Strawberries and More!

Kelly, Louis and Hannah stayed in NC for the week following Easter so that Kelly and Hannah could go to Carleen's baby shower on April 14. In addition to doing some final preparations for Carleen's shower that week, we were able to squeeze in a few other fun activities.  One morning we went to visit Carleen at work - at Duke Medical Center (Labor and Delivery) - because we had never been there before. It was so nice meeting all of her co-workers, who were all extremely nice and welcoming. We kind of thought people might look at us strange for visiting her at work (and bringing two kids along!), but everyone was so friendly. Carleen even listened to Kelly's baby's heartbeat, which was a lot of fun!

It's definitely not easy being almost 37 weeks pregnant and being on your feet all day (for 12-hour shifts)! Poor Carleen!

Later that week we decided to go strawberry picking. There is a great organic strawberry farm just outside of Hillsborough that we always love to go to, and everyone had a great time! I think we may have the only child in the world who doesn't like strawberries....but he still enjoyed picking them (and he at least tried a bite)!

 

Before we started picking, we told the kids to only pick the strawberries that were very red.  Grady had no problem with this, but before long we realized Hannah and Landon were picking anything (even the strawberries that were still white!). Before we knew it, Grady was holding a training session on which strawberries to pick and which ones to leave (pictured below). It was really cute! After the "training session," they always asked Grady, "Is this a good one?" and he would tell them yes or no. The funniest part is that they would pick it first and then ask him, which kind of defeated the purpose. :)

On Saturday, April 14 we threw a baby shower for Carleen, which was a lot of fun!

She thought doing some sort of craft would be fun, so we decided to have everyone design a block, which would be part of a large set for the baby. Everyone seemed to really enjoy it, and it was amazing how artistic everyone was!

We had a large spread of food, and one of Carleen's friends made adorable owl cupcakes!

And I was kind of proud of my fruit salad!

Kevin arrived towards the end of the shower to help open some of the remaining gifts. We kept joking that this is what they're going to look like in 60 years in the retirement home. :)

And here is the crazy part of the day... Carleen wasn't feeling all that well, so she gave her midwife a call after the shower just to check in. She suggested she go to the hospital to get checked out. This is a picture of them leaving their house....little did they know it was the last time they'd be home without their little one!

Easter

We headed down to Pinehurst for Easter, so the kids got to dye Easter eggs! We tried to encourage Hannah and Landon to just use stickers, which worked for a while, but then they both decided using the dye was way more fun. Needless to say, egg dying abruptly ended at that point (when dye went everywhere)! :)

 Uncle Kevin was unfortunately not there because he was in Africa for work. He is always the one who leads the egg dying activity because he loves it himself! The kids of course asked about him a hundred times, so we thought we'd let him know we were all thinking about him!

Our extended family from Ohio and Charlotte, NC always come for Easter too, which is so much fun! The boys got special Easter gifts from them, and this was a huge hit!

Our cousin Michelle, and my two sisters are (were) all pregnant, so of course we had to get a picture. Due from left to right: July 19, June 5 and May 5 (although her little one made her appearance 3 weeks early)! Stay tuned to meet our new niece!

 I made a vegan chocolate cake for dessert the night before Easter, so Landon was beyond excited! This is definitely a special treat for him, and one he doesn't get too often.

On Easter morning, the kids woke up super excited to see what the Easter Bunny brought them. It is a tradition in our family that the Easter baskets are always hidden, so they had a great time searching for them. They each got to find 4! Several days prior  I heard Grady strategizing with Landon where they should go first to look for their baskets. And of course the first place they all went was.....Popeye's closet! For some reason this is their favorite place to play. Poor Popeye has to pick up his clothes about ten times a day when they visit though!

A special Hello Kitty umbrella from the Easter Bunny!

This is the one thing Landon asked for from the Easter Bunny - a big Jessie from Toy Story.

After finding and opening Easter baskets, we headed over to the Pinehurst Hotel for the Easter egg hunt before going to church. Grady loved the Easter Bunny, and as you can see went right in for a huge hug! It's amazing what a couple of years will do.... Grady was always nervous in situations like this, but recently he has become much more confident, which is great to see!

Landon was a different story...

This egg hunt is for the 5 and under crowd, so the "hidden" eggs were really just laying all over the grass.

Me and my pregnant sisters. :)

Mimi, Popeye and the grandkids (3 and counting!)!

A picture of most of the family.....minus Ma, Michelle, Justin and Kevin.

As always, we had a great time! It's so nice that everyone still makes it a priority to get together twice a year (Easter and Thanksgiving). My aunt, uncle and cousin from Ohio could only stay in NC for a couple days due to my cousin's college schedule, but they still made the trip! All in all, a great Easter!

Pre-Easter Fun...

Kelly, Louis and Hannah came up to NC a week before Easter to spend some extra time with everyone since Kelly will no longer be able to travel after this point (because she is almost due with child #2). The kids always have a great time together, and their arrival is anticipated in our house for weeks! One of our favorite places to go with the boys is the lake at Fearrington Village. The boys could spend hours throwing sticks and rocks into the water and just playing in the grass, so we figured Hannah would probably enjoy it too! There is never anyone there (aside from an occasional dog walker), so they have the whole lake/grassy area to themselves.

A couple of months ago Grady went on a field trip with his preschool class to the planetarium, and the whole class took a CH bus to campus. I chaperoned the trip, and Grady (and all the kids) were so excited about the bus ride! So, I figured it was something he would enjoy doing again, so we all took the bus to campus to have lunch with Brandon.

Hannah was a little nervous at first because the bus was so loud, but after a few minutes she really liked it too!

I just had to include this picture of Landon poking Louis. For some reason Landon loves doing this lately - to anyone! He thinks it's hilarious to go up to someone (people he knows, not strangers) and poke them. Then he runs away and laughs hysterically! And he'll do it when you least expect it!

It was a beautiful day, and the kids loved playing at the Old Well!

And of course we had to go to Locopops!

Prior to this, we went to register Grady for kindergarten!  And yes, I could burst into tears just thinking about it. I know he's ready and will enjoy it, but it's still hard letting go. :(

Oak Island!

In late March we had the opportunity to go to Oak Island to stay at Jerri's (one of my college roomies) new beach house. Thanks Jerri! :) It  was beautiful, and we had a great time catching up with Jerri and Deborah (one of my other college roomies) and her family.

We are at a point now where the boys are pretty self sufficient at the beach. They could literally spend all day playing in the water and sand. Grady used to be a little nervous about the ocean, but now he seems to have no fear at all and just runs right in!

I think this picture is so funny because Grady is pouring water down Landon's back....this is the type of thing they do to each other all day long at the beach!

The boys had a great time with Julia (Deborah's/Jon's daughter)!

We reminded Landon that he can't date until he's much older. :)

We walked down to a pier, and the boys got a lesson on fishing from some friendly guys.

While we were at the beach, Brandon and I also celebrated our 6 year anniversary! :)