April 4 - Marbles Kids Museum

Okay peeps-if you have kids around ages 2-6 and live (or are visiting) the research triangle, you need to check out Marbles Kids Museum in Raleigh. It is perfection. We have a great children's museum in Houston but it's targeted toward slightly older kids so it was great that all of the cousins could enjoy Marbles. It is also pretty affordable, another great thing for families! (or cheap parents like myself, LOL). 

I'm going to warn you, that once again there are a lot of pictures on this post. 

After our fabulous day at Pullen Park, we had a delicious dinner at the house (where Julia somehow managed to eat 4 slices of pizza all by herself). All of the kids went down to bed easy except for Luke. He wanted to stay up with mommy and Uncle Greg and Aunt Jill. Have you ever met those kids that don't need a lot of sleep? My blond angel (devil?) is one of them!

First off, what would a fun day at the museum be without matching french braids for the girls? 

Our fist stop was jumping rope. Victoria was really good! 

Luke saw the dog kennel and immediately wanted to start walking this large dog

Dress up Time!! 

Andrew is obsessed-OBSESSED!-with trains. I think he could have played here all day and been happy.

Gardening

Watch out Bobby Flay!

Cutest fireman that ever lived

Little paramedics & the girls practicing on crutches

Water fun!!

Look at that upper body strength - go girls go!

Luke had a blast playing basketball

Julia and Victoria playing hockey with a bunch of boys - they rocked it!

Hand painting fun!!

Tool Time with Luke

Giant legos

I know, a lot of picture, right? But the kids are so cute I just can't help myself. We did a lot more stuff I didn't get pictures of (including a huge area with balls and a pirate ship), but overall, amazing day!! After our Marbles adventure, we went to Krispy Kreme for the first time. Did they love it?

Umm...not so much. Julia did lick the frosting off of her donut and Luke drank his milk. They did enjoy watching the donuts getting made. 

Next post-the bouncy house place!!

March 28 - Pullen Park

Day 3 - Pullen Park, Raleigh
After two long days in the car, we were ready for a day of fun. What better place to go then North Carolina's first ever public park, Pullen Park? This park is gorgeous (we were there in the winter and I can only imagine how beautiful it is during the spring and fall) and has something to offer for everyone-aquatics center, community center, arts center, athletic fields, cafe (with healthy food, not your typical greasy/friend park fair) and playground. It also has a carousel (built in 1911), miniature train, kiddie boats, paddle boats and a train ride. We didn't do everything the park has to offer, but we were there for several hours and we all had a great time!!

Caraousel - the fastest one we've ever been on

Walk around the lake

Hanging out in the miniature train (Andrew is obsessed with trains)

Boat Ride!

Fun in the sand

Tire Swing

Little Climbers (Julia is at the top, Victoria is about mid-way up)

We also went on a train ride around the park but I didn't get any photos-oops!! It was really fun though, the boy especially loved it. 

After all that excitement, time to relax with Uncle Greg reading bedtime stories

Next post: Marbles Children's Museum

March 25 - Super Mom or Just Plain Crazy?

A few weeks before spring break I did what a lot parents do. I decided to take the kids on a trip to visit their cousins (in Raleigh). Being the frugal mom that I am (or cheap as J.D. likes to say) I decided to drive (the flights were just too expensive). The catch? J.D. had to work and couldn't come. So I would be driving the kids alone...2400 miles round trip. Wowsa! Luckily, my friend Kristen and her family live in Auburn, AL which is about mid-way, so we stopped there on the way there and back to break up the drive. I talked up this "super exciting" road trip to the kids and we were off on our adventure!!

Day 1 - Saturday (11.5H of travel)
We left at 3:30am. My plan was for the kids to sleep for a few hours...but when do things ever go according to plan? They were awake before they were strapped into their carseats and Julia was asking 'Are we there yet?' before we even got on the highway. Julia was happy to sit in the car and watch movies all day but my little dude has no real interest in tv. I was asked 'Where are we going?' 'Where is daddy?' 'Where is Amelia?' 'Can I have a snack?' almost non-stop all day. It was trying at times but I'll take it over crying any day. The kids each took one 30-min nap around 11am and we stopped twice to eat. Overall, a pretty good day in the car and we didn't hit any traffic at all. We arrived in Auburn at 3pm and the kids literally jumped out of the car and started playing with Whit (age 6), Hayes (age 4) and Claire (10 months). We made smores that night and it was the highlight of the day for all the kids. 

Day 2 - Sunday (9H of travel)
Did I mention that I drank three red bulls on Saturday? I wide awake and energized Saturday but had a really hard time sleeping that night with all the caffeine racing through my system (I rarely drink caffeine). So, although we left at a normal hour on Sunday (the kids played for an hour or so before we got back in the car) I was really tired most of the drive. We stopped a few times for lunch and gas, hit some congestion around Charlotte and arrived in Raleigh a little after 7pm. Julia was so excited to see her cousins that she dressed in a fancy dress for the trip. Too cute!! 

Now, our Raleigh vacation was so action packed and exciting, I will have to devote a blog post per day to post all the amazing photos. Stay tuned!!

And I'd love to hear your opinion..am I a super mom for doing this trip solo or just plain crazy? Please leave a comment!

March 22 - Trouble

Go Julia go!!

March 19 - Hee Haw Rodeo Time!

We went to the rodeo a few weeks ago and had a BLAST!! Luke was content sitting in his stroller most of the time so these are mostly pictures of Julia, so enjoy!! I have a ton of pictures from our spring break trip so prepare yourselves for amazing pics coming soon!! Happy Tuesday everyone!

Pony Rides

Petting Zoo

Watching baby chicks hatch

Milking a cow

Living like a king in the stroller...fresh chocolate milk and a delicious graham cracker

Howdy!! (Luke was very afraid of these characters)

The Dairy area was a huge hit!

'Dancing to Taylor Swift's 'Trouble' for a chance to get on stage with Radio Disney (she wasn't selected and oh boy was so mad...she is super competitive)

March 7 - Me Gusta Burps

Tuesday afternoon, Luke is sitting on the counter at Walgreen's while the pharmacist is ringing up our order:

"Blech!" - Luke burps LOUDLY

"What do you say when you burp?" - Mommy

"Me gusta!" - Luke

"We say 'excuse me' when we burp." - Mommy

"Me gusta burps!!" - the little dude shouts. The pharmacist almost falls over laughing.

"Very cute little man, but we say 'excuse me' when we burp. I'm happy to know you are learning Spanish though." - Mommy, also trying to refrain from laughing

*****
Luke's favorite saying recently:

"What's that noise?" He asks this all the time whenever he hears something new. Beyond adorable!

*****

Late but not forgotten, here is Julia (turquoise is really her color!) and her best bud Lincoln (aka the boy that 'loves' her) at their winter concert:

For those of you with six minutes to spare, here is her class performing a song about the River Nile. There are a few kids to the left with paddles-she is the first one to the right of the paddlers. Enjoy!!