Charlotte!

Devin, Cambry and I drove straight from Wilmington to Charlotte Saturday afternoon to see my cousin Parley J. Thomas who just came home from his mission in Brazil. He has such a cute accent now that was similar to my sister Jessica when she came home from her mission. All of his siblings and their families flew in for his home coming and to have family time with their mom and dad that are presiding over the Charlotte NC mission. They allowed us to crash their party for the weekend. This is the most family we've seen since Christmas and it was so fun to catch up, laugh, play, reminisce, hear mission experiences from Elder Parley and President and Sister Lindz and Lil, and of course eat delicious food.

All the girls: Lil, Alley, Beth, me, JoJo. Man, these women are fantastic

Cambry wasn't too sure about Remy, but did alright when this glass door was between them. The first time he saw her, he gave her a big hug and she screamed and cried for about 5 minutes the stinker. Remy felt so bad he hid under the kitchen table and cried. Poor little guy just trying to share the love.

Such determination!! I had to stick this in- Whenever the camera is out, Cambry is trying to grab it. It makes trying to get good pics of her a little bit of a challenge. We're still working on getting all the tricks she can do on camera.
Cambry kept her distance as much as she could while still being in the action of monster trucks and big boys.
Hudson was so great. Every 5 minutes he was in a different costume. He'd come up behind us and just stand at our elbows until we noticed him.

The crew- didn't realize there was such a big gap between me and Alley. We're kind of like the ugly step children they can crop out if needs be.

Whole Wheat Bread

My next provident living baby step was making whole wheat bread. I honestly have to say that the hardest part of this project was finding whole wheat flour. It was another "you're not in Utah" experience as I'd go from store to store to try to find it. I finally found it in a 5 lb bag at Super Target, and the expiration date was 40 days away- apparently no one uses it here. But the bread is delicious and surprisingly really easy. It only takes an hour and a half to make (including rising and baking time) and my Bosch does most of the work. The recipe makes 4 loaves at a time. I've made it twice so far and we all seem to enjoy it (Devin has a hard time cutting it straight though).

Wilmington Vacation

Wilmington Beach

We spent last weekend at Wilmington Beach- a couple hours away from home. It was so nice and relaxing and it was much needed for Devin who has been working on a huge project at NC State for the past several weeks. I taped up a blanket and stuck it around Cambry's car seat to keep her head from flopping around when she slept. It worked great! Cambry found a few more things to help keep her head up - a shoe and a water bottle.

It was refreshing to see that Cambry still likes the beach and the ocean. She played in there until she literally couldn't stand any more. It was so much fun for all of us.

FAIL: I picked up this life jacket up at a garage sale and it was way too big- it probably would've strangled her more than preserved her life. We'll have to wait a few more years for it to fit her.

So sad that our only beach family photo I have sweet beach dreads. What can you do though? Cambry and Devin are cute enough to make up for it.

Fort Fisher Aquarium

They had this mist to make it EVEN MORE humid in 1/3 of the aquarium that messed up our camera for awhile, so all the pictures of the alligators, jelly fish, petting zoo etc. didn't turn out. Bummer. I was really impressed though with the variety of animal life that was here.

Cambry was so fascinated with the fish swimming by. She seemed so confused when she'd hit the glass and couldn't touch them. It was so entertaining to watch.

There was a "diving show" that I was really excited about and was certain we were going to see the sharks eat. Huge crowds gathered around the big glass to watch. It turned out to be a glorified "clean the tank's glass from the inside show". Haha.

We had a delightful time and are excited to come back again.

Carolina Beach

There are a few things beach towns can get away with that no other place could- like painting your house bright magenta or sky blue- and it all seems to work.

Devin and Cambry discussing the philosophies of water

What a handsome Beau I've married

Historic Down Town Wilmington

Tea time

How cute are horse drawn trolleys?

I adored this romantic little boardwalk. Not only was I loving the lamp posts, but I loved all the riverside shops, cafes, river boats and the nice cool breeze that softened the blow of humidity.

She is so angelic

We were driving into town and made Devin stop at these beautiful old plantation homes. I"m so in love with the old Southern look and am so glad that they upkeep these houses.

Love these columns and big wrap around porches. Seriously- southern architects got it right!

I had to throw this in- it was so humid and Cambry kept drinking so much and just kept retaining more and more water. Her face is so bloated here!

This Baptist church is already really tall, but it doesn't have any grounds so literally the front door is about 10 feet away from the corner to make its presence even more commanding. I love it.

I know I'm a nerd because I love clocks too.

haha. little kid in a candy shop

Cambry's first ice cream mustache. If she's anything like her father, it definitely will not be her last. Bless them.

Last time on the beach this trip. It's a sad parting every time.

USS North Carolina Battleship

This is a WWII Battleship that was an important war piece, especially after so many ships were destroyed in Pearl Harbor. It's now retired in Wilmington.

Right before we walk onto the ramp... Devin is antsy with anticipation!

We walk onto the ramp and I'm trying to get Cambry's little sun hat out of the backpack. My brand new phone comes out with it and falls right in between the up and down ramp to get onto the ship! It's like a 3 inch gap and drops 30 feet into the mud and rocks! I go back inside and ask the employees how I get down there and they tell me I can't go down there because that's where the alligators stay. ARE YOU FREAKIN KIDDING ME?? A 19 year old employee that has huge mutton chops tells me to wait a minute. He comes back 5 minutes later covered in mud and holding my phone that has a giant mound of mud on it as well. He tells us that he went darting around down below just trying not to get too close to an alligator. Neither he or my phone have any traces of alligator bites! He cleans it up, and it works just fine - just has a few scratches on the screen protector. MY HERO!

If you look really close you can see a giant 12-14 foot alligator on the left and a smaller 8 foot one on the right.

20 minutes later... all aboard!!

Squatting down prego style isn't the prettiest, but these guns sure were cool.

Sleeping with Claustrophobia?? The beds were stacked 3 high and several deep. I have new respect for the men who served on this ship.

There were dozens and dozens of ladders going up and down to different compartments of the ship and was really exciting to explore it.

Seriously, this ship is so massive!

Check our our big guns!

I'm sad this picture is blury, but we were in the process of descending down into the engine rooms. The way Devin's face lit up in the candy store was nothing compared to this.

Cambry was a little nervous about being below deck and resorted to sucking her thumb.

Devin checking out the Low Pressure Turbine (a big part of the engine). The light on the glass is actually the glow radiating from Devin as he is figuring out how it works. Visiting this ship was Devin's favorite part of the trip- by far.