Will and Noah playing volleyball in the backyard.
Our family portrait in front of our OBX house.
Aiden and Noah on the beach on 4th of July.
The quints! They all ordered the same thing for lunch and were calling themselves quints.
Malcolm and Eliana at the beach.

The boys got quite dirty playing in the mountains. They enjoyed their nightly baths!
Aunt Lori with Aidan, Ethan, Noah, Will, & Alina who is hidden behind Will.
The kids getting ready for Aidan's birthday party.
Aidan's cute birthday cake. The boys said it was delicious. I didn't try it myself, but I will take their word for it!

As you can see, we finally broke down and got a new camcorder. It's pretty sweet, although you can't tell from our Google Video uploads. Anyway, it's got 16x9 mode and 5.1 Dolby Digital sound, as well as a bunch of other cool features. You'll just have to imagine these videos with these though - sorry.

Deer at Pop Pop Wayne's House

Ethan on the 4 wheeler...by himself!

Here is my new buddy Cole. He is so funny and cute. He is such a little performer! Look for him on American Idol in the future.
John showing Ethan and Malcolm his "big" catch. And yes, that is a beer in Ethan's hand. I figure, he's going to drink anyway - he might as well do it while under adult supervision, right? Just kidding, that is John's beer...I think.
Here is a picture of my dad (aka Bob) at the beach. Every day was this beautiful while we were there!
We also went to the Wright Brothers National Monument while were in the Outer Banks too. From left is Leigha, Sara, Kathleen, Noah, Will, Aiden, Ethan, and Nicholas. They all had a blast here, but not because of the memorial. Most of them repeatedly jumped off of this section of wall. At least they all can say they saw it. That's one life experience that they can check off their lists now.
Noah with his new BFF Kathleen. When Noah first met her, he thought her name was Gasoline, so people started calling her that for the remainder of the vacation. Ethan, Will, and Noah love Kathleen and wouldn't leave her alone the entire vacation. Actually, they wouldn't leave Jonathan, Chris, and Kevin alone either. Thanks to each of you for being so great with the kids. You each helped make their vacation as fun and exciting as it was.

We are back in Bowie for a short while. We left the Outer Banks this morning at 6:00 and this time our drive took just under 5 hours. That was a bit more reasonable! We all had a great time on vacation and enjoyed seeing everyone. The weather was perfect the entire time we were there. The sun was shining and we didn't encounter a drop of rain. We could not have asked for a better week to be there. The boys already miss all of their cousins. Kathleen has already text messaged them! We are hoping to get some of the cousins down to Florida for a visit. We promise, no babysitting involved! I let Macy return home with her parents, for at least now!

We are leaving to drop Chris off at the airport in a few minutes and then we are off to my parents' for another week. I am sure Hanzie is anxious to see us. I think it is supposed to be quite hot there all week. Hopefully we'll get a few cooler days to enjoy the great outdoors. Chris should have some pictures to post tomorrow. Hopefully all are G rated!

A big congratulations to Bill, Stephanie, Gavin, and Evan! Skylar Schrader was born today at 12:59 pm. She weighed 8 lbs 6 oz and was 21 1/2 inches long. We have missed them all on vacation this year!

We all had a fun 4th of July. We spent the morning by the pool and then everyone napped to recover from the previous night's activities. Yvonne and I were in charge of dinner last night. After dinner we headed to the beach to catch a glimpse of the various fireworks going off. Last night's festivities were much more low key with some Pop 5 action. Kathleen and I won every game we played. Our other teammates altered game to game so I can only guess that we were the strong players!

This morning we went golfing with Mom, Dad, Dan, Leigha, and Aiden. The kids had fun. I personally found the course a bit challenging, but that doesn't say much! We have spent the afternoon in the pool and hot tub. Tonight Michelle, Gail, and Dan are doing a Mexican dinner. Mmm... my favorite!

Well, after exhausting themselves of karaoke, the beer pong started. It started small with just Chris and Jonathan and then moved to a much larger scale. I do believe Tony was the most entertaining to watch and Eric and Dan were the most disturbing to watch! John, Kate, Michelle, and Brian also participated in the fun. Ethan apparently had a blast singing all night. He didn't come home from partying until 10:30! Will asked to come home at 8:30 to go to bed. Noah came home with us and they had their milk and cookies and went off to bed. Luckily they all fell asleep before the party moved to our house! Donna and Linda, Chris would like to apologize for your phone calls!

We are all enjoying our time in the Outer Banks. Yesterday we did a little shopping and then spent some time at the pool and beach. Today we went to the Wright Brothers Museum with Tim, Yvonne, Nicholas, Sarah, Brian, Jonathan, Kathleen, Leigha, and Aiden. The kids had fun running around but I don't think that they appreciated the historical aspect of park. Noah stepped on a cactus and wasn't too thrilled with that! Will tried to jump to his death from the monument. Lucky for us he survived! After the Wright Brothers trip we all headed out to lunch. The kids all ordered Flamingo Lemonade that came in plastic flamingo cups. I have a feeling Kate is going to try to get her hands on those. Brian looked especially cute carrying in the white purse and pink flamingo cup! Everyone is heading out to the beach now to play a bit before dinner. Good times! I think that there has been some serious talk about beer pong tonight. Should be interesting!

We made it to the Outer Banks. It took us 9 hours with the awful traffic. I truly shouldn't complain since many others had much worse trips! All 42+ of us eventually made it here and everyone is having a great time together. The boys have been playing non-stop with all of their various cousins, aunts, uncles, great aunts, great uncles, and great grandfather! Noah's quick favorite is Gasoline (aka Kathleen). He hasn't left her side yet. Eric, Asa, Cindy, and Dan are hosting dinner tonight. Dan built a big grill pit in the back yard. Will and Noah were thrilled to get to help him! We spent the morning at the beach and the entire afternoon in the pool. The boys are all exhausted. Will finally crashed on the rec room couch.

We have had a great first week of vacation. We arrived at Lori's last Saturday just in time for dinner. We headed straight to Baja Fresh! The kids spent the evening playing in Lori's backyard with Alina and Aidan. On Sunday Aidan had his birthday party. The boys had tons of fun and were torn between spending another night at Aunt Lori's or heading off to the mountains! We arrived in Pennsylvania Sunday evening and they dragged Pop-Pop out to do everything possible before it got dark. Their first stop was the candy tree. Pop-Pop has a tree that grows lollipops just outside his kitchen door! Their next stop was the money tree that is planted safely in the garden surrounded by an electric fence! The boys have been checking that tree daily needless to say. So far it has grown lots of coins and one dollar bills. There was a lot of rain there the last few days we were there so the boys are expecting twenties to be growing by the time we get back to Pennsylvania! Monday was beautiful and we all spent the entire day outside. I took Hanzie on a few long hikes and he was completely exhausted by the end of the day. Since I didn't have my bike with me, I had to jog. Most people know that I hate running! I actually did much better than I thought I would. I jogged around the pond a few times and then jogged the hiking route with Hanzie which is through the mountain. Tuesday afternoon Lori arrived with Alina and Aidan. The boys and Alina had a blast playing together. The boys taught Alina how to skateboard across my mom's new hardwood floors! They went for numerous four-wheeler rides, tractor rides, etc. They have also been fishing just about every day. On Wednesday it was extremely hot. We took the kids into town to get ice cream and it was 97 degrees! Thursday morning it started raining and kept raining off and on until we left after lunch today. The boys weren't bothered by the rain and kept up with their normal routine, minus the campfire since it was too wet to build one. Noah tried hard to convince Pop-Pop to use the dry firewood that was in the basement, but finally gave up on the idea. This morning they got in a fishing trip when the rain let up to just a drizzle. Noah caught a giant catfish and had to be saved by Pop-Pop. I guess the catfish was a bit stronger than Noah and started pulling him into the pond! After fishing and lunch we packed up and headed to Bowie. We stopped by my friend Anna's house to see her renovations. Her projects are all turning out beautifully, although I know she is anxious to have it all done! After Anna's we were off to Grandma Pat and Pop-Pop Bob's house to meet up with Aunt Kate and Dad. They were very anxious to see their dad that they hadn't seen in a week! I think Chris was a bit more anxious to see them though. After a short reunion, we headed off to Baja Fresh for dinner. Now we are in the process of packing up all over again to leave for the Outer Banks in the morning. The boys are excited about seeing their cousins tomorrow. Of course the entire family is saddened by the loss of Chris' Grandma Covney earlier this week. I think it is wonderful that everyone will be able to spend time together this coming week.

I miss my family! That's the song I wrote for the Naked Brothers Band. Nat and Alex have nothing on me. (Inside joke for Jen and the boys.) Anyway, Jen and the boys left early this morning for Aunt Lori's house. Jen drove the entire way, but they did manage to make it safely and in great time. I volunteered to work today in exchange to take off this past Wednesday in order to go to Universal with the family. Turned out to be a wise choice because I was bored out of my mind today after work. I am definitely lost without Jen and the boys here! I miss you guys!! Hope you have fun this week and I will see you on Friday.

Well, we are sort of packed and ready to go. All the laundry is done and some of the clothes have found their way to the suitcase. There are a lot of things that still need to be done, but it will get packed, eventually! The boys, my mom, and I leave VERY early in the morning to head to Lori's house for Aidan's birthday party. On Sunday we leave for the mountains for a bit. Chris will be stuck here working! At least he gets to avoid the drive. I think I would trade places!

Noah has perfected just about all of his magic tricks. I use the word "perfect" loosely! Here he is doing his best Criss Angel. He walks around the house saying, "I am a Mindfreak!" It is actually quite humorous!
The boys are currently watching The Naked Brothers Band marathon leading up to the new episode. It goes without saying that The Naked Brothers Band with be on the Florida Schrader's play list at the OBX. Perhaps it can mix in with some of the apparent country craze. The boys and I are Top 40 freaks so watch out!

We made it to Universal today. It was hot and sunny the entire time we were there so we didn't have to encounter any storms. We arrived early and there were no lines. The boys were able to do all of their favorite rides. By mid-day it was quite busy, but since they hit all of their favorites they were ready to go anyway. They were able to do the Flying Unicorn roller coaster over and over again and we also were able to get on E.T. Those are their Universal musts. We didn't have to wait for any of the Dr. Seuss rides either. All in all, not a bad Universal experience minus the heat!

Here they all are in Jurassic Park. The were able to scan some dinosaur eggs in the lab.
Just outside the lab they all got to pet their favorite dinosaur baby. Somehow, this one didn't get all stinked up. (Noah confuses extinct with all stinked up.)
Chris braved the Popeye ride with the boys. It was so hot that they begged to get on. Sissy Chris and Sissy Ethan had to wear ponchos! Will and Noah were brave.
Wait, did I say Sissy Chris and Sissy Ethan? I might have meant Smart Chris and Smart Ethan based on how drenched these two boys are!
Those are some wet butts! I guess the poncho didn't protect that area!
Posing in front of the Super Heroes' rides.

These are some big glasses!
There was a cool indoor playground that we have somehow missed on all of our past Universal visits. There was a cool musical section with gigantic instruments. There was also a sand play area and a water play area. In the water area was this tornado maker.

Now, it may just look like a bunch of characters to you, but this was a sweet 80's Rewind stage show.
We were also able to finally see the Beetlejuice Monster's Revue show. The boys loved that! Just picture Beetlejuice, Frankenstein, The Bride of Frankenstein, Wolfman, and Dracula all rocking it out on stage.

We decided to hold off on Universal until tomorrow since Chris can join us. I think it may have been a mistake. They are calling for severe storms. I suppose we'll just arrive early and then leave as soon as the storms begin. We took the boys to see Happy Feet at the kids' movie. Once again, I had never sat through the entire movie so it was the first time I had seen it. It was really cute. The boys are out swimming while they can. They will be two weeks without a pool! I'm doing laundry and trying to clean up a bit before the packing frenzy begins on Thursday.

Before Jen and I went on our 10 mile bike ride tonight, Ethan was begging to go with us. Neither of us thought that he could make it, so we just told him that I would take him when I got back from my ride with Jen. Well, I figured Ethan would just lose interest and forget all about it. When we got back though, he said, "Are you ready to go now?" I couldn't exactly say no, since I had already promised to go with him. I'm proud to say that he actually made it the entire 10 miles!! I could have turned around at any point and he wouldn't have known the difference, but he was doing great and was not complaining at all. I guess he was so motivated that he didn't even think about the strong headwind on the return 5 miles. That and I had my Camelbak on and he is really pushing hard for me to get him one. Maybe his mind games worked on me? Maybe he really does need one? Hmm...smart kid. By the way, this is a picture of Ethan after getting back.

Grandma Ann arrived in one piece. Let's hope she leaves the same way! The second we walked in the door from the airport, the boys made her get her swimsuit on and jump right in the pool. After dinner, they dragged her outside to show her all their fancy bike/skateboard/scooter stunts. This morning it was straight to the beach.

Where are the waves?

Here they come!
The beginnings of their sand castle.
Ethan working the sand.
The final product!
The boys spent almost the entire time in the ocean. We brought Chris' boogie board and they took turns on that. We had to promise them play time at the little beach playground to get them to agree to leave the beach! I have a meeting at school this afternoon. The boys are planning on swimming with Grandma once I leave. Tomorrow we try for Universal Studios.

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there, especially our own! The boys have once again very unselfishly planned a special day for Chris. It started off with Dunkin' Donuts for breakfast. (Chris is not a big fan of donuts.) They then decided that they would sacrifice some of their time and play Wii with their dad. They decided that we should take Chris out to lunch before we pick up my mom from the airport. After a lengthy discussion on which restaurants had the best desserts and/or kids prizes, they chose one! I don't know how they'll manage getting through the day doing all the things that their dad loves. There has also been some mention of hitting Toys R' Us since it is right next to the airport. You see, their dad LOVES Toys R' Us!

The boys had a fun evening with Drew. Drew was more interested in Hanzie than he was in any of the boys! Before dinner, we went for a swim.
Hanzie was a bit jealous of all the attention that Drew was getting and spent most of his time here (aka in my face)!
After dinner, we went for a stroll through the tourist district. The boys decided to stop in a couple of the surf shops in between their arguments over who was going to get to push Drew! They picked out the $269 surfboard that they MUST have. It is made for kids learning to surf so it is soft and has rubber fins. I'm sure it will end up in our garage one day in the near future! The boys have another new fascination thanks to Chris introducing them to Criss Angel. They are constantly doing new magic tricks. Here they are impressed by Drew's trick of getting free from the stroller!
It is amazing how quickly kids learn! I only had to show Drew how to tap the drum once and he was a pro for the rest of the evening. Prodigy, must be!