Outer Banks

I am at an internet cafe in KMart so I have no pics to post right now, but we are in the Outer Banks and having a blast! Ben, Nicki, and fam (along with Daniel) are here and we have been regulars at the beach. We have all been boogie boarding and it's a blast. We have been crab hunting and found TONS of crabs, especially at night, they are everywhere! Today we went to the Wright Brothers Monument in Kitty Hawk and saw the runway of the first flight! We have been to Roanoke Island to the Aquarium there, and the kids all got foot-longs at Captain Franks Hot Dogs! We saw some Dolphins not far from the beach one day, which was awesome. We have seen some huge Jelly Fish off the pier. We all love the Beach life. Anyway, I will post more later with some pics!

We are just getting ready to go to the outer banks for a month. Mason turns 7 on Sunday, crazy how time flies... The boys got their summer hair cuts, and we have officially begun summer. Here are some pics, Mason at field day (in the white hat), and my boys and me.

As you can see it was so beautiful! 

The boys loved every minute of it. The threw sticks and rocks in the river, roasted hot dogs and made smores. 

camping trip

Lee was between rotations over Memorial Day weekend so we decided to take the boys camping. We drove out to Lake Sherando in the Shanendoah Valley. We got there about 5:30 and the campground was full! The kids were hungry and so excited to camp we didn't know what to do. We figured our options were go home (a 2 hour drive) or find a hotel. Our car was loaded and the thought of all that effort and not even getting to camp was so frustrating. We stopped in front of a gas station to ask if anyone knew of anywhere we could go, and a ranger pulled up right behind us! So I hopped out and asked her what our options were. She said the only option besides a hotel was wilderness camping. She said she wouldn't recommend it for a family, little did she know we were from Utah and had done our share of wilderness camping! We drove for another 10 minutes is all and found a cute little spot right next to the river!

Dragons

The boys have been playing dragons for the last two days, and Ethan is now called "fire dragon". If we forget and call him Ethan, he is quick to correct us. Mason is the Ice Dragon and apparently he shoot ice balls out of his tail and Ethan shoots fire balls. So if you can imagine the two of them running around flapping their wings, they both stop and point their "tails' at eachother and shoot fire and ice. It's quite entertaining. Mason has his mind set that his middle name is Richard. He has been telling everyone that his name is Mason Richard Stowell. Yesterday as I was looking through his school folder, he had written that on some of his school work! He says he just likes his name to be that and I can't get him to understand that he can't just decide to change his name!

Lincoln is the most restless child ever! Lee made the comment that you need a cattle shoot just to get a diaper on him! It is so true, he hates getting dressed because he has to stay in one place and it takes all my strength just to hold him still long enough to get a onesie on!

The Sherpa

The other day, I  turned my back on Lincoln for about 40 seconds as he disappeared down the hall. I went to get him and he was no where to be found! Turns out, he was upstairs! He has discovered that he can get all the way to the top in about 30 seconds and he loves it. So I set up a gate so he is blocked off from the stairs, and he hates it! He stands at the gate and just yells. He climbs on everything. If he can stand up to something, it's not long before he is working his hardest to get a leg up. So Lee calls him "the sherpa". I didn't know what a sherpa was, Lee said it's a guide for mt. everest. very fitting. Ethan has had several birthday parties lately and he is really into playing with friends. He is doing so well in his speach. Mason is still just busy, and he is reading a chaper book a day. I can't get him to put his book down! He just got tested for reading at school and he is at a 5th grade reading level! He has definately got the reading bug!

piano lessons

Mason started his piano lessons on Saturday and he loved it! His teacher is an awesome pianist that is in our ward. He is a senior in high school, and Mason thinks the world of him. The mother of his teacher said that he was so excited after his first lesson with Mase because he feels like he finally has a student with potential. Mason has been practicing every day. We have still been pretty busy with ball games, and I have Young Womens and Lee's schedule is still crazy. But life is great, we can't complain!