Snow Family Reunion

It seems like June was completely dominated by our trip to the beach. Nana's side of the family, the Snows, had a reunion in Atlantic Beach over the weekend of the 12th. We caravaned down with Bebe and Pop pop, stopping at the outlets in Smithfield for new Crocs, Cars Jibbitz for Hudson and princess Jibbitz for Alden. Of course, when you are in Smithfield, you must eat at Smithfield BBQ.

We got to the hotel and had about an hour for the kids to get in the pool before we went to a cookout at my dad's cousin Glenn's house. He and his wife, Connie, just built this great house a couple years ago, right on the sound. It was a lovely location, and they put on quite a BBQ for everyone. BBQ twice in one day...does it get better? Alden was a little leary about seeing the whole pig on the smoker, though.

Everyone had a great time visiting, playing cornhole, and running around the yard. Glenn pulled up some of his crab traps, and the kids got to see some crabs, shrimp, and fish, and Cousin Ron kindly instructed us on differentiating between male and female crabs.

The next morning, we had breakfast at the hotel and went to the beach. Our animal adventures continued when we found a pretty big hermit crab just hanging out in the shallow water. Both of the kids were so excited about the ocean, and they had a great time out in the "deep waves" with us. Vickie and her boys came out for a while, and my cousin Lori and her son and daughter. Alden and Kate had fun running around together. The last time we had seen them, they were not even one yet!

We had a little bit of time at the pool, and we all tried to take naps. Alden and Hudson sharing a bed didn't quite work out as planned. Alden and I ended up together and Hudson and Matt bunked up.

The kids were enthralled with the golf course outside the hotel...and the geese in the pond. Glenn and Connie had arranged for all of us to have dinner at a restaurant on the sound, which was a perfect place. There was a lawn outside for the kids to run around, and a dock they could walk on and look at the boats. The food was outstanding, and the pastry chef had made us a fantastic cake for the occasion.

Sunday morning, we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and some good visiting time with Nana, Kitty Scott and Dickie before packing up and going to the aquarium. Alden had been excited about going FOREVER. Basically since she knew what a shark was and that there were some in the aquarium. We spent the morning at the aquarium with Dillon, Vickie and Mario. Hudson decided that Dillon was his new best friend and would not let him out of his sight. Dillon and Matt had a great time goofing around and checking out all the creatures. Hudson was really brave and wanted to touch the rays and skates, and horseshoe crabs in the tanks. Alden was a little more cautious and preferred to climb on the gigantic frogs. Both kids enjoyed seeing the sharks and otters.

Do crabs have passys?
Hudson enjoyed playing a game with Vickie's glasses.From the aquarium, we left the beach and stopped for lunch at McDonalds (or "Old McDonalds" as Alden calls it) and headed south to Ocean Isle Beach where we were going to spend the next week with my parents and sisters. Luckily, both kids slept most of the way.

"Preschool Bible School"

The week after the beach was vacation bible school, or as Alden calls it, "preschool Bible school", at our church. Matt had been recruited to help with program, so our kids were able to attend the for-kids-of-volunteers-only-preschool class. The theme of the week was High Sea Adventure and Matt (Wag) and his friend Ed (Scally) were pirates-in-training, trying to steal the treasure map from some sailors.

I have to give props to our church for the great program they do, down to the incredible ship they had built at the front of the sanctuary. The little kids got to go in for the first part of the group session to see the skit and to sing songs. Word is, that Hudson did not like the ship. Alden was not impressed with Matt's starring role, either. I think she said 50 times a day, "I don't want Daddy to be a pirate."

Despite the ups and downs, everyone had a great time. The kids are still singing and dancing to the songs, and are glad that Matt and Ed decided to leave their life of piracy and become virtuous sailors.

From my perspective, VBS was great. Although I worked Tuesday and Wednesday, I had three morning ALL TO MYSELF!!!! I made it to the barn a couple times and enjoyed some Y time. Love it. Just a small taste of the two mornings a week I will be enjoying when the kids are in preschool this fall...

Hudson Swims!

Alden started swim lessons last week. She is doing great, learning to swim without the noodle or the float. Hudson and I have been tagging along, and Tuesday, we bee-bopped around in the baby pool while Alden did her lesson. Now, Hudson will put his face in while he is in the tub, doesn't mind water in his face, blows bubbles, and splashes like a crazy man, but he mostly just walks around the pool...usually clutching as many toys as he can. Especially, the yellow dump truck that lives at the Y. He is easily a head and a half above the water, which is a big change...last summer, he was about right at mouth level. So, Tuesday, he was walking around, and every now and then, he would topple over, and I would pull him up again. The lifeguard was about to have an anxiety attack, and was hopping out of his chair every few minutes, ready to jump in and save Hudson at a moment's notice. I think he thought I was being a little negligent letting him go under.

But, here's what I think about that...if you let your kids go under and cheer and are excited when you pull them back up, they will think it is cool to go under. If you are uptight and freak out, like the lifeguard, you will make them scared. That's just my opinion...and I was a lifeguard for a few years, for what its worth.

So back to Hudson...

Anyways, Wednesday, there was a huge thunderstorm that occurred in the exact window of time as Alden's lesson. Huge disappointment. We went back Thursday, and the kids and I stayed a while since Matt was working. Towards the end of our time, Hudson just decides to put his whole head in. Then, he goes under, holds his breath, and just stays there a second or two before I pull him up. Friday, he started doing it some more, and since Matt was with us, he spent a ton of time going back and forth between us. He figured out how to kick a little bit, but it is more like a frog kick than a flutter kick. Literally, for 15 minutes straight, he would throw himself down, face first and try to make as much forward progress as he could before we would assume he had held his breath long enough and pull him up.

Sunday, we went back and even before I got down the steps behind him, he is face first, crazy man in the pool. He also started jumping in, which he has not wanted to do. He watched Alden a couple times, and tentatively, put his toes on the edge. He had to hold someone's hands at first, but before long, he was tossing his rubber ducks in - the "Mommy" and the "Daddy" - and jumping in after them. He also figured out how to get his feet back underneath him and stand up after his little "swims".

And to think that last week at this time, we weren't sure if he was going to like the water. Whoa.

And because I feel like I just talked about Hudson too much, last week was Alden's last gymnastics for the month. We are taking June off since we will be at the beach, she had swimming, etc. Last Monday, we showed up, and apparently, even though it was May 31st, it actually counted as the first Monday in June. The wonderful gymnastics people, said, no prob, let her stay! It ended up being a really fun time; there were only 3 kids in her class since it was Memorial Day, and they got to do a lot of fun stuff. Hudson even entertained himself better than he ever had before.

We had dinner that night with Bebe and Pop pop, and cooked out burgers for Memorial Day. Matt had to leave early for work, so the kids and I ran some errands afterwards.

There is also a new post dated April 13th from Matt's birthday weekend extravaganza. I am on a roll.

There is also a new post date April 13th that summarizes our Easter celebrations. Hey, at least I started it on time :) It only took two months to complete.

There is a new post date May 20th of Alden's Purple Bear Picnic. Check it out.

The Zoo!

Last Friday we made a trip to the NC Zoo in Asheboro for Alden's 4th birthday. We had thrown around the idea of having a birthday party, and came to the conclusion that Alden would probably end up in time-out for most the her party. She just cannot handle a lot of kids (more than 1) to play with.

As if there was any question about the kids liking it or not, before we were even in the zoo, Alden saw a picture of a puffin and starts jumping up and down and pointing, "Mommy, Mommy, that's a puffin like in my book, Along the Rocky Shore!"

We started in the North America side...saw the otters The sleepy polar bearThe bald eagleAmber and Hudson explored the polar bear caveThere was a kids' area where the kids tried on tails. Hudson really liked his. Alden was being a veterinarian to the stuffed zebra and giraffe.They have a really fun playground area that we stopped at briefly, but it was pretty busy with elementary school field trip groups. Alden rode the wild praying mantis.Hudson did the leaf slide.Alden saw a giant cargo-net-spider-web that she was dying to go on, and reminded us of that about every 2 minutes after we left the play area. We saw the bison, alligators, and the mountain lions, one of which was sleeping right by the glass. There are only a couple things that I am really scared of, and in the top three are lightning and mountain lions. This one did look really cute and cuddly, and not much bigger than Lily...I guess until it was sneaking up behind you and pouncing you.
I don't really know what to say about this turtle except that at first we thought he was fake. I didn't even know turtles could DO that with their legs. He must do yoga.I don't know what to say about this one either. Let's give them the benefit of the doubt and suppose that they are doing a snake impression?Hudson's best friend is now Mr. Reg. Reg even trumped Bebe a couple times during the day, which is completely unheard of. After North America, we had a picnic under the trees in the parking area, let the kids refuel and run around some more, and headed back to the Africa side. It was definitely HOT by that point, and I wasn't sure how the kids would do, but they persevered. Maybe it was the giant bags of cotton candy that they ate...10 minutes after Alden was "so full" and could not possibly eat the rest of her sandwich.Don't get the wrong idea. He's not offering to share it with you. Just try to take some of the cotton candy out of his bag.We saw the giraffes...And the elephants.They weren't really that big...as Matt so kindly demonstrates.And we were starting to melt down a little bit here...but, you can't pass up a photo op on the little bronze elephant baby.Bebe and Pop pop check out the ostriches.And, I have to include this picture of some old helicopter. This was one of Matt's favorite parts, and darn those elementary school kids who were climbing all over it and not letting him have a turn in the cockpit.Sitting in the ostrich egg.We must have watched the baboons for 10 minutes. There is a lot of drama going on with them."Hello, little girl...this is what it looks like to have nursed lots of baby baboons."Finally, we made it to the final destination. The carousel. I think they each rode three times. It is a really cool carousel, with all kinds of animals."Hi, Bebe and Pop pop!"And we took in the Dora and Diego 4D adventure a couple times. I wasn't sure what Hudson would think but he just kicked back with his glasses on and loved it.After that, we stood in line for the bus/tram to take us back to the entrance. Alden HAD to ride the tram (she thought it was a train), so Bebe and I waited an extra few minutes with her, while everyone else piled on the shuttle bus. It was her birthday, after all.

The kids crashed in the car before we were out of the parking lot and slept almost all the way home. Matt had to work that night, and boy, was he lucky he did. I think at one point, both kids were crying for about 30 minutes straight. AHHHH! But, I know they were exhausted. We paid for it on Saturday, too, with a lot more whining and crying. Still, it was worth it. It did make me think that we need a few more years under our belt if we are going to try Disney. One day at the zoo was plenty.