August Trip to North Carolina

In early August we flew, thanks to Jonathan's parents' generosity, to Wilmington, North Carolina, to visit all of our family and friends there. We loved the four years that we lived there and have really missed everyone since leaving. Because of the airlines' new packing restrictions, I left my nice camera behind (to save space) and forgot to clean the disk for my small camera before our vacation, so I didn't take many pictures, but I've put in what I can.

We flew in on my mil's birthday, so Happy Birthday, Sharon!!! It wasn't until the next Sunday that we had a little "party," with cake and everything.


The only thing we did the whole time with just our little family was go to a family fun park called Jungle Rapids. We rode the go-carts, played in the Kids Jungle (think McDonald's Play Place times 5), and played in the arcade for awhile.





Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures at the beach, even though we went there twice. Both times, we were with friends, and none of them had cameras, either, because they go there every week! I feel bad about that.

The kids were really good on the flights. They're pros, by now, with all the cross-country flights we've taken, and usually behave themselves. (We've pretty much made the trip twice a year since we were married, and each round trip usually includes 4 flights, so for Bailey, that's a couple dozen, and about half that for Colby.)
(This is the two of them, hiding under a row of airport chairs to play their Leapsters while we waited for our flight out of Raleigh.)

They each have a Leapster, and that makes a world of difference. Also, on the second return flight, the plane played "Horton Hears a Who," and even though the kids have seen it before, Jonathan bought them each a cheap set of headsets, and it kept them well entertained the whole time it lasted.
They love to "see the earth" beneath us as we fly, especially as we get closer to landing. In NC that means seeing a lot of trees and water, but the trip back to Vegas usually includes an awesome view of the Grand Canyon, Lake Mead, etc. This time we flew literally right over the Grand Canyon, and even though I've been there--and flown over it lots of times, I was taken aback by its size and depth. For some reason I'd never appreciated it as much as I did this time--maybe because I'd never had such a good perspective. I wish I would have taken a picture of that!!!