Mika the Terrible

After we got back from our beach hopping adventures, I started hounding Michael to let us get a dog. His criteria for years had been that I get a job in Wake County, and since I had finally met that criteria, I figured we'd better hurry up and get a dog before I started work. After a couple of weeks of scouring the websites of all of the animal shelters in the area, I came across this dark chocolate pit bull mix named Mika, and I figured it was fate. (If Michael and I had ever had a girl baby, we'd planned to name her Mika.)




For the first few days after she came home with us, she was an angel. Then I took her to dog training classes for the first time, and she turned into a terror. She did not like the trainer's dog and spent the whole time growling and barking at him. Truth be told, she didn't like being around any dogs; she couldn't understand why we wanted her to sit quietly and behave when there were other dogs to play with.

Then she started testing the boundaries at home, nipping at the boys and running in crazy circles while on a leash (which is not fun for the person holding the leash!). Finally, I was getting really worried about having her around the kids - not because she was mean but because she was too excited and would lose control. I wanted to take her back to the shelter, but Michael convinced me to hire a dog behavior specialist, who came to our house, observed her, and gave us some tips. Mostly, she just put my mind at ease. We finished up the dog training classes, got Mika somewhat under control, and we're all very happy to have Mika in our home now. Even Michael (even if he says he just tolerates her).





One day, a neighbor's dog wandered into our yard, and Mika thought she'd died and gone to doggie heaven.

Beach-Hopping 2017: Angel Tree and Charleston

Michael made his way home from Tybee, and the boys and I continued on our beach hopping adventure. We originally intended to do a couple of days in Charleston, SC and then make our way up to the Outer Banks for our final destination, but by this time, the boys were beached and camped out. We ended up staying in Charleston for four days, part at a gorgeous KOA on an old plantation and part at a Holiday Inn. Then we headed straight back to Raleigh.

On the way to Charleston, we took a side trip to see this amazing 400-year-old tree.




On the first day in Charleston, we took a boat tour of an old fort and walked along the river. The boys were so grumpy this day and bickered constantly about the heat, so the next day, after we'd moved to the hotel, I told them I was leaving them while I went sightseeing. So of course, they begged to come with me and swore they'd be good. (They were mostly good.) On the last day, we found a spot to watch the fireworks for the Fourth of July.








One other crazy memory from the KOA in Charleston: one of the other groups of campers had two dogs with them, and we were woken up to the sounds of them shouting for their dogs, which had jumped the fence to get a flock of ducks in the lake. One of the dogs swam back, but the other kept going and going and disappeared into the distance. I have no idea if the campers ever got him back. It was insane.

Beach Hopping 2017: Savannah

On the day before we left Tybee, Michael and I took the boys into Savannah for some last minute sight-seeing. Savannah is a beautiful city, and I wouldn't mind if one of my kids ended up there for college so I can visit often.

Beach Hopping 2017: Tybee Island

From Tampa, we met my family on Tybee Island, GA (near Savannah) to celebrate my parents' 40th anniversary. My sister rented us a beautiful beach house, and we settled in for a week.

One of the first things we did there was visit Tybee's lighthouse, my first time going inside a lighthouse. There was a lot of singing about our "razzle dazzle" day. Some of the littler kids did not like how steep the stairs were, and some of the parents were freaked out by how easily a kid could climb over the railing and fall to their doom. Fun times!





The rest of the week, we toured Savannah (both during the day and at night on a ghost tour), rented bikes and rode on the beach (so fun!), went to a Savannah Bananas baseball game (with the most hilarious dancing first base coach), and just hung out and enjoyed each other. Photo dump starts now.
























I also had an interview via Skype with Green Hope High School in Wake County, and apparently I come across better over Skype than in person because I was offered the job.

Beach-Hopping 2017: NASA and Tampa

Michael planned to fly down to Florida and meet us in Tampa, where his grandmother lives. On our way there, we stopped at the Kennedy Space Center so Rylan, our future astronomer, could revel in space exploration. I handed my camera to him and let him go crazy while we were there, so the photos are not up to my blog standards...I do really love this photo we had taken with an astronaut, though. Wish I could remember his name, but we listened to him speak and it was awesome. My favorite part of the Kennedy Space Center.


In Tampa, we had our first Airbnb experience. It was about the same price as a hotel, but we each got our own room, we had a kitchen for cooking meals (again keeping the costs down), and the boys got a few days to catch up on TV and video games. We would definitely do it again.

Michael's Grandma Lavers sends us THE BEST Christmas letter. It is one of my favorite parts of Christmas, and I look forward to it every year. She really knows how to work retirement, getting heavily involved in her senior living home and also helping out with dog shows. Going to see her in Florida has been on my to do list for the past few years. We took her out for dinner, which involved multiple trips in our one car between her house and the restaurant, so unfortunately, we goofed up the photo op and only got pictures with Michael and Rylan.




The next day, Michael took the boys to the beach in Tampa, our only Gulf Coast beach on the trip, while I went to the Salvador Dali museum. Some of his art was really cool, but my favorite part by far was the museum itself. Such cool architecture and fun gardens.





On the way out of town the next morning, we had breakfast with some old friends from Raleigh 4th ward, the Andersons. Again, I flaked on the photo ops, so I have no photographic evidence. But we did really enjoy seeing them!

Beach-Hopping 2017: Daytona Beach

Our next stop was Gamble Rogers State Park near Daytona Beach. The weather on this day was threatening storms, creating huge scary waves in the ocean, so we avoided the beach. Instead, we opted to rent a kayak and a canoe. The older two boys are pretty experienced canoers at this thanks to Boy Scouts, but I hadn't been canoeing since I was about 14 years old. Considering that, I probably should have split up Cole and Eli, matching one of each of them with me and Rylan, but instead I chose to keep my baby with myself. Rylan and I were a disaster; he was no help with steering, and I'm a wimp, so most of the time, I was freaking out: "We're stuck in the bushes! There are going to be alligators! Row, Rylan, row! We'll never get back to the shore!!!!"

But eventually, we figured it out, and we all really loved it. I would LOVE to buy a kayak.

This was also the day where I didn't apply enough sunscreen and got a third degree burn on my feet. It was like no sunburn I've ever seen before. I had blisters all over my feet; I thought for sure I'd have permanent scarring. Lesson learned! (Let's be honest...lesson probably not learned...)

Beach-Hopping 2017: Jekyll Island

For our big summer vacation this year, the boys and I went beach-hopping down the coast from North Carolina to Florida and back again. Like we did on our U.S. Domination tour, we kept costs down by alternating camping with staying in hotels. Now I realize that you might be thinking, "Camping in July???" And believe me, I heard that same complaint about 50 billion times from my kids. It was definitely hot, and between that and the no-see-ums, we didn't sleep most of the trip. But...memories, people!

(No, seriously. As I've explained to my boys, the only reason we can afford these epic adventures is because we stuff ourselves into my tiny hybrid and camp as much as possible. So the choice is some pretty miserable..ahem, memorable nights of camping, or no adventures. I choose adventures.)

We camped the first night at a state park near Jekyll Island, GA. I would have liked to actually camp on the beach, but I booked our reservation too late. This place was amazing, though. I would love to go back. The water was placid like a large lake - rather than the huge waves we get in Wilmington - and the scenery was picturesque.