Charlotte Weekend

Jill and Jodi invited us to come visit in December.  In January, we were still recovering from the holidays.  February, we were snowed in.  So we finally got around to taking them up on the offer a few weeks ago!

Tyler was enraptured the moment he saw a kitty.  He spent the rest of the weekend trying to run after the (thankfully) faster-than-him cat.  He was not phased at all about the dogs investigating him, even though they are eye-level with him.  I mean, he had a whole house to explore (and cabinets to get in).  He couldn't waste any time on worrying about the dogs.

Saturday, J&J treated us to a yummy lunch.  We tried to get Tyler to go down for a nap, but he was far too excited.  So, we courageously took our unnapped toddler outlet shopping.  *ominous music*  No, he was fine.  He had aunties to distract him, and Jason to stay outside with him and let him walk around some during some of the stores.

We racked up a lot of 24mo Tyler clothes (his next size he'll be in).  I may have also purchased some goodies for myself.  Yay, new clothes!

The day was so nice, we hung out on their patio the rest of the afternoon, enjoyed a nice dinner, and (tried to) put Tyler down for bedtime.  He insisted on "Jih and Juji" coming upstairs, too, and saying goodnight one more time.  Sweet, but, frustrating!

Sunday morning, we woke up and went walking around.  Such a great time!  Also, I love having other people to watch Tyler because it allowed me to take pictures.  I miss that sometimes!

smelling some wild onions

What a great trip!

18 Days of Celebrating 18 Months -- Living with a Toddler

Tyler is in that "into everything, especially the things you don't want him to be" phase.  When does that end again?

At home, he loves getting in the pantry or cabinets and pulling out everything in sight.  The bigger mess it makes, the better.  When he's bored (or Mama is on the phone and he's jealous), he'll go from no-no to no-no -- the tv receiver, the remotes, the cabinets, the baby monitor.  If our house had a big red self-destruct button (insert "it would destruct all the Selfs" joke here), he would break through all the barriers, bust the protective glass, and push it in a heartbeat.  Consequences mean little to my little guy (trust me, he has them).

He particularly loves all the no-no potential in our bathrooms.  I mean, there are bathtub faucets at perfect Tyler-turning-on heights.  There are trashcans and toilets.  Speaking of toilets, his newest obsession is the flusher on the downstairs bathroom toilet.  Thank goodness the flusher is broken and he isn't flushing away hundreds of gallons each day!


When we just need. to. get. out. of. the. house. (said with clenched teeth), we usually have a family outing to some exciting place -- like Target.  He's actually pretty chill in public, usually content riding around in a shopping cart or in his stroller.  But if we're out for a while, then we try to give him time to roam around freely -- well, roam around while I hold onto the hood of his coat to stay within arms' reach.

He is such a ball of energy.  I sometimes feel like my official title should be Child Wrangler.  I shared this picture the other day.  Yep, this pretty much sums it up:

99% of the time, he's my sweet little boy.  He rides when it's time to ride, runs around when it's time to run around, is held when it's time to be held.  The other 1% of the time, well, he's glad we don't live near more cannons...

New Bern -- Jason's Photos

To be honest, I was mostly on strolling/wrangling Tyler duty during our recent trip to New Bern.  Jason managed to get some pictures of what we went to see (not just of Tyler!).

waterfront

ceiling of gazebo/pavillion

the Tyler-wrangling I mentioned before

cool panoramic photo Jason stitched together in Photo Shop

playing cannons outside of Tryon Palace

New Bern

Two weekends ago, the weather was beckoning for a road trip, so we headed to New Bern.  No set agenda, just go.

We mostly just strolled/walked around town, pointing out all the bear statues, eating lunch, and walking around the gardens at Tryon Palace.

All in all, it was a great day!

Tyler was very proud of his gumball

Fearrington Village

There will come a time when I'm able to blog again.  That time is summer (or hopefully before!).

So here's a bunch of pictures from a few weekends ago when we went to Fearrington Village.  You get to make up your own stories...

*fave!*

New Bern -- Self Portraits

By now, my loyal readers know I take quite a few self-portraits.  Our trip to New Bern was no different. Here, I'm on a water fountain behind Jason...

Love that goofy fella (even with the crazy mustache...)

New Bern -- the Road Less Traveled

Interstates and by-passes are great things.  They have the advantages of higher speed limits, no stoplights, and shorter travel times.  However, Jason and I decided to take Business 70 down to New Bern.  We wanted to take the scenic route, and we really had a fun time.  Business 70 goes through such wonderful towns as Clayton, Smithfield, Goldsboro, Kinston, and LaGrange.  These towns did not disappoint.

On road trips, we sometimes talk about everyday stuff (troubles at work, things on our calendar), future stuff (features we'd like in a house, places we'd like to visit), or just-to-talk stuff (who would you like to see in concert, stories from high school, etc.).  A lot of the time though, we ride along in silence, occasionally commenting on things we see along the road.

We comment on choices for business names...

"Why Peek-a-Boo Boutique?  Why not Peek-a-Boutique?  That's so much better."

"Larry Peedin Automotive?  Really?!?  Do they offer the "peedin" guarantee?  Do people brag about owning a  "peedin" car?"

We comment on unexpected billboards...

"Home of America's Largest Pork Display?  Count us in!"

I serenade Jason with jingles I grew up hearing on local television...

"O, O, O, O'Reilly!  O'Reilly!  O, O, O, O'Reilly... Auto Parts!"

"At Tal-Y-Bont Interiors, you can afford your dreams!"

We have geeky conversations based on stuff we see...

"Goldsboro Neon Signs.  Who knew Goldsboro had such a need for neon?"

"Hey, if you were to have a neon sign, what would it say?"

"NEON."

"What color would you get it?"

"Orange, of course." [for those who don't know, the gas neon only makes orange neon signs; all other colors of "neon" signs are actually other gases]

"What would your sign say?"

"SCIENCE!"

Saturday night, Jason wondered out loud where 70 East ends.  Three touches on the iPhone, and we had an adventure planned for Sunday.  We drove through Morehead City and Beaufort to the town of Atlantic to find the end of Hwy 70.

We also drove along Hwy 12 (the one that runs down the Outer Banks) to Cedar Island.  The combination of it being February, rainy, a Sunday, and 40-some degrees meant we had the road pretty much to ourselves.  We couldn't pass up the opportunity to take a few photos.

We took the road less traveled... and had a blast!

New Bern -- Architecture

Yep... more New Bern stuff.  More New Bern pictures.  Guess what?  This STILL isn't the last post!  Can you tell I had a fun time taking photos?

New Bern, founded in 1710, is North Carolina's second-oldest town and the state's first capital.  I absolutely loved the old architecture all around town.

Centenary United Methodist Church -- Established in 1772.  This building is from 1904.  Jason and I loved the unique look of this church!

Spanish moss and City Hall:

Houses around Town:

New Bern -- Fire Hydrants

In addition to bear statues around New Bern, there were also painted fire hydrants!  So cute!