9 years ago tomorrow ...

Tomorrow is Ben & Alek's 9th birthday. Wow, can't believe we've made it this far! That first year, I don't think I could believe we would survive. But here we are, and we had a great party Friday night ... blogger always uploads the pictures in reverse order, so we'll start at the end and go backwards ...

Ben and Alek each invited two friends to their party, have dinner / cake, go skating at DreamSports, and spend the night. The big gift this year was rollerblades, above is Ben with his. He used them Friday night at DreamSports, and then again today (Sunday) when I took them both to JellyBeans Skate Center for the afternoon.

Alek and his blades! Behind him from the left are Nick, Evan, Ben and LB.

LB and Alek looking at Madden Football '09 for PS3.

Evan, Kyle, Ben and Nick opening Pokeman Platnum for Nintendo DS.

Ben and Pokemon cards from Kyle.

Alek opening a catch game from Kyle.

Nick and LB locked themselved in Chase's crate ... Chloe got confused by it ....

Pizza and watermelon for dinner! Nick, Alek, Kyle, Ben, LB.

Mommy made the cakes ... they were amazing. Chocolate cake with whipped cream layers covered by cooked chocolate icing! Then decorated with canned, pre-made blue icing from Betty Crocker! But, it was easy and looked fun.

Next week they are off to Dream Sports for camp again. They are excited to go again because they have their own skates now!

Love you boys ...

Peaches!

Peaches are our favorite fruit. We ordered the 1/2 bushel from The Produce Box last Wednesday, and today most of them were PERFECT. I say 'most' because several got eaten from Weds through today, and about 8 are left to be perfect tomorrow and Tuesday. The boys helped, and we quartered, peeled and sliced FIVE containers full. The only rule: go slow and don't cut yourself. We probably ate another 8 peaches during the fun! For Christmas, we're having PEACH PIE this year!!

What a fun week ...

It was another fun, busy, summer week here; sorry there are no pictures. The boys both spent the week at Dreamsports in all-sports camp. They went for half-days, 9-12:30. We (Gary and I) dropped them and Kyle off each morning, and Kyle's babysitter picked them up each day, which was a great help in letting us have some time to do our jobs! Monday all three boys were at our house for the afternoon, then Tuesday at Kyle's, then Weds only our boys here, then Thursday all three boys here.

Then Friday, Alek went to Kyle's and Ben and I went to see Harry Potter. It's a 2.5 hour movie, but it's fantastic. We just love these books and movies. But, the rule in our house is that you have to read the book first, before seeing the movie, which is why Alek didn't go.

Then last night we all went bowling with the Cub Scout pack (Ben, Alek, Kyle) and Kyle spent the night. Bowling will all the boys was a blast! And I do have some picture on my other computer of that, so I'll try to post them later.

While all this was going on, I was trying to sell my last 3 summerfest flexi-tickets to tonight's Symphony of the Russian Masters. I sold them ALL and my friend Paul's extra ticket too. First time I've sold anything on Craig's list and it was a very positive experience for me.

Next, I'm making some brownies because our Cub Scout Den is coming to our pool at 1:00 for a summer fun event, and then we're off to our friend's house in Raleigh tonight for another (adult) party. Not sure what I'm making for that one yet ... but maybe homemade salsa. I've got the most beautiful jalepeno peppers from The Produce Box this week. I made roasted eggplant soup yesterday, and I'm off to eat it for lunch today ...

Sunday, we're attending a Jam Session up at Sam Ash in Raleigh (the music store). By next month, Alek and Ben should be playing in it! Lessons and practice is going quite well!

Summary of Exploring NC Vacation

Thursday - Wrightsville Beach
Friday - music purchase (electric guitar / flute) in Raleigh
Saturday - NC Zoo in Asheboro
Sunday - Harry Potter Movie day at home (was supposed to rain)
Monday - NC Museum of History and the Blackbeard Pirate Exhibit
Tuesday - gold mining at Reed Gold Mine near Charlotte
Wednesday - Marna and Gary worked, boys watched TV and played video games
Thursday - Gary worked, Marna and the boys hung out
Friday - all cleaned the house; game night at Eileen's, Andrew babysat
Saturday - Alek's last baseball game, Neuse River Golden Retriever Rescue Reunion picnic, Video Game Symphony at Koka Booth Ampitheatre
Sunday - gem mining at Hiddenite, NC
Monday - back to work!!

Pictures of Day 3: the zoo

We took 35 pictures of the giraffe, and then 5 pictures of the poisonous dart frogs, then a couple of the boys in the park. But, we had a wonderful day, even though we didn't take pictures of it. The weather was great, sunny, 85 degrees, low humidity. Here is Ben in park ... Alek and Ben on the praying mantis in the park ...

And Alek on the praying mantis in the park ...

Our first stop was to the new giraffe feeding deck. It was free yesterday, because you could only look out at them, not feed them. They have one adult female, and five babies. The five babies all were aquired from other facilities, and are not related to each other. When we got there, the ostriches, zebras and giraffes were all up at the new feeding deck, so we got to see them all up close.

One baby came over, and the zoo keeper lured her in with a bunch of leaves on a pole. She came in close, so the zoo keeper gave Ben and Alek each a branch to hold out to her. Note that the zoo feeding deck was built to the height of an adult zebra, so the 6 foot tall baby just came up to the bottom of the deck. She ate Ben & Alek's leaves! The deck was just completed last week, and they are training the giraffes to come up to eat, so Ben and Alek were the first kids to get to feed the giraffes! It was totally cool.

Exploring NC Vacation Day 4: Staying Home

We're taking a rest between trips. Today is supposed to be rainy, we're hoping because we need it, so we'll be hanging at home doing the traditional weekend chores. I'll post pics from the zoo when and if the family allows me time on the computer downstairs!

Exploring NC Vacation Day 3: the zoo

We're off to the zoo in Ashboro!

Exploring NC Vacation Day 2: Musical Instruments

Today we traveled to two Raleigh music stores to pick out the boys' instruments with their new instructors. Ben got a new silver flute, and his practice before class on Weds is to blow across it, holding just the mouthpiece. Below, he's playing with all of the flute in place.

Alek picked out an awesome electric guitar at Sam Ash. He loved the checkerboard pattern, and matched it with a black-n-white circle strap.

The rest of our day has been filled with music! We're off to our neighbor's house in a few minutes to swim in their new pool. We're making cookies to take!

Exploring the Beach: NC Vacation Day 1 Pictures

A lovely day at Wrightsville Beach, NC.

Appreciating your State Vacation - Day 1

Gary and I have taken a week off work, and we're doing local day trips around NC. I love the idea of staying at home each night but still getting away each day.

Today is Day 1 - we're off to the beach! It's only 2 hours to Wrightsville Beach in Wilmington, NC, and we'll be spending the day there. Yes, the car is loaded as if we'll be gone for a week!

In other news, we have two new musicians in the family! Last night we met with a guitar and flute instructor at the Tone Zone in Cary, and Alek and Ben are very excited to start music lessons. We're meeting the instructors tomorrow at Sam Ash to pick out the instruments. I'm thrilled. Tone Zone's teaching philosophy is to teach kids how music is constructed, why it works, and how to make music. It's more about the theory, which is something Gary and I hope they will be passionate about for the rest of their lives.

I'll post pictures from today later; tomorrow's adventure is buying musical instruments and swimming in our neighbor's pool!