The East Coast Tour '07

Acacia's last day of kindergarten
OK - are we ready to go? Sun screen? Check. Bathing suits? Check. Flip flops, sunglasses and hats? Check. I think we are ready. Massive yellow scrape to the passenger side of the van? Check. Ok - I guess we are all set. Two days before we took off for three weeks of vacation I took a turn in a parking garage I bit too close to one of those lovely yellow hazard poles. Quite literally the entire passenger side of the van was scratched up and yellow. But, no one got hurt and the engine still worked so off we went. Departed Madison at 11:30pm Friday the 15th of June. This was also Acacia's last day of kindergarten.

Don't forget - you can click on any photo to see it enlarged .... Enjoy!

If you want to see a few minute summary of what we did, click the play button to see a little movie. You can tell towards the end of the movie I realized how to set the camera to take better quality movies. Oh well. Live and learn as they say.



On the road
We drove straight through to Huntington, WV where we stopped to go to Camden Park amusement park. This was nice as there were no real lines (except for the only real ride - log ride) but the kids got to run around and burn off energy after being in the car for 12 hours. Click the link to see a slide show of Camden Park.

Slide show of Camden Park '07

Father's Day
Back in the van we arrived to Emme and Nono's around 2am Sunday the 17th (aka - Father's Day). In case you did not catch the exhausting truth - we never stopped to sleep. So, 11:30p Friday until 2a Sunday - Randy and I were driving. Needless to say, we slept well once we got to Emme and Nono's. We woke to beautiful NC weather. 90's and humid. Well, I guess it really was not all that humid. The guys (Randy, Chris, Bill and my Dad) hit the links while the women tended to the children, laundry and kitchen. Well, the truth here is that it was Father's Day. The kids spent the day preparing ties (complete with their photos on them), drawing pictures, writing notes and letters and hanging streamers and anything else that could be held up with tape all over the deck, house and garage. They made hand and foot prints pictures and assembled them in the shape of a house (the house the "dad's" built). They were busy! My sister Valerie rallied the women to do a little run every (almost) AM - so off we went for that. After the "run" we prepared the "meal". It is all a blur now but I do recall some confusion on how to keep the grill lit. As far as I know the meat was cooked. Click the link to see a slide show of Father's Day.

Slide show of Father's Day '07

Beach Action
Much time was spent at the beach. We visited a couple different beaches. The kids ended up liking the beach at the end of Holden Beach Island. When the tide was anything but high, the water was 1-2 feet deep. The kids could swim and play and walk for a lllllooooonnnnngggg way without it getting deep. We were able to walk to sandbars and hang out on them and watch the tide come in around us. Acacia collected about 113 broken pieces of sand dollars while Chris was thrilled with the fact that he could "swim" in the ocean. Once high tide was in the boogie boards came out and the kids took up body board surfing. Click the link to see a slide show of beach photos.

Slide show of Beach Action '07

Pool Action
The pool proved to be the perfect spot if you were looking to be tossed or rocketed out of the water! Click the link to see a slide show of pool photos.

Slide show of Pool Action '07

Boat Action
We went on a couple boat rides. The kids each got to drive Nono's boat. Click the link to see a slide show of Nono's boat photos.

Slide show of Baot Action '07


The "un-birthday"
Chris turned 4 on June 11th and we were so busy before we left we were not sure if we were going to be able to get a party in for him. So, Emme decided to celebrate all birthdays with the "un-birthday" party. The kids got to decorate ice cream cone cakes and then everyone got to open presents!! How cool is that!!?? Big Chris even got me a present. But, being the loving sister in law I am ... I decided that Yoli should have my present!! (Yoli's birthday was the 13th) Click the link to see a slide show of the un-birthday party.

Slide show of the Un Birthday Party '07

Racing
Randy spent some quality time with Chris and took him to the Myrtle Beach Speedway. Hooters was sponsoring the Greased Lighting 200. Chris can't wait until he is 16 and can drive one of these fast cars. Chris knows everything a 4 year old can possibly know about racing now. He has not stop talking about this race. Randy liked the Hooters girls .... We also went to an Indy car race in Richmond. This was loud and fast and no Hooters girls. Click the link to see a slide show of the car races.

Slide show of the Races '07

Lighthouse
Acacia school gave a list of all the field trips they would be taking during the summer and one was to a light house. She was going to miss this trip since we were on vacation. For some reason this really upset her. Soooo - being that we were on the coast we managed to find a light house for her to see!! Click the link to see a slide show of the trip to the light house.


Slide show of the Lighthouse '07

Myrtle Beach
Lastly, before we left NC we took a day and went to the Planetarium, Alligator Adventure and grabbed a little mini golf. A great time was had by all!! :) Click the link to see a slide show of our day in Myrtle Beach.

Slide show of our day in Myrtle Beach '07

Family Photos
During our two week stay at Emme and Nono's we saw a lot of people and took a lot of photos! Of course we got see Great Nani (my mom's mom) and Great Grandma (my dad's mom)! They are two pretty witty women and if you are not careful they will pull one over on you!! Great Auntie Kathy can for a day!! Sure wish it was longer! Tim Bettilyon and his family came for a week end and did some camping. I know Tim from our days in Singapore back in the early 80's!! And my mom's best friend Judy, two of her boys (Lane and Larry) and their kids all made it down for some time (sporadic as it may have been). I have not seen Larry or Lane since our days in LO back in the 70's!! And now they have kids ranging (in age) from 10 to 25!!! CRAZY!! It was great to see everyone - but the time together was way too short! I hope I did not miss anyone! Click the link to see a slide show of random photos of everyone!

Slide show of Family Shots '07

Kings Dominion
Well, Friday the 29th we packed up the big red van (which now is red and not half yellow - thanks to my brother spending an evening with some kind of magic compound that removed the yellow paint - he is the greatest brother ever!!). Of we went to Richmond, VA to spend a few days with Randy's sister, her family and Randy's brother Kevin, wife Glenda and son Ben. Staying with them is like staying at a resort! They have a nice big house with plenty of room for everyone, a pool, trampoline and play system, bikes, scooters and of course - close to Kings Dominion!! The guys did some golfing and the rest of us just chilled by the pool for the most part. Monday we all packed up and went to King's Dominion. Ben fully over came any fear of roller coasters he ever had and went on at least three different ones (several times)! Everyone had a great time! We ended up in the water park for the final cool down before we had to depart and go our separate ways. Click the link to see a slide show of Kings Dominion.

Slide show of Kings Dominion '07

Pgh and the Pirates
Our last but not least stop was at Randy's brother Sean's house in Pgh, PA. We did not arrive until pretty early Tuesday AM (like 1 or 2a). Sean was up folding laundry!! After a good nights sleep we had a great breakfast (complete with monkey bread) and got to visit with Dianne and Jenna and Karen and Bill. The kids got to make cookies with grandma and then Randy, Sean and Karen took the kids to a park for some exercise. After some traditional waffling the decision was made and tickets were purchases (commitment) to go to a Pirates game. Dianne was able to get a GREAT deal on tickets in a luxury suite (inside AC) and outside stadium seating. After the game the band Live played and after that there was a great fire works show! This was my first time in the new stadium since my days of working at Three Rivers. This was truly an amazing stadium! I want to work there!!! Well, after the long day of stadium activities it was time to pack (for the last time) and get to bed. We left around 11a Wednesday morning (July 4th) and actually had a pretty smooth ride home. Click the link to see a slide show of our Pgh visit and the Pirates game.

Slide show of Pgh and the Pirates Game '07

So, we are home now. Unpacking, trying to sell our house and find a new one, getting back to work, taking care of Nita .... ahhhh home!! It's always great to get away and it's even great to get home. Anyway - we are here for a while now. Time to come to Madison for a visit!! Madison is great from now until winter!! To be honest, winter is even nice if you like to ski, skate and sled!! Come see us!!