I'll start by saying some of these pictures might not be of the best quality, they were taken with my iPhone. After a very LATE arrival to North Caroline (2am) the girls woke up and couldn't wait get to the beach. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate with us through the week. The first day there the sun was out, but I think it only got up to about 70 degrees. That didn't stop the girls and Ashton. We walked out on the beach and immediately started digging.
Everyone built the best castle they could...here's Ava with hers...
Ella...(who had a bit of help from Papa Jim)
and Ashton (who I couldn't get to look at me).
As much as they wanted to get wet, we tried to keep everyone dry due to the chilly temps. Sinking to their ankles in the sand and water was just enough.
From the second day on, the weather was cold and rainy. There were periods of sunlight, but definitely not beach weather. Luckily, the kids didn't seem to mind. I wish I would have gotten a picture of the house we stayed in, it was beautiful and big! The kids were quite entertained just going up and down the four story staircase, especially Gavin! Since we couldn't get into the ocean and swim with the sea life we did make it out of the house to the local aquarium.
Ava was pretty impressed with the albino alligator. It was so still and she kept asking "is it real?" "is it alive?". Then it quickly opened its mouth and her face was priceless..."Mom, its real!!!"
Ella, less impressed, looked at the different tanks, but just kept asking if we could go to the playground.
I only took a couple kid-less pictures and of those this is one of two that turned out, the jellyfish.
Kids in a sharks mouth...it seemed so much bigger in person.
This aquarium also offered some hands on experiences and Ava took full advantage. She got to pet a shark! She was SO nervous. Her eyes were full of tears while she said "I want to do it". Then she would back out. Eventually she did it and then burst into tears. She was so happy she did it and so relieved so was still OK. G-ma C bought her a stuffed shark as remembrance which she can't wait to take to school on her next show and tell day! Ella and Ashton would look, but there was NO talking them into touching!
With her new found confidence, Ava wanted to touch everything! Here she is with a horseshoe crab.
She also touched a starfish, and a sea anemone. I think she would have gone swimming if they offered.
Once exiting out the back of the aquarium you come to a large playground and sand box (fossil search area). Although it was cold the kids expended some serious energy.
Ella was happy to finally be at the playground....
and Gavin was thrilled to be out of the stroller!
The kids played so well together all week. Ella and Ashton could be caught almost every night having a snack and watching some Disney Jr..
Thursday was the start of the wedding festivities and the start of a horrible rain storm. It was cold and pouring rain all day and night, which made for a very wet rehearsal. Just going to and from the car we were soaked! There were a lot of nerves for the outdoor Friday wedding, but fortunately the rain stopped the clouds parted and although cold it was a sunny beautiful ceremony. I had brought the camera with me when we left to get ready for the wedding and since I was in the wedding we didn't get any pictures of the girls coming down the isle. Ava and Ella did a great job. Both girls had moss baskets filled with petals to drop down the isle, which both girls did. They also stood up with the bridesmaids during the whole ceremony (20min). Other than Ella trying to pick up all the petals on the ground around her, they did great. Once at the reception I got the camera back out and grabbed a couple more pictures of the kids before chasing Gavin became a full time job.
By the beginning of the reception Ava's hair had completely fallen out and Ashton already lost his shirt, suspenders and bow tie. The three of them were all over the place upstairs,
downstairs, outside...
and full of poses.
While not in the wedding, Gavin made sure his presence was known. He too was running all over the reception hall (which luckily was a small quaint place that was all ours). He also tore it up on the dance floor proving to be quite the entertainment. You'll have to excuse his hair, I can't get it to stay in any sort of style. His head was also covered in bumps, cuts and bruises. He is such a busy body and is so independent and stubborn, there were countless times where he was running around and tripped or just simply walked into a door frame.
The big kids spent a significant amount of time trying to decide which dessert they were going to try first. It looks like even London was eyeing up the table from afar.
Gavin wouldn't stand in one place long enough to look at anything.
The night of the wedding we were out late and knew we had another big travel day when we woke up. While we had no major issues on the way to NC, the way back was a bit more difficult. On Thursday Dan had started to not feel well. Ella started showing signs of a nasty cold and Gavin was having trouble sleeping. By the time the wedding was over and we were on our way home Dan had a full blown sinus infection and ear infection, Ella had a sinus infection and Gavin had a double ear infection. There was no screaming on the plane but Gavin was not the same pleasant happy boy he was on the way there. Ava handled the flight and whole trip with ease.
Ella wasn't feeling well but was distracted with a movie. (as was Dan)
Gavin never threw a screaming fit, which I was grateful for, he did CONSTANTLY need to be entertained. This made my flight one of the longest in history! It wasn't till we got home and to the doctor Monday morning that we learned of every one's issues. I had still been coughing some from the bronchitis I had a month earlier and as the week progressed the cough got worse. So with Dan, Gavin and Ella on antibiotics I thought, why not me? I went back to the doctor, had a chest X-ray done and sure enough I too got an antibiotic for pneumonia!
We have obviously been taking it easy since we got home. The weather was gorgeous when we got back, but we've just been hanging around the house and taking long naps. Gavin has really been wanting to get outside. The other day I found him just watching squirrels outside while sitting on his doctor's kit.
And then he moved over to the front door that night and watched some kids playing basketball. The indoor time has been just as brutal on Zoe, who I believe would run away
and live in the wild if she could.
That brings us up to date. We are home, we are all done with our meds and close to 100% back to normal. Just in time for the 50 degree temps and rain to come back...ugh!!! It has been a long April and so many great memories have been made. Congratulations to Kristy and Dustin on a gorgeous wedding and beautiful reception. Here's to many more memories!!
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