Our Trip to North Carolina

After a 5 month hiatus, I've been told I need to update this blog!

Yesterday, the boys and I returned home after a week long trip to visit family in North Carolina. Erik couldn't come with us because he was scheduled to chaperone a high school trip to Canada.

We first traveled to visit my brother Mike and his wife Susan, who live in Durham.

They took us to visit the Duke Lemur center, which is a research facility that studies -- you guessed it -- Lemurs.

We had lots of fun just chillin' with Uncle Mike and Aunt Susan.

On Saturday, Mike, Susan and I ran in the Tarheel 10 Miler and scored some pretty awesome medals.

Nana took the boys to her house in Monroe (near Charlotte) overnight, while I relaxed and went out to dinner with Mike and Susan. While the boys were with Nana and Grandpa, they had dinner out, went bowling, and watched the movie Frozen.

I joined the boys in Monroe on Sunday, when we had a family get together, and got to see my aunts, uncles, and cousins.

On Monday, my mom and I took the boys to Monkey Joes, which is an indoor bounce place.

On Tuesday, Nana, Grandpa, the boys and I went to Discovery Place, which is basically a huge science museum for kids.

It's amazing how the trip went so fast, and yet at the same time it feels like we were away from home for a really long time! We had a great time and are now adjusting to life back in the real world.

Outer Banks Vacation

We just returned from a wonderful September vacation in the Outer Banks! My parents, my brother and his wife, and her parents all invited us to stay with them in the house they rented, which was right on the beach in Nag's Head.

It was an amazing time and we wish we could have stayed longer! We were also happy to be able to celebrate Thomas' 4th birthday with our family!

You can see pictures from our trip here.

That's it from Boomerang Drive!

-- Holly

Washington, D.C.

This past weekend, Erik and I were able to go away for our first real kid-free getaway. Thanks so much to Mark and Sara and Pops and G-Mom for the great (and action packed) child care! We had a great time and got to see some interesting sights!

On Friday, we started with some museums. 

The Museum of Natural History . . .

The Museum of American History . . .

The Hirschhorn Museum . . .

And the Air and Space Museum.

After that, it was a trip to see the Mets vs. the Nationals. It was free t-shirt night, so there was a decent sized crowd outside. It was a slow game, with the Nationals winning 2-1, but it's always a neat experience to go to a major league game.

The next morning we got off the metro at Federal Triangle and headed for a glimpse of the White House.

Then we set out walking to see some monuments. Unfortunately, we couldn't get close to many of them. President Obama was speaking at the Korean War Memorial, and they had barricades around that seemed to go on forever. We could actually HEAR Obama speaking over the loudspeakers, but we couldn't see him. We saw the Lincoln Memorial from a distance, but couldn't get close.

We also saw the Washington Monument, but it was blocked off for earthquake damage repair.

We stopped at The National Gallery of Art . . .

and then I was DONE with all the walking and we returned to the hotel to nap.

Later that evening, we took the trolley into Alexandria and had a great dinner at Fish Market. We ducked under an overpass during a rain shower and saw this amazing performer playing with this table of various sizes of water glasses, all perfectly in tune.

We got coffee at a really cool Starbucks in an old building and sat by the water. We didn't take pictures at this point because we were just enjoying sitting and being. It was really nice.

It was great to get away and spend some time together. The kids had tons of fun doing things without us, too!

If you're interested in seeing the rest of our pictures, click here.

That's it from Washington, D.C.!

-- Holly

Fenwick Island Photos

Here is a link to photos of our adventures at Fenwick Island, DE:

https://picasaweb.google.com/otisandlucy/FenwickIslandAugust2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCMeHxYvCuNafrAE

That's it from Boomerang Drive!

-- Holly

Headed Home

We have enjoyed our time in North Carolina so much and are not ready to go home tomorrow! Here are some highlights from our trip:


We got to spend time swimming at the very nice pool that belongs to friends of my parents. This was great because our visit was in the middle of a major heat wave!

Uncle Mike and Aunt Susan with Thomas in the pool

Alex playing some poolside ping pong with cousin Shannon

We played lots and lots of games.

Doug and Erik playing Cornerstone while Aunt Jodie watches

We visited Treehouse Vineyards and had a nice picnic there, despite the heat.


The treehouse was a bit high for the boys, and it was crowded up there, but they had lots to do down below . . .

like swings to relax on

lots of room to play ball

water to play in

and horses to feed

Most importantly, we just enjoyed the time to take a break from the daily routine and spend time with our family.

me with my mom and sister in law, Susan

Erik and the boys

It was a great few days, and it went fast. We wish we could stay longer, and we're looking forward to Nana visiting in November.

Tomorrow, eventually, we will make it home to Boomerang Drive!

-- Holly

Safe and Sound in NC

Today we woke the boys up at 5:30 and put them directly into the car for our 9+ hour car trip to North Carolina. They both did really well -- we are very thankful for portable DVD players! We are ready to enjoy our time with family in NC.



We're far away from Boomerang Drive!

-- Holly

Vacation

We are home from our trip to Fenwick Island, DE. We had a great week, and it went really fast! Here is a link to photos from our trip:
http://picasaweb.google.com/otisandlucy/FenwickIsland2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCIjnxLu2vrO1Sg#

and another link to photos for the rest of August:

http://picasaweb.google.com/otisandlucy/August2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCJuW5Me-lJzIaA#

And that's what's happening back on Boomerang Drive!

-- Holly