Quick trip to Raleigh

I wish I had more time to sit down and blog.  I am so far behind.  

A few weeks ago weeks we met my brother & SIL (Steve & Katrina) in Raleigh to do a temple swap.

It was a great spot to meet up as it is almost an even drive.  Raleigh is a lot smaller than I thought it would be.  This is it for downtown.

We stayed over night in a hotel which went a lot better than I expected.  Steve & Katrina went first so Todd and I had all six kids for breakfast.  We took them all down to go eat breakfast and had so many compliments on how well behaved our children were and one lady even told me how refreshing it was to see such well mannered kids.  I was very proud of them all and relieved for me and Todd. :) Then we got them all ready and loaded up in to the vans to go swap with Steve & Katrina at the temple.  It started to pour so the kids were running around under the overhang of the entrances to the temple.  That part was a little more stressful but it all worked out.  I have a pic of all the kids on my phone but that was it b/c of the rain.

After the temple we went to Red Robin to eat and then took the kids downtown to go to the free Museum of Natural Sciences. (Pictured above.)

It was a really cool building and there was so much to see and do and only a couple of hours to do it.  It will serve us well in the future when we do this again.  (No pressure guys, with the baby coming and all.  We have a few years. :)

 It felt like we had a lot more than six kids.  We had to keep doing headcounts to make sure we had everyone.

Pretty soon there will be seven!  I can't wait to meet my next nephew.

 There was a dinosaur section which the kids are always down for.

Poor Emery is so outnumbered by the boys.  It is a good thing she has Abby and all of the girl cousins on the other side of her family.

I couldn't figure out why it was necessary to have the dinosaur have a big bite out of his leg but the boys thought the blood was cool.

 Playing in the dinosaur prints.   Beckett did a good job at climbing.

 Chandler is levitating and I love this picture of Beckett.

 Seeing five out of the six kids' eyes is an accomplishment.

 Take 2.

 The kids enjoyed the hands on learning.  I love the first picture and the second one shows all six kids.  It is amazing how much Fisher and Chandler have grown.  They just seem to big and grown up anymore.  Chandler was actually 1/2-1 inch taller than Fisher.  Fisher still demands everyone recognize the fact that he is the oldest though.

 More things to look at.  Fisher loves magic stones and crystals so he thought this was fun.

 We thought of Dad when we saw this.

 There were a lot of different nature scenes inside.

 A lot of people squeezed into this tree.  Todd spends most weekends with the two little ones demanding all of his attention (and space.)

 Almost time to go home.

 This was the biggest elevator the kids had ever seen.  They had a lot of fun running around in it.

It was a fun, quick trip.  I like when the cousins can see each other.  One day we will have to do a sibling get away and have all four couples leave the kids behind and go do something fun just as grown-ups.  I bet it would be a lot of fun.

Todd and I recently set a goal to start attending the temple once a month.  We have never been good about it when we had temples close.  Now we figure it will help us sacrifice a little to make sure we do it every month.  We have the D.C. and Raleigh temples within 3-4 hours of us so we can switch it up a little.

A quick catch-up for us is that I am trying to survive the hot, humid summer with the boys.  We have been going to the beach, gym, library, McDonald's for ice cream cones, Virginia Living Museum, Busch Gardens and hanging out at the house.  We haven't done a whole lot with friends but we have been doing fun little weekend trips as a family like the one on this post.  I will be posting about our trip to Digger's Dungeon that we took yesterday one of these days but don't hold your breath or anything.

Todd is enjoying work.  His job encourages specializing so he is toying with the idea of going into Endodontics but it is not a decided thing.  More like the beginning phase of considering the idea.

Fisher has been pretty good this summer.  He has grown up a lot and has become a lot more helpful to me with Tucker.  Those two have a special, playful bond.  Fisher and Cooper fight non-stop even though Cooper idolizes Fisher.  Cooper is in the little brother "I am a pest" phase which Fisher has little tolerance for.  They do get along when they are supposed to be in separate bedrooms doing quiet time.  As soon as it is forbidden for the them to play together (instead of expected) they become best buds.  Fisher recently lost one of his top front teeth and the other one is sure to go soon.  He is obsessed with Star Wars and Legos (The two combined is just about the best.thing.ever!) and can make really cool things with his growing supply.

Cooper has decided he doesn't want to go #1 in the toilet anymore and is constantly wetting his pants.  I am hoping he grows out of this phase by the time pre-school starts.  He has been very brave going to the gym and church which has been wonderful after the phase he went through in May/June of refusing to go.  He is a kid of very defined phases.  He is still independent to the point of it being almost dangerous.  I can't take my eyes off of him.  He likes Legos but his main love is monster trucks.  He recently turned four and monster trucks was the theme.

Tucker has had a rough month with four molars coming in at the same time.  Runny noses, fevers, sleepless nights topped off with allergies have plagued him.  He mimics EVERYTHING the boys do and say.  He does not like being chastised and is in a hitting and saying "no" phase but he is still really good for others at the gym and at church so I can handle that.  Tucker loves anything with wheels and a motor.  Tucks, tractors, fast cars, monster trucks, airplanes, motorcycles, helicopters and boats excite him like nothing else.  He can sing TwinkleTwinkle, ABC's, I am a Child of God and Whenever I hear the song of a bird (Don't know the name).  He can also hum and sign the theme song for Star Wars.  He loves escaping and playing in Fisher's room.

I was called to be the Laurel advisor recently where I get to teach the 16-18 yr old girls.  I love my calling and have found it so rejuvenating to be around the youth.  I have a very small but great group of girls.

That is about it for us.