House Hunting Trip to NC - Part II

Before bedtime with tablets at Grandma's - I'm such a good mom! ;)

Finally got Mia in the bathtub with the boys on this trip! I think they all loved it! Mia loves the water - at one point, she just sat down! Kade doesn't get this experience at home with his big doggies!

Uncle David came in one day to visit as well! Thank you Uncle David for helping watch the boys while I ran out to look at a new house listing!!

Kade dabbled in his creative side with some crayons in Grandma's dining room.....  (one of FIVE spots he colored).... Thank goodness for magic erasers!

On Saturday night, we headed up to North Raleigh for dinner at Papa's & Miss Phyllis' home. Their home is NOT quite baby-proofed! Papa brought out his guitar and the boys were very curious!

Poor Papa tried to sing a song to Brock, but Brock was in one of his moods..... didn't quite like the attention. Alas, I still managed to get a short video of Brock strumming.

Sunday afternoon, Grandma got her second wind and decided we'd traverse to the big city of Raleigh and tour a museum! Such a beautiful day!

North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences was a bit different than the Museum of Life and Science in Durham Brock was expecting - he wanted to go see the butterflies - next time Brock!

Kade pointing to the birds

I'm posting this picture to show how "helpful" Kade was in allowing me to get a picture of big brother - he kept escaping the room because he learned how to open the door!!

No Brock, these dinosaurs don't talk - you're good. ;)

What a photographer! My big one took this photo of me!!

Grandma and Brock walking hand in hand leaving the museum in front of the NC General Assembly building.

Later that night the kids and I were invited to a Superbowl gathering at Helen and Joe's house! So perfect to let the boys blow off some steam running around with Jake and Jennifer's kids too! I'm so glad they play so nicely together! And Kade totally followed Lucas and mastered those basement stairs like a champ! Looking forward to more impromptu gatherings like these!! :)

Also that night about 2,350 miles away, snow was rapidly falling in Renton, Washington! When it stopped mid-day the next day, 7 inches had accumulated and we decided we were not attempting to fly stand-by in all that mess.

Forecast predicted a high of 68 that day in Raleigh, so we felt we made the right decision. Time for the playground! .....and a preview of what my summer is going to look like. Kade and Brock do not want to do the same thing at the playground - nor will Kade listen to me when I tell him to not run away. Ahhhh! He was a lot slower last summer at the playgrounds!!

This is why moms wear yoga pants all day - because we are constantly working out running after our children!

But they look so cute and they were so happy playing!

Time for another amazingly cooked meal by Grandma!

Yummy baked ziti

 And here's two pictures I happened upon when flipping through old photo albums at my mother's house.

Uncle "Bob" - Robert Topar (my mother's oldest sibling) - I see a bit of Brock there

My Grandmother Grace Topar - an amazing woman :)

Then it was off on American Airlines again - short flight back to Charlotte, then a much longer flight, with unnecessary drama, to Seattle.

Good thing these boys are cute.... that was a long flight. :)

And in case you were wondering, no house yet. Nothing met all our requirements and I'm being a little more picky this time. Thank you to all the people who watched the boys while I did my house research in the area! My Dad took the day off and babysat them one day, Uncle David watched them as well and my mom did A LOT - especially one week before having knee surgery! Thank you!!

House Hunting Trip to NC - Part I

The day before we left, the house officially listed on MLS. It was bittersweet to watch the guy dig the hole for our sign.

Then the three of us endured a lovely 5.5 hour flight to Charlotte! Brock was a little confused when I told him last minute we were actually going to visit Brian and Nancy for a few days after I kept telling him we were going to see Grandma! (We've been using Brian and Nancy's chest freezer to hold some of the beef from the cow we bought - transporting 40+ pounds when we came this time!)

The boys mostly did well on the plane - it's nice that Kade is "old enough" to play with his own tablet - but it doesn't occupy him nearly as long as his brother!

Fascinated with the seatbelts!

 He kept the headphones on for about 2 minutes - we need kid-sized ones!!

It's tough traveling from Seattle - especially a late night flight - I don't think anyone went to bed earlier than midnight that first night (except Nancy)! ;) But then the next day, the boys were ready to play with Riley outside!

Brian is incognito with his black jacket in the background..... picking up dog poop

Brock and Kade couldn't wait to practice their foosball skills! Brian & Nancy's house work out perfectly with the storage seat by the window making a great place for the boys to stand tall and turn the knobs!

Brock and Kade loved hanging out with Uncle Brian - especially showing him how much they love to push buttons!

Quiet time one night when one of the children had gone to bed - what a difference that makes!

I think Chase (cat) and Riley (dog) enjoyed the boys' company. They definitely are really good with children - good practice too because a little one is coming to their home August 2017!! :) Congrats you two!!

Kade trying to give Chase a hug

       

Poor Chase - no where was safe!

 I figured the easiest way to get us from Charlotte to Raleigh was renting a car (among other reasons) - so off we went on a 2 1/2 hour car ride. Let me tell you - traveling during naptime with Kade buckled in his car seat was THE BEST THING EVER! Traveling that day was the easiest thing I did and the most relaxing! Brock played with his tablet and talked to me a bit - he asked me why the trees were so skinny??!?? :)

Finally we made it to Grandma's! Lots more to play with at Grandma's house!!

The weather was quite cold when we arrived in Charlotte (no different than back home), but it was getting a bit warmer as the days went on (yay for crazy North Carolina weather).

The boys and I enjoyed our walks on the nature trail right near my mother's home. I "forgot" there are two little ponds along the path and they don't fence them in like they do here! (the ponds near our home are storm retaining ponds that are required by city law to be fenced) Kade was especially curious about getting near the water.

Moving right along, away from the water.....

Sure! Go climb on those instead! ;)

We had our fair share of gourmet eats while visiting - Cracker Barrel!! :) Thank goodness we visited on a Tuesday night so there were not many customers dining with my children. They are so well-behaved!

Brock has discovered his love for biscuits!

They definitely had lots of fun down Grandma's shared driveway! It was just steep enough to provide lots of entertainment! (Thank you to the nice neighbor who let Kade borrow his Grandson's ride-on scooter so he could be like big brother!)

 Here's a cute video of Brock and Kade tackling that hill!

Oh, and there were some house hunts going on too.... lots of driving around Wake County - Apex to Holly Springs to Cary to Wake Forest then back to Holly Springs! I had a lot of fun, but it was also really exhausting!!

Happy 4th Birthday Brock!!

To start out Brock's birthday weekend, we all went out to The Rock Pizza for dinner Friday night. They hand out pizza dough for the kids to play with while they wait for their meal - just like playing with play-dough AND they can eat it!

Kade surprisingly was not feeling this - but he loves play-dough. Brock had fun and asked to play with it again the following day!

Saturday was the official birthday day and even though he asked if we were going to Chuck E. Cheese (last year's party), he said this one was better when we asked him later! Brock had such a wonderful time at Art Class last year, when we heard Miss Kelly does birthday parties, we knew this would be the perfect winter birthday party with a Star Wars theme!!

We made jet packs!!!

Two 2-liter plastic soda bottles taped together, decorated with colorful tape, filled with jet fuel (cotton balls) and jet magic (glitter confetti), complete with rocket booster "fire" (streamers)!!

Even Brent found his creative side when he helped Kade make his own jet pack!

Brock had a very specific group of friends he was inviting - Zoe, Elijah, and Kanoa and three friends from school - Ian, Jacob, and Tyson, and a very special cousin, Ara!

Zoe making a purple jet pack!

The boys showing off their finished products!

 Super happy smiles!

Then it was time for cupcakes! Star Wars themed! Guess which one Brock chose.

Darth Vader!!!

Ara came just at the right time for cupcakes! (Nap time sometimes totally gets in the way of fun things!)

Get that cupcake Kade!!

It was such a pretty day for Brock's birthday - the kids actually went outside and played on the playground at Kennydale Park! Worked out great to get some of those sillies out!

We came home and Brock couldn't wait to open up his presents and cards!

Thank you to so many people who helped Brock celebrate turning FOUR! It was exciting for all of us to count down the days to Brock's birthday and it turned out to be a really great day! Awesome January weather, party with no hiccups (and no one canceling for sickness!), happy smiles, and steak dinner for everyone!

Brock does not like to be the center of attention and did not let anyone sing Happy Birthday to him all day - not before, not during the party, and not at dinner time. Finally, after a nice bedtime story and the lights were turned off as I was tucking him into bed, I asked Brock one more time. "Can Momma sing you happy birthday now?" He nodded his head and quietly said yes. To end a wonderful day, I got to sing to my birthday boy. :)