Our trip begins and we are on the road. Mac is thoroughly thrilled...can't you tell?? lol
On the way up, my car had some troubles, which I mentioned in a previous post. After that hubbub, we got back on our way. As we drove, the sun was setting right in front of us. There were rolling hills we were driving and with each hill, we could see a great view of the sun going down. We were able to get a good picture. Pretty cool, huh?
On the first weekend in NC, we "traded kids" with my cousin. He and his wife took my girls and I took their older son, Austin, who is Indy's age. He spent a couple days with us and the boys had a blast! Late on the first afternoon, we took the boys over to the "splash pad" they have in the downtown area near the community center. They had a lot of fun and it was so hot, so it was very refreshing.
Right next to the splash pad is a playground. After they got bored with the water play area, they went to the playground for a little while, then back to the splash pad! lol I think they were finally tired out enough to be able to wind down for the day. After all this playing, we ordered pizza and got them bathed and ready for bed. It was a fun day for them.
Did I mention that my mom got a new puppy a couple months ago? She's so cute! She's half boxer and half we don't know what! lol So, it'll be interesting to watch her grow. I think she was about 2 or 3 months when we were there. She and Mac became good friends and played all the time!! He was only 18 mos. when we were there, but because his breed is larger, his maturity takes longer coming, so he was really much younger, maturity wise. Here's my mom with her new baby.
On Sunday, we took the boys over to some neighboring towns to see the sights. First we went to a historical museum. It was right next to this "creek". The boys loved this and it was so pretty too! Here's me with the 3 boys.
This is one of the cabins on the museum property. A little later, the museum lady opened it for us to see inside. It was really cool!
After that, we went to a nearby natural geyser. The boys loved that too. As a matter of fact, the girls even love this place!! lol Today the wind was just slightly blowing, so the water was gently spraying on us where ever we stood. It was fun. Plus, there were tadpoles in the water. Just a big bonus for little boys. They were catching the tiny frogs that had already grown enough to climb out of the water. 
This was so funny, seeing them all 3 laying on their tummies over the edge trying to catch the little frogs! 
This was inside that historical museum. The boys were really interested in all the "old" stuff. We read some of the signs to them, but they really just liked to see everything.
This was a big rock at the same museum. Guess what it is??? It's a meteor! It's true! It landed in some nearby farmer's field and he told someone who called someone else, etc. until it finally ended up at the museum. Who cares?? It was cool!! lol
On Monday, we took the 3 boys, plus my other cousin's son, Luke, to the children's museum in Charlotte. Boy, was that a day!! They had a pirate & shipwrecks exhibit on at that time. Here's my little pirates.
Indy enjoyed the blocks section.
Levi liked the weight pulling machine.
Here's Mac and Mom's new puppy playing up a storm in the backyard. Doesn't look like a very fair play date, does it? But, Mac was very good at being gentle enough for the baby and she kept up like a champ. They were both so sad when we left. We heard Mac crying out back the other night....poor thing.
In my mom's back yard, she has a creek. It's a pretty small creek during the summer, but the sides are pretty high...and steep. Indy decided to climb the muddy walls of the creek bed then Levi followed, of course. See how high it is? They got good and dirty and had a lot of fun in the meantime.
My mom's neighbor has a miniature horse, or pony, or whatever. Anyway, their fence backs up to my mom's yard and sometimes we get to see him. This day we got to pet him and feed him carrots. The boys had a lot of fun. And, he seemed very happy to have so much attention!
One day we went golfing with my mom, the boys, my cousin Jason, and his son Luke. Before we get to that, here is Levi blowing a dandelion. We have this little book at home that we read a lot where the little bunny blows "dandelion seeds into the air." We've read it for years, but rarely see dandelions. Well, we found 3 of them on the golf course. Levi grabbed this one and started blowing the seeds "into the air." It was so cute!
Here's Jason giving Luke instructions for his putt.
At some point, Jason was laying down on the grass and all the boys "attacked" him. It was funny. But then, Jason stood up like a monster coming to life. See, Jason is 6'8''. See the boys hanging on for dear life?? They loved that!! 
Here's a good shot of all the golfers. I only went to take pictures and make sure my boys stayed in line. 
One day we went to a town about an hour away where my grandfather grew up. I mentioned it in a previous post, but my mom had found his house after doing a search. This is his high school that is now an elementary. When I was graduating high school somehow I lost my tassel the day of the walking ceremony. I was devastated. But, my grandfather gave me his tassel from his high school graduation. It was blue, just like mine, though mine was a lighter blue, and he had graduated exactly 60 years before me. Isn't that something?? Needless to say, seeing this high school meant a lot to me. 
This is the house. There have been many improvements over the years, but we think that the steps are original. Also, the concrete edged around the flower beds out front are actually the base of the old porch. It was really neat to see this house. The kids all saw it and I took a picture of them in front of it, but they weren't impressed. To them it was just a house. They never knew my grandfather. The closest they come is knowing his wife, my grandmother who visits us down here. 
This is the kids in front of the house.
Well, that's it for group #1. More to come tomorrow!!
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