The Bigger Picture

I mentioned way back in my September and November Photo Re-Cap posts the big project that David had been working on for the kids. The project was completed in November but to this day I had never even taken pictures of the whole thing. So without further ado here is the whole thing, designed and built one step at a time by my amazing, talented, loving husband (with a little help from my own dear Dad too).

The kids absolutely love it and use it almost every day. Between the swings, the sandbox, the upper deck & bridge (which is often used as a spaceship, pirate ship, picnic area, or class room), the ball chute, the movable stepping stone path (made from slices of the pine Dad helped us cut down), the occasional visiting lizard or interesting bug... There is always something fun. I think they are incredibly lucky kids to have a Dad who would build such an awesome play place for them!

By the way, I never really know what to call this thing.. playhouse, treehouse, swingset?? Any ideas?

Also, I'm not sure why but our dog insisted on standing in front of me for every picture. I took the top picture 4 times before he moved out of the way.

Duck Derby

They have been advertising since February that our city was hosting its first-ever Duck Derby. I remember my hometown of Fairbanks dropping ducks in the river every year but I don't recall ever attending. It seemed like a fun event for the kids so even though we also had a yard sale and soccer today, we also attended the duck derby. It was definitely a fun time. There was live music, all the usual festival activities (face paint, bounce houses, wagon rides...), and of course the big duck drop. One of the other highlights for my kids was getting to hold real live snakes! Including a huge boa(?) that they said was "soooo heavy!"

Photo Re-Cap: November

To make up for my long hiatus I will do a quick photo recap of each month I missed out on.

The end of the kids' first soccer season.

My parents made the long trip down from Alaska to visit us and see our new home. We made sure to put Dad to work while he was here too. He helped finish the huge treehouse, helped us cut down three pine trees, (one of which was used to frame a sandbox) and we built a fire pit which has already been enjoyed many times for backyard hot dog & s'mores nights. Granny & Papa even treated the kids to an early Christmas present and bought the slide for the end of the treehouse.

Before they headed back North, my parents couldn't leave here without visiting the beach at least once! We headed for Myrtle Beach and had the most beautiful day for it. Beach was practically empty other than a few walkers. I didn't quite bring the right clothes for the kids (it was Novemeber after all!) and they are such magnets to water that they ended up head to toe soaking wet and little D even ended up down to his undies most of the time. Unfortunately Dave had to work this day but it is definitely on our to-do list to take him down there as soon as the weather is nice enough again.
Thanksgiving Day we were thankful to have our dear friends here invite us over for the big meal. I made some sides and desserts but we also had time to just spend as a family. I had bought a bag of mixed beans and we all made hand turkeys.

And just because we all looked nice for Thanksgiving dinner, I made everyone sit on the porch for a family picture before we went over to our friend's. This ended up being our Christmas card photo this year. It makes me laugh because Cali's shoe had fallen off and she spent the whole time trying to put it back on but she looked at the camera and smiled anyway. (I use the self-timer and set it to take 10 photos in a row).

Photo Re-Cap: October

To make up for my long hiatus I will do a quick photo recap of each month I missed out on.

A visit to the awesome and huge North Carolina Zoo. The kids really impressed us with their stamina this day. There was a ton of walking compared to the zoo we always visited in TX.


Found a State Park not far from us at all. Great distance for a nice day hike. Again, the kids surprised us and hiked the full 3.6(?) miles!

And of course my little Halloween Princess and Superhero :)

Re-Cap: September 2010

To make up for my long hiatus I will do a quick photo recap of each month I missed out on.

SEPTEMBER

More construction. We call this "Phase 2", got the first swing up and you can see Cali was instantly on it while David continued to work.


Spent a lot of evenings and weekends going on nature walks, exploring the area.. Huey too. This is called a "gentle lead" (to keep him from pulling) not a muzzle, although people often ask "Does he bite?" To which I laugh because Huey is the most laid-back dog you could meet. Can't you tell he is smiling?


Diego learned how to browse Amazon.com for toys, but thankfully not how to buy them!


Both kids started soccer for the first time! There is a wonderful program here perfectly geared to their ages. It is more of a fun soccer playtime than following all the rules and playing serious games. They both loved it and will be starting the Spring session here soon.

Met this parrot named Macy at a Festival. Funny to the kids because we had a neighbor girl in TX named Macy too.

Cali turned 5, she was incredibly excited about it! She had a white cake with pink marshmallow frosting. We also celebrated with friends and neighbors at a nearby park.

The Missing "Moving" Pictures

I mentioned that I didn't seem to have any photos of the actual moving process, but as I browsed the files I did find this compilation of iphone photos...

We made a special trip to IKEA in Texas to buy some goods for the new house in NC, we knew the IKEA here was 3 hours away and decided it would be easier to put the stuff we already wanted in a trailer and take it with us.


Final cleaning of the empty house, and we already had renters ready to move in, yay!


Heading out! I drove the car, Dave in the Trailblazer with the trailer, one kid in each vehicle to keep the peace. We also invested in two portable DVD players for the 3 day drive. They worked so well, it was so quiet in the car I got really bored with no one to talk to!

Pit stop! Finally made it out of Texas.


My lively passenger.


After 3 very long days, we finally, finally made it. We had our wonderful friends here ready with our guest beds. The kids literally stripped down and jumped in the pool with their friends within 5 minutes of pulling in the driveway. Freedom!


After a wonderful night's sleep in a real home we had to hurry and meet our movers the very next day! Did I mention we hadn't even closed on the house yet... oh and we hadn't even seen it in person either! We did go and peek from the outside the night we arrived, then had to get special permission to get the key before all the papers were signed. I stayed at the house with the movers, Dave went to sign the papers, then the realtor brought the papers to me to finish signing while many boxes had already been moved in.

This mess was courtesy of Diego... I had asked him to throw the two boxes out the door. He took some liberty and threw whatever else he felt like too.

Re-Cap: August 2010

To make up for my long hiatus I will do a quick photo recap of each month I missed out on.

AUGUST

Happy in her new room, although this was before it got painted seriously pink.


With the inside of the house mostly squared away, David could not wait to get started on this project! Just wait til you see how it turns out!!


While the big construction is under way, the kids have a brand new monkey bar/climbing dome to play on. We cashed in all our change jars before the move and splurged on this for our new back yard.


Cali's first day of school. Pre-K, 5 days a week, 6 hours a day. Also, here is your first peek at our new house... the front porch!


With Cali at school, Diego and I get to play. This is Allora, her big sister is also in school. These two are either playing really well together or fighting like an old married couple!


A first glance inside our new home. The windows are one of the top reasons we loved this house. Did I mention we never saw it in person before we bought it?! This picture makes me laugh because D was telling his Daddy "Be very patient... I'm going to jump on you!"

Re-Cap: July 2010

To make up for my long hiatus I will do a quick photo recap of each month I missed out on.

JULY

Apparently I did a really good job of hiding the camera from the movers, as I have not one picture of the actual moving process... Oh I remember now, we packed up a trailer, the car and the Trailblazer and stayed in a hotel (with a pool!) during the 3 days of packing so the camera was probably in one of those places.

Here we are playing Slip n' Slide out front one last time...


And here we are in North Carolina!


One reason we came to North Carolina was to be close to some of our dearest friends who moved here from TX a year before us. The kids didn't miss a beat and acted like they'd never been apart! Here's a new favorite walking trail we found here.

Another new place to explore. There were tiny camouflaged frogs all along this trail, fun!


The awesome Marbles children's museum in Raleigh. Hard to get them out of this place, there is so much to do!


Other than these fun photos, we must have been busy unpacking boxes!