I got my toes in the water...

Nags Head - Outer Banks 2010... our first family vacation!!!  What a great time we all had.  The boys had a blast and it was so nice to be able to hang out and relax with family and friends.  I had forgotten how relaxing the beach can be.  The last time I set foot on the sand was my honeymoon five years ago.  Sad but true.  Needless to say, all of us were super excited for the trip.

All of my nightmares about blood curdling cries and hour long fits of screaming in the car were all for not.  The boys were AWESOME on the car ride there and back.  THANK YOU  THANK YOU  THANK YOU boys.  :)  The kiddos had fun playing in the sand at the beach each morning.  Liam was the only one brave enough to hit the waves.  Poor Landon will probably be in therapy after I nearly dropped and lost him in the surf due to the wicked currents.  Liam also proved to be our little fish of the trip spending countless hours swimming in the big kid pool with Maddie and Laura!  So proud of him for this big accomplishment.  Gabe and Landon hung out in the kiddie pool or on the steps of the big pool, but seemed happy as clams with their toes in the water.  Thank God for the pools in the back yard.  Lord knows what havoc the boys would have gotten into without the opportunity to swim in the pool every day. 

So, instead of me blabbing on and on about the great time that we all had, I figured I would make this into a picture post.  So get ready!!!

Miss this view already.

Day One:  Beach bums already!  :)

Love this pic of Laura and Liam just watching the waves.

The boys...

My little Gabey Goo

Cliff and Liam ready to chicken fight.  :)

Cousins all snuggled up and cozy.  :)

Maddie striking a pose, even while jumping in the pool!

Who doesn't love a dance party?

Look at those handsome boys!  OK, so I'm a little partial.  :)

Miss Madison looking all grown up.

Landon (L) and Gabe (R) watchin' the waves.

Me and my Lander Bear

Laura hanging out with Mr. Krabs.

Maddie showing off her mad gymnastics skills.

When we put Gabe and Landon to bed on the last night, I asked them if they wanted to go home to see Gimli and sleep in their own beds.  They both told me no.  Gabe asked "go to the beach 'morrow"?  And Landon chimed in with "go get sheshells 'morrow"?  Poor boys didn't want to leave.  Liam woke up at one point on the car ride home and asked if were were going back on "bacation".  We told them all that we would go back next year.  Sounds like the whole Hein crew is looking forward to OBX 2011!

4th of July 2010

So, before I get to our super fun 4th of July (and the 372 pictures I have to post of it), I've got to talk about our little sick and injury prone men.  This past week we have dealt with the following:

• Landon got pneumonia... in JULY!?!  Poor thing sounded like he was smoking a pack a day.  Happy to report that he is A-OK as of his Dr. appointment this morning.

• Liam nearly breaking his nose TWICE in one day.  I'm talking gushing blood and a near two trips to the ER.  Luckily, no bones have been broken... yet.
• Gabe got bi-lateral pink eye.  Luckily we caught it quick and had eye drops on hand, so his eyes were goop free within a day.

I'm hoping that we got all the sickies out before we leave for vacation on Sunday.  A girl can hope, right?


Now onto our 4th of July celebrations!  We started the day heading out to Pymatuning State Park with Mom Mom, Pap Pap, Chad, Danielle, Jonathan, and Julianne.  We were armed with loaves of bread and buns to feed the fish, ducks, geese, and seagulls.  Never seen so many carp in my life!!!  A little gross, but a sight to behold none the less.  All the kiddos (and some of the big kids) had fun feeding the fish and birds.

9,237 carp all waiting for a bite.

Seagulls... willing participants in Cliff and Chad's bread throwing contest.  See the blue orb above the left seagulls wing?  Aunt K was there with us too!  :)

Julianne baskin' in the sun!

Liam and Jonathan.  These two blew through loaf after loaf feeding the animals.  They had a ball!

After the fish were full (yeah right!) and our bread bags were empty, we headed to the lake to have a picnic lunch and wade in the water.  Wasn't too sure how the boys would react, but it was good practice for vacation!  Lets just say, Landon will be hanging at the water's edge while we wrangle Liam and Gabe away from the deep water.

Daddies and Pap Pap hanging with the kiddos.

After drying off (and a quick change of clothes!), we packed up our picnic and headed over to Deer Park with Mom Mom and Pap Pap.  The boys had a blast!  Liam and Gabe feed a bunch of animals, while Landon took up his favorite roll of spectator.  Landon might be our animal lover, but he's our animal lover... from a DISTANCE!  :)

We saw some animals...

Took a pony ride on Casper and Popcorn...

Became students and jail birds...

Rode a train ride throughout the park...

And had a blast in the playground...

After a long day having fun in the sun, we said good-bye to the animals (all of which say "moo" according to Landon) and headed home for dinner and a fireworks display by Cliff.  The boys had such a fun time and were pretty good boys despite the sweltering heat.  We even ventured out without a stroller!  Looking forward to many more 4th of July memories to come.

Mom Mom, Pap Pap, and the boys waiting on the fireworks.

Happy 4th of July!!!