North Carolina Time

Well I'm pulling a Danielle here (mostly pics and a little text or story). I had a huge write up typed about the amazing trip to North Carolina, and then it got wiped :( I spent way too long to redo everything, but I also spent way too much time to not write something... so here's half-@$$in it...

A quick shout out to Jessi… She is amazing! She went back to school to pursue her dream of being a medical provider, and as a “non traditional,” AKA older student, rocked her graduate classes. She racked up an impressive CV and knowledge base that got her into one of the hardest residency programs in the country, Emergency Medicine at Duke University. She didn't stop excelling there either. Dr. Robertson impressed the Emergency Department on a daily basis and eventually became the Chief Resident. After residency, she was the only resident to be offered a full time position in the ER. She is staying at Duke University as an ER doctor, and is already being asked to hold significant roles within the department as well as being requested to apply for various leadership positions/ promotions. THIS is why we were celebrating!!!!!

Danielle ran Mount Marathon again (likely pictures in a dump post from her) and rocked it. We were then going to be home for three days prior to pack and get ready. At this time, Tundra started to get sick and exhibit poor balance, shaking, not eating, and generally around the clock care. We had amazing friends lined up to watch Tundra, but we could not pass that burden. Instead of the entire family missing the trip, Danielle made the difficult decision of staying back by herself so the kids could see and play with their cousins, and I could spend time with my family. It was a difficult decision, and I know Danielle was looking forward to beach time and unwinding after training incredibly hard for Mount Marathon, but it was the right decision and Tundra was worth it (more on that in different posts).

Initiate single dad mode!

Danielle has traveled with both kids by herself many times, but this would be my first. The kids listen to me pretty well, so I wasn’t too worried about their behavior, but I was more worried about the daily stuff that Danielle is master at, that I do less frequently (vitamins, ensuring good food is eaten, taking snacks and drinks places, brushing teeth/ hair, changing clothes, washing clothes, bathing, etc.) Danielle was a huge help getting them packed and reminding me of important things to do… she prepared me well.

I admit, traveling and vacationing without Danielle wasn’t a cake walk, but my Mom and Sister made it easier on me… they were great help, and bless them taking the brunt of Josie’s attitude at times when I wasn’t around to correct her.

The Robertson’s are doing amazing and it was great to catch up after not seeing them for many years. We didn’t melt like I thought we would, so that’s a bonus. Overall it was a great trip and the highlights are outlined below.

Saying goodbye to Mommy!

Sleeping on the plane is a must flying for more than 12 hours. These blow ups filled the foot area and they were able to lay down and sleep next to each other!

First day there... getting lotion on!

Many non-Alaska things to explore...

Like this guy

He was tasty too I guess. 

Checking out the community pool, in face melting temperatures (85 degrees)

We need to work on our distance

He liked jumping in solo better

"Did you see that!?"

Noodles are her life... in the pool and her dish

Mermaids on the pool steps... Josie had to have one of her own after this trip

Bench style seating... perfect for all the rug rats

Relaxing in the Robertson's backyard, playing with snakes... I mean centipedes

Snack time

The boys' room

The girls' room

Breakfast of campions, eggs and Nutella waffle. 

Goofs!

Pretty nails ladies!

Girl dance party

Movie night

On to the beach, a great time to catch up on sleep

These guys too

Mom got us the alcohol we asked for, but surprised us going pretty high on the shelf. I wasn't complaining at all!

One of the few times the kids were being obedient... lining up getting ready to go outside. Unfortunately, before we could hit the beach, a storm rolled in. That deterred a few, but not myself, Grant, and Ashton!

First night at the beach

Had it to ourselves

Just some cool dudes strolling

The first morning wasn't too sunny, but it wasn't raining either!

Sand castles

Family pic... squinting in the not so sunny daylight. Sheesh, it's like these kids don't know what the sun looks like :)

Looking for sand crabs...

THESE!!!!

And where there are critters to find and capture, Ashton will be there... and won't stop looking! These crabs were pretty easy to find, leaving airholes as waves washed over them. They were fast though so it took him a while and many frustrated misses before he got the hang of it. 

Waves are scary I guess.

Playing in the bucket full of sand crabs.

Scared or dancing?

Crab huntin

"I want to go in the waves and have them hit you Daddy"

Ok I guess :)

Tackle time between waves

Looking for big waves on the horizon

Hugs are better than tackles, but I'll take what I can get

Hopping over crashing waves

Looking for pretty shells and shark teeth. There weren't too many of either, but there was some! We found many smaller shark teeth and some larger broken, with a few in tact descent teeth, but Grant said this was the worst shark tooth finding he has experienced there. 

Beached mermaid

"And then I looked under my feet and the fish was THIS BIG"

Sand time

Relax time

More wave dodging

She LOVED this, but my shoulders didn't after a handful of waves!

Heading out deeper

I would get a face full of water and knocked down half of the time; it was hard to stay afloat with Josie as the priority to not go under. 

Walking the puppy

Ashton monkey

Cooper monkey

Cooper sloth

Wave jumping with Jessi

Beach games

Ashton's first time wake boarding. He thought it was lame until he caught his first wave.

This guy is a veteran.

Don't mind us adults, just loitering with alcohol around the kiddy pool

Aqua dolls

Sunset wave playing

"Ta-da!"

This is Josie's Baywatch run

They convinced Grant to get wet and hold hands to jump waves

These two gals melt my heart

What's that? A squeeze bird?

Lifeguard Kevin, at your service

Sand crab hunting again

Headed out

Some people relax reading a book?

This is Josie. I gave each of the kids a big piece of chocolate and said they had to eat it quick before someone came in and caught us. My mom walked into the condo and all the kids scrambled to hide... this is how Josie hid.

Balcony selfie

Ashton made friends with this group and they loved seeing this sand crabs

Here's one he's showing off

Foosball was hit when the rain started falling

Catching lizards was also on the top of Ashton's wants most of the trip. Josie got to hold this tame little fella

This cool waterfall filled the lower pool, and the kids loved jumping through it

We hit the mini golf course on a cloudy day (and during nap time)

The volcano in the middle of the course erupting

Teaching the boys how to play

The resort had this massive playground. It proved useful to zap the rest of their energy.

Climbing Denali

Josie loves scaring people... Susie doesn't like being scared

Orangatangs

Morning cuddle time

Yummy chocolate ice-cream drinks

Chicken nuggets poolside!

This was Josie's favorite place. She would go into the hot tub by herself, find the nearest lady, and sit right next to her, then talk up a storm!

This is Josie's reward for retrieving my sandal (see video toward the end)

Early morning stroll

Mom and Son <3

Uno sesh

Catching toads at night

Sleepy head 1

Sleep head 2

Sleepy head 3

The resort also had this waterslide for kids... but it went terribly slow

GG/ Josie selfie

TWINSIES!!

Josie loved jumping between beds

Movie night!

And Josie taking her pants off again to either dance naked or talk about a full moon

All those pants-less shenanigans are exhausting

Moonlight over the resort

Beach view of the resort

Goofy family dinner pic

Ashton caught a big lizard, but only grabbed it by the tail... well the lizard left him a present; this thing didn't stop moving for a good 5 minutes

More rainy day foosball

Josie loved the rolly pollies

Showing off his tree frog to Jessi

One of the happy couples

The other happy couple

Jessi hugs!!

Hugs... between wrestling. These two acted like brothers, playing and beating up on each other.

Rare calmness from these two

Little Gracey!

Cool chicks riding dirty

Park time with Pappa

Grant made us some AMAZING tequila drinks

Dad didn't like his, so I graciously help him out

We went to some state park (don't remember the name) where you could walk around and in the river; of course, this meant critters and Ashton's fascination with capturing them kicked in

It was a hot day, perfect for staying cool in the water

The boys are watching a snake in the water

We had a submerged snake pop up within a foot of Josie right after this picture

Jessi /  Cooper cuteness (and Hadie)

GG and some of the river rats

The gals went home while the guys stuck around for a while check out the rocks and beautiful scenary

Night time cribbage

Grilled, make your own pizza... I never really heard about it but it was GOOOOOD

Breakfast and cartoons

Slowly getting around in the morning

I guess this is me up in a treehouse. We all used the Robertson's annual pass to the Science Center to check out the fun activities.

Like riding a dinosaur

And taming it in order to take a picture with it

And searching for million old fossils

And soaking in acid natural springs

And running through poisonous gas

And training butterflies...

... to trust little boys that usually destroy things

This one was Josie's favorite

This guy thought my nose looked like a good place to land

So I decided to put Josie on my shoulders so she would be be the tallest thing around to land on (that wasn't a plant)

Toward the end of the butterfly garden, they were handing them out to people to gently release

Josie's favorite butterfly found a favorite landing spot on GG

This was pretty cool to see... all the cocoons of different kinds of butterflies strung up and hatched/ getting ready to hatch

More dancing... I think one of the girls took a tumble off this too after they heard Ashton fart and turned to yell at him

Story time before nap

Mom gave us a card and some fun money as combined birthday present with the requirement to go have a night out without the kids. We obliged! I'm not sure where we ate, but it was weird food. We couldn't really go to a few places we were hoping to since it was a Sunday night. 

But because it was a Sunday night, we had the next bar (and bartender) to ourselves! As we were getting ready to leave and Mom was coming to get us, one of Jessi's co-workers came in for a drink. Another lady doctor came in shortly after, and things got weird. I later found out we may have witnessed (or prevented) an affair. 

This is their farewell picture, looks about right

Jessi beaded up Josie for the trip home. She loved it... until she pulled it out while on the plane and beads went everywhere. Speaking of, Josie and I were the only ones on the plane because Ashton went home with GG and Pappa. They got to spoil him for a week until they flew up to Alaska with him for their vacation up North. 

I told mom that he would be fine on the two day car ride. She wasn't too sure about that, but she didn't realize how hard Ashton gets locked into his tablet when he's allowed to use it. She said Ashton barely made a sound and had no problem driving all day as long as it had power :)

And ARBYS was his restaurant of choice, pretty much for every stop. Dad doesn't eat fast food often (because it's not healthy and Mom never eats there due to her diet), but he enjoyed Arby's, maybe the first three times they stopped. 

Here is a video of the lizard tail a short while after the lizard decided to let Ashton keep it.

This is the video I was referencing above that earned Josie some ice-cream. I somehow dropped my sandal over the walkway into the swamp below. There was no way I could reach the thing or even get down there to grab. I knew I could lower one of the kids to grab it though. Ashton was to scared, and Josie was easily bribed with frozen goodness. 

Here is Josie trying to scare Pappa