Wrightsville Beach

Parker tracked out recently for the last time until second grade. Eeeek! It all seems too soon! His grandparents made his dreams come true by taking the family to the beach (Thank you, thank you!!) :) We went to Wrightsville, It was beautiful although a little on the chilly side with the wind. Liam didn't care for the beach very much but he did briefly enjoy his first dip in an indoor pool. I think he enjoyed it for about 4 minutes and then he was done. :) Polar Bear Parker was the only one brave enough to swim in the outdoor pool. I got half way in. It was like ICE water. Whew!







Polar Bear Parker





Water Ballet :)









We ate at a restaurant that had really neat art in it. Greg worked on a shoot about this particular artist. His name is Ivey Hayes. He is an older african american painter with severe arthritis and he has to hold the paintbrush in a fist to paint. Amazing. I love the colors! There was also a really great band playing outside that we could hear through the window. Awesome. :)





Then on to explore Johnny Mercer's Pier. It had changed so much since I had been there last. They tore the wooden pier down (in 2004 we heard) and built this concrete one in it's place. It didn't seem right. Maybe it will just take getting used to. Also they charge admission now to walk on it (boo!). But it was pretty fun and on the floor of the pier there are some metal grates that allow you to see through to the ocean and make you dizzy to walk on. The kids were super excited to see and touch a Barracuda that a fisherman had caught.













They had the most fun flying their kite. There is no wind like the beach wind for kite flyin.' :)












The next day we explored the battleship downtown and ate at Trolly Stop Hot Dogs. I recommend the "Surfer Dog" with cheese and vegetarian bacon bits. Greg recommends the "Chicago Dog" with chicago sauce (vinigrette?) tomatoes and cucumbers. Liam recommends the ice water. It's great for teething. :)















But my favorite favorite part of the trip was when Greg and I got to go explore the end of Wrightsville Beach all by our lonesome. The kids wanted to stay in and watch cartoons with Grandma and Grandpa. A storm was coming in and we had the place almost to ourselves and it was gorgeous, quiet, peaceful, quiet, peaceful time with my sweets. It was fun to walk way out and look for shells, You find much better ones out there.







Dividing the spoils. One for me, one for you. :)

Field Trip!

Remember the magical days of elementary school field trips? The excitement of going somewhere new on the bus with the kids in your class...eating your lunch there...missing most of the regular work for the day...

It was fun for me to go with Parker on a first grade field trip to Laurel Hills Park in Raleigh and to see the stars in their eyes. :) We split up in groups of 5 and helped them go on nature scavenger hunts. It was pretty fun. We even found a bonus 3 snakes (they weren't on the list). Then a park guide talked to them about aquatic animals and the food chain and set us free with a net and a bucket of water at the edge of the pond. The kids in the groups took turns scooping up pond water/muck and then sorting through it to see what we could find. We found water snails. sun fish, minnows, clams and the most exciting of all...a bullfrog tadpole that Parker was lucky enough to scoop out. He was so big. We put him in a jar for a little while so everyone could see him. Parker named him "Taddie." When he set him free back into the pond he said "I hope you have a nice life Taddie." :D One of the groups found a leech, and another scooped out a baby yellow bellied slider turtle. It was a great time!




A Mushroom!







Parker with his Teacher Mrs. Zaccardo.

Easter Part II

We felt like our poor children were deprived since they had never dyed Easter Eggs (since they are allergic to eggs) so we decided to let them. They do have a shell after all and we boiled them first. We just warned them to be super careful not to crack them. They had a blast and carried them around for a couple of hours before we rescued them and put them in the fridge. Greg got tired of eating them so I made a potato salad to help them disappear. :)






Easter morning they were pretty excited to find a bubble gum egg trail leading to their baskets. Liam especially liked his rubber ducky.










After church we took pictures in the park, came home and ate lunch and then had an egg hunt outside. Thanks Easter Bunny, bock, bock. :)

Easter Part 1

My Easter beauties. My sunshines. Here are the pictures we took on Sunday after church. :) Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Winters for the sweet new Easter clothes for the kids. They were just so adorable standing in the sun. :D

Parker, Artist!

There was a silly goose standing in front of Cary Town Center mall when we went to go see Parker's artwork that is on display there. It seemed like he was guarding Belks. The kids got a big kick out of him/her.



Parker showing his collage artwork. :)





Beautious!





Having some fun on the light-up floor.





Let's visit the Easter Bunny or his cousin while we're at it.

Easter Coloring Book!

Here is a link to a blog where you can download and print an Easter Coloring book for the kids with scenes and descriptions from Jesus' earthly life from birth, miracles, death, resurrection, and his visit in America. It is pretty awesome and would make a fun FHE activity. It also explains at the end a little bit about what bunnies and eggs are supposed to symbolize and remind us of. I really like this blog. Enjoy! :)

http://thegoldenseven.blogspot.com/2011/04/easter-coloring-book-with-scenes-from.html

Parker, Poet :)

At school Parker's class is doing a poetry unit during writing. Here is a poem that he wrote. I love it!

My Baby Brother

I have a baby. Cry cry cry. Drink drink drink.
Sleep sleep sleep. Wake up, cry cry. Pat pat pat.
Nice little baby.

Easter Fun for the kiddos

Click here to Decorate/color your own Easter egg

Chance made it safely to Chile

Everyone in the Brady family has loved hearing from Chance weekly so far. He has loved his MTC experience and is so excited to be in Chile now and is ready to teach! Man I am proud of this guy. Such a big, smart, sweet, great guy. Handsome too. :) Below is a letter from his Mission President.





April 8, 2011

Dear Brady Family,

It is an honor and a privilege to serve in the great Chile Rancagua Mission. It is a blessing that Elder Brady is serving together with us. We were able to get to know the missionaries in their interviews and meetings, and we could see in all of them their desires to serve The Savior Jesus Christ, to be better, to be teachable, and to find the chosen people that are waiting to receive the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
For Sister MacArthur it is also a great pleasure to get to know them. She is ready to take care of them, teach them, counsel them, make sure they eat healthy, rest well, and to help them have success in their missions.
We recognize the enormous potential that they have, and how much they can really bless the lives of the people if they let The Master guide their steps.

With love,

President and Sister MacArthur