mention that it was a million degrees and 99% humidity.

There was a discovery museum with lots of hands on displays for the kids to play with.

Gray and I went on a sunset kayak trip with Mom, Dad, Steph and Rachel.  It was the perfect evening to be on the water. 

 Gray and I had a great lesson in teamwork in the tandem kayak and Gray was an incredible powerhouse at the back of the boat.

 If there was ever a time I couldn't find Naomi, this is where I'd usually discover her.  She took her leisure time seriously.

 Steph brought her water color paints and we spent an afternoon painting.

 We biked over to the Currituck Beach lighthouse and climbed to the top.

Lots and lots of pool time.

 Amelia was an impressive swimmer with that cast on her arm.  I never heard one complaint from her about being stuck in a cast at the beach.

 The incredible beach house that Mom and Dad got us.  We had an absolutely perfect week!

 I cannot say how much I loved these chairs.  Kory now has a new project on his plate.

 

 On our way back from the Outer Banks we stopped at Kitty Hawk.  Amazing the work that was done by the Wright brothers.  And yes, Naomi was finally worn out.

Such a fun vacation, great time with my family and also loved that my kids had time to strengthen their relationships with their cousins.

Happy Number 9

We love Naomi!!  She's always got some sort of plan in the works and keeps busy.  I'm a little late getting pictures of her birthday up, but it was still a fun time and I still want to share.  We had a family party, just the four of us.  I loved it, enjoyed the night together and didn't have to worry about sticking to a schedule.  We started by going rollerblading.

After skating we went to Angie's for dinner, a restaurant known as the place "where the locals eat".

It turned out perfect because our oven was broken (no homemade cake) and Naomi has always wanted to "clean the sink" at Angie's.  The sink is a behemoth of a banana split served in a dish that looks like a kitchen sink. 

We did our best, but I don't think we got more than 1/3 of it eaten but it sure was good.

We love this young lady!  She is a girl who loves to write stories, put together puzzles, do art projects, swing on the monkey bars, play with her cats, cook, play the piano and race scooters with her brother.  Naomi is tough and brave, she is determined and plans to succeed in anything she tries.

Spring Break

 The kids recently had spring break.  We didn't travel anywhere, mostly just tried to keep warm.   We went to a few movies, played games and spent time together.  Gray introduced Naomi to a few nerf games that he plays with his friends.  One was a nerf monopoly game where I (the banker) hid monopoly money all over  in a room then Gray and Naomi see who can collect the most amount of money with the least number of hits.

 There was a lot of laughing/screaming on Gray's part as he discovered what a good shot Naomi was.  He had no chance!  They had a great time.

Another key part of spring break this year was Top Gear.  We love this show at our house and there's usually a tv marathon whenever a new season is released on Netflix.  I have no idea how many episodes the kids watched, but they were quoting the show and speaking with British accents all week.  We also have to keep reminding Gray that his high school car will not be a Lambo! 

Celtic Night

Naomi has been doing Irish dance for the past two years and absolutely loves it!  She performed for the first time at Celtic Night this past Friday and Saturday nights.  It was so much fun to watch her.  
On our way to the theater Saturday night Naomi said she wished she could do this every night!

Snow, Bears and Daylight Savings

 

This winter Kory discovered the joy of backcountry split boarding.  He has a snowboard that is split lengthwise so he can x-country ski up to untouched snowy peaks then the board snaps (I use the term snap loosely) back together to snowboard down.  

 

 Looking back, splitboarding is not for the faint of heart.

  

Benny is a trooper, he loves to be outside exploring and keeps up pretty well both climbing and descending.  And no, he doesn't get to ride down.

  

This is Kory's friend, James, reaping the reward.  Wish I could have put up a pic of Kory, but ya, he was the one with the camera.

 

We spent a few days with Grandma Olsen, Grandma Bronson and Dan and Rachel's family.  Gray and Naomi were so excited to meet their new cousin Isla and play with James.   Isla is such a cutie, can't believe I didn't get a picture of her.  I loved spending this time with family, especially my mom.  It had been far too long since I'd seen her.

 

James' version of a bear attack!

 

Naomi discovered the joy of Old Maid which repeatedly left her in fits of giggles.  She played and played and played.

This weekend we went on Daylight Savings.  While I absolutely love Daylight Savings (once I've adjusted to losing an hour) it made Monday morning at our house a little rough.  I skipped the gym, Gray missed the bus, and Naomi ... well she didn't make it very far after waking up.  I went out of the kitchen for a few minutes and when I came back she was snoozing on the counter.