Trip to Ocracoke

Today we headed south to go visit Ocracoke Island. It was a fun trip and we enjoyed our lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, Howard's Pub.

First we stopped by the Cape Hatteras light house.
Then we took the ferry to the Ocracoke. This is always the boys' favorite part of visiting the Outer Banks.
Aunt Karen.
Uncle Gordon and the boys.
The not-so-wild ponies.
Sound asleep after a long day.

Auntie's Pedicure Salon

Disturbed

We got Caleb a "Shark Attack" drink at dinner. "Blood" pours from the shark's mouth into his drink. I think Caleb was highly disturbed by this.

Cozy Day

We have had a very relaxing day. We had a leisurely morning and then drove south to Hatteras to go to a fish market. Lee is cooking crab cakes as I speak.

Asleep at the Beach House

Spring Break in the Outer Banks

We are spending another Spring Break in Salvo in the Outer Banks which is one of our favorite places to be. Although Spring Break is always the same every year (the split week between March and April), this trip to the Outer Banks seems to be a little different...

First of all the weather is crazy! Rainy and very high winds. I call it "cozy," Lee calls it "hostile." Second, Spring Break must be a few days earlier because EVERYTHING is closed for the season. It appears that things will be opening up later in the week, but I think Lee had a panic attack last night when we arrived at 5:30 PM after driving 8 1/2 hours and there didn't appear to be anywhere to get dinner. If there is one thing to know about Lee, he is incredibly easy-going unless he gets hungry!!!

The weather doesn't bother Lee and I since we come to the Outer Banks to relax and not necessarily to hang out at the beach all day. We love the view of the beach from the house, hearing the sounds of the ocean, reading, resting, grilling fresh seafood... The weather actually adds a unique feel.

We are looking forward to Sean arriving tonight. He is the first of our guests for the week which includes Kevin, Erica, Uncle Gordon, and Aunt Karen.

Here are a few pictures from our first day here:

We drove to Avon and found an open restaurant...

Those who know me know how unusual a stocked fridge is. This picture is to combat the pictures Lee has posted on Facebook of empty fridges.
We have designated the loft the "Kids' Loft." The boys can do whatever they want up there, including watching all the TV they want. Since we do not usually let our boys watch TV during the day, I anticipate that I will not be hearing from our boys all week.

Bad Mommy

I usually do not let the boys play with messy items. However, Caleb came home with a homework assignment today. He had to decorate an egg and "the fancier the better." So, I got down the art bin and allowed him to paint the egg. During this time I got distracted and worked on booking a cruise for Thanksgiving with my family. It wasn't until I was done with Travelocity that I realized that Graysen had been busy painting himself (including inside of mouth) the entire time.

This is the finished egg that will be displayed in Caleb's classroom. There is much more paint on Graysen than there is on the egg.

Haircuts

The boys, especially Graysen, do not make haircuts easy. So, their "winter do's" are long and then we buzz cut their hair for the summer. We decided that it was time for their summer buzz cut even though it may be a little early for summer. Here are the results:

BEFORE

AFTER

Messing with Caleb

Last night, while Laura was out with the girls, the boys and I went to A&W for root beer floats. Graysen took the opportunity to torment his brother by drinking the root beer with his spoon. This video of the event pretty much sums up the boys' personalities.

Lee

Graysen's "Babies"

L to R: Baby Ghost, Baby Boba, Baby Darth Vader, Baby Iron Man (Not to be confused with Daddy Iron Man who is not a favorite anymore.)

Graysen's four most cherished posessions are his "babies." At least one of them can be found with Graysen at all times. He likes to tuck them into bed and comfort them when they cry. Lee and I are amazed at Graysen's natural ability to imitate.

Yesterday Graysen told me that Baby Darth missed his daddy who was at work. I asked Graysen if he was Baby Darth's daddy and he said, "No, Lee is." I guess Graysen is just the care taker for Lee's babies.

All Better!

I wanted to give an update on Graysen. He is 100% better! Tamiflu worked great. Graysen went from sleeping all day with a 101.5F fever back to his normal self in 24 hours. I do not think that there is anything that can knock that kid down!

Poor Little Guy

Little Gray is sick. At 9 AM he rounded up all of his "friends" and put himself to bed.

Update on Caleb

I ended up taking Caleb to the doctor today because he hasn't been getting better. It turns out that he has the flu. (Yes, we all got our flu shots this year like usual, but the shot has not been as effective this year.)

Ironically, Graysen is the one who came home with a prescription for Tamiflu, not Caleb. The doctor said that it would be risky for Graysen if he got the flu and wanted to do everything possible to prevent it. Caleb on the other hand will be absolutely fine. Poor Caleb. All of his sicknesses pale in comparison to Graysen's health concerns, so he is never babied anymore. He is such a trooper!

While waiting for the doctor I decided to see if Caleb could read. I had suspicions that he could and I know that he knows a lot of basic words; however, I had NO idea that he can read almost anything!!!

I told him that if he read one page of a Golden Book all by himself I would take him to Barnes and Noble and buy him books. This is not a kindergarten-type book but more like a third grade level book. I was amazed. He read the entire page perfectly and it had hard words like beautiful, railway, and couldn't. I find this impressive since Lee and I have NEVER pushed or taught him how to read. He has done this all by himself studying books in his room at night. I was SO proud of him that we immediately went to B&N and I got him seven books!!! (Again, Lee and I like to buy books, but we do not do a good job of reading to the boys. I never read to them, and Lee does only once in a while.)

Caleb has an amazing appetite for learning and teaches himself. Right now he is learning all 50 states and the solar system. It is SO funny how obsessed he is with "THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA," never to be shorted to U.S. or U.S.A. (Thank you Aunt Dana for the states book. It is Caleb's favorite!)

Now, if we could only get Caleb to teach Graysen ABC's...

As a tip, Barnes and Noble had a bin by the children's section with 50% off bargain books. Most books in the bin were $3-$5. We came home with a lot of great, cheap books! I have never seen this bin before and I think it will only be there for a short time to clear out inventory.

Update

I know that I have been really lazy updating the blog lately. Caleb has had a fever for four days now, so the boys and I have been up to absolutely nothing! I think that it is just a virus that needs to run its course, so he will be fine.

I hope to update soon with pictures and playdates. But until then, my most exciting activity for the day will be to give the boys a much needed bath.

Graysen Playing

I love to watch Graysen play. He has a great imagination and a fun spirit. He LOVES to dress up and Lee and I have started to build a dress up bin for him.

The theme in Graysen's mind for yesterday was Batman...