Expeditions in the South East: The Chili

Our friends made a go at a garden this year.

One of thier crops was some chili peppers.

Well, one of those pretty little peppers was sitting on the deck table one afternoon.

It was with a small handful of greenish tomato babies.

Austin took it in his head to taste the tomatoes and one by one he took a bite and discarded it.

(I'm sure you can see where this is going.)
He picked up THIS pepper,

took an nice bite

and looked absolutely shocked.

The tears and struggles that ensued were sad and hilarious all at the same time.

He couldn't understand why his tounge was on FIRE,

nor why mom's remedies weren't quick-fixes like a kiss on a boo-boo.

Poor kid, I hope he learned a bit of a lesson.

Expeditions in the South East: Random Summer Fun

RIP

pool

Sorry, but we don't miss ya!

The big surprise was that even SHANE got wet!
Trampoline is an all-time favorite.

Sage, Austin, and Brody

Watching Daddy play with his new rock-crawlin' truck.

Daddy and his Big helper.

The kids wore shoes and/or socks after an run-in or two with the ants that bite.

Expeditions in the South East: Kill Devil Hills

On our way home from the day's fun that evening we spotted one of our ALL time favorite

Monster Trucks...

GRAVE DIGGER!

The huge trucks were absolutely facinating.
We wished we could have gone back in daylight to see Better,
but there wasn't the time.

Shane was quite concerned about the truck nose-down...

But Shane wasn't SO upset that he lost his funny bone.

He insisted on getting one picture with his belly button in view.

Don't ask me why- he's a nut job.

Expeditions in the South East: Nag's Head

Next stop was Nag's Head: Wind, Sand and Water!

There was LOTS and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of sand.

In fact all that lots of sand was in between us and the water.

But we found an awesome puddle.

Then Daddy wanted to hike up to the TOP of the dunes to try the kites we borrowed from our friends. Guess who got to carry the stuff and the kids. :/

The boys LOVED the sand-

except when it found it's way into thier eyes.

Daddy helped Shane fly the kites for a few minutes... um seconds.

Shane was more interested in the string and the sand than the kite-

I think it was too sunny for him to see it.

Daddy REALLY enjoyed the kites, so we now have one of our own....

That's not it.

Shane liked the view from the tops of the dunes... you could see the city and the beach houses.

Shane was facinated with so many people living all in one place.

Expeditions in the South East: Kitty Hawk

We meandered on up to KittyHawk and lucked into a free day at the Wright Brother's Museum.
They have thier own monument atop a hill overlooking the site of the first flight.

The kids were tired but we had fun looking at the old plane and pictures and stuff anyway.

Apologies

I have to apologize for how LONG it's been. Let's see if I can remedy that now that I (somehow) have a clean house, a sleeping kid, and no husband to bug me for a while.

Food Blog: Halibut

Ok- For all y'all that we've given Halibut and other white fish to lately... here's what I like to do with it.- sorry this first picture is sideways... You take your fillet. And cut it so it's not too thick- I like it right around 1" thick.

It will take some practice to cut parallel to the cutting board so don't stress it too much.
The experts say to flour it first.
I seasoned it a little bit.

Egg

Cracker meal- these I made myself, though you can find them at the store at times.
I seasoned these too, but you don't have to and it will still be good.
This is what it'll look like.
Now, I lightly coated the foil (or pan- I just didn't want to do dishes) with olive oil.
I also moderately drizzle olive oil over the coated fish- helps it crisp up nice.

With all fish, you bake it Hot and Quick.

Today I used 425* and it took over 20 minutes.
Last time I used 450* and it didn't take near as long and was done through too.

Ta da!

Remember, you want to try to catch it when it's done but not dried out

Eat up!

Off to North Carolina!

After almost 2 full weeks getting to know our NW family, we crossed the country to meet up with Daddy in North Carolina- staying with some wonderful friends. They took us out on their Redneck Party Yacht one day after work. As we were getting ready to head out, we got to see some Coast Gaurd in action. All of a sudden the parkinglot around the boat ramp was filling up with ambulances, fire trucks, and police cars as well as base security, etc. One of the Small Boats came zooming in a short time later. Sadly, the woman they were rushing in was already gone, and the EMTs had to focus on her husband, who was understandably in shock. We sat on our friends' boat and watched, not because we wanted to but because we DIDN'T want to create any wake or get in the way or in any way make anything more difficult for those scrambling to help.

Heath was the skipper.

Clarissa was cold.
Daddy kept Austin from jumping over the side.

The kids had lots of fun looking at the waves the boat was making.

We tried to go swimming. Brett took each of the boys in, but they had to agree with Clarissa that it was too dang cold in the shade and the wind.

Expeditions in the NorthWest 4

Mom, Aunt Shanny, the boys and I (sorry you couldn't come oh wonderful Patricia!) set out on a quest to tricities (Kennewick area) to see what we could see. The new little Temple was the first stop.
Great place for a potty break (Stake Center across the parkinglot), though we didn't get to go inside. Shane was interested in the gold man on top. Though after such a long drive it was fleeting. He seems to share his Uncle Trace's fascination with GOLD. We spent some time shopping, found some fun deals on church clothes for the kids, started birthday/Christmas shopping, and got a bit lost on the way home. How much more fun can we handle! I thought it was cool that I got to- and was successful at driving in such a bustling place.

I AM THE CHAMPION!

(actually I'm kinda pitiful when it comes to cities, but I'm at peace with that.)

Expeditions in the NorthWest 3

Driving along one day, Shane noticed a BMX track along side the road. Kids with their bikes all over the place. This led to MULTIPLE discussions about where Shane's bike was, and how we couldn't go get it, etc. Nevertheless, he persisted in wanting to play at the track. We never had time (or a cool day) until the night we hit the train park. He remembered on the way home, so we stopped for a few minutes in the dark to play in the deserted dirt. Way fun!

Shane made "animal" tracks.
Exploring the soft dustiness.

Austin was less interested in the dirt as he was being OUT of the hot car.

He and that bottle of milk were best friends that day.

It was a fun and filthy evening.

Try it sometime!

Expeditions in the NorthWest 2

I wish I had my brain functioning when we were having tons of fun with my brothers (Michael, Ben and Spencer and the families) but I didn't- so no pictures. My apologies all y'all!

The boys and I did a few expeditions by ourselves in the "big"er city. One evening, after it had cooled off (late), we borrowed Gram-gram's car and went to a park- where there was a train!

You can't really see it, but Shane could...

And Austin HAD to follow Shane.
Cheese by the train. Sorry it's getting dark.

That white blur in the bottom left corner is Austin.

Typical.

The chian link fence and barbed wire around the whole thing were a bit of a bummer

Remember that one park in Corvallis that had the engine you could climb on?

Where was that? Can you still climb on it?

Stay tuned for more adventures of the dynamic duo-

Captain Underpants and Mr. Binky Face

Expeditions in the NorthWest 1 part 2

At the same park with the birds, we made some new friends who were slowly on thier way West.

Shane tried to help.

As did Austin.
The kids in the back seat were typical to a long trip.

Then they rode off into the sunset.