10th Anniversary

Craig and I celebrated our 10th Wedding Anniversary on July 20th. It is hard to imagine that it has been ten years already. We have had some tough times over the years adjusting to our different personalities but our relationship is comforting. I chose the word comforting because Craig truly is my best friend. I love spending time with him. We laugh a lot and enjoy talking about our future. Things will never be perfect between us because we still argue and disagree. However, I feel COMFORTED spending my future with him because I know it will be fun and exciting. I love how he completes me and gives me peace when I am stressed. The sound of his voice makes me feel better before he even says much.
Well enough of the gushy stuff....LOL!!! Craig if you are reading this, I love you and thank you for 10 wonderful years.
Craig and I always said we would celebrate our tenth year on a cruise. We have never taken one before and that was our dream. Unfortunately, our little guy Jensen has been attached to say the least to Craig and I and familiarity. Since we have not been able to successfully leave him even in the church nursery without a meltdown, we knew that a cruise was out of the question. He will stay with my parents for a night but not for a long trip. My parents were so thoughtful to treat us to a few days at the beach as an anniversary present. The other two kids were visiting Craig's dad and step-mom so we took them up on the offer. Thank you Mom and Dad for being thoughtful and letting us enjoy the beach with you for a few days. We really appreciate it!!!!
I must say it was much easier traveling and getting ready to play on the beach with just one kid. Either way, we managed to pack a wagon full.

Jensen really enjoyed the ride. Craig did you? HeHe!!!

One special moment for me was when Jensen and I were sitting together on the beach. He was having fun chasing the waves and throwing sand. Yes, he loved throwing sand :) I sat down for a few minutes to relax. It wasn't too long before Jensen sat down with me. He is my special buddy and he sat with me for probably 30 minutes. I later found out that Craig took pictures. I love Craig for knowing that pictures and memories are important to me and he captured a special one for me without even being asked. What a great guy :) I think I will keep both Craig and Jensen around!

Another special moment for me was going with Craig to the beach each night after Jensen went to bed. One night we rode bikes down there. It was not as easy as we thought to get the bikes out on the sand. Good thing there was not many people out there because I looked pretty silly trying to ride the bike. We took a blanket and laid down and looked at the stars. This is something I have wanted to do for many years and we never seem to slow down on vacations and take the time to do this. It was very special to enjoy that time with my husband. It was romantic. I love the sound of the ocean and it is much more peaceful at night when no one else is really around. Except when families came out looking for shells with flashlights. Seriously stop flashing that light on me. LOL! Remember that Craig? I know you didn't forget!!!
One day when all 5 of us (Craig, Me, Jensen, Mom and Dad) were out on the beach, it became very windy. I was holding on to one of our umbrellas and my Dad was holding the other one because of the wind. All of a sudden, mine started to fly away. I caught it but not after it slammed into my Mom slightly. It was a little stressful at the time, but now it is funny to look back at laugh at. Right Mom? Ha!
Before we headed out of town, we took Jensen and went to the local aquarium. I wanted to go because they had a new exhibit about penguins. I think are so cute and fascinating. The penguins were molting (shedding old feathers and growing new) at the time so they did not do very much. They are so cute either way.

Jensen enjoyed the penguins.

Jensen enjoys looking at our fish tank which only has one little fish. HeHe! So I was not surprised that he was excited at the really big tank with lots of fish and sharks.

Jensen at times was more interested in what the people around him were doing. I don't know why he sat down.

Mom and Dad: "Jensen, look a shark!" Jensen: "Did I miss something?" LOL!

Mom and Dad: "Jensen, another shark!" Jensen:" Hey you have overalls like me."

I don't know if Jensen ever actually saw a shark. HaHa!

I was really impressed with this cool penguin sand castle:

Craig and I did actually get to celebrate our anniversary a few more times once we were back to Fuquay. One of our favorite restaurants is Carrabas. Over Christmas, I purchased their first ever cookbook. I was so excited to try some of their recipes at home because I have loved cooking more and more. Yet, I never got around to any of the recipes. I guess I am a little busy. LOL! So I figured it would be nice to make a meal for Craig for our tenth anniversary. I really enjoy cooking and trying new things but I am not very organized in the kitchen. We waited till the kids were in bed and I began cooking. I originally wanted to make it all by myself as a present to Craig but he ended up having to help me. Otherwise, I think we would have been eating at 11pm. Ha! It was chaotic in the kitchen. I wanted to give up a few times. I understand now why Carrabas charges a decent amount for their food. They use high quality ingredients (some of which I could not even find in the store) and there are many steps to their dishes. We made Polla Rosa Maria which is our favorite chicken dish at the restaurant. We also made green beans, roasted garlic mashed potatoes and even their herb seasoning dip with olive oil. Here is the aftermath of this cooking session. Good thing we did not have company over.

That is just part of the kitchen. Here is the result of the mess though:

The dish was right on target with what Carrabas food tastes like. It was awesome and we loved every bite. At that point it did feel like it was worth all the work. We did not start eating till 9:30. The house was quiet and every bite was delectable if I must so say myself. After dinner, Craig went to rest on the couch and ended up falling asleep. I think I did my job of a full and happy belly for my husband that put him to sleep. Now off to the dishes. UGGH!!! He did end up helping me with the dishes :)
The next night on our actual anniversary, we went to another of our favorite restaurants The Melting Pot.

We enjoyed the whole week very much. Even though it was not our cruise, it was still a week full of memories!
I love you Craig Nolan Berry.

4th of July

We had an interesting 4th of July. The funny thing is I did not remember to take pictures for most of the holiday. I guess I was having too much fun. So here is how it all went down.
On the 3rd of July, we decided to try something different and go see Garner fireworks instead of Fuquay Varina fireworks. The kids were dressed in cute patriotic shirts we made together. This is where I would insert a picture........but oh well! HA!
We met Scooter and Jeni at church and followed each other out to Benson park. We met some more friends from church there. We had a nice little group there. We were eating, kids were playing, but above us you could see how a storm seemed to be approaching. They kept announcing that they were keeping a watch on the weather and would let us know. At one point they told us that a storm was going to hit us so we all went to our cars. In case you have never experienced it, it is not great fun gathering kids and all your stuff and rushing back to your car. *Sense my sarcasm?* We waited and waited and waited, but the storm never came. We went back to our spots like other people and eventually they started the fireworks. About five minutes into the fireworks, Town of Garner workers were walking through the field telling everyone that a huge storm was heading for us in 3 minutes and to leave for your car right away for your safety. Now, I can exaggerate myself pretty darn good........but let me tell you......these people were acting like an F-5 tornado was coming. Again, we packed up all our stuff in the dark this time, ran to the car while the kids whined and complained about missing the fireworks. YAY!!! We got in our car, tried to watch the end of the fireworks from our car. It was over and guess what? It never rained a single drop. Yet, we got to spend the next 45 minuted waiting in a traffic jam. I know they were trying to keep us safe, but I hope next year our experience in Garner is less stressful and more relaxing.
On the actual fourth of July we had a cookout with friends at the Ragland's house. The highlight of the afternoon was when Craig and I beat Scooter and Jeni in corn hole. That was fun :) Jeni and I don't usually play because the men are playing themselves. I am sure they enjoyed the change this one time. Some of the time our husbands were getting frustrated at us. LOL!!!
Since we still had not seen fireworks the right way. We took the kids to Holly Springs fireworks on the 5th. It was nice to have a relaxed time as a family. This time I remembered the camera. Jensen and Caedmon were so cute as they waited for the fireworks to start.

I love Jensen looking at Caedmon as if to say: "You are a fun brother." Either that or "You are crazy!"

There is my handsome husband.

We had lot's of fun!!!!

Jensen thought it was cute to walk away and have us chase him. I didn't think it was so cute. LOL!

I think Liesel looks so beautiful in this picture :)

Yes, we finally got to see fireworks. It was a successful end to a crazy, busy holiday.

Liesel's dance recital

Liesel's year of dance ended the first weekend of June with the usual dance recital. This year it was a bit different because she was in two dance classes......ballet and jazz. Now that she is older, she no longer takes the ballet/tap combo class. They take individual classes now for each dance. We chose to drop tap because she said she would rather do something else. She has liked jazz a lot. Ballet can get boring to her. I tell her often, in order to be good at something, it can get monotonous sometimes. Holly Springs School of Dance is such a huge dance school, that recitals are in the auditorium in downtown Raleigh. The recitals start on Friday night and go till Sunday night. I think they do about 10 shows the whole weekend. In the past, we have always had her recital on Saturday morning at 10am. I wondered what parents did if their daughter was in multiple classes or they had more than one daughter taking classes. Well I found out very quickly this year. Liesel's jazz class recital was Saturday morning at 10 which seems to be our lucky show apparently. Her ballet recital was Sunday night at 6pm. Needless to say I was not excited about going to two different shows and asking family members to do the same, but it's worth it to watch Liesel dance. I didn't feel too bad after I heard a dad behind me in line who had three daughters dancing that weekend and that he would be at 9 of the recitals. Sheeshhh!!!!! That takes dedication :)
Here is Liesel striking her jazz pose before the recital.

Jensen enjoyed the recital, well actually snack food! LOL It kept him busy. He did great at the Saturday morning recital, but the Sunday night recital was another story that I don't want to think about again. Ugh!!!

Here are pictures of Liesel with the whole family. She was quite the superstar :) Autographs anyone???

Lastly, Liesel is ready to go at her ballet recital. I love how precious she looks (with a side of snazzy) ;)

She did great in both pieces. Very proud of her!!!

Daddy and Son Camp-out!

The first week after Liesel was out of school, she asked Craig one morning if she could go to work with him for the day. Surprisingly, he said yes and off they went. Caedmon was a little upset that he was missing out on something. The funny thing is, Liesel wasn't too excited by the end of the day. She told me it was "SO BORING!!!" because he actually worked most of the time. I think she thought that she could play with him a lot more. He did take her out to lunch, she enjoyed that part of the day :)
So since Liesel got a boring fun day at work, Craig said that Caedmon could do something special with him. Caedmon wanted to camp out in the back yard. Caedmon was excited but anxious at the same time. While Craig was setting up the tent, I asked Caedmon what was bothering him. He told me that he was worried Daddy's snoring would keep him awake. LOL!!! "I can relate Caedmon!"
They had a great night. I took a few pictures the morning after.

Next time, Jensen can join the fun :)

Great Wolf Lodge

In the middle of May we decided to let Liesel use her full-day off pass (that she works so hard for every summer) and take a family trip to Charlotte to visit Great Wolf Lodge. I have been wanting to go there for some time now. It seems everyone and their brother has been. Yay....it was finally our turn!
We went with Craig's dad and stepmom and it worked really well for us. They let Caedmon and Liesel stay in their room while we just had Jensen in our room. It was a nice little break. Here are the kids checking out the cool kid bunk beds in their room. Jensen is excited but has no idea at this point, those beds are not for him.

Craig told Caedmon to pretend like he was scratching the wolf's nose. The picture turned out cool, but after looking at Caedmon's expression I think he is saying: "Are we done with cheesy pictures? I would rather go play at the water park." Well, that is what I was thinking.....shhh, don't tell Craig. HA!

What was Liesel doing? She was showing off her famous pose.

When we first got to the water park, they measured the kids height. Liesel was told that she could ride any of the rides. Caedmon could ride everything but the tornado. He was fine with it but Liesel, and her oh so spunky personality, wanted to ride the tornado first. Why of course, it was the one thing Caedmon could not ride. LOL! So, I managed to be the lucky winner and walked numerous steps up to the very top with Liesel to find TORNADO!!! With a name like that, I was expecting something scarier then a ride named "rainbow." Hehe! While in line, I started to see Liesel start to second guess herself but she assured me that she still wanted to ride it. It was our turn to get in the big raft. Liesel just happened to be the one going backwards down the dark tube. There was enough light that I could see the big drop coming up soon. I did not show any fear on my face because to me it was fun but I also did not want to scare her. It was too late now anyways!!! As soon as the big dropped happened for her backwards, without warning...........her facial expression was priceless. It drops you into a big funnel and your raft goes back and forth, up and down the sides while water sprays on you from up above........kind of like a tornado I guess :) Then it shoots you into a pool and you are free, I mean done with the enjoyable ride. The whole ride probably only lasted 30 seconds, but to Liesel it lasted longer than that!!! She told me she did not want to do it again. Somehow though, Craig and I managed to get her on it one more time. Daddy wanted to ride it and we did not want her to quit the ride on a bad note. We told her: "give it one more try and we will ask the lifeguard to make sure you are not backwards. If after that, you can quit if you are still scared." I don't know if that was good parenting or not. HA! She was scared waiting in line, still rode it for a second time and announced to us afterwards that she was done!!! She faced her fears, YAY for Liesel!
Jensen's favorite thing to do was sit on this wave runner in the kiddie area. It did not move, but you got to spray water. He would sit on this thing for 20 minutes at a time or more. When you tried to get him off to go do something else, he would point to get back on. Craig and Jensen look cute on the wave runner. Who wouldn't melt at Jensen's adorable face? "Sure Jensen, we can waste another 30 minutes on this thing!"

After a busy day in the water park, the kids got their pj's on and headed to story hour at the big tree house. Here is Jensen walking. So cute! I love pictures of Craig with the kids.

There was a little scene with the characters in the tree and then a staff member read the kids a story. It was fun.

My three munchkins snuggled together.....

Jensen was slightly afraid of the raccoon. I guess he has the same concerns his sister does about people in costumes.

Day two of water park fun:
It was nice having Craig's dad and Janice there because we actually go to ride some rides and leave Jensen with them. As long as he was on the wave runner, he was good. Hehe! He also liked going down one of the kids slides and having Opa wait for him at the bottom. Walking up the many, many stairs (sometimes even carrying a raft) made me realize I was older than I thought. I remember going to water parks when I was a kid and having all the energy in the world walking up the slides. Yet, while I am only 35 years old, I saw kids and teenagers pass me on the stairs. Liesel and Caedmon both would go ahead of me and say "Hurry up Mom!" LOL!!! I think I need to work out more. Ha!
Liesel spent a lot of time in the wave pool . I think that became her favorite thing to do. Here is Liesel and Caedmon in the wave pool.

 Jensen loves his snack time, or as he calls it....."nack". Being at Great Wolf Lodge was no exception.

Liesel and Caedmon both got to do the obstacle course across one of the pools. They did it at different times and I only got pictures of Liesel because when Caedmon was doing it I did not have the camera. He literally crawled on his knees and jumped across the lily pads very fast. The second time he did it, he actually fell in and since he could not stand in the water, he was a little shaken up.
Liesel waited for her turn patiently and she was off!

I actually went across myself. I never fell in but it was not very graceful. Liesel just cruised right through it and I looked more like the guy on the course next to Liesel. LOL! This was not made for adults bodies, but it sure is fun to do. HA!

Even behind bars, Jensen is cute :)

Every 20/30 minutes or so this huge bucket that is full of water dumps out. All the kids from around run and get ready for it to dump massive amounts of water on you. Caedmon anxiously waited for the bucket!

Liesel wasn't as willing to be completely soaked by the bucket. She waited on the outside while playing in one of the sprinklers.

She would stand on the edge when the bucket was falling. Obviously Caedmon felt the effects more. Yet, they both seem unwilling to pose for the picture. I wonder why??? HeHe!

We had an awesome time at Great Wolf and can't wait to go back. Hopefully I will be more in shape next time for the stairs. LOL! The kids look worn out don't you think? Time to go!

Easter 2012 and Maryland/DC trip......

Spring in the Berry house has really flown by. I cannot believe that we are already into May. We have been busy, so that might have something to do with it.
Caedmon and Jensen are keeping me on my toes while Liesel is at school. Jensen is now running everywhere he goes. When he runs his little cheeks bounce up and down. It is so cute! He loves to "explore"...........that is a nice way to say: pulling things out of drawers and throwing in trash cans, unrolling toilet paper rolls, putting things in toilets, throwing toys, taking things out of the dishwasher, etc. I don't know if Jensen is more active than Liesel and Caedmon were as toddlers or is it just because I am older and have two other kids. HA! I am much more tired this time around. There is never a quiet moment in our house. Caedmon and Jensen have a sweet brotherly relationship. Just recently I have been able to watch them interact together in love......well.........that is after they wrestle. :)
Here is a cute picture I took when they had matching shorts on. I did not plan for them to have matching shorts. I am not that organized! I buy their clothes at consignment sales. I had bought Caedmon's pair last summer. My friend Jeni has been giving me her son's outgrown clothes and there happened to be a pair of the same shorts in the pile. So needless to say, I had to take a picture. I just wish I had a "little bro" shirt for Jensen.

This is one of the things Jensen does in his free time.....

Liesel received the "Chapel Award" at school for showing Christ like character. We were very proud of her.

I managed to get some decent shots of the kids this Easter. As I have said before, it is now much more difficult to get all three kids looking and smiling at the same time. Either way, they are still precious.

I always need a good picture of Liesel and I. Great picture!

Jensen is truly a "Momma's Boy!"

After looking through all the pictures, I realize I never got one of Caedmon and I. OOPPS! Next time, I will have to make it up to my little guy. I guess this awesome one of Craig and the boys will have to suffice :)

Jensen sat down for a few moments so I could not resist. I think it is even sweeter with Liesel looking on.

So there you have it, some great pictures from Easter 2012 to cherish.

For Easter Sunday lunch we got together with some of our great friends at a park for a potluck picnic. All the kids had an egg hunt. It was fun. When we got home, it was time to pack. Liesel was on Spring Break the whole next week. We have been wanting to visit my Uncle Tom (my mother's brother) for some time now. So we headed to Maryland for most of the week with my Mom and Dad. Once we got there we were able to spend some time with Tom. It was so good to see him again. Here are some pictures from our time at his house.

While we were in Maryland, we were close enough to Washington DC so we decided to spend two full days touring the city. Riding the metro from Maryland into the city was our first adventure and the kids loved it......well the big kids at least. Jensen did not enjoy it as much. Trying to entertain an antsy toddler on a crowded subway with no escape is something I do not want to do on a regular basis. Whewww! This picture says it all.

Liesel and Caedmon were excited.

 

We saw the Washington Monument first. They were not doing any tours since the earthquake. Apparently they were still doing repairs.

Next on the agenda was seeing some of the museums. Our first stop was the Museum of American History.

Liesel's first question when she saw this dollhouse was: "Can we buy it?" Nah, I don't think so. It is so cool though.

We enjoyed learning about all the past presidents.

I give a great presidential speech if anyone wants to hear it. HeHe!

I love this picture of Liesel in front of Nancy Reagan. Liesel and I walked through the section about the First Ladies. We enjoyed looking at their inauguration dresses and their china sets.

This museum was enjoyable because there was a lot to see and so much to learn. It was also relaxing because Jensen napped most of the time in his stroller :)
After we had lunch, we had scheduled a 2 hour bus tour. Our tour guide was very good and we were able to stop at a few major attractions and take pictures. Surprisingly Jensen did great on the tour even though his mother was a nervous wreck that he would disrupt other people. It was not a very crowded bus at all so he was able to walk around.
We stopped at the Capital. Jensen loved running on the lawn!

Liesel and I were very content just resting. LOL! I kept thinking how nice it would be to sit out on that huge grassy area and have a picnic or even take a nap :)

Jensen never sat and relaxed at this stop. He kept trying to find a way out. Good thing, there was a barricade.

The White House was nice to see but the kids wanted to know why we could not go in. It was also a long walk from where our bus driver dropped us off so I resorted to carrying Jensen on my shoulders while Craig did the same with Caedmon.

Can you find Liesel in the next picture? LOL!

We were all extremely tired after a long day of walking. Next time, I might want to tour the city this way.

Day Two: I had one huge wish for this trip......to go to Georgetown Cupcakes from the TLC show DC Cupcakes. I had heard on their website and seen on the show that it can be a long wait to get cupcakes. Craig, being the wonderful husband that he is, was willing to make my wish come true. It was not on our beaten path at all. The metro only took us to the edge of Georgetown and then we had to walk 12 blocks after that. Jensen had it easy in the stroller, but the kids were troopers. I kept encouraging them by reminding them how awesome those cupcakes were going to taste. Half way through the trip, they probably would have been just as happy with a cupcake that I made at home. Ha! I kept praying quietly to myself believing that we would not have to wait very long. We made it!

Since it was a weekday, our wait to get in was only about 20 minutes.It wasn't too hard to wait when you had such beauty to admire...........CUPCAKES!!!!!! I heard one guy behind me in line tell his wife "This better be worth it." Oh but it is!!!!!!

How does one decide with so many options? I think that is why Caedmon looks so stressed in that picture. HA! I must have asked the lady taking my order about ten questions and begging her for the best recommendations because I did not want to be disappointed. I should have told her my dramatic story of how far I walked to get there, but I spared her the drama.
I was so happy to get my hands on that cute pink box. I honestly think I was more excited than the kids if that is possible. I just love sweets!

Here they are!!!!!!!! We got six to start with :) They looked too good to eat, but we somehow managed to eat them! We split three so we all could get a taste.

Craig was so good to us.........he let us get three more so we had six to take back to our room. All I can say was they were decadent (especially the frosting) and they were DEFINITELY WORTH THE WALK!!! Craig may have a different opinion. LOL!
That afternoon, we went through a few more museums. Craig enjoyed the Air and Space Museum because he loves planes. I was still on a buzz from my cupcakes that I couldn't tell you much about that museum. Hehe! Caedmon and Liesel enjoyed themselves.

Caedmon is too funny!

So, I did not get any pictures in the museum that was what "Night at the Museum Smithsonian" was filmed at.I kind of forgot about the camera because it was very fun looking at all the animals in there. Our time was cut short in there because they had a dinner planned for some important guests apparantely :( I do hope to come back when the kids are older and we all can handle more time touring.
Liesel wanted a picture in front of the tower at the Maryland Metro station as a memory of the fun she had on the train. If you ask both of them to this day what their favorite thing to do in DC was they will tell you.........riding the Metro! Yeah, I don't get it! Just yesterday, Caedmon told ne he wanted to move to a big city like DC so he could do all that stuff everyday.

Our time in Maryland and DC was super fun and we made many memories!