Great Grandma Cameron's House!

Going to my Grandma Cameron's house is always a must when I'm home visiting. I make my request of chicken and dumplin's and cornbread way ahead of my visit just in case she forgot they were my favorite. And as usual, Grandma didn't disappoint! She put on quite a spread for, I think, 18 people!! Did I mention that she is 86 years old??!! Yes, she cooked the whole meal by herself and wouldn't let anyone help her clean up either...she said she could do the dishes after everyone was gone, she just wanted to sit down and visit with us while we were there...I love her!! This picture isn't even all the food...there was more on the counter and more tables set up on her back porch.
And it just warmed my heart that the kids gobbled up 2 helpings of the dumplins just like their mama...
After lunch Cameron relaxed on her Great Grandma's front porch with Grandpa for a little swing.
It was so hot outside that we staying inside most of the time. Grandma, like most grandmas, has lots of little trinkets and knick knacks around. I was so terrified that the kids would break something but Grandma was VERY firm with me that the kids could play with anything they wanted. Love her!! I was sad when we had to leave, I never get enough time with my Grandma. The kids wanted to give kisses too and Cameron go a little upset she had to share Grandma with her brother...
Grandma, when is your next train trip out west...we miss you already!!

Museum of Life and Science, Durham, NC

There are so many cool museums close to my parents that I wanted to take the kids to but we only had time to go to one. After a little research, we chose the Museum of Life and Science in Durham because they had a train and dinosaur park! My niece, Kenzie, was on crutches but was such a trooper keeping up her sister and the twins....

There was an outdoor area and an indoor area....we hit the outdoor first before it got too hot. Cameron parked herself at the music area, of course, and Timo planted himself in the middle of the dump truck/digging area with several trip inside the big caboose...some things are no surprises with my kids!


Thank goodness we had a train ride to catch...I'm not sure we could have gotten Timo out of the dirt pit otherwise. And oh what fun we had on the train!! The driver even let the kids come up and ring the bell, Timo was first in line! We took up quite a few cars with our crew and we had a blast. The ride was about 20mins, just long enough for the little ones.


Afterward, we traveled back in time to prehistoric days. They have a massive dinosaur park there with lots and lots of life size dinosaurs. There was also this "digging for fossils" area where the kids could search for sharks teeth.

It got really hot outside, too hot, 98degrees, so we headed inside for the toddler activity area. Cameron was showing off her super climbing skill and Timo was making works of art at the water painting area.

There was also a bug exhibit, space ship, weather making area and more that we checked out but it was all very hands on with the kids and I didn't have a free hand to take pictures. We had so much fun, I can tell this place is on our list to come back to next time we're in NC!

Granny & Grandpa's House

My parents (Granny & Grandpa) live in a big travel trailer and travel all over the country most of the year. During the summer, they park it in NC and keep my brother's two girls while they are out of school. This gave us a perfect opportunity to go back and have some good quality family time while Young had lots of business travel.

Mowing the grass, or rather riding the tractor, was by far the most exciting thing happening at Grandpas! My parents have about 2 acres of land there so there is lots to mow!



Relaxing in the warm summer heat, eating strawberries and playing with their cousins took up a good part of their summer days...guess that's why they call them lazy days of summer...

We had a little incident with Timo and a bloody nose. I think all the dry air might have been the cause b/c we had a few nose bleeds from him during the vacation. The first big one just had to happen when he was wearing a white shirt!! But my mom was a real trooper in cleaning the stains out of all his clothes!! Thanks Granny!!
And as I mentioned before, Young had some business travel so he rented a car one day to travel to Charlotte. The kids were amazed by the "new car" and spent a good hour or so climbing all around in it. They even went inside to get their "keys" toy to start the car! I guess that's the beauty of having lots of space, we could open all four door and let the run around and around while we sat in our lounge chairs to watch...something we could never do in the city.

We're Home!

We have made it back to SF safe and sound, praise the Lord. We had such a great time back east and I'm not even really sure where to start blogging. I just uploaded over 500 pictures and probably have that many stories, if not more. So I guess the best place to begin is the beginning...

Our last time on an airplane, almost a year ago, was a bit of a nightmare, so I was a little nervous going into this flight. I wanted to make sure I had all the bells and whistles to keep the kids entertained for a full 8 hours of traveling. Turns out, all we really needed was lots of juice with straws and Young's IPad. We drank our way through the airports and flights and played with the DoodleBuddy app on the computer.

We did manage to get Cameron to take a nap but Timo was way too excited to be on an airplane to sleep!


And traveling was so much easier this time around with extra pairs of hands! They loved pulling the suitcases. I packed their backpacks for the trip, which I ended up carrying most of the time, but I think it's time to get the kids their own rolling backpacks for the next trip!

Needless to say, we arrived safe and sound and all in all it was relatively uneventful. We spent the next day adjusting to the heat and settling in, catching up with Granny and Grandpa!

checking in

Hi Everyone! Just wanted to post to let you know we are having a great time...and have no time to post! I had so hoped that I would be able to keep you all updated while we were away but each day has been an adventure, leaving us all exhausted and a wee bit too tired to write.

So we'll be home soon and I'll try to catch you all you up on our travels and adventures!

And We're Off!

The next time you hear from us we'll be sweltering in the North Carolina heat and humidity but in the loving arms of our Granny and Grandpa! See ya'll soon!

Fairyland!

This past weekend we took the kids over to Fairyland in Oakland and had a great time! Fairyland, like the name suggests, is this little 10 acre nursery rhyme theme park. There are different sections for each nursery rhyme (Humpty Dumpty, Little Miss Muffet, Three Little Pigs, etc), with rides or activities and everything is just the right size for the kids!

They also have three stages set up for storytime and puppet shows that run throughout the day. We watched one of the puppet shows and Cameron sat through almost the whole thing...she loves to be entertained. Timo was a little more restless so we hit the story book house to read and Cameron joined us later.
But the big excitement were the rides. They only have four but it was more than enough excitement for us and the kids. Timo took his very first Ferris Wheel ride ALL BY HIMSELF!!! I don't know who was more scared, me or him. He and Cameron were going to ride it together but as soon as Cameron found out Mommy couldn't go with her, she backed out. Timo didn't want to get out of the car so they closed the door and off he went! He was such a brave little boy! I could tell he wasn't super excited and kept asking to get out but he didn't cry and had the biggest grin on his face when he got off...he was so proud of himself and we were proud of him!



The Merry Go Round was more Cameron's speed so she took a few turns on that one and then we all hit the train! The train had the longest line and it was hot! But I'm so proud of the kids for standing in line and waiting their turn. (toddlers aren't the best a waiting for anything!)
I brought a picnic lunch for us and we relaxed in the grassy area eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and oreo cookies.
We finished off our visit with a few hundred times down the clock tower slide and hid-n-seek in the bamboo forest! I can tell we'll be spending quite a few family days out in Fairyland!