Trip to Tennessee

 Ty & Rori

 Captain Luke!

 Lily & Luke

 Wilson jumping in the lake!

 Luke's jump!

 Working on my tan. Don't worry- I jumped in several times too!

 Wilson at the pool.

 Ty watching from the sidelines but NOT missing out on the action!

 Wilson & Sarah Beth. He loves his baby cousins!

The SCARY tree house. Craziness! I made it half way up and came down to wait for the others. Yikes!

More Spring Break :)

It's so hard to see the week coming to an end. It has been wonderful! We have stayed busy around here that is for sure. Thursday was appointment day. Luke had his eye exam for school and Andy and I had a dentist appointment. We went and got frozen yogurt that night with several of the youth kids from CCY. A new froyo just opened near us and I tried pineapple/coconut twist. Not something I would usually pick but it was DELICIOUS!! I want to go back! Friday we took a picnic to the park and hung out for a couple of hours. The day was beautiful. Andy and I read while the kids ran around - it's a small park so there were only a few other people there. Ty came back every few minutes to eat cheez*its. It was funny! Later we started working in the garage and took a load of stuff to Good*will. Today we worked more in the garage this morning. We're making progress! A load to the dump and another load to good*will today and we can see the floor. Lots of organizing still to be done. I've gotten to spend a lot of time in the kitchen this week. The new recipes I have tried: - scones (1/2 blueberry and 1/2 plain for the man and boys in my life) - creamy mac & cheese - it was yummy. of course the rest of my family didn't like it - it's just a classic homemade mac & cheese...I used whole grain pasta but that was the only change to the recipe. This took a long time to make and since my family prefers less creamy mac and cheese I'll be using the boxed kind again... -spring green risotto- my first risotto ever. I've wanted to make one for a long time. It was delicious. It has asparagus, leeks, peas, & chives. I knew no one else would eat it so of course there are a ton of leftovers. It was really good though. It is creamy due to a little cream cheese (or mascarpone) and parmesan cheese. Plus a lemon flavor - perfect for spring! It makes a lot and it a little pricey with all of the ingredients. I definitely want to try more risottos. - dijon vinaigrette - this is a link to a salad with mushrooms. I just made the dressing. It was good. I only used 1/4 cup red wine vinegar and it was plenty tart for me. - smoothies- yum! So many seeds though. That was my only regret. Next time no raspberries or blackberries for me. It really tasted great I just didn't like the seeds! I just bought a mixed bag of frozen berries- raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, and blueberries. Also used a banana and frozen fresh pineapple like the recipe suggests. The boys weren't interested in even trying these. Andy had a pineapple/banana, blueberry. It was ok. That's all. I read several cooking blogs even though these are all linked to the same one. Annie's Eats is definitely my favorite site for finding new recipes!

Spring Break!

We are having a lovely spring break so far. It is so nice just being home with my family and taking it easy. * Wilson, Luke, and I went to the movies to see Gnomeo & Juliet in 3D- it was really cute. * The boys have played outside quite a bit with neighbors. * I took the boys shopping for some new spring/summer clothing. Wilson got a lamp for his nightstand- a fireman themed lamp wtih a hydrant, hose combo. Really cute. Luke got new tennis shoes for his basketball class to replace his green chucks. They weren't so good for basketball and he needed bigger shoes! * We all went swimming at the Y today which the boys LOVED! Andy had to coax Ty into the pool but by the end of our time there he was loving the water! * Last night we went to the 1/2 price bookstore to sell and buy a few books. Wilson read in the car on the way home. I told him he could read for 10 minutes before turning out his light. Andy found him reading 25 minutes later. Even after we turned out his light I caught him reading again. Stinker. I love that he was reading though. Early bedtime tonight! * We're waiting for our new froyo to open near our house. Then we have plans to stop there! * We plan to enjoy the second 1/2 of this fabulous week! I have about 5 new recipes I plan on trying this week. I'll share any good ones with you. I'm watching Friends Season 5 with Andy, reading Little Bee, and loving my boys. Vacation rocks. :)

Eighteen...

Here is a pic of the Mac Clan...all 18 of us hiking in Gatlinburg last week!
18 and counting! Katie is getting married next June.

Back from TN

Earlier this week we took a trip with Andy's side of the family to Tennessee. We stayed in Sevierville, close to Gatlinburg. There are 18 of us altogether! 9 kids and 9 adults. We had a great time! Here are some highlights from the trip...
* Father's Day dinner @ Texas Roadhouse to celebrate the 4 dads!
* Swimming
* Shopping with my SIL's and MIL - always fun!
* Watching my boys be excited about gokarts
* putt putt golf
* hiking
* apple fritters from The Apple Barn

It was a fun trip! We had lots of time to hang out and be together. It was great! Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures!

OBX -'09

Last night in Rodanthe, NC

Fun with the boogie board

Surfer Dudes

Loves his new water shooter!

Getting very brave in the pool!

Lounging at the Pool

Cool sand art we saw at Kitty Hawk.

Ty's first time at the beach!

Walking up to see the beach after a LONG drive!

Wow, what a great week at the beach! We went to Rodanthe, NC with my family. We had a nice, relaxing week. We would usually spend the morning at the beach, the afternoon at the pool, and just hang out and relax in the evening. We went to Pea Island Nature Conservatory, had a date night with Cara and Jason, went out for seafood on our last night, did a little shopping, relaxed in the hot tub, and just had fun! We also had a bonfire on the beach one night. That was cool. The sand dunes at Jockey Ridge were amazing. We saw beautiful sunsets and just enjoyed being away. The beach is just good for my soul! I'll post pictures later!

Beach House Bash!

Cara planned the Beach House Bash for all of us planning to go on vacation together next summer so that we could choose a beach house together. So, last night we all brought something to contribute to dinner. It was yummy! Grilled chicken, asian cole slaw, corn on the cob, green beans, and bread. After eating we watched the power point of 9 beach homes that Cara and Jason found for us as possibilities. It was fun! We narrowed them down and chose this house - Elephant Walk - for our vacation home NEXT summer! We booked it last night so it is official. It is huge! There will be 10 adults and 6 children. I'm really excited about the pool becasue it has a kiddie pool attached! Definitely something to look forward to (and save $ for!). Then we celebrated my dad's 55th birthday with cake and presents. Happy Birthday Dad! Today is his birthday.

Cincinatti Fire Museum

What a cool place! Our boys thought the museum was awesome. They were both free so it only cost us $14 to get in. I went in to get change for the meter and the guy working said they weren't expecting any more groups/buses so we were able to park right out front for free! There are 2 floors at the museum. The first floor has many antique fire trucks. Lots of tools, masks, helmets, hoses, etc from fire stations. It is housed in an old fire station too. This floor also has a cab of a fire truck for playing in- the boys turned on a siren, the lights and sat in the driver's seat. Downstairs is information on how fires were faught in the pioneer days and a pretend house to teach you about fire safety in the home. Enjoy the pictures! And notice that the boys are wearing their fire truck shirts- I couldn't resist! I couldn't ge them to load onto slide.com tonight. Sorry for the length!

We're Back!

We took a mini-vacation on Thursday and Friday to Cincinatti. We had a really fun time! There will be several posts with pictures to come but wanted to let you know some highlights.
* Our new van was fabulous for our trip! Tons of space, comfortable, etc. We love it!!
* We ate at Frisch's on Thursday for lunch. For some reason I have been wanting to eat at Frisch's since I was about 3-4 months pregnant. Weird, I know!
* We took the boys to a Fire Museum and they thought it was the best place ever. They slid down a pole, saw tons of antique fire trucks, and had a blast playing in the cab of a fire truck.
* We had a nice hotel with an indoor pool and free breakfast! We had fun swimming Thursday night.
* Ate dinner at Maggiano's. It was so yummy- I had Fettucine Alfredo with broccoli. It was so good!
* Realized our hotel was 3 exits away from IKEA!! I'd always wanted to go there and we did! I'll post about what we bought. Store was HUGE. I got lost from Andy and almost stood in the middle of the floor crying but he showed up just in time (I'm pregnant=emotional).
* Had a good day at King's Island even though my body was sooo tired. The boys loved it. More details and pics to come.

Now it is time to face the dreaded back to school...