New place, new museum

New state - new children's museum.  Each time we move to a different state there are a few things that we always find that seem to make it feel more like home (like Costco and a Children's Museum).

Tori, James and Ellie loved exploring the all the fun new things to play on.

We took our cousin Audrey (sitting on the left) when she and her family came to visit us.  Sorry I don't have more pictures.  I tend to struggle to keep track of all 3 kids these days and don't pull out the camera as much as I used to.

Uncle Ryan, Aunt Amber, Audrey and Meredith all came to visit us shortly after we moved in and we loved it!  Tori loves Audrey and they always get along wonderfully even after not seeing each other for awhile.  We were so glad they made the trip.

Trip to Biltmore

John and I got away for our first time for a few days in a very long time.  It was to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary (even though it happened back in December).  Since we had just moved across the country a couple weeks before we decided to keep it simple and go someplace close while my mom watched the kids.  We visited Biltmore, home of the Vanderbilts and one of the largest homes in America.  We toured the inside of the house, which was amazing but you are not allowed to take any pictures.  So, all our pictures are of the grounds, which are extensive and breathtaking. 

Below is the view from the back of the house.  It was such a pretty time of year to visit there and the weather wasn't too horribly hot for July in the south.

Above are some koi and lily ponds off the side of the front of the house.  Some of the lily pads were huge.  Below, are some of the beautiful flower gardens.

They also had several greenhouses growing all sorts of interesting plants - I wish I knew more about plants so I could tell you exactly what they had.

If you walk a ways in the grounds to come to a pretty pond with a special filtration system established by the Vanderbilts and a man-made waterfall.

It was a really fun trip and we loved just being able to get away together.  I can't wait to do something like it again. :)

Atlantic Ocean

 One of the things that the kids were very excited about with the move to the east coast was the beach.  They had a lot of fun at the beach in Oregon, but they were looking forward to a beach where it was actually warm enough to swim and they could find lots of fun seashells.  The first month we were in NC we took them to the beach when Grandma Katie came to visit.  It was very warm and very windy and the kids loved it!

 

 Below Ellie is pretty tired out after a windy afternoon at the beach.  We drove up in the morning went to the beach in the afternoon, stayed one night in our hotel and went to the beach again the next morning before heading home.  It was a quick trip, but very fun.

 

 Above Ellie found James' shoes and thinks she's all ready to go.  Below Tori and James are enjoying the hotel while waiting for us to get ready to go to the beach again.

 

James and Ellie loved the sand and Tori really had fun with the boogie board.  We had James ride it a little, but after his first spill he decided he liked sandcastles more.

More 4th of July

I found a few more pictures that Grandma had taken when she visited Oregon (above) and when we were in Utah for the 4th of July (below). 

 The kids had a lot of fun running around at this cool park near Grandma Katie's house, but their faces are all quite red since it was a very hot and sunny day.

 Ellie had to take a break to make some important phone calls with my phone.

 James has always been very drawn to anything that makes noise/music. :)

 Below are John and his mom trying not to melt in the shade.

4th of July

On our way from moving from OR to NC, we were able to stop in Utah for a few days and visit with family.  We had a ton of fun and the kids loved being with all their cousins.  We were there for the 4th of July and below are a few pictures.  We tried to keep it a little low key since we would be traveling again the next day.

What's better than going swimming with cousins, sipping pina coladas and then watching a few little fireworks?

Above Katie, Annie, Jane, Tori, Tess and James getting ready to watch some fireworks.  Below, John and his sister, Carol set off a few little fireworks.  Our kids thought they were pretty cool, since they are used to going to firework shows when we lived in Iowa, so they haven't really seen too many fireworks up close. 

Everyone loved the sparklers.  James was mesmerized by his, since he actually got to hold it all by himself.

 

 We also watched the fire burning in the mountains behind Grandma's house.  It was a pretty impressive sight, luckily I don't think any people or homes were hurt before they were able to put it out.  The kids got a kick out of seeing the airplanes and helicopters flying over it dumping water to put it out.

  Here is a very short video, the memory ran out on my camera while recording.