My most favorite week of the year...

I seriously look forward to our Outer Banks beach trip all year long. I get to be with all my family and spend time at the ocean/pool/shops/beach house. I mean, what's not to love?

We arrived at our home for the week on Sunday afternoon. We had stayed at the same home last year and the kids loved having everything be so familiar.

The whole clan with our traditional reunion shirts (we were missing Tami this year but hope she can make the trip out next time!) There were 8 adults and 9 grandchildren. We'll be adding one more grandchild next year to make an even 10!!

 

Family time is the best!!

 

Especially making up fun skits together for our evening entertainment!!

The pool is always a big hit too, especially for little Nolan who didn't enjoy the beach too much with all the crashing waves coming in!

He was a little daredevil when it came to the pool though!!

Abby doing her "Cup Song" talent for everyone!!

Even Grandma and Grandpa got into the act and put on a "pirate" show and dance for our entertainment...

I love all of the fun family memories that we all make during these beach trips. My kids adore spending time with their cousins and to do it in such a relaxing and fun place makes it even better.

Paige and Abby spent one evening giving us a little family history lesson too...

Each couple takes a night during the wee to prepare dinner for everyone. Jason and I decided on chicken and vegetable kabobs which were a big hit. And only having to cook one night during the week? That is the best part!!

 

Abby collected many different shells during our many trips to the beach...

And here's one of the crabs we caught during our evening crab hunts...

 

We spent one evening in Kitty Hawk playing miniature golf with the whole clan in tow.

This was Nolan's first time playing and it was quite entertaining to say the least!!

On Thursday we headed over to Roanoke Island to visit the Aquarium. They had this really neat dinosaur exhibit just outside with these creatures that would move and make sounds as you walked by.

Nolan was fascinated with these dinosaurs but wouldn't get anywhere near this T-Rex. Abby and Landon weren't too bothered by it though!

All the Cleveland cousins together minus baby Willow...

Learning all about sea life...

And getting up close and personal with an alligator...

We actually had a hurricane come right through the area on Friday night, but other than some wind and a bit of rain, we hardly felt the effects of it at all. Weather wise, it was probably the best week we have enjoyed at the Outer Banks.

I loved these pictures that Jason captured of the beautiful Atlantic Ocean. The water was so warm this year and felt so good to be in.

 

 

"The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears, or the sea."

- by Isak Dinesen

Love these little daredevil boy cousins!!

As much as this little guy didn't like the ocean, he sure enjoyed the sand, pool, the beach house and playing with all of his cousins. For weeks afterwards he kept asking to go back. Me too buddy, me too!!

It was a great vacation and a wonderful way to end our month long travels!

My baby turns 3!!!

We arrived home from our trip out West just in time to celebrate Nolan's birthday! I cannot believe that this little man is three years old already. He is so much fun and incredibly adorable (at least in my very unbiased opinion!!) He was very excited to open his presents that morning and of course had some very anxious siblings who were just as excited to see what he was getting!

After opening presents, we quickly got in the car and headed down to Williamsburg, Virginia where we were staying the night before heading down to the Outer Banks the next day.

No trip to Williamsburg would quite be complete without a stop at the Colonial Village...

Even though Williamsburg is only 3 hours from us, it had been 5 1/2 years since we had last stopped there. Landon has changed just a little since then!!

              Landon at 4 months..                                                                              Landon at 6!!       

I think we need one of these contraptions at our house!!

It's always fun to watch the reenactments...

A fun way to celebrate our sweet little birthday boy!!

We'll end this post with a little video of Nolan singing Happy Birthday to himself. We sure to love this little guy!!

Traveling Alone...

We left Colorado a day early so that we could spend the afternoon/evening exploring Salt Lake City before our Thursday morning plane trip back to Maryland. I'm not sure if traveling by myself with three kids while 6.5 months pregnant was the greatest idea I ever had, but we all survived and managed to have a good time!!

Our first stop was to Temple Square. All the kids loved the statue of Christ...

I had wanted to take them up to touch the Salt Lake Temple, but the temple happened to be closed that day (maybe for cleaning?) so then we headed over to the Church History Museum which I had heard great things about. It did not disappoint!!

Abby loved dancing around in these huge Latin American skirts...

Nolan spent most of his time in the "garden" and making me all kinds of yummy "meals"...

And Landon really loved the fishing poles!

Afterwards we spent the night in a hotel next to the airport so we would have an easy time leaving the next morning. Unfortunately the air conditioning in our room was wonky and the kids were a bit wired so sleep wasn't that great. We were all able to get a bit of rest on the airplane trip though and they all did fantastic on the trip home. After two weeks of traveling, it was nice to sleep in our own beds again, but it didn't last for long...round #3 of vacation was just around the corner!!!

Colorado Side Trip

After our reunion in Idaho, we made the 7-hour drive to Grand Junction to spend a few days with my family in Colorado. Jason spent the weekend with us until he left on Monday morning for a work trip so it was just me and the kiddos for a few extra days before we flew back home to Maryland. It was so fun to spend time with my parents and oldest sister, Tami.

No Colorado trip would be complete without some yummy cookie making (and eating of course!!)

We also celebrated this little man's birthday a few days early so Grandma and Grandpa could spoil him a bit...

My mom put Abby and Landon in charge of decorations and games for the birthday party and they did an awesomely creative job!!

We went from 30 degrees and snow in Idaho to 90+ degrees and sunshine in Colorado. We took advantage of the warm weather with several park days and swimming at the local pool.

Grandma let the kids raid her piggy bank full of quarters and ended up with $30 each!!! They LOVED having so much money to spend...

We were only there for four days, but we packed a bunch of fun activities in there while we could. Our goodbye was just for a short time since we would be seeing my parents again the following week in the Outer Banks.

Over the last seven years that we have lived out East, I always get a bit nostalgic and homesick when I visit the West and come home with a strong desire to live out there again. I have to admit that this was my first trip out West where I didn't have that feeling. I love visiting out West, but I really, really LOVE the East coast now and all that it has to offer. I guess it has just become home to me now!!

Call Family Idaho Reunion

We spent the first week of summer break in Idaho for the Call family reunion. We spent a few days in Idaho Falls at Jason's sister's house and got to see two new babies be blessed. The next day we headed north to Island Park and Yellowstone. Unfortunately the weather was pretty terrible the entire time we were there. It hailed, rained, and even snowed on us every day and we even endured a mini blizzard while we were watching Old Faithful erupt. Despite the crazy and cold weather, we still managed to have a good time!!

Abby and Landon had a great time with all of their Call cousins (there are actually 14 of them now, ranging in age from 6 weeks to 9 years...our little addition in September will make #15!)

Here is the whole clan...we were just missing one of Jason's sisters who had to stay back in Texas for school.

The weather finally stated to clear the day we left Island Park so we were able to enjoy a pretty nice day at the lake before we left Idaho. Unfortunately we forgot to bring our camera so these group pictures are all we have. (Notice all the winter coats being worn in the middle of June?!?!? It was soooooo cold!!)