Friday, September 25, 2009

Outer Banks NC 2009

One Week beachside in Avon, NC - We arrived on Saturday night with Z-Naefs, and everyone was stoked to start wave jumpin' and crab diggin'. We were lucky to stay in this sweet coastal crib - especially Derek, who celebrated the high ceilings (in contrast to last year's "Ty's Low Dive," who's low ceilings inflicted multiple scalp hematomas).


An elevator! Awesome!

But Sunday greeted us with rainfall, and the first half of the week was full of windy downpours.


It rained and rained and rained for days...




We found creative ways to entertain ourselves. Hide-and-seek, manhunt, Pictionary...



What do you do when you run out of things to do? What else! Truth or dare landed Carrie in the pool fully clothed and barking like a seal



And Hans had to wash down a potato bug.
Seconds, anyone?


Damon fed the birds right out of his hand on the ferry boat to Ocracoke. We learned all about Blackbeard, who pillaged these waters for many years and died in a battle near the island.


Pirates infiltrated our hot tub!


They made themselves useful, chasing away scalliwags


The pirates rounded up these stowaways and made them walk the plank.


Fearsome pirate


Finally the sun came out! Off to the beach.

Wave-jumping with Kenyon


Unfortunately the storm winds created a massive tidal sweep that turned the shallow water into a strong river. In an instant, an unsuspecting child could be swept all the way down to the pier! We held tight to the chitlins. Although one day their fussing and insubordination almost drove me to launch them down the river, Moses style, to be fetched out and taken home by another family.


They're lucky they're so cute.



I wish I could say the highlight of surfing was, well, surfing. But actually it was the fish that leaped out of the water and struck me right between the eyes. The swells were 8-10 feet. Can you still call it surfing if you don't get up?


Capture-the-Flag champions

Wore 'em out


Thursday, August 27, 2009

First Day of School...but summer's not over yet!!

The boys went back to school yesterday, but that does not bring an end to our vacationing!! We LOVE summer and we LOVE vacations. We have had some awesome trips this summer visiting friends and family from coast to coast!! We spent a week in Kentucky, five days in Disneyland, a week at the Brown Family Ranch in Preston, several weeks with friends and family in Utah and camping & canoeing in Pennsylvania. But that is not all HOORAY!! We are pulling the kids out of school next week to spend a week in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We plan to bike, surf, swim and beach it up with the Z-Naefs!! Let summer go on and on and on!!!!









Four Months, Four States, Four Lakes

This year will go down as the summer of Skiing 101. Between May and August the boys skied in Kentucky, Utah, Idaho and Pennsylvania. Me and Derek were able to do some slaloming and wake boarding too. Derek taught his niece and nephews to ski behind a wave runner in Idaho. We only had the boys trainer skis and the wave runner that trip. We were so desperate to ski that we put on the boys trainer skis. We must have looked like a circus act on those tiny skis behind the wave runner! Hopefully next summer we will have as many awesome boating opportunities and a slalom ski!










Thursday, May 28, 2009

Kentucky Vay-K

This trip will definitely go down as one of our favorite family vacations. The eleven hour drive to Vine Grove, Kentucky quickly paid off once we arrived at Steve and Christy's house. The kids were thrilled to meet Rosco (lab pup), and we were thrilled to spend some time with our favorite cousins. We spent a day at Lake Taylorsville teaching the boys to ski (see video clip below), wake boarding, skiing...or at least attempting to ski, swimming and relaxing in the sun! Other highlights were visiting the Louisville Slugger museum, watching horse racing from fancy box seats at Church Hill Downs, staying up late playing Nerts, playing at the park on the Lake, hibachi and sushi, homemade Cafe Rio salads and all the good times in between. Tio Steve and Tia Christy, you ROCK!!!





















Damon holding Mickey Mantle's bat




Kids with Churchill Charlie














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Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Monday, April 20, 2009