North Carolina vacation

Hello all,

I've got lots of vacation pics to share... and I'm finally here to post them, thanks in large part to a swift kick in the pants (just figuratively) from one who shall remain unnamed! Hint: On the way to North Carolina, we traveled through a state that shares a name with this person. :)

We had a fantastic time visiting Dustin and Rebekah and their family. They are very gracious hosts. They'd have to be to put up with all 6 of us for a whole WEEK!! (Thanks again, guys! You are the best!)

Now on to the pictures! There are a bunch of random shots here.

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Abby playing dress-up....


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Jacob wanted to dress up, too. Aargh!


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Here's Nate trying out Danny's night vision goggles...


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This is Leelyn and Treowe. Leelyn is such a sweetie. She is 6 months younger than Abby, and they had a great time together! Aren't those blue eyes just beautiful? Treowe is an excellent dog. He is still just a puppy, but he is the most calm, well-mannered dog I have ever seen!

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The day after we arrived, we decided to go for a hike. It was just what we needed after such a long drive. Rebekah took us to a beautiful area with some nice trails.

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All the kids (minus Danny) checking out the water.

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Walking through the woods, getting some exercise and fresh air!

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Here is Nate decked out with all of Danny's Nerf stuff.

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Jacob and Nate playing a game of Candy Land. A little confession: I was so tired, and I wanted to visit with Rebekah, so I told Nate I'd pay him a buck to play with his brother. LOL

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On Wednesday, Steve went to work with Dustin. Dustin recently started a new job doing cable installation, etc. and since Steve knows a lot about that, he thought it would be fun to give him a hand one day. It turned into a 14 hour work day! Both the guys were wiped out after that, but I told Steve he asked for it! While the guys were at work, Rebekah and I had to figure out how to keep 7 kids occupied all day. We decided to take the kids to Monkey Joe's, which is very similar to Crazy Bounce here in Holland. (Only we had to drive an hour and a half to get there.)

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Leelyn and Abby.... a couple of goofballs!

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Danny is worn out from all the bouncing....

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Nate is taking a quick bounce break....

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The blower was blowing Abby's hair straight up.....

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Where do they get all of that energy?

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Leelyn and Abby remind me so much of Rebekah and I when we were younger....

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Noah stops for a picture in the middle of the obstacle course....

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Still going strong.... but we hoped they would sleep well that night!

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On Thursday, Dustin and Steve were planning on taking Nate deep sea fishing. Unfortunately the seas were a bit too rough to go out. So instead, they drove down to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to go to the Ripley's Believe it or Not aquarium and museum. I wish I had pictures, but they told me they had an awesome time!

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The rest of us hung around the house, went to the park, went shopping at Wal-Mart, and stopped for a treat at Sonic.

Adeline (Addy) and Abby playing with dominoes....

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The boys had fun playing video games on Wii together. They taught each other some tricks. When we made a trip to Wal-Mart, we got these Mario t-shirts for them.

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Leelyn and Abby wanted to shop for "Hannah Montana stuff" at Wal-Mart. We found some cute t-shirts on clearance, they each got a jewelry box and other Hannah Montana stuff too. Leelyn and Abby wearing their Hannah Montana shirts, all made up with sparkle and bling....

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Steve and Dustin made some sort of hydraulic launcher. I call it a potato cannon, but it's not just limited to potatoes. They launched all kinds of things. Here is Nate giving it a try, all decked out in his camo duds. He bought the camo clothes, the helmet, a canteen, and some other stuff at Saigon Sam's with his birthday money.

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Up close....

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So that's all the pictures. We never made it to the ocean during this trip, but we didn't mind. We were just happy to spend time with our good friends. Our last two trips were in October and July... much better beach weather in NC. This time around, it was in the 50's for most of the trip. It gave us a much needed break from the snow and dreary weather in Michigan.

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We've been home for about a month now, and we miss the Koshars so much already. We can't wait to visit again!

Nate's birthday pics

Well, it's only a month after Nate's birthday... and I'm finally getting around to posting his birthday pictures. :) Nate's birthday fell during our vacation in North Carolina. The first thing we did to celebrate was bowling at Mac Daddy's.


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Here's Nate with his cake. I bought the tank cake topper at the Wal-Mart bakery. Dustin and Rebekah live very close to Camp LeJeune, a marine base, so you see all sorts of military stuff around there. Nate has always been interested in that kind of thing, so I knew the tank would be a good choice for his cake.

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When the guys lit the sparkler candles for the cake, it was only natural to put one in the gun on the tank...

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Nate loved playing around with all of Danny's Nerf guns, so we decided to get him a set for his birthday. He was so excited! The only problem was that it was hard to keep it away from Steve. Whenever the kids get a cool new toy, he always grabs it "to make sure it works right". Nate and Steve had a great time battling it out in the backyard the next day, though.

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It was a great birthday celebration. I'm still not used to being the mom of a teenager, though!

Vacation pics to follow soon.....