Road Trip!

We took a 2 day road trip over spring break. We didn't tell the kids where we were going, so they were excited. We left early on Thursday morning and headed down to VA Beach. We took them to the VA Aquarium and Marine Science Museum. When we first pulled into the parking lot, it was connected to a go-kart park (or something) with a giant King Kong statue. The kids were screaming..."Yeah, woo hoo!" We had to quickly squash their excitement and tell them that was not where we were going! Anyways, once they were in the aquarium they had a great time. It is an incredible place. It has two seperate buildings- one the marsh and wetlands, and the other, the bay and ocean. They are connected with a mile long nature trail. They even have a tank where you can pet the rays. Owen would have stayed there all night if we had let him. We saw sharks, seahorses, turtles, and fish and had a good time.

Logan sticking his head up through the tank - Fish Face!

Owen's turn!
Emma's turn - looks like she has a giant gap between her teeth - it was just the net.

This was taken on the nature trail. It was a beautiful day.

Emma pretending to teach at the outdoor classroom.

Jonathan and Owen...petting the stingrays.

Owen did not want to leave the tank!

When we finished at the aquarium...we got in the car and headed to part two of our trip. We drove across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel, which we knew the boys would love! We enjoyed the ride up the VA Eastern Shore and ended up in Chincoteague, VA. We had made reservations at a hotel with a waterfront view. It was absolutely gorgeous. We went to dinner and had some delicious seafood...except Owen...he ate plain spaghetti. The kids were pretty well behaved. Emma was a little disappointed, but she quickly got over it. Chincoteague was not her idea of a fun road trip!

After dinner, we walked around and posed near this pretty mural.

We drove around the island and I was able to get some beautiful shots of the sun setting. It was absolutely breathtaking!

Chincoteague Lighthouse

Mmm...Home made Ice Cream from the Ice Creamery. It was some of the best ice cream we had ever had...besides the Penn State Creamery of course! Check out Owen's mustache!

This was the view from our balcony at our hotel. This is the drawbridge entering town. The sunset was gorgeous!

Another breathtaking view!

A few boats...again, the view from our hotel.

Logan...getting sleepy after a long day.

Emma and Owen -getting one last fight in before bed.

A fishing boat...out early on Friday morning.

Owen posing on the balcony before leaving the hotel.

The kids...posing for me!

We left the hotel and headed to the Chincoteague Wildlife Refuge. There was an awesome visitor's center where the kids got an activity book. Logan had to count some animals and match the babies to the mommy animals and he earned a cool badge. Emma and Owen had to look for certain things and answer questions before they could earn a badge. They both did a great job and did earn their badges too.

A snowy egret...I believe....beautiful!

Hiking the Woodlands Trail...to see the wild ponies. Logan caught a lift from Daddy.

Stopping to take a break. Emma was not too thrilled at this point!

Mommy's sweet boys!

After a long hike...this is all the closer the ponies were!! It was still neat to see them out in the wild. It really is a neat place.

Our next stop was Assateague Island. We headed out to the beach. It was windy and cool, but the kids still had fun digging in the sand and looking for shells.

This was a cool shot...I got lucky getting the seagull taking off.

Logan hiding in the sand...Don't worry Memaw...he's not really that deep. He was crouching down to make it look like he was burried in the sand.

Emma looking for shells.

Before we headed out, I made the kids get their picture taken with the statue of Misty, the horse. Although I have never read the book, we did buy it so Emma and I could read it.

When we left Chincoteague in the afternoon, we headed north to Ocean City, MD. We went to the boardwalk where the kids played some games and had some Thrasher's fries and ice cream. The last time we had been there was when Emma was 6 months old - 10 years ago!

We left OC and headed to Rehoboth Beach. We ate dinner at our favorite...Grotto's Pizza and headed home around 8:00. The kids slept most of the way and we made it home around 11:00. We were all tired, but had a great time! Wonder where we'll got next year?!

Happy Easter

Here are a few pictures from our Easter weekend in PA. We had a wonderful time being with our family. The kids always love playing with their cousins...and the Easter Bunny managed to find them and leave them baskets full of goodies. Hope you had a great Easter too!

Our first Camping Trip

We enjoyed a wonderful weekend camping with the scouts this weekend! We arrived Saturday morning at 7 am and set up our tent - dubbed the "McMansion" because it was so much bigger than all of the other tents (we got a good deal on it at Target!) The weather was beautiful...although it was quite chilly at night. The kids had a wonderful time playing with friends and running free. We went on a group hike, played games, and ate lots of good food. There was a big bonfire with skits and songs...and of course S'mores! The kids were well behaved and the adults were relaxed and stree free. We had so much fun that we're looking to go camping over spring break as a family. Enjoy the many pictures!

Chorus Concert

We had a busy weekend with the Fine Arts Festival and Chorus Concert. Emma sang with the Dolphin Chorus this weekend at a local high school. We have a very talented music teacher who does amazing things with the kids. They did a wonderful job...it is always a lot of fun to watch. Emma went to a birthday party Saturday night, so the rest of us went out for dinner and did a little shopping. Today we took the kids to see Monsters Vs. Aliens in IMAX. The movie was very good and we all had fun. Two more weeks of school until Spring Break! Can't wait! This should be a busy week - Owen starts baseball on Thursday and we go on our family camping trip with the Scouts this coming weekend. Here are a few pictures from this past weekend.

Owen posing in front of the beautiful blooming plum tree.

Logan decked out in his Ben 10 gear - his new favorite show!
Emma cuddling with Max.

Emma and her friends at the Fine Arts Festival.

Emma and her talented Music teacher... Mr. Collett.

Emma and her friend Amanda - the birthday girl.

Extra Birthday Guests

We have had a couple of busy days. This past weekend I went away with a couple of friends for a scrapbooking weekend. It was in Newport News, VA and we had a blast! I got a lot of pages finished and we had so much fun. Jonathan and the kids had a nice visit with Uncle Brett and Connor. They never get to just visit...so this weekend they met for a playdate. They all went to the neighborhood school to ride bikes and play on the playground. Everyone seemed to have a good time.

Emma, being the social butterfly that she is has had several sleepovers the past few weekends. Well....somewhere along the line, she picked up a few critters....if you know what I mean. I came back from a nice relaxing weekend, only to find out on Monday morning that one of her friends had head lice!!!! I checked her and thought she was fine...but when I inspected her head a little bit closer, I realized that a few "friends" had moved in!!!!!!! Long story short...Emma and all three of her friends who were are the same sleepover all had headlice. So I spent my last day of year 34 picking nits, vacuuming everything, and doing loads of laundry. Luckily nobody else has gotten it and Emma was cleared to go back to school today. It has been an interesting 24 hours! I have never been so grossed out in my life...but I now know it can happen to anyone. The school nurse - trying to be helpful- told me that lice only liked clean heads - so that was a compliment to us! It didn't really make me feel better! :(

Today was my 35th birthday - I really can't believe it- but it is true. I had a great day. My wonderful friends at school decorated my classroom door and threw a nice little party. They all wore shower caps with bug stickers! They also gave me a bug catcher - aren't they so funny?! When I got home from work, Jonathan was home and the kids gave me their presents. Emma picked out a beautiful Spring flag and some scrapbooking stickers. Logan gave me a Fish Windchime and some stickers. Owen gave me a Kohl's gift card - but I have to take him with me to pick out something to wear! He is so sweet sometimes - I can't wait to go shopping with him. Jonathan gave me a Vera Bradley bag and wallet that I wanted. After gifts, we went out to eat at Logan's Roadhouse and then had dessert at Carl's. It was a fabulous day - despite the bug infestation! It was certainly a day I won't forget. Thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful family and terrific friends - even if they have a warped sense of humor! I love you all!

Pictures from the weekend visit with Connor and Uncle Brett

Me with my sweet boy, Owen-check out his tooth...it is still loose, but it doesn't seem to want to come out. He has a huge gap where it has moved over.

Owen knows how much I love Kohl's!

I am such a lucky MOM!

Logan picked out this nice Hamster card...hmmm, was he trying to be funny?!
Logan took this picture at Carl's - the best ice cream stand around!