This is Alex just before take-off on his very first flight.  The anticipation was almost more than he could handle and he was very nervous.  The second the plane left the ground, though, he was all smiles.  “That wasn’t so bad!”

First we had to stop through Raleigh, NC for a night so Daddy could speak at WordCamp. Here is Alex waiting for the cab to take us to the college where WordCamp RDU was being held.

He waiting patiently in the auditorium…

As soon as Shayne was done, we caught our flight to NYC and crashed at the hotel.  The next morning, we grabbed breakfast by the hotel.  Alex didn’t quite approve of the un-Texan breakfast.

Then we were off to catch our ride on the NYC Ducks.  It’s an amphibious vehicle that boards in the middle of Times Square, drives through Manhattan…and then off into the Hudson river to relive Henry Hudson’s journey.

Alex with the NYC Duck.

The duck gave us all quackers.

Alex wasn’t sure what to think as we entered the river…

As a rule, I don’t care much for being aboard boats, but this was a really enjoyable (and very chilly!) ride.  Here’s Dad taking it all in…

We had a great view of the Intrepid and the Empire State Building.

Once we were back on land, we stopped by a few places in Times Square….one of them, the M&M store.

Empire State Building time!  Alex was just adamant about going up in the ESB because he loves the scene in James & the Giant Peach when the peach lands atop the building and James has finally made it to New York.

The line wasn’t terrible and the time passed rather quickly while we visited with the people waiting with us.

Daddy helped Alex look through the binoculars.

Considering how crowded it was on the observatory, I was surprised at the almost silent atmosphere.  It was incredibly peaceful up there and we really enjoyed ourselves.

A view looking up at the needle from the 86th floor:

Another shot of my boy enjoying the view and the peace way up above the busy, noisy city.

And…me & my boy.

So, there are some highlights from Day 1 (and the Raleigh part…).  We have something like 850 pictures, but I’ll spare ya most of them.

Since I posted last, we’ve been staying busy with end-of-the-schoolyear activities and adjusting to our summertime schedule.  Alex finished first grade and is thoroughly enjoying being out of school.  He has a notebook for the summer that he writes a story in each day.  We’ll be working on handwriting, multiplication and division over the summer.

Elliott, well…she’s Elliott.  A fireball.  A handful.  A nutcase.  A sweetpea.  She is loving having big brother home and they keep each other entertained…and a bit stressed out at times.

Today is our wedding anniversary and we’ll be celebrating starting next Friday with a trip to NYC!  Can’t wait!

In the meantime, here are a few pics of my kiddos enjoying the incredible weather we have had!

Hope you all are enjoying your summers as much as these kiddos are!

Dad and Alex started off the weekend shooting the airsoft guns that Alex got for his birthday.

He looked soooo cute in his safety glasses!  Just look at how the straps poke his ears out!

After a few hundred rounds of plastic pellets were shot, we had a little egg hunt at my in-laws’.

I thought I would try to get some shots of them in their Easter outfits since Easter Day was forecasted to be stormy and icky, but…I had little cooperation.  When I tried pictures of them together, this is what I got:

So I just snapped what I could get.

Then we rode in Grandma’s car out to her house and Elliott gave out.

Alex peeked at me through the headrest…

We settled in at Grandma’s for the night and enjoyed a much-needed thunderstorm that dropped almost 2 inches on our very thirsty world.  Luckily, by the time our next egg hunt rolled around, most of the water was soaked up and we could go on with our fun.

Note the waterproof shoes and rolled up pants.  That’s our way with coping with mud and preventing messy cuffs.  Always prepared, baby!

I hope you all had a lovely holiday weekend!

When he spotted this guy, he looked incredulous and said, “I didn’t know you knew how to make goombas!!!”

Neither did I, honey.  Neither did I.

We had a big hamburger cookout at the house for him and everyone had a really great time.

There were bubbles…

The wind was nuts!  Just check out Sister Crazy Hair over here…

And a big Silly String fight…

And Silly String in the face…

The the kids gathered around for gift time.  I’ve never seen such a bunch of deliriously happy, tired, sweet kiddos.

The last of the guests left around 10 that night and we left out for a birthday trip to Six Flags the next morning.  Needless to say, this kid had an amazing birthday weekend!

Today, after our 70% chance of rain dropped to 0% and the sun came out, I grabbed the camera and took a few shots of the flowers that spring has brought to life.

Here’s our lovely state flower.  We’ve got tons of them in the back yard and we can’t/won’t mow until they’ve got to seed.  Please excuse the ugly brown grass in the background.  Our drought is pretty extreme at this point.

This guy is a big fan of bluebonnets!  I swear he posed for me while I took his picture.

I took the kids for some tulip pictures, but I’m not sure I got the tulips captured well.  Might go back for more tomorrow!  In the meantime, here are some pics of these 2 kids that I think are pretty darn cute.

First he had to peek around the tree…

And the second, he was getting kisses from little sis. That makes everything okay!

He’s such a sweet boy…gentle and kind. I wish you could know him just by seeing his pictures.

Alex’s spring break officially started today, so he just left for a weekend with the in-laws. I miss him, but I know he’ll have a great time playing soccer and walking down the street to get a cup of his favorite ice cream in the afternoons.

Today, I’ll be doing a bit of playing with Elliott, cleaning the house and making clips to match her new clothes that came in the mail yesterday! Oh, the fun to be had!

Have a beautiful day!