obx 2

was asked to include the rest, so here is another sampling from our trip to north carolina.

this is at the top of the stairs looking back at the gigantic house...

 the kids played at the bottom of the stairs a LOT.

 oh goodness to gracious, i love leg warmers.

 the beans relished standing against the wind & yelling into it like their parents taught them.

 but it was chillay!

& so windy ellery held on to the fencing and looked like she was in a twister, struggling with each step
& holding on for dear life. hilarious.

cocobean preferred a little more protection but just sat on the adirondacks out here grinning at the gusts of wind & the waves.

 but it was a blast!

every detail of the house was so charming & beach themed & comfy & almost vintage. carolyn did an infallible job.

cossette was so cute how she used this step stool as a little desk. she wanted to hang out in there whenever we were indoors.

we enjoyed eating on the deck

 & walked along the beach for a bit with daddy boy

 & hunting for some seashells

& play goofy games.

 the sisters told stories on the porch swing,

 & we spent time watching the sparkly waves

& looking for pear cacti & succulents.

 even though the view was really fantastic from the living room

 we still wanted to spend time outside.

to swing on the hammock,

 or just sit together,

 or to teach valuable life skills...

 yea! like a boss! haha

 terrific little get away.

the US botanical garden conservatory

the unites states botanical gardens are conveniently right on the mall but we hadn't made our way in until last weekend.

 it was a shmorgishborg for someone still learning on her fun camera.

 & i went a little snap happy.

which is not always well received,

but they get over it.

my lens fogged up & we all shed a few layers on an otherwise crisp day while inside the greenhouse.

they had replicas of all the major sites around dc made out of only natural materials like dirt, leaves, sticks, rocks, etc. they were stupid cool. do you see the teeny abe?

the conservatory is divided into habitats like the wet lands, primeval plants (plants that have survived for 150 million years), the jungle, southern exposure, the desert, rare and endangered species, hawaiin gardens, & my personal favorite: the medicinal plants.

 outside there was a kid sized model home that showed different ideas & benefits to sustainable living.

this is my favorite photograph i took during the day:

i'd been messing a bit with the aperture but this is sooc (straight out of the camera). i was so excited i emailed it to my daddy. haha.

but it came at a price. now if you thought 2 kids (one strapped in stroller even!) could be wrangled by 3 adults, you'd be wrong. while i was in my own little photog haze ellery wandered off & for quite literally 2.5 seconds we didn't know where she was. mid picture i go "who has ellery?" & bryce & austin look at me like oh crap, you don't?
in a split second i called for her & went darting as a lady yelled from the other end of the massive jungle exhibit, "did anyone lose a little girl?". when i got to her she had little tears in her eyes & just kept saying "i couldn't find you mommy. i was looking and looking. i couldn't find you." & then i barfed. okay not really but i don't recommend misplacing your child. i was immediately shaky & nauseous & it was terrible. i might have held her the rest of the time we were there. don't judge me. :)

after recovering we went to the orchid garden. there's a whole sealed room for all the species of orchids. they were incredible.

just outside is the native american museum & i thought it was kind of fun comparing it with it's mini mushroom model we'd just seen. :)

wish we had time to go again but i'm thinking it was a one time shot. if you ever visit dc, don't skip the botanical conservatory.

& baby makes 3

over the weekend sam & becki went to new york city, so we had 3 under 3.

which went fine. really from thursday on, things weren't going as well as usual. yikes.

bristol was wonderful! cossette was wonderful! ellery? yeah, not so much. elles-a-belle has a nasty cough & runny nose & was a big snot the majority of the weekend. whiney, tired, cuddly, more accidents than she's had in a year... is that a sick thing?! she was really playful & sweet with the little girls just not so much with the parentals. much more high maintenance than usual. & high maintenance kids are exhausting yo.

but we were excited to keep bristol here to hang out with us!

 -after church-

 -in the car- i about broke my hand getting that 3rd car seat in the 2nd row of ike. intense.

-on the metro- bahaha we all liked this pic cause it looks like austin smacked elles in the head but really she hit her head & he was going to help her. she was probably throwing a fit of sorts.

-in the tub-

there's always a lot of dancing at our house but this weekend it was nonstop. all 3 kids loved jamming with the chief & all had very distinctive little dance moves. haha
all week ellery kept trying to hold bristol's hand, which bristol was not into. haha ellery is a little bit of a mother hen sometimes.

bristol & cossette were fast friends. they swapped jabbery stories & coke tried to keep up. i was hoping she would teach cossette to kiss with her mouth closed & maybe increase her vocabulary 100 fold. well we still have our little wordless wonder but she now kisses in the non-french variety. :)

bristol is an easygoing, smiley, funny little thing, a TOTAL chatter box, & swivels those hips like a pro.

& happens to eat carrots like a beaver.

love you bris!

visitors #9

i am so not the formal hostess type but i do loooove having people visit us!

my cousin sam, his wifey beck, & their sweet little bristol came in last week for a work conference of hers & we got to have them at our house & play!

the first day was just sam & me & all our little girlies. we hit the natural history museum for seriously hours. while the kiddles slept, we were complimented on our gorgeous triplets. e's blanket was over her so i could actually see the confusion. hahaha-

i'm kind of proud of myself because i've really compartmentalized these sightseeing locales so there is still new territory/new exhibits i haven't covered & i'm not insane bored every repeat visit to dc. instead i'm excited to show my faves & see something new. i feel like i know washington dc really well. becki met up with us for lunch & the american history museum before calling it a day.

we stayed busy checking out old towne alexandria for dinner & hanging at our house, but our next day in the city, we started at the botanical gardens with our buddy bryce while sam & beck attempted to catch their white house tour. which was disastrously missed. :(

i decided i'll do a separate post on this place. the gardens were amazingly cool.

we all went to the air & space museum just next door. it was austin's first time at the downtown one & there is just overwhelmingly a ton to see.

once they got over any shyness, cossette & bristol were just the best of buds. they're only 3 months apart & it was quite darling.

thanks guys! always fun to see family.

at it again

austin is from idaho falls, idaho.

we are moving to another city named after its state & paired with a water themed term.

not virginia beach, virginia. a longer move than that.

no, not minnesota lake, minnesota.

wisconsin rapids, wisconsin? nope.

nor is it alabama port, alabama.

bored yet?? when looking up others i actually came across the site of unimaginative city names. hahaha

by january 9th we will live in...

colorado springs, colorado!! |ˌkäləˈrädō; -ˈradō|!!

can't wait to hike the garden of the Gods

pikes peak looks visable from just about everywhere in "the springs".

denver is our closest temple. come to think of it this is the farthest away from a major city we've been. :( well about as far as SLC was. 50 minutes. eep. 


we are anxious knowing it's not a short term position & neither of us has even been there but also very, very excited!!!

it is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. -charles darwin

we are nothing if not responsive to change. :)

obx

carolyn & kip kramer were incredibly generous & gave us a weekend at their house in the outer banks of north carolina.

 some of the nicest, most honest people you'll ever know.

the house was legit.

& nags head is just beautiful.

the girls were ecstatic

 & cold.

quite cold.

 well, not just the girls.

but i just had to dip my toes in the water.

so we snuggled, read, played card games, & told stories by the fire

& used their brand new hot tub about 3 x's a day. literally.

 the fences & buildings & wild life were so perfectly east coast beachy.

we also got to check out the wright brothers memorial & museum out at kitty hawk

which was really interesting.

 we got one particularly breathtaking sunrise.

& a very bright, fast sunset.

it was low key, relaxing, bitter cold, & pretty incredible. we all wore sweats the whole time. my kind of vaca. :)

i might share more of the hundreds of pictures later. if if they are in high demand...