Marbles Museum Visit

Brock ASKED to take a picture of him driving the boat like Daddy and holding the "Green Fish" (aka Mahi)

We've been to Marbles before when we'd come to visit, but this was our first time back as North Carolina residents. Hard to believe we never made it once during our very long summer!

They both are at such a great age to really get a lot out of the museum. It's a great place and lots of things to do, but I just can't see purchasing the Annual Pass ($100/family or $5 per person) yet.

Their water exhibit is a bit lacking, in my opinion. This is usually Brock's favorite wherever we go (hello Aquarian), but he was begging to go upstairs to the ball area.

I made him stand over here to get a picture of all the North Carolina Lighthouses. :)

Cape Lookout, Cape Hatteras, Orcacoke, & Bodie

While Brock was on a mission to fill the piggy bank with balls..... Kade was walking the stuffed animal dogs (and getting very angry when it wouldn't stay upright).

Silly Kade!

You're supposed to build a vehicle and then race it down the track..... OR you can just use someone else's creation they left in the pit and race those..... whichever is easiest. ;)

They both were very in to gluing the buttons on their artwork.

I think I have a picture of Brock at a very similar age in a very similar pose.

So close!

We waited until the big boys vacated the "ice" hockey rink before my boys stepped in.

Here's a video showing the more competitive side of Brock and OCD Kade getting very angry that he couldn't hoard ALL the hockey pucks. Oh brothers.

Time to move on..... this is the electric exhibit. Brock tackles the activity like a JOB - the kids move the disks from one section to the other using tubing to show how electricity moves from place to place. Another favorite area.

Moving that body, get all your sillies out!!

Working those muscles like Daddy!

All smiles!

And one more picture for something I am super excited about!! We scored a Super Nintendo Classic! Now I get to play Super Mario Brothers, Mario Kart and Donkey Kong Country and introduce Brock to MY generation of games!

My new nephew Maddox Grayson!

Maddox Grayson Rosenfeld was born on August 23, 2017. Apparently it's a thing in our family to have shared birthdays!! He shares his birthday with Great-Uncle Bob and a 4 year old cousin in Connecticut! (But we know who's getting that calendar space now!)

We are so happy for Brian and Nancy.... and that we can now share all of our parenting joys and woes with you!

My mother was making the trek to Charlotte before me and opted for an easy ride on the train - Kade and I got to see her off at the train station!

That thing is loud when you're right next to it!

We got to FaceTime with Brian and Maddox when my mom arrived - time to switch to the iPhone Brian and Nancy!!

Finally on Saturday, I was released from my SAHM duties and headed to Charlotte to hold my nephew for the first time!

He's a keeper!!

Yup, nights with a newborn are rough! Love you Brian!! Glad I was able to help you guys out for one night routine!

And here's three more pictures of my boys because I think they are super cute! ;)

Brock was super proud of his creation!

Poor Kade is definitely getting his 2 year molars in!

First Day of School 2017

These two boys are off to preschool together!! Brock is going three days a week - Monday, Wednesday and Friday and Kade goes with him on Monday's and Wednesday's!

He's got his backpack on and he's ready to go.... back in the house!

Here's my big boy! Last year of preschool for this 44.75" giant! No more cute outfits - I'm done battling him - go ahead Brock and wear your gym shorts for your first day.

Photo op with their backpacks on and giving each other fist bumps!

 And Kade wanted to give me a fist bump!

How lucky we are that Daddy could come to drop off too! This is a really cute school - I had some reservations (I had enrolled them in the school before we even settled on our house!!!) because it was the "opposite way", but I think it's going to work out really well. It takes us less than 10 minutes to drive there and everyone is super nice. At 9AM when preschool starts, the loud church bells chime a pretty song - super cute!!

Kade was STOKED!!

And then we got to Kade's class and he realized we were leaving him there! Not so stoked.... crying and kicking his feet and the whole bit! Sorry buddy, kiss your cheek, say goodbye and hand you to the teacher!

Brock's drop-off was a breeze! We found his cubby and his name at a seat and he was off tracing his name.

What a big boy now!

And this is me for 2 days a week - I get THREE AND A HALF HOURS to do whatever I want!! But may not last for long.... part-time work is calling me!! ;)

Brent apparently forgot when I jump, I'll get taller. ;)

Last note, no tears upon pickup and I think they both really had fun. Brock really likes the fact that Kade gets to go to school too. After reading him a book later that evening, I asked him what his favorite part of the school day was. His response: "seeing Kade on the playground." AWWWWW! Hopefully he'll have some other fun parts eventually too when he makes his own friends, but I loved this brotherly moment.

Neighborhood Pool Party and a hike at Turtle Park

Our neighborhood is better than yours!! I'll say, we really lucked out picking this neighborhood - so many things about it was exactly what we were looking for! Every year, they end the pool season with a huge barbecue pot luck pool party, complete with a HUGE water slide!

Brock was in heaven!! Brock and I arrived at the pool early, so I was nominated to do the first 3 runs down the slide with Brock. After that, he was set to go ALL BY HIMSELF. He was definitely the youngest one on the slide that day.

He also didn't have much weight, so it didn't seem like he was going that fast once he got to the straight away.

An adorable movie really showcasing Brock's excitement! :)

He got lots more swimming practice in that day - perfect for swimming lessons the following day!

Floating

On our last "free day" before school started, we headed back to Crowder Park (Turtle Park) for some more playground time.

There's a little dirt path off the nice paved path and we decided to follow it! Totally a very short hike, but Brock loved pointing out all the things on the way!

We found a cool rock to climb on!

And then we found these three stacks of rocks sitting around a tree. I had just finished saying "Be careful, it will fall" and snapped the picture. That is the face of someone who touched the top of the pile and surprisingly, three rocks fell off. Oops! We put it back together before we left.

The boys found a little amphitheater and took turns doing a silly dance on stage while the other watched. Brock, of course, wouldn't let me take a picture.

We came out of the woods and took a little break on the rocking bench by the lake. The boys were very content rocking.....

...until Brock pointing out "Momma, what's that long fish right there??" Nope, wasn't a fish, that was a snake coming out of the water.  Snapped a picture for Brent and he confirmed it was a harmless corn snake.

We continued on our walk to the boardwalk to spot the turtles.

It was a really gorgeous day - not as oppressively hot as when we were there last taking professional pictures.

Lastly, a few pictures when Grandma came to visit. I think Mia was the only one looking right at me the whole time!