Topsail 2015

Our big trip this summer was a trek back to North Carolina to meet up with the entire Crane crew.  We left bright and early Saturday morning and traveled all day to get to Topsail Island.  Everyone traveled awesomely.  In fact, we had several people comment on what great travelers they all were as they passed us on their way out of the plane.  (We really lucked out that our long flight to Atlanta had monitors on the back of every seat equipped with free games and movies!)  We had some issues with our rental car so while Rich was inside dealing with the problems the kids and I hung out on the grass outside, ate a little snack and soaked in the humidity.

Alex thought this grass looked like bunny ears.  Silly boy!

Once our car situation was sorted out our first stop was Cook Out.  MMMmmm.  It was even better than I remembered!

We finally arrived at the beach house late Saturday night.

After unloading and giving hugs to everyone we took the boys on a quick walk down to the beach.  It was pretty dark so we only stayed long enough to let the ocean tickle our toes.

Sunday was Father's Day.  I knew it would be the hardest day to keep the kids busy since we decided not to play on the beach--but I came prepared!  The boys were all up really early so they decorated some Father's Day signs to hang up in the house.

Lydia was happy to be up and part of the action.

We also had a new fun game to play.  (It was a big hit all week long!)

In the afternoon we went to church.  The ward there is super friendly and I had a great chat with the bishop's wife during Sunday School (I was walking Lydia around).  She told me all sorts of stuff but I was so glad that she told me the story of how they were meeting in a Catholic Church (I was pretty confused at first!)

After church we had fun playing more games and hanging out with the cousins.

After dinner we ate some delicious pie from The Corner Sweet to celebrate all of the dads.  And then we headed down to the beach to take a big group picture.  I'm pretty sure that most everyone did not want to take this picture... but that was my one and only request of the entire week.  Daniela and I had some issues with our cameras fogging up everytime we walked outside.  It was super annoying.

Finally my camera unfogged.  One of the guys on the beach found this awesome crab and was showing us.

While we were waiting for everyone to come down I snapped a few candid shots.

We didn't get anything perfect... but everyone was in the same shot so I'll take it!!

And one of just the siblings.

By Monday morning the kids were itching to get in the water.  Every day we would spend hours down at the beach until lunch time.  After lunch we'd take it easy indoors and then head back out in the late afternoon or after dinner.  It was so much fun!  Lisa even let everyone bury her in the sand!

The kids (especially William and Ben) worked hard every day to build sand forts... only to have them be washed away when the tide came in.

The boogie boards and inner-tubes were a big hit with everyone as well.   We really had to keep an eye on the kids though because a few of them would get pushed so far down the beach!  It felt like someone was always having to run down and walk them back to where we were.

Rich and I would take turns staying up at the house when Lydia was napping... or with anyone else that was tired from running around in the sun.

When Lydia was up and ready to go to the beach she loved it!  She always loves the water and she liked the sand also!

The kids were constantly finding fun treasures on the shore.

I think most of the kids would have stayed on the beach all day long if we let them!

Lots of sand means lots of baths though...

A few mornings we woke up "early" and went on a walk to see if we could find any sand dollars.  We never found any... but Rich and Alex did find a jelly fish and we got to enjoy the quiet, beautiful beach.

Catie's family and Curtis had to leave Wednesday so we made sure to get a picture of all the cousins before they left.

Wednesday evening we were on the beach as a storm rolled in.  There were some pretty awesome clouds and lightening in the distance.  Kids in the water made me nervous so we didn't stay out for long.

We enjoyed watching the storm from the porch though.

Our afternoons looked a lot like this... hanging out in the house, watching shows, and snacking.

A few days we went into town.  We went to the movies and saw Inside Out one day.  Another day we checked out the Missile Museum.  It was small but we had a good time.

And before we knew it the week was over!  One last time on the beach.

After some goodbyes we off to Las Vegas again.  

I just loved these rockers in the airport--very southern.

Our flights went off without a hitch.  However, when we got back we had wait a long time for our shuttle (with tired, hungry boys).  And when we finally got to our car--it was dead!  It was so late we didn't want to bug anyone so instead we grabbed a few taxis to take us home. Luckily we had a nice big couch to rest some tired heads on.  It was after 2 am by the time we got home!

It was such a fun, memorable trip... but it felt great to get home!

Quick trip to California

Since Elise and her family were going to be in California for a few weeks I was persuaded to make the drive down to Brea to visit with her.  It was a very quick trip but totally worth it!  We drove down Thursday and met up with Elise near Corona (where I snagged some Miguels Jr.  yum!).  After we stretched our legs we drove out to Brea to stay at Grandpa's house for a few days.  The big entertainment was Grandpa's big chair and the exercise bike.

That evening we ordered some pizzas and hung out.  Elise and I, of course, stayed up way too late visiting with each other.

Friday morning we packed up a lunch and headed over to visit Grandpa over at Craig (aka Greatest Uncle Craig or Greatest Craig as he told the boys they could call him) and Connie's house.  It was nice to visit with him although I'm not sure he remembered who we were.  I introduced my kids to him again (the boys have met him a few different times).  When I got to Lydia and explained that her middle name was Marie he lit up.  It was about the only time he smiled while we were there.

Craig and his family had gone for the weekend but he had offered the use of his pool while we were there.  It was a chilly overcast morning but the boys still decided that they wanted to hop in for a bit.

William even gave Caden a little ride around the pool.

I just loved Craig's backyard.  So many pretty plants.

Henry was obsessed with the lemons (me too!).  I told him he could pick just one.  It smelled so good!

Later during the day we took some pictures. It was fun to think how many times I had posed in this same spot with my sisters.

And my cousins.

We took a walk over to Target to pick up a few things... but mostly to show the boys the awesome cart escalator.  (And Lydia had her first "big girl" ride in the cart.

We had a fun time playing outside--just the way my cousins and I used to.

And, after explaining to the boys about how we used to pick boysenberries and eat them, we found a few little survivors.

Friday night Elise and Austin had dinner with an oral surgeon so I got to watch their boys.  We ate the rest of our pizza and watched Big Hero 6.

And after the movie we had drumsticks in the backyard.  (Elise and I had earlier told them how we used to always check Grandma's big freezer for treats.)

While I put the little boys to bed I let William and James play outside.  They thought they were pretty cool getting to stay up a little later and play outside in the dark.

Vance was the last man standing... and he fell asleep mid-diaper change while I was texting Elise.

 Again, Elise and I stayed up so late talking!  But we had fun.  The next day I had to head back early so that William could attend a birthday party.  Before we left we had to take pictures...

The sisters with their babies.

 And the entire group!

 The trip was much too short but we sure had a good time visiting with Elise's family!