7 Canyons

What kid doesn't love to romp around the seven canyons water feature in Liberty Park?

The boys had to be scientific about it and float a pine cone all the way to the lake from every head water.  Caitlin just loved splashing around.  Mike and I loved sitting back, and watching them have fun.

"Where did the pine cone go?"

Eclipse

I had never seen a solar eclipse before.  I have to say we were not very prepared.  We found ourselves scrounging around the house for sunglasses, and ended up looking through our neighbors tinted SUV windows.  But each of us got a good look at the eclipse.  The shadows on our wall were pretty cool too.

The neatest part for me was the change in the light.  Everything just looked.....different.  To look right at the sun you could not tell there was a big black mark on it, but it affected everything the sunlight touched on earth.  I guess you can say our actions are the same way.  They may seem insignificant, but the effects can be all reaching.  How's that for today's deep thought?  Whoa.

Emma

Emma is a special kind of best friend.  These two have been best buddies since they were born.  Emma's mom happens to be one of my best friends, Andrea.  As a result, these two have spent a lot of time together.

The Scanlons made a quick visit  and I had to get a picture of these two together.  I have been collecting pictures of these two together since before they could walk just for fun.  Who knows...someday they may thank me!

Movie on the Field

Our very last day with Rob, Karen, and Megan in North Carolina.  Rob is  a dentist and so very generous in his trade.  He took care of all our cleanings and filled a few cavities while he was at it.  In the evening the Young's took us to a family movie night on the semi-pro baseball field.  We laid out blankets and ate popcorn while enjoying "The Smurfs" on the big screen.    Before the movie started the kids were all running around on the field.  It was so fun to see so many kids frolicking.  Caitlin even got in on it with a blankie race with Mama.

After the movie Uncle Rob put Caitlin up on his shoulders as we walked out.  There was music playing, and they both started to boogie.  They were dancing so wild and laughing so hard I couldn't get a good picture!  It was so cute!

Myrtle Beach

I have been hearing about the famed Myrtle Beach for years now.  And at last, I can say I have been there!  We only went for one evening, but it was very fun.  Lots of stores, hotels, restaurants, etc. We walked around till dark and just looked at the neat sights.

  

Mike was enthralled with this upside down building.  It turned out to be an indoor roller coaster.

Josh, Andrew, Becky and Speedy, Laura and Caitlin, Daniel

I guess Andrew didn't read the sign...

Fun with the shops

A street vendor was selling pearls from live oysters.  I was really excited, so Mike bought me one for an early mother's day present.  I got to choose a live oyster which the man opened.  Inside was a lovely pearl which he polished up and mounted in a pendant necklace.    I found out I was pregnant the next day, so I have sort of associated this necklace with the coming baby.  My own precious pearl.

Not my best picture, I know.  Pretend my teeth don't have braces, I've lost thirty pounds, and the lighting is better.  Then you will know how I felt when it was taken.

Caitlin is obsessed with chairs.  we went in a pet shop and she made a chair out of a feeding tray.  Sometimes she is so cute it baffles me.

Dino fun!

There was a Wonka shop that I HAD to see.  The jelly belly castle was our favorite.  Reminiscent of a couple gingerbread projects...  Andrea, what do you think of adding this to our repertoire?

Wild Animal Ranch

We finally made it to Asheboro and Karen's house.  Because she and Rob still had to work during the week, and Megan still had school, we had to continue to entertain ourselves.  Karen was great at giving us ideas.  She sent us to a wild animal ranch one day.  I wasn't sure to expect, but what we got was a whole new experience with animals!

Here is the concept of the ranch:  all kinds of animals, exotic and common, ranging together around the park.  When you drive in you buy buckets of feed for a few dollars.  Whenever you get the urge, you hold your bucket out the window, and the very well trained "wild" animals come eat out of your bucket.

Simple enough concept, great in theory.  But we forgot to consider how tenacious critters can be!  The antelope knew hot to grab a bucket with their teeth and fling it over their heads thus stealing all your food at once.  This happened to Joshua the first 10 feet in the gate.

Others simply put their whole heads in the car and bullied your food away from you.

This one I called "Michael's Girlfriend"  She was getting fresh!  She also had horns that got stuck in the window.  We eventually had to drive off to get her unstuck.

Ever fed a Giraffe?  How cool is that?!!

The ranch also had lovely gardens to walk around.

Ostrich.  Need I say more?

Sweet and slimy buffalo.  He also got a little pushy, and in the end stole my bucket.  I was covered with slobber.

By the time we drove out of there, we had feed all over inside the rental van, slobber running down the windows and doors, and scratches all over the paint from aggressive goat hooves.  It took a good while to clean it and get it presentable before we could return it.  It was totally worth it though!  We all thought this was one of the very best parts of the trip.  Such fun to experience wild things!

Maritime Museum

After Fort Macon came the North Carolina maritime museum.  We had been looking forward to this place for months!  After watching Pirates of the Carribean 4 we looked up info online about Blackbeard.  We were surprised to learn that he sunk his ship right off the coast of NC, and the remains were in this museum!  We had to see it!

We were having fun before we even got in the door.  This anchor was in the parking lot.

Inside an exploratory submarine.  It was so claustrophobic in there.  The kids loved it though.

I somehow managed to forget to take any pictures of Blackbeard's things!  I must have been oohing and ahhing too much to grab the camera.  But the artifacts were really neat and the museum staff were a hoot as well!