Spring Break"ers" vaction part 1

this is what we are missing now that we are home and back to reality....

Blades playing paddle-ball with Camden

Our Family

enjoying the view and an ice cream sandwich.. (left over in the freezer from the summer Im sure)

sandy toes

Blades getting Case to share a peanut with him

looking for peanuts

blades breaking into the shed to find some sand toys..

changing after about freezing in the water

two very cold boys

they are sitting here, but looks like a big wave is going to get them.

found a monster truck museum on the way.. GraveDigger

the boys about to leave for the airport..

Case and Cori on the plane

Case.. got the window seat..

Camden and dad watching a movie and playing angry birds on cell phone

Case playing with Genevieve..

the first day at the beach... bbrrrr... and look at those wave breaks??

So we pretty much broke the rules about vacation. First off, we decided to go to North Carolina in February, and purchased our tickets.. We were going to go to Disneyland, but the cost was about the same, so we decided to go to see Blades' family instead..it would be more meaningful spending it with them, than in California while Mickey and his friends drained our pocketbooks.. leaving us with popcorn, and chocolate covered bananas..

Here's where the fun begins, and rules get broken..... We did not tell anyone we were coming. NO ONE but Blades' best friend Emil and his wonderful hospitable wife Katherine. Our flight came in super late, so they offered for us to stay with them the first night before we made the big entrance at the other "whitehouse".. That's right it was all a SUPRISE! Our plan was that we would just show up.. It was super hard keeping a secret for that long.. knowing we would see them in a few weeks/days.. and they had no clue.. and we couldnt say anything.

When we would tell friends here about our plans, they had many questions.. will they be there? ( yes.. they will.. and were)... maybe it was the strange looks and responses that we got...

We told the kids about a week before we left. We had gone to the park and sat them down and they knew we were going on a trip, but didnt know the details yet...

We gave them clues...

• they had cousins there


• there was a beach there


• it was the opposite of South

Eventually, they got it, and were super excited. We explained that it was a suprise and that we couldnt talk to them about it. We made sure that when we talked to them .. the kids werent around... Blades even had a hard time talking to his mom a few days before we left. He felt like he was going to slip the news to them.. so he quickly got off the phone with her..

I couldnt blog about it, facebook about it or anything.. so it was exciting once we were on our way..

We flew into Detroit, and had 30 minutes to catch another plane .. ( on the total opposite section of the airport).. a tram and many moving walkways were involved... and making sure two little boys were close to us. Once we got on the plane, the pilot told us the flying time, which would get us there about 45 minutes more than we thought, so we figured we wouldnt have to run as fast. Once the plane landed, they took FOREVER to open the doors.. so we went running. We were the very last row.. next to the good ol bathrooms. Maybe those were the only seats they had all together, but seriously the very last row? The flight attendant was nice and let my boys check out all the gadgets in the back of the plane while we were waiting for them to open the doors. Ice, pops, treats.. it was great until one of them tried opening the emergency slide door.. we caught them before the disaster occured.

While finding our way to the very last row, a snotty blonde hoity toity girl was sitting right in front of us. She looked at us,, the kids and glared at her boyfriend with a discusted look on her face. WOW.. I wanted to smack her and we hadnt even sat down yet. Moments earlier, she is arguing with the ticket taker who is trying to make her check her mammoth size carry-on. I'm pretty sure some curse words were used from this snotty blonde.. So we sit, have a nice flight... Case tapped her seat every once in a while since his legs arent long enough to bend like everyone elses... and she eventually slammed herself back in her chair as far as she could trying to prove a point.. which I kindly ignored. Really lady?? We have been on the plane for 4 hours, my kids havent been loud, naughty or rude.. he tapped your chair..

We eventually made it to Norfolk Virginia... and picked up our rental car. The drive was about an hour to Emil and Katherines. Talk about feeling at home. She put together this cute basket in the room that we were staying in that had water bottles, goldfish, peanuts, granola bars, fruit.. and a welcoming note. She said that way we could have our own snacks if we wanted. It was very sweet, and a tradition that I will try to have when I have guests.. ( so come and visit.. just dont make it a suprise :) )

So back to the suprise... we woke up at 7 which was really 4 az time. I couldnt sleep anymore. I was anticipating the big entrance too much I suppose. We got ready, ate breakfast.. ran into the Moster's basketball hoop and bent it... and we were on our way.. All the way over I had butterflies in my stomach.. I asked Blades if he was nervous and he said I wasnt til you mentioned it..

It was raining, so I asked blades if we should go to the front door since there is a covering, but we went in the back door where most of the time they are.. in the kitchen.. We sent the kids up first,a knock... and then Blades looked through the window waved at his parents eating breakfast. His moms hands went over her mouth and the tears began to flow. His dad was suprised too, and his mom thought his dad knew we were coming. It was fun to tell them of our little plans and the kids found the toys right away.. He called each of his siblings on the phone and asked what they were doing and if they wanted to come over and visit. They were confused, but it all started making sense once we told them we were at mom and dads...

The kids starting looking for their cousins, and had a wonderful time playing with them the almost two weeks we were there. The first full day we were there we went to the beach. It was a little chilly and windy, but that didnt stop our kids who were wet within minutes of seeing the sand and icewater... we packed them another outfit just incase and they were in new clothes after about 10 minutes of near hypothermic conditions. The shivers, chattering teeth and red legs all were clear signs that it was a bit too cold. It was high tide, and the kids were just playing in it. One wave came in and the aftermath of it swept Case off his feet and I had to go in after him. He had this look of fear on his face.. poor kid.. so now I was wet too.. Blades was up in the cottage looking at fishing poles and wasnt near to do to the saving. ME it was.. so my jeans were wet the rest of the morning, but Case didnt get near the waves again.. We made sandcastles, and dug in the brown sugar like sand for the rest of the morning.

This was just the beginning of a wonderful vacation.. More to come, but wanted to start.. I hate that my pictures are at the top but hope you enjoyed a few of them.