Butterflies and dinosaurs!

We were given two free tickets to the Museum of Life & Science in Durham from a friend.... only stipulation, we had two days to use them! Off we went to the museum on Sunday!

Museum opening at noon coupled with a 25 minute drive there meant Kade slept soundly for the first bit of roaming about. That was fine - we occupied ourselves inside for a few before heading to the good stuff outside!

Brock found a shady spot with a slide!

After a quick lunch, we went right to the butterfly enclosure. So sweet watching all the lovely butterflies over our heads - Kade liked it, but Brock has this love/hate relationship with bugs now. He's curious, but doesn't want them coming anywhere near him.

This fear of bugs meant we didn't stay too long in the butterfly zone.

Next stop - the dinosaur trail!

Whoa Kade - there's a big one right behind you!

Along the way, there's a dinosaur dig site filled with dirt that was trucked in from an area in Eastern North Carolina that is rich with marine fossils - specifically, a mine that used to be on the ocean floor! They don't contain any dinosaur fossils, but full of ancient sharks, fish, corals, and shells! (blurb taken from the website)  

This part was really cute - the boys loved digging in the ground.... in the very, very, hard ground. I showed Brock how to use the sifter and he did actually find a few shells!

By this time, it was hot outside.... this may have been the conversation with one little boy....

Brock: I have to get on, I'm too hot!
(He wanted to stand on the platform of the stroller)
Me: We moved to North Carolina and it's hot in North Carolina.
Brock: It's too hot here! Let's go back to Washington!!

Sorry kid, it's only going to get hotter, so brace yourself!

But..... I'm also with him..... Let's hurry and do all the fun outside activities now and then sit by the pool come June 1st! ;)

Brock, Daddy & Papa play Baseball!

Papa and Miss Phyllis came over to visit one evening and after dinner Brock asked if he could show them how he plays baseball. It's moments like this that remind us why we moved back to the area. :)

Brent played pitcher and my Dad was the catcher!

Sweet Kade kept walking in between everyone (and Diesel and Oscar) so they had to stop the play!

Brock did a little off the tee, then tried some pitched to him. When he started to get discouraged, he went back to the tee to help his confidence.

It definitely worked because when he went back to pitches, he did much better. Here's a cute video of Brock and the crew.

Good hits Brock! Good job fetching all those balls Papa! ;)

Outdoor Parks!

I've got a lot of learning to do! I feel so out of touch with the parks in this area! I know a few - big ones and a couple that are close to my mother's house, but other than that, I am at a loss! It was a gorgeous day, but hot (by our standards), so I opted for a park I knew had shade - Kids Together Park in Cary.

I actually ran in to an old high school friend at this park who confirmed - this is the go-to park in the heat of the summer because of all the cover! She also said she prefers the Cary parks because they don't cut down all the surrounding trees like Apex.... or probably any new parks.

This one has a really nice SOFT sand area. Brock insisted on shoes off while he navigated his digger!

Funny Brock - he loved this slide!

On Saturday April 22nd, Brent was asked by one of his former professors to speak to the current MBA class about what he learned after receiving his MBA at NC State in 2010.  His advice was all about networking.  He talked about how he interviews people constantly and the MBA usually gives you a shared experience to leverage when you are job seeking.  Stay in School!!!

Anyway, since he was in Raleigh, we decided to explore Pullen Park while we waited for Brent to meet us.

This is an obligatory Pullen Park train selfie! Our family rode the train together and now we can call ourselves, officially, Wake County Resident Parents!

The boys loved the train ride!! I even tried to put Kade on my lap so he can see better, but he was adamant about sitting in his own seat.

It was a full day for the rides - every spot was filled on the boats too!

We even got the family on the Carousel! Kade was all about riding on the horse....

....but Brock specifically wanted to ride the lion even though it wasn't a moving one.

We stopped over and said hello to Andy and Opie (Andy Griffith & Ron Howard). This bronze statue, dedicated October 2003, still looks pretty good even though it continues to be vandalized. (Opie was missing half of his fishing pole)

Brock did not like the sun in his eyes!

Finally, we visited a new (to us) park! This is Crowder Park in Apex. This is an older park (yay trees!), but playground was recently renovated.

Things to hit and make loud noises!!

We love nature trails.... that are flat! Nature trails in Washington are a bit too steep in my opinion... ;)

Cheesing for the camera!

Kade likes to swing these days!

Crowder Park is apparently home to LOTS of turtles in the pond and the boardwalk makes a great observation point!

Bye bye turtles - we will see you again soon!

Easter 2017

Before church on Easter morning, we stopped in the front for some Easter photo ops. We have a west-facing home and get the morning sun in the back by the kitchen windows - why it looks a little dark. It was a gorgeous day though! (It's been awhile since we were actually able to wear shorts/dresses to church on Easter Sunday without freezing!!)

I love this shot of Kade - he just looks like he's up to something!

This was our first Sunday trying out the local Episcopal church. It was PACKED! Good thing we got there early so we could actually sit in a pew and not on a folding metal chair. The church service was nice, a little long on the homily for Easter Sunday (and also the day they were confirming 12 middle schoolers).... so it ran a bit late.

After picking up Kade from the nursery, we were ready for an Egg Hunt at the church! Yup, they were having designated egg hunts for each age group between the two church services! Kade's group went first and I think Brock enjoyed cheering him on! (This was Kade's FIRST hunt!)

He didn't quite know what to do in the beginning... he just walked around pointing at all the eggs!

Okay, now he gets it!

Brock was in the next group - 4 year olds through first graders! The youngest in the age group - not a problem! He was on it!

He was NOT shy about finding those eggs in a hurry!

Surprise! When we returned home.... the Easter Bunny had come to our house too! Here's a 4 minute video of our Easter Egg Hunt in our beautiful green backyard!

I love little Kade's face getting his eggs!

Happy boys looking through the bounty!

Grandma, Uncle David and Mia came over later that afternoon with more Easter Baskets for the boys and to join us for dinner.

The boys also got some cool housewarming presents from Uncle David & Grandma - two outdoor chairs for their deck!

A very full Easter day filled with lots of fun and family!

Also..... 24 hours after this picture was taken, all the plastic eggs were rounded up and put away. Brock and Kade were having multiple easter egg hunts of their own or hiding other toys inside the plastic easter eggs for quite awhile now! I will be very happy not to see another plastic egg in my home for another 11 months. See you later Easter Bunny! :)