handsful

Monday morning came, and it was time to head back south! We took our time packing up since Lainey had more family to meet. Randy’s dad and Kathy had just arrived back from Hawaii the day before, and were anxious to see Lainey before we had to leave.

I think she looks really proud to have now met all 3 sets of her grandparents!

The kids said one last goodbye to Grant and Katherine…

Our first stop on the way home was for lunch and we had this planned for weeks. Let me explain…as kids, Randy and I both grew up spending our summers at the same lake in NC (though, we didn’t know each other then…) and there was a burger joint in the next town called Melvin’s. It was very popular and had THE best hamburgers…ever. Recently we heard that Melvin’s had actually franchised and amazingly enough, there was now a Melvin’s in Raleigh!

The big worry about something like this is, will it taste JUST as good as it did years ago?? Answer…Yes!!! Lainey approved whole-heartedly.

As did Abbey, Marley, Payton and Ethan!

Now, since Melvin’s was right across from NC State Univ (Randy’s college), we stopped by at the bell tower for a quick picture of the kids.

Next was the JC Raulston Arboretum a few miles from NCSU. Back when the 4 kids were almost 4 and 17 months old, we had professional photos taken of them at this arboretum. We had the idea to take them back and take new pictures of our own, with all 5 of them. We had to find a bench like the original one. That was easy.

This was a little trickier…We had to find a fence with holes at the top. Last time, we held up the kids to the circle openings and had close ups taken of them. We asked the lady at the front desk if they still had this fence (there had been a lot of renovation over the years). She wasn’t sure, but directed us to where they could be if they still had them. We walked and walked (in some drizzly rain, by the way) and had almost given up when I spotted them…”I SEE THEM!!!!”

We were so happy to get these pictures, after talking about trying this for a long time. It was such a lovely place (and the drizzle stopped), so we decided to hang out a little longer and…guess what? Get more pictures…

High-five lil’ sis

So many gorgeous flowers…

These boys love her to pieces…

By this time, we were all a little chilly and Randy’s camera was smokin’ from over-use. So, we loaded up the truck and (do you hear a tune in your head?)…drove home. Lainey pretty much did a repeat of the drive up. Slept for a while, watched a little TV, fussed-cried-whined-fussed for a couple of hours, and then we stopped for dinner. Belly full, she fell asleep and slept the rest of the way.

If you’ve made it this far on this post, you have way too much time on your hands. But, thanks a lot!

Sunday, 4/13. Lainey loved her first Easter egg hunt at Gram and Pa-Paul’s house! They’ve done this for the grandkids for years, and with Lainey, the kid-count is now 11 between just us and Randy’s brother’s family! The kids really look forward to this every year because Gram hides LOTS (I believe the number was around 280?) eggs with money and goodies inside each and every one. After the hunt, we divide up the eggs based on the sticker on them (each child has his/her own sticker) so everyone gets the same number of eggs. The dividing up portion is crazy, with us adults calling out “who’s the red star???” while eggs fly through the air on the way to the right kid. Fun! Here are some pictures from the fun day…

The group shot on the stairs, prior to the hunt. The big kids (4 of them) hide the eggs while the younger ones hunt. Once you turn 12, you’re a hider :)

Marley gives me a quick smile

Gram helps to break the new kid in on the hunting technique

EJ remembered to wear his camo for the hunt

Payton encourages her, as usual

I told you there were a LOT of eggs!

Abbey reads a clue during the scavanger hunt for the big kids (with tag-along little kids)

Gram (Randy’s mom) and Lainey

The dividing part…unfortunately, the camera didn’t catch any eggs flying by.

Next post, Lainey meets more family and we make a couple of stops on our way back home. :)

Lainey had her first road trip this weekend when all 7 of us piled into the truck and headed north to NC. Our families have been very anxious to meet our girl and we managed to see almost everyone during our 2-day stay. Since we did squeeze a lot into those couple of days, I’m going to break it all up into 3 seperate posts.

So, how did Lainey do on her first long (8 hours, to be exact) road trip? I’d love to say she did great, better than we expected. She slept for about an hour (we left around her nap time) and then she watched a Signing Time DVD. After that, it was on and off fussing for a lot of the trip. She kept signing “all done” to us and, when we didn’t take her out of the dreaded car seat, she fussed again. Everytime we stopped for a break or to eat, she perked up immediately and was fine. Thankfully, she slept for the last couple of hours since it was night time.

We are never short of places to stay when we head home, and this time we were welcomed by Randy’s step-sister Kim, her husband John, and their kids Grant, Katherine, Matthew, and Kendall. Our kids had a BLAST playing with their cousins, as usual. Day 1 was spent inside, with lots of family coming by to visit. Here are some pictures…

My parents came by…I love this shot of Lainey with my Dad!

She met Great Nana, my Dad’s mom. She was a little wiggly at this point, but later she hugged right up to her.

Here she is with Randy’s Memaw…she just turned 88 last week.

Here’s a shot of Lainey’s parents… ;)

That night, we ordered take-out and had a great dinner with Kim and John and Randy’s brother Tony and his wife Dee Dee. Our kids (let’s see, with all of our kids, that would number 15!) had pizza and then played while us adults ate.

Next post…Gram’s Annual Easter Egg Hunt (a little late, as planned, but well worth the wait!).

…for leaving me out of the last post!!

Summer has officially begun in our backyard. Randy has been working on getting the pool ready for weeks, and today was the day! The kids were super excited…well, everyone except for Lainey who was napping. We’ll wait for a warmer day to introduce her to the pool. Here are a few pictures of the big kids enjoying the cool water…

Bonus points for excellent form!

Marley thinks it over…

Abbey, are your teeth chattering??

EJ can add sports to anything

Payton had a blast

For all of you still “enjoying” snow in your backyard…HA!!! ;)

Oh dear, Daddy did it! He finally installed those pesky drawer and cabinet latches! How am I going to get my hands on all that neat (tiny, chokable, sharp…) stuff now? Sigh…

Oh well, I love him anyway! I especially love rubbing my hands on his fuzzy head…

Daddy went to finish cleaning the pool, so it’s time to check my feet. Yep, they’re still there.

I know you’re now thinking…ducks?? The kids ran in one morning last week, excited that there was a mommy duck and ducklings in the pond. So, being the nice Mom I am, I ran and got the zoom lens. Aren’t they sweet?? I promised I’d post it just for them.

As of today, I’m developing a rather nasty cold and, unfortunately, Lainey is showing signs of it, too. If I’m right, this will be the first time she’s been sick since we’ve had her. I guess we’ll see how she’s doing tomorrow.

After several seasons of not-so-stellar baseball teams, the boys finally hit it big. They’ve played 6 games so far and they’re all in the win column.

EJ on 3rd and…

…he’s walked in for a run

Payton at the plate…he pops it up and they unfortunately catch it :(

One of their biggest fans!

Lainey continues to settle in well to her routine…up around 7:30-8am, nap 1:30-3pm, bedtime around 8pm. Randy blessed me with a whole new school / chore / discipline schedule yesterday, which is helping us tremendously. Figuring out how to handle having a toddler while teaching fractions and spelling has been challenging, but we’re getting there.

Now, if we can just get all those cabinet latches put on…this is her favorite activity. She has two cabinets that she’s allowed in, but of course she wants the other ones.

Good thing I have lots of “Lainey wranglers” around…

Here is Lainey with my cousin, Peg, who lives in NJ. Her husband Tracy and their girls, Christy and Ashley, were vacationing close by, so they stopped in for a visit on Monday. Lainey is demonstrating her new trick…waving. She waves at everyone and everything. I love it when she waves goodbye to her crib when I get her up.

Lainey is 21 months tomorrow!! She’s adding to her signs so quickly. Let’s see, she knows water, milk, more, all done, night-night, mama, light and shoes. She almost has the sign for daddy and food. Lainey and daddy were going over some signs and when he said “shoes” she signed it AND ran to her room and brought him her shoes! A matching pair, even! The girl loves shoes.

More later!