cousin time!

We hung out with cousins today, and then went to Grandma Holder's for dinner (no pictures)

"Mom, can you stop goofing off?!?!?" (to me this picture says "I am going to be a teenager soon!")


"I'm hiding..."



I am not sure who she is trying to be here, any guesses???

"Aunt Tammy, I am spider woman!"


You can't see me in my pink heart camoflauge!



I love holding my baby cousin Matthew!

We had a mini vacation with the kids and grandma Holder. We went to Busch Gardens. I didn't want to carry my camera around all day, so the pictures are very poor quality from my camera phone

Greg is pretty low key and enjoyed the calm rides, the train ride, the boat ride, the kiddie rides, things without to much excitement. He liked a few of the 4d shows. On the river rapids he asked over and over how big the drop was going to be...after the ride was done he realized the drop was not big and so decided he wanted to go back on that ride with daddy. (He and daddy were constant companions for the day) Here he is on his favorite ride of the day, the train going around the park...(we were in the caboose)



Melissa and Shawn on the "Loch Ness Monster" ride. My four older kids have always loved roller coasters, they take after their dare devil mother! We had a few very dissapointed kids when they were just a few inches to small to ride some of the biggest rides.

The kids waiting to see Grandma Holder and Forestte scream as they come down the steep drop on the "griffon"...


The kids playing in the "dragon land" play area...they are "hatching" from dinosaur eggs...

He we are at the beginning of the day with Grandma Holder, Ian, Forestte and Brennen.

Bedtime

I love when my kids are awake, but I have always enjoyed looking at them when they sleep, their little personalities show even in the way they choose to sleep...


Greg sleeping with Squakers McCaw , the lion, a train tunnel and a box car...

David sleeping ON his basketball and football pillows....

Melissa sleeping with her unraveling, tied together in knots, 8 year old blankie! (she, like her dad, refuses to get a new blankie)

Alex sleeping on the floor right next to Shawn's bed...I was impressed Shawn was actually sleeping on the bed, usually he and Alex are together on the floor...

The Beach

Shawn loved being in the water , and loves the beach! He spent every moment possible in the water. Sadly he got sick on thursday and didn't feel well enough to go back in the water.....

Greg loves the beach! He would wear his life vest and go back and forth between the water and the sand...

David was in the water almost as much as his brothers...he catches waves as well as anyone! Hurricane Bertha was in the Atlantic and surfers came out in droves to catch big waves, David watched them carefully and then began trying to stand on his boogie board! I have a feeling we will be getting surf boards in the next few years...

Alex loves the ocean! He boogie boards and swims and plays non stop! One day his game was to sit down and wait for the waves to wash over him, several strong waves ended up throwing him around..after a few hours I guess he was sick of being thrown around, so he buried himself in one spot and sat there allowing wave after wave to wash over him...

Melissa usually just played in the sand with her cousins..she occassionally got into the water, but not very often.

Dale and Alex boogie boarding...

I love to go on walks with the kids, and when we are at the beach we not only enjoy walks on the beach, but we enjoy other interesting things. Near where we stay is a pond with lots and lots of turtles...as soon as you walk up to the pond they come to the edge in hopes of some bread crumbs...Grandpa loves critters and reached right out and got a turtle so the kids could have a closer look...

The turtle pond is on the road which takes you to the Cape Hatteras light house. I enjoyed two morning runs to the light house. One day Dale and I and the kids climbed the 257 steps to the top of the lighthouse. It is a tight climb and you have to be 42 inches tall to climb. (Last year Greg barely made the cut off) Once at the top you have a view of the Island and the beach. It is breezey and beautiful at the top.

In 1999 beach errosion threatened the light house so it was moved further inland. Here is a picture of the original foundation of the Light House.

Here is the view from the top...The picture is not mine, (I forgot my camera the day we went to the light house!) The clearing shows the path that the Light House was moved.

That time of Year

It's the time of year where the kids are out of school and everyday seems to bring a new adventure. this is where my life transforms from "day to day" to a "Daze" ...Here is a photo journal of last week...



Monday, my friend Karena and her kids, Eli and Dayle, came to stay for a few days...this is picture of one of Alex's castles made from books..(yes, like every other mom out there when I first found out that I was pregnant I started collecting books for my future genius, and Shawn read every one of them and still devours books, but to Alex the books have always been great for building stuff, he builds castles and towers and cities out of them...I think his structures are incredible) anyway, while Karena was here, one game that Shawn and Alex came up with was building book towers so Eli could knock them down...

Eli beginning the knocking down process...

They were here until Thursday, then it was packing time and on Friday morning My sister Tracey and I borrowed one of Dale's work vans, packed ourselves and 9 children (my 5, Tracey's 3 and my neice Ciara, pictured on the right in this photo) into the van and headed to New Hampshire for a weekend of events.

We met up with my other siblings and their kids at the Hotel...this was a few of the kids watching T.V. in the room when we first arrived..That night we all had a fun gathering with my aunts and uncles and cousins at my aunts house in Keene, New Hampshire

Saturday we went to my brother's wedding...the weather was absolutely perfect for the ceremony...

My siblings;Matt, Tracey, Brandon, Bride(Therese) and Groom (my brother, Will) Deanna (My sister Katy and Sherry are both missing)

All the kids surrounding uncle Will at his wedding

after a few hours the weather took a turn for the worse and began pouring down rain, but that did not stop us from having a great time...! (yes, those are the table coverings being used as a tarp for the kids!)

The groom even decided to "slip n slide" on the wet grass with the kids!

I probably should have gotten my family photo taken before the rain and the grass "slip n slide" came!

Sunday we had a family reunion on my mother's side. My Grandmother celebrated her 80th birthday at the reunion, and she was such a great sport about wearing her hat the whole time! I can't do an accurate count, but she has 10 children, (9 were in attendance!) Something like 40 grandchildren, and she is well above 40 great-grandchildren. My grandmother made life possible for, somewhere in the range of ,100 people! How incredible is that!? I am proud to be part of the wonderful family that she is the matriarch of...

We took the kids swimming in the lake. In between lifeguarding kids, I enjoyed the beautiful scenery that New Hampshire has to offer.

We had a little better luck getting a family photo at the reunion...

We finished the weekend off by watching the Orioles lose to the Royals in 12 innings...the Orioles beat the Royals tonight to make up for it.

The kids who made it all the way through the 12 inning game! My sister and her kids are staying with us for a few days, and we have nothing planned except hanging out by the pool and relaxing!!