Beach Vacation - Getting There

So our vacation to Carolina Beach started off like so many of our trips do: early. We had an 8:30am flight, which meant we had to leave here by 6:30am. But everyone was happy and excited to go, even Josh.

We flew on Northwest Airlines. Not exactly my favorite airline, but Priceline users (beggars) can't be choosers! I've decided that Northwest Airlines is a lot like Southwest Airlines: cheap and no frills. Only your seats are assigned, and of course ours were not assigned together and we had to beg people to let us sit together or threaten them with a seat next to an excited three year old. Oh, and they don't give you a snack, just a soda. And most of their flight attendants and other employees seem to be permanently grouchy. Okay, so they're not really like Southwest at all, except that they're cheap and that's the only way we were able to afford to fly, so I can't complain. (Too much.)

Our flights were uneventful, which is just how we like them. The boys even slept for a bit. We got into Raleigh on time and took the bus to Avis car rental. (Once again, Priceline came through for us - can't beat a car for $20 a day!) We got to rent a Ford Five Hundred. Ooh la la!

We drove to our friends', Steve and Amy Cadiz, apartment. It was so exciting to see them after three years!! We met their cutie-pie daughters, Kennedy and Stevie. They also have two big boxers, Malcom and Mason, which totally freaked Josh out. I have never heard him scream like that before! (Or hold on to me so tightly!) After a quick and yummy lunch of Carolina BBQ at Smithfield's we headed to the beach, which was a 2 1/2 hour drive.

Boy, were we relieved to see the condo we were staying in! It was soooo nice! (You never know what you're going to get when you rent!) I'm kicking myself for not taking pictures of the bedrooms, but here are a few shots of the condo and the area. The area is going through a real estate boom. The condos across the street from us (beach front) were selling for at least $1 million, so we assumed the one we stayed in was just less than that (since it was only across the street from beach front!)
We rented the condo with the Cadiz's and their other friends, Jay and Melanie Krueger. (A great family who we had lots of fun with!) Each family had their own bathroom and bedroom. Since our kids are brave they slept in the 4th bedroom, which meant Lance and I had a bedroom to ourselves. Hooray!

We went out to dinner, did some grocery shopping, and were introduced to the Wii and Dance Dance Revolution that evening. Who knew that two Raleigh cops could be so good at DDR? Nice.

As we got ready for bed that evening Lance said in passing "I don't feel so good." Uh oh.

I'm Baaaccckkkk!

Yes, I'm finally back from my vacation! It as sooo much fun, but I am really glad to be home. I am also pooped and don't really feel like blogging all about it tonight. (I'm still in lazy-do-nothing vacation mode. I'd rather just catch up on all of your blogs.) But here are a few highlights from the trip that I will be blogging about soon (just to peak your interest):

- the ocean
- the scariest fish ever
- sand, sand everywhere
- a million dollar condo
- cops and FBI agents
- ice cream mistakes
- a fight between Godzilla and Mothra
- beach reads
- first class bad luck
- more Madsen medical mysteries
- what won't Josh eat?
- Dance Dance Revolution championships
- and much much more!

Okay, a few of those are fake. It's up to you to decide what's real and what's not by reading my blog over the next few days!

Happiness is...

...a baby in a box!

Ice Cream in a Bag

I found a link for Ice Cream In A Bag on Sk*rt the other day and decided to give it a try. Success! I tweaked it a bit to fit what we had around the house, so here's the recipe we used:

1/2 c whole milk
1/2 c fat free half and half
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 TBL sugar
handful of an add-in; optional (we used frozen blueberries)
1 quart ziplock bag
1 gallon ziplock bag
enough ice to fill the gallon bag
rock salt

Put the milk, vanilla, and sugar into the quart bag; mix well. Add the mix-ins, and try to squeeze out as much air as possible. Fill gallon bag with layers of ice and salt. Close the bag; shake to mix. Put the quart bag into the gallon bag; try to get it in the middle of the ice. Shake and mix the bag to "churn" the ice cream. We churned for about six minutes and then let the bag sit on the counter for four minutes to let the ice cream harden.

We all had fun, and it was the perfect amount of ice cream for after dinner - enough to satisfy a sweet tooth but not so much to make you feel sick!

A few notes: it wasn't as smooth as ice cream, but I think that's because I used a lower-fat version. If you used heavy cream I'm sure it'd be smoother. I think we'll try a few different mix-ins during the course of the summer: crushed cookies, berries, chocolate milk powder, etc.

If you try the recipe let me know how it goes!

A Do Nothing Day

I don't really want to do anything today. Here's why:

1. The high chair cleaner is on (in other words, it's raining). Hooray! It's been a long time since we've had any significant rain. Now I don't have to lug the hoses around and water the lawn. And the high chair can have a long soak. Nice. I just want to sit and watch the rain through the window.

2. I need to pay bills. Never any fun. I'd rather ignore them for another day.

3. I'm already in vacation mode, which is ridiculous because we don't leave until this Saturday and I have a million things to get done before then. I need to start packing, cleaning, and just doing all the stuff that it takes to get a family of four ready for a week at the beach. Why does the mom always get stuck with this job is what I want to know. Probably because we expect frivolous things like shampoo and enough beach towels for everyone to be packed. But that's a topic for another blog. :)

We're going to rent a beach house in Carolina Beach with some good friends of ours. We're really excited because:

1. We haven't seen Steve and Amy since we moved from Salt Lake. (They live in Raleigh now.) They have two little girls, Kennedy and Stevie, who are each just younger than our boys.

2. We don't have to drive. We got some cheapish tickets on Priceline. Woo-hoo! (I say cheapish because airline tickets are never what I would consider cheap.)

3. It's the first non-family vacation we've been on since before Spencer was born. Sorry, family, but we all know that family visits can't really be considered vacations!

4. It's a week at the beach, for Pete's sake! It's gonna be fun no matter what.

Okay, so that's two random lists in one post. The rain has stopped and the boys are starting to act a little cabin bound already. Guess I'd better get off my duff and start getting things done.

Real Simple Worthy?

So I'm a big fan of magazines. I love 'em. I currently have seven different subscriptions. I know, I know - I need to cut back. It's actually cutting into my book reading time. I can stop any time I want. Really.

This habit started during my ad agency years when I got all the magazines I wanted for free. (It was great!) I was lucky enough to be working there when my now all-time favorite magazine first started - Real Simple. I love this magazine. It has such great ideas for around the house: organization, cleaning, new uses for everyday items, etc. It also has really good recipes, articles, and other stuff. You should really check it out. I even kept subscribing to it during our poor student years! (You can get really good subscription deals online.)

The other thing I really like about the magazine is the photography. The pictures are always so clean and crisp and uncluttered. This view in my office reminds me of something out of Real Simple. The entire house can look like it's been ransacked my Vikings (or two little boys), but this one spot always looks nice. (Mainly because it's out of my Viking's reach.) Ahh... serenity now. Serenity now....

Happy Father's Day!

Please don't eat me! I have a wife and kids. Eat them!
- Homer (Simpson)

Happy father's day, Dad!

Sing us a song...

....you're the piano man... Quick - can you name the artist, song, & album?
(Without looking it up!)

I like this game - and this picture - almost as much as Josh likes playing on the piano!

What time is it?

Correctamundo, Christy!

The Band: Spin Doctors
The Song: What Time Is It?
The Album: Pocket Full of Kryptonite
Totally defined early high school for me - LOVE this album still!
(p.s. Ginger - so sad you had to let go of the album. You can pick a new one up for only $3 here.)

It's 4:30... (Quick - name the band, song, and album. Answer posted tomorrow.)

A picture a day

I haven't been blogging as much lately because I either don't have much free time or I don't feel like I have much to blog about. Here's my solution: 3191.

Have you seen the blog 3191? I love it. It's awesome. Check it out. I'm going to take a page from their book; if I don't have anything to blog about, I'll at least post a random picture that I've taken. At the very least you'll b able to gauge what type of mood I'm in or see random things around my house. :) Here's my first attempt.


p.s. Thanks for the flowers, Shmance. I love the yellow blooms against our blue kitchen wall!

Stone Path

Lance and I finally put in our stone path on Monday night. (Please ignore the weeds in the garden! I try to weed every Thursday and I took this picture on a Wednesday.) Compared to the other projects we've done lately, this one was pretty easy and completed in just over an hour. We put in cheap cement blocks because eventually I would like to outline the patio with some sort of decorative stone and then I'll just match that in the path.

Of course all of the rocks originally came from our back yard. Why pay for rocks when you can dig them all up, move them to the north side of the house, and then move them back to the south side? We made a significant dent in our mountain of rocks, but there are still plenty left!

I'm really happy with the path. I think it breaks up the monotony of the yard, adds something interesting visually, and, most importantly, keeps down the mud! Plus, we did it ourselves! (With a little help from Spencer, of course!)

And thus it begins...

...another innocent lost to gaming.

(Lance couldn't be prouder!)

Grass Pictures for Kyle

No jokes about my blog being as interesting as watching grass grow... :) These pictures are for my brother, Kyle, to look at. We're trying to figure out what's wrong with our front yard grass. (He's getting a degree in Landscape Management.) Master Kyle, your opinion please.

A few things to keep in mind:
- It's been a dry spring. The grass is fairly dry, since we've been spending most of our time keeping the back yard's new sod watered. But the lawn looks like this even when well watered.
- We fertilized about 2 months ago with a basic 10-10-10 fertilizer.
- It looks to my amateur eyes that the dead grass underneath is inhibiting the growth of the new grass.
- We don't really know what we're doing and will take any advice. :)



This is our side yard. What's up with some of it being really green and other parts not? (Even though we water is all the same?)


I raked up a bunch of dead grass from the lawn. Does that mean it's built up thatch? If so should I water it right after I rake it?

Single file, ladies...

...there's plenty of Spencer to go around... *wink*

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The world as seen by Spencer

We let Spencer have the camera for a few minutes the other night while we were all piled in our bed. He loved it! Perhaps we have a new Ansel Adams on our hands? Perhaps not... But here are a few of the pictures he took:


He also took a couple of videos. If you get motion sick, you might want to be careful watching them!

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Hmm... this explains a lot about the kiddo!

Reverently... quietly...

**Update** I loved Karlea's story about her cousin, so she's the winner! However, since you live on the other side of the continent I can't send you live basil! So be looking for a mystery prize in the mail in the next week or so! Congrats!


I would like "Reverently, Quietly" to be the theme song for our family during Sacrament meeting. And usually we're pretty close to that. Okay, kinda close to that. (As close as you can be with two little boys.)

Yesterday it was more like "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns N' Roses.

Lance was asked to help pass the sacrament. Spencer did NOT like this; for some reason he only wants to sit with Lance at church. I explained several times why he couldn't be with daddy, and thought he understood as we started to sing the opening hymn. Wrong. He soon decided that he couldn't sing and neither could I. He got mad when I opened the hymnal, grabbed an extra one from the bench, and chucked it at me. Oh no he di'in't! I grabbed him and quickly whisked him out of the chapel. (Good thing the Livengoods, who were sitting behind us, had stolen Josh from me earlier.) Spencer knew he had misbehaved and was pretty repentant, so after a time-out in an empty classroom we returned to our seats.

He was fine for about ten seconds when he decided, yet again, that he needed daddy. I tried to divert him with toys. I tried to read him his special sacrament book. I tried to reason with him. I showed him where daddy was and what he was doing. No dice. By the time the sacrament was halfway over he had started running up and down our pew, saying "I need Daddy! I need Daddy!" People without children (or who haven't had young kids in decades) turned around to give me the look. I tried to grab him and take him out without making a scene, but that wasn't happening either. With a final cry of "I NEED DADDY!" I carried him out.

What he really needed was a swift kick in the pants. But I decided that church probably wasn't the place to institute a new corporal punishment policy in my child rearing practices.

Long story short, we had a long conversation about why we needed to be reverent in church. We eventually made it back into the chapel where Spencer found "safety" in Daddy's lap - until he started misbehaving again five minutes later.

Ah, the joys of children.

I can't be the only one with children who act awfully in church. (No denying it - I've heard them!) What's the worst thing your kids have done in church? A homegrown potted basil plant, perfect for cooking, to the person with the best story. (I know it has nothing to do with being reverent, but I have a lot of extra basil!)

Or, if your kids really are angels (hahaha), what's the worst thing you ever did in church? My brother, Kevin, and I used to write snotty notes to each other and giggle and whisper through the whole meeting - and that was during the summers I was home from college! Or there was the time my mom was dragging my brother, Kyle, down the aisle to take him outside. Kyle let go of her hand and my mom fell on her bum right in the middle of the chapel! Or when my brothers wrestled under the pews, rolling 4-5 aisles down from ours. Or the time when Kevin went through a hating church phase and decided he wasn't going to get dressed, so one Sunday my mom made him go in his underwear. (He was around three years old.) He quickly got dressed once he saw some little old ladies gasp at seeing the bishop's son with no clothes! Good times, good times.

For Ginger

Lance and I thought of you when we drove by this neighborhood sign yesterday:

(Hey, better than "Fiddlesticks", right!?)

A Lovely Day

Yesterday Lance and I attended the wedding of two good friends, Maura Boyle and John Duckworth. The best word to describe the entire event is lovely.

The ceremony took place at St. John of the Cross in Western Springs, IL (just outside of Chicago). I had never gone to a Catholic wedding mass before, and I thought it was really nice. The music was especially beautiful; we were accompanied by a quartet that also played traditional Celtic music as prelude. The groom was handsome and the bride absolutely beautiful, of course!

The reception was held at Butterfield Country club - very fancy! We enjoyed a great dinner, great conversation, and great band. The only bad part was that Lance and I couldn't stay as long as we wanted - we had to get home to the kiddos. But it was really nice to get out of the house without the kids, even if for just a day. I got to carry a purse that was way too small to carry any sort of child paraphernalia! (The picture is of us during cocktail hour out on the patio of the country club, just before dinner, enjoying our sodas. :)


I didn't get nearly as many pictures as I wanted, but that's because I decided what I really wanted to do was enjoy the moment and not be in "blogger mode" for this event. :)

I did, however, manage to get a short video of the happy couple and their first dance - very impressive, Mr. and Mrs. Duckworth!

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My friend Ashley Bodie and I had fun talking about and comparing the weddings we had been to. Some were fancy, most were fairly simple. But we decided that no matter how glamorous or how common the wedding, they all ended the same way: with a happy married couple!

Congratulations, John and Maura! Thanks for inviting us to such a wonderful event!