Just one more: Lost and Found

I started writing the normal vacation post (what we did, where we went, etc etc...) about our trip to North Carolina while we were there to get ahead of the game, but after returning home and reflecting on what happened during the last two weeks I realized that a "normal vacation" post would not do this trip justice.

So, here goes.....

I think that this vacation could be summed up in one word "LOST."

Lost Shad's cell phone charger in a hotel room in Albequerque.

Lost a gallon ziploc bag full of "plane treats" on the airplane.

Lost my wedding ring for an hour or so...and then found it on a window ledge where I didn't remember putting it at all.

Lost both our video camera and still camera in a public beach restroom on Wilmington beach with thousands of college students everywhere. This one is really a miracle to me because some honest soul turned it into the police department and we were able to get it back!

Lost (or I guess I should say "misplaced") $260 in cash the night before we left, only to find it today buried in a jacket pocket while doing laundry. I knew that once we paid our month's worth of tithing yesterday that it would somehow turn up.

Lost our video camera again on the return trip home on the plane....this is still missing :( You think I would have learned to put our name and phone number on it after the last incident!

Lost (or I guess more like "left") Shad's work laptop at my parent's house on the return trip. Good thing they were willing to bring it back to us yesterday since Shad needed it for the first day of school today!

Lost my mind!!!

We also SHOULD have lost:

The loose car key in Shad's swimming suit pocket as he went boogie boarding in the ocean. It's a miracle we made it home that day!

Our turtle Gus who missed many opportunities to escape with our latch breaking on our gate, leaving it swinging open for who knows how long!

So, even with all of those incidents, we are really only missing a video camera (which I am really sad about because it had all of the video we took from the last 2 years on it) and a cell phone charger. I am thinking we came out pretty good. One item lost is accident, two is stupid, so I don't know what 7 items would be!

It is funny that all of these things should happen on this trip, because the month before we left I really started to get a better perspective when it comes to money and earthly possessions. When we lost the cameras at the beach I was sad thinking about all of the pictures I had lost, but I also had a feeling of peace knowing that it really didn't matter. In the eternal scheme of things it wasn't that important. If we never find our video camera I will be sad, but at the same time I am happy knowing that I didn't loose the most important things in my life, my family. Money is really just fictional, our personal belongings can't go with us when we die and will eventually break, it is the people we love and the memories that will stay with us. I'm glad I got to experience a fun vacation with my little family, despite the bumps in the road.

On that note.... here is the post that I wrote before this became an EPIC vacation, Enjoy!

Almost 2 years ago we decided that we wanted to fly to North Carolina to see Shad's brother Scott and his family. We haven't seen them in just about 3 years and knew it was time for Haken to get to know his long lost cousins. We had planned to visit last summer, but after a unexpected sewer repair on our house we had to move it to this summer. We bought the plane tickets back in February, knowing that something else would inevitably come up if we didn't. 3 months after we booked our tickets we found out that Shad's other brother Marc from Rexburg got accepted at Campbell University for pharmacy school and would be moving out to North Carolina at the same time that we were flying there for vacation. Scott decided to fly out from North Carolina to help drive their car across the country. Of course Shad wanted to go. He couldn't miss a road trip across the country with his brothers (although, it ended up just being Scott because Marc miscalculated when school started at Campbell somehow.) So, in the end, everyone got their wish (except Marc I guess): I got to fly across the country with my boys and my sister in law and her 2 boys, and Shad got to have his dream of driving across the country. He told me after he got to North Carolina that he now knows that it would have been a hard trip driving that far with 2 children. I would have to agree! 4 hours in a plane was much better than 4 whole days!

Our vacation actually started on the 9th of August, almost a week before our plane left. I decided that since Shad would be leaving before us to drive on the 10th I would go and spend a few days with my parents in Bountiful until it was time for us to leave. We had a pretty jam-packed week. We went to the zoo, saw old friends, went to a few movies, played in the water, played in the water some more, and ate lots of yummy food. It was fun for the boys to see grandma, grandpa, and cousins for days on end.

Hanging out in Grandma's clubhouse

Best buddies, playing in the water

Running down the slip n' slide

Jack loves "Grandma G.G."

On the 15th we flew out for North Carolina. The boys did SO well! I really didn't expect any problems from either of them, but I was totally prepared with a ton of stuff to keep them occupied. Turns out all that I needed for Haken was a new box of crayons and a coloring book. Jack slept for half of the time. My kids really are at the best ages for flying. It was a total success. We had a stop in Denver, where we barely made our plane change (just enough time to change a diaper and go potty), and then flew another 3 hours to Raleigh. It was fun to have Haken's cousins Cooper and Elias to share the fun experience with. We didn't get in until 10:45 P.M. EST so it was a late night, but the boys easily adjusted to the time change.

So excited for the plane ride

We stayed for almost 2 whole weeks from the 15th to the 26th. Scott and Aubrey were so incredibly generous to host us in their home for the 2 weeks. They really made it possible for us to have such a long vacation. The kids all had a blast together and got along incredibly well. All of our family ended up getting a cold which stuck around for a few days. Jack went to the Dr. to get checked for ear infections. He didn't have any, but I didn't want to risk it when we would be flying home on an airplane.

Our flight was scheduled to leave the morning of the 27th, but because hurricane Irene was due to hit the North Carolina coast at that time, we decided to switch our flight to the afternoon of the 26th. We had a 2 hour layover in Phoenix where they had record breaking temperatures of 118. We sat on the tarmack for 20 minutes extra while the pilots calculated how to get off the ground with the heat. It was pretty much murder with the air conditioning not working on the plane while we sat there. Remind me never to layover in Phoenix again. We made it home, sleep deprived, but safe.

Here are some of the things that we did while we were there:

Went to the Marbles Children's Museum.

This place was awesome! I thought we had it good with the Treehouse Museum in Ogden, but this place is tons bigger! Haken (and Shad) loved it!

Crazy EMT! I think this was Haken's favorite part because he wants to be a doctor

Tripp driving the ambulance. This was his favorite thing at the museum.

Little Austyn driving the bus

THIS is why I married this man! He was so cute with Haken at the museum. I fell in love with him all over again.

We played with cousins

After 3 weeks of having someone to play with constantly, I think Haken has been going through withdrawls today. It is so fun to have cousins who love to play the same things he does. They all got along so well too. Only a few times did we have to break up fights.

The train table was a favorite

The next time these cousins see each other they will be MUCH bigger than this. I would love to get a picture of all the Anderson grandkids together. This is less than half of them. We are all spread throughout the country now.

We visited museums in Raleigh

The museum of natural history