Category: Photos

Outer Banks in July

Some friends invited us to crash on the floor of their beach rental for a couple of nights, so we took them up on the offer and headed to the OBX. The house was in Southern Shores, just south of Duck, and not far from Corolla, where we visited the Currituck Beach Lighthouse. We went to the beach three times in two days and had a blast. It was in the upper 80s with warm water the whole time.

From 2009 July – Outer Banks

Owen loved just being in the waves, like a fish letting each wave go over his head. Collin had a couple of great boogie board rides all the way in to shore. After each ride he looked back at me and held his fist in the air – the fist of victory! He obviously loved it. And Wesley was Mr. independent, just strolling up and down the beach exploring every which way and playing in the sand.  Grady also loved the sand and just being out of doors and exploring in the open breeze.

The Currituck Beach lighthouse was really fun to visit too. The boys love visiting and climbing new lighthouses. The old-school rails weren’t quite up to today’s width standards, so it was a bit nerve-wracking to take Grady up there.

We got back to Apex just in time to buy a box of fireworks and light them off in our driveway with some neighbors. It was a really great and relaxing week.

From 2009 July – Outer Banks
From 2009 July – Outer Banks
From 2009 July – Outer Banks
From 2009 July – Outer Banks
From 2009 July – Outer Banks
From 2009 July – Outer Banks
From 2009 July – Outer Banks

See the rest of the photos.

San Francisco here we came

The kids have been fascinated by the Golden Gate Bridge ever since we took our trip to San Francisco in May for Laura’s wedding (Aubrey’s younger sister). Aubrey and I were fascinated for quite some time by the wedding officiator’s gray dreads that fell to the ground before he wrapped them around his waist twice. All in all, it was a beautiful wedding at an old German retreat on a hillside among old redwoods in Muir Woods, north of San Francisco.

We stayed at a mission style home down at Stinson Beach with all of Aubrey’s family and had a great time. We spent a morning at a wide open beautiful beach playing games in the sand and running around.

Much of the day was spent at Laura’s wedding, where it was fun to see Owen embrace his role as ring bearer and even spend the afternoon dancing with the flower girl. They were quite the cute pair.

Another highlight of the trip was our big excursion out to Alcatraz Island via the ferry. We explored the prison, and the boys even got into one of the cells, which was quite exciting for them. I was lucky enough to get locked into one of the solitary confinement cells, which was entirely pitch black inside. Very eerie, and I couldn’t imagine staying sane in that thing for the week or more that prisoners would spend in there. It was also cool to be out on the prison yard and recognize some of the places from lots of classic movies.

We strolled along the Embarcadero where we watched some street performers and bought a $6 sci-fi looking painting of the SF skyline with several moons and planets floating in the sky. They do the paintings in like 5 minutes using spray paint. I never thought I’d buy one of those, but there I was. The kids love it.

And, of course, we found a sour dough bread shop and had clam chowder in a bread bowl. Delicious, as always.

We had plans to do more stuff in the city, but the kids were pooped so we just headed down to Gilroy and dropped in on our old friends, Dave and Marcie Richards. The next day we went to church at our old ward in Gilroy and saw lots of friends from when we lived there over six years ago. We barbecued in the afternoon with the Hales, the Zollingers, and the Richards. It was great to see everyone and we felt a bit nostalgiac for Gilroy, but all in all it solidified for us that we made the right move in coming to NC.

Here are a few pics:

From San Francisco Trip, 2009
From San Francisco Trip, 2009
From San Francisco Trip, 2009
From San Francisco Trip, 2009
From San Francisco Trip, 2009
From San Francisco Trip, 2009
From San Francisco Trip, 2009
From San Francisco Trip, 2009
From San Francisco Trip, 2009
From San Francisco Trip, 2009
From San Francisco Trip, 2009
From San Francisco Trip, 2009
From San Francisco Trip, 2009
San Francisco Trip, 2009

1st quarter 2009 adventures

Wesley and his joy school class toured Apex Fire Station #3

From 2009 1Q

We got some snow!

From 2009 1Q

We had “playset pizza” for FHE one night:

From 2009 1Q

Collin had his first Pinewood Derby and took 5th place overall!

From 2009 1Q
From 2009 1Q

Collin ran in his school’s “marathon”, running a full 26 miles over a couple months:

From 2009 1Q

 

We had lots of fun outside:

From 2009 1Q

 

Aubrey went wild at a Rock Band party:

From 2009 1Q

Grady kept us entertained:

From 2009 1Q

 

And Indiana Wesley kept us in line:

From 2009 1Q

And then the pollen came and brought allergies!!

From 2009 1Q

See all these pictures and more in my 2009 1st Quarter photo album.

Wrapping up 2008 — At the beach

After spending Christmas week at home vegging out and just relaxing around the house, we were ready to get out, but weren’t quite sure where to go. Then we remembered that we had always wanted to go to the USS North Carolina battleship memorial down in Wilmington. So we booked a hotel in Carolina Beach for a couple of nights and headed down.

The battleship was very, very cool. The scale of the parts was amazing, from the links on the anchor chains to the 16-inch gun barrels. And the interior of the ship was cool too. The kids loved exploring. Collin started getting anxious when it seemed like we were going in circles down in the underbelly. Perhaps its a sign that he won’t be joining the Navy.

From Bald Head Island and Carolina Beach Trip

The next morning we enjoyed a beautiful sunrise from our hotel room:

From Bald Head Island and Carolina Beach Trip

Then we headed over to Bald Head Island via ferry. On the island there are no cars, so we walked up to Old Baldy Lighthouse and climbed to the top.

From Bald Head Island and Carolina Beach Trip

Then we rented a golf cart and toured around the island, stopping at a few remote and beautiful beaches. It was a gorgeous, sunny, warm day.

From Bald Head Island and Carolina Beach Trip

One scary thing was when Owen fell out of the back of the golf cart while we were doing about 12 mph (top speed) and rolled a couple times. He seemed dazed but only came out of it with a few decent abrasions. He’s a tough kid.

From Bald Head Island and Carolina Beach Trip

A few other recent highlights:

Aubrey’s 31st birthday:

From Fall 2008

Wesley’s 4th birthday:

From Fall 2008

Halloween:

From Fall 2008

And even more scarier Halloweeeen!!! Bwah-hah-haahaa:

From Fall 2008

Collin’s 8th birthday and flag football party:

From Fall 2008

Collin’s baptism:

From Fall 2008

At the fair and soccer time!

Wesley had a great time going to the state fair with his Joy School friends!

Collin is almost finished with another great season of playing soccer. He gets really into it and is very intense and competitive. We encourage him to have fun, and he does, but he is really focused on winning. It will probably pay off for him over the years, but will also make it tough for him.

NY in July

Back in July we took a little road trip with the whole family. We drove from North Carolina up to Palmyra, NY where we spent several days seeing the LDS sites (where Aubrey’s sister Megan is serving a mission) and the Hill Cumorah Pageant. We visited the Peter Whitmer farm where the Church was organized in 1830, the Sacred Grove on the Smith farm, and the Grandin Press where the Book of Mormon was first printed. It was all very nice and memorable.

From July 2008 – New York trip

We spent another day on a side jaunt to Niagara Falls. We went on the Maid of the Mist boat that took us right down below Horse Shoe Falls. Everyone loved it, and we got drenched. We also went over to the Canada side and enjoyed the better views.

From July 2008 – New York trip

Then we drove across the state to NYC where we stayed for about a day and a half. We hit Toys R Us and rode the indoor Ferris wheel. We walked around Times Square. We enjoyed a big breakfast in a diner. We went to the Museum of Natural History and saw all the dinosaur bones. Then we stood outside in the 100 degree heat for several hours waiting to get on the ferry to the Statue of Liberty. It was so hot and the kids were totally sweating, but we kept buying water every chance we could get. Did I mention that money does not last long in your wallet in NYC?! The Statue of Liberty was awesome though, and the kids loved it. We also walked all over the Soho district trying to find this Grilled Cheese Sandwich Company restaurant that Aubrey found listed in a book, but when we finally tracked down the address, it was gone. It had shut down two years earlier. By that point all our kids were dragging, and Collin, who had walked all over the city in flip-flops and had even helped pushing one of the strollers some of the time, was even limping but still barely complaining. Fortunately, we were near a great Jewish deli called Katz’s Deli. We had huge Corned Beef and Pastrami sandwiches at $15 a pop. That was crazy. But it was good and we were hungry.

All in all, it was an amazing trip and tons of fun. The boys did great and had a blast. I’m sure they’ll remember it forever.

I put a bunch of pics on my Picasa Web albums. Here’s a sampling:

From July 2008 – New York trip
From July 2008 – New York trip
From July 2008 – New York trip
From July 2008 – New York trip
From July 2008 – New York trip
From July 2008 – New York trip
From July 2008 – New York trip
From July 2008 – New York trip

Little lady. Big heart

My Grandma Folsom passed away Friday at the age of 92. She stood only about 4′ 9″ but had the biggest heart of gold. Everyone who ever met her loved her. She was a constant source of encouragement and spirit for me. I will always remember her for her undeviating devotion to the Gospel. She truly endured to the end! I will miss her, but I’m glad that she is with Grandpa again.

Grandma Folsom

Piano recital

Collin performed his first ever public piano recital tonight! He did a wonderful job! It’s so fun to see him doing well and practicing diligently (with Mom by his side most of the time). It has been a joy to have the kids spending time at the piano.

I hope you enjoy this video of the recital:

And here is a photo. Click the photo to see more from the recital.

Collin’s piano recital