Grandpa's 87th and a few house pics

Here are a few pictures from today. I'll post lake pictures tomorrow- way too many for me to sort through right now to decide which one to post. I had 183 pictures from our vacation!

Grandpa and Sadie Claire- she goes straight to his candy cabinet when she gets there- the boys taught her well!
Pucker up Grandpa!
A side view- notice the heaps of mud off to the side- the ground is a muddy mess from all this rain.

Don't worry- we'll eventually have a front porch- we aren't trying to discourage visitors! :-)

Back to Reality

We decided to leave last night from NC and drive through the night to avoid traffic. It worked out pretty well. We stayed at the lake until after dinner and until we got to see Carmen (who looks adorable pregnant!), then left around 7:15. Traffic was surprisingly heavy for night travel until we got on this side of Washington, D.C., then it thinned out. But the rains started, and they were HEAVY, and it was lightning a ton!!!! Ryan couldn't even see the road to drive. I was a wreck. I wanted to just get a hotel room and be done with it, but Ryan persevered and got us safely through that storm. Then we cruised along and until about 4a.m. and the highway was closed. They had to reroute traffic. There was a downed powerline. That added about an extra hour onto our trip. We were tired, but so glad to be home. Ryan's mom so graciously took the kids for the morning until about 2:00 so we could sleep. I never thought I'd sleep that whole time, but I didn't wake up until 1:49. I unpacked, showered, went to Meijers, and feel like we are settled back at home. Tonight after dinner we went to our new house and toured it to see the progress. I'll do a picture post soon and post pictures. It has shingles and it completely framed. We then rode out to Macatawa Legends to see the house that we are basing our house on b/c we couldn't remember if the details were the same. Funny how one forgets! Then we headed over to Ryan's grandparents' house to wish his Grandpa Hains a happy 87th birthday! You'd never know that man was 87! Now we are back home, the kids are in bed, and I'll probably try to go soon so I can get back on a good sleep schedule. We returned from 80 degree weather to 40 degree weather and rain. Not a good homecoming! I can only hope the weather forecast is accurate for the beginning of the week and we do get to see some sunshine. Cobe starts Little League this week and has 4 practices, so I hope for his sake, the field is dry, and that they can get in some good practices. I'll do a random picture post next of vacation pictures, house progress and our visit with Grandpa Hains.

**You HAVE to go to Missy's blog right now and read today's post. I am laughing so hard! Read the bottom of Saturday's post where she talks about a bigger bra!!!!!

Another beautiful day!

Today was gorgeous. Ryan was out on the dock by 9:45 getting a tan. I stayed in bed reading until after 10:00. I just finished THE best book- if you are a reader, you have to read Jodi Picoult's Change of Heart. It was one I couldn't put down. All of Jodi Picoult's books are good, and thanks to my mom, she gives them all to me to read.

I couldn't stay out too long today because of my sunburn from yesterday- it wasn't comfortable to feel the hot sun. I am hoping by tomorrow that I'll be good to go again. Our last day and it is another promising one. We are going to start the day by going out on the boat.

We came in this afternoon and went to Roanoke Rapids to Logan's for my mom's birthday dinner. Brooks got car sick on the way there and threw up multiple times. Fortunately, we found a bag for him in the nick of time so he didn't puke all over my new van! He felt much better after we got there. He ate about 3 of their rolls and when his burger came, he dropped it on the floor. It just wasn't his night! He loves Logan's rolls though, so he was happy to eat a bunch of those. They brought him another burger, but of course, he was too stuffed to eat it. Sadie made friends with the cook behind the glass and kept saying she had to go pee just so she could go by the window and wave to him. I am always reluctant to not believe her when she tells me she has to go pee because the time I don't, she'll go in her pants. But I figured out that tonight she just wanted to flirt! Little stinker! Brent left for Raleigh from the restaurant- he is heading to the beach tomorrow with a friend from Raleigh, so he needed to go back there to catch a ride.

We were home in time to watch Survivor. I missed it last week b/c we were on the road, so I was glad to catch it tonight. Poor Eliza- it cracked me up that she played that fake immunity idol so boldly! Cobe is watching the hockey game (Carolina Hurricanes) with my dad, so he missed our weekly Survivor time together. He is growing up so fast and is SO into sports! His buddy Chase called him here yesterday (too cute!), and I listened to their conversation. It revolved around sports. Cobe had to get off the phone yesterday, so he called him back today. Those two could talk forever! They talked about sports again the whole conversation. He misses his buddy Chaser!!!!! I told him he could have him over on Sunday when we got home b/c they both are going into withdrawals being away from each other.

I talked to Ryan's mom today, and she said they have been making a ton of progress in our new house. She said the roof is on, and they have walls up. She could tell when she walked through last night what was what. I can't wait to see it when we get back.

Well, I'm heading to bed early. You'd think as late as I have been sleeping in that I would be wide awake at night, but for some reason, that isn't the case. Most likely the next time I'll post will be from home. I am hoping to get some good photos tomorrow b/c I brought my camera, but haven't put it to very much use. I'll post the vacay pics when we get home...

YES!!!!!

Today WAS the day! The weather took a turn for the better- it was a gorgeous afternoon, and I spent it on the dock getting sunburned (unfortunately!). I will have to put a ton of sunscreen on tomorrow and Friday because today I got way too much sun. The kids had fun playing in the water- still chilly, but it didn't seem to bother them at all. At least we'll end our vacation with nice weather!!!!!

Today is the day (HOPEFULLY) !

I am hoping today is the day the weather will improve for us. It was cooler again yesterday (50's), and today is supposed to be close to 70. It looks nice today, nicer even tomorrow and Friday. Don't get me wrong, we have been enjoying our vacation, but could enjoy it even more with warmer weather since we are on a lake. Ryan got in some golfing the last 2 days, and I have been walking and reading (my 2 favorite things to do), and the kids have been obsessive about playing baseball. Ryan set up a regulation-size pitching mound in the back of the house, so he and the boys have spent a lot of time out there. Brent joined them yesterday. It has been nice not having a schedule, not having any household responsibilities, etc.

My mom is doing remarkably well. You'd never know she just had hip surgery 2 weeks ago. She can't bend down and pick things up, but other than that, she seems to have full mobility. I have been able to sleep in every morning because the kids get up and go straight to her. Nice!
My mom turns 65 on Sunday (April 13th), so we are going out to dinner tomorrow night to celebrate! I guess it can count as my birthday dinner too! Jeff and Michele gave me a present yesterday before Jeff and Miles went back to Raleigh. They gave me a set of Pilates DVD's- thanks a ton!!!!!! I had borrowed one from a friend a while back, and need to get back into doing Pilates. Work those abs!

Ryan just took Sadie to see some cows, chickens, goats and dogs at my great uncle and aunt's house. Ryan, my dad and Brent went yesterday and took the kids, so Sadie had been asking since before we woke up this morning to go back. She kept begging to go see the cows. So her daddy had to go back again with her. The boys are playing "spy" together right now and are having such a great time being together. It is nice that they are such great buddies!

Well since it is almost 10:00, I am going to get dressed for the day. Have a good one!

A shopping we will go!

Well I guess today we got the weather that they predicted for yesterday, and it never came. It was rainy and cooler (50 degrees or so), so Cobe and I headed out shopping again. Miles, Michele and Jeff came today so Brooks and Sadie stayed here to enjoy their cousin. Cobe got some more football/baseball cards, and I got some more work-out type clothes, some shorts for the boys, some shorts and t-shirt for Sadie, an Alvin and the Chipmunks DVD for the kids, and a coffee maker for my dad. Cobe and I went out to lunch at Subway before coming home. I came home and went for another jog/walk and then my mom, Michele and the kids and I went to get the boys some more Webkins. Cobe got the Snauzer and the Velvety Elephant and Brooks got another frog that we didn't have. Brooks also got a Happy Feet book and Sadie got a ballerina book. Fun stuff at Nana's house!

Last night we watched/partially watched Memphis win and UNC lose!!!! (I was on the computer most of the night.) Too bad for us! We wanted UNC to go all the way! They played horrible against Kansas though. No chance for a win at all!

I have taken some cute pictures of the kids, but forgot my cord that hooks to the computer, so I'll have to do a big picture post when we get home.

Off to eat some ribs for dinner!!!!!

Another Day in Paradise

Aaaaahhhhhh! There is nothing better than vacation! We are having such a great time. Relaxation, no schedule, nothing to do except walk, read, eat, and play with the kids. Nice! We ended up having sunshine yesterday after all. I napped from about 10:30 to 1:00 then got up and played outside the rest of the day. The kids actually got in the water even though the water is cold. My dad grilled burgers and hot dogs for dinner last night and then the guys all watched the Carolina Hurricanes hockey game.

It was supposed to rain all day today, but it hasn't. It rained during the night, but then has been overcast today, but not rainy. We went to Roanoke Rapids and shopped this morning. Ryan and Brooks both got new Nike running shoes at a sporting goods store and I got some work-out/walking tops, a tank top and some boardshorts for over my bathing suit. Ryan also got 2 new movies (shock!), and we got the kids some cheap dollar store toys. Then we went to Chic-Fil-A for lunch- YUM! We always have to go there while in NC. It is our favorite restaurant. Michigan is losing out without Chic-Fil-A's! When we got home, Ryan and I went for a jog and Cobe went up to the marina with Billy and Suzanne. Now Cobe is begging to use the computer so I'll post more later!