Wilmington - Day 1

We went to Wilmington, NC, to see our good friends, Amy and Casey.  Brad and I both played ball with them in college and we've remained great friends.  Amy and Casey have 2 sweet boys, and Colton turned 3 this weekend and had a birthday party on the beach.  This trip was bittersweet because they will be moving to Minnesota in a month, as Casey got a great job offer there for his work.  We will miss them, but we will make it a point to continue seeing other!

This post will be in 2 parts, because there are so many pictures.  So, stay tuned for more pictures of the beach and birthday party!

This is the "South of the Border" pitstop landmark, after you cross from S.Carolina to N.Carolina.  It's such a funny thing, you have to take a picture of it.  They start advertising this about 30-40 miles before you get there.  Then, along the way, there are signs about every mile or so, counting down, telling you how close you are getting.

This is the Battleship North Carolina.  This is our landmark of where we turn to get to Amy and Casey's.  You can tour this ship and if you were a Jon and Kate Plus 8 fan, Kate took the kids to this on one of the episodes.  We didn't get to take the tour, but it would definitely be something neat to do!

Once we got there, we checked into our hotel, then headed over to Amy and Casey's house.  It was great to see Amy and Casey, and we all started talking away, like we had seen each other yesterday.  Amy and I are best friends, and I couldn't ask for a better friend!  Amy's parents and Casey's parents were also both there, so it was great getting to see them and talk with them. 

It's really a great relationship we all have - Amy and I, and our parents, all grew up together.  We played summer ball against each other and with each other, and high school ball against each other.  Then, we finally got to play college ball together.  So, our families have known each other for years.  Casey and Brad, and their families, are the same way.  They got to know each other from the ballfields.  Crazy how that stuff works out! 

Here is Colton, Amy's little man, pushing Parker around in the wagon.  Parker was a little big for it, so we had to prop his feet on top of the wagon! Hah!

Parker enjoying time with Chase, Amy's other little man, and Casey's dad (left) and Amy's dad (right).  They both are great grandpa's and really played with Parker as well.  I think Colton was a little jealous of the attention being given to Chase and Parker! Hah!

I think Parker had enough picture-taking for one night!

The next day, Colton had an appointment at JCPenney to get his 3 year pictures made.  So, we all went over to the mall with him.  He did a great job getting his pictures taken - Amy really got some cute ones!

After the pictures, we walked around the mall and went in a few stores.  We went in Gymboree because they were having their "bin" sale.  This is where they have clearance clothes thrown in bins and you have to "dig" to find the size clothing you need.  Those bins were $6.99 and under.  So, if you are looking for winter clothes - check it out.  I got Parker several winter outfits for cheap!

Parker and Colton in Gymboree

Riding together in the mall stroller.  They were so cute!  Amy also had Chase in there for a while, but he wanted to be held by someone, so that didn't last long! Hah!

The natives were getting a little restless as we stopped to get Colton some pretzel bites.

Parker checking out the steering wheel and trying to figure out how it works.  The lady at the picture place said he was very "inquisitive" about a toy he was looking at.  Parker has always done this.  He'll take a toy, look at it intently, then try to figure it out.  He doesn't bang it, or try to break it, just trying to figure out how all the parts work.  Hmmm, wonder what that means??!!

We decided to eat at the food court, so of course, Parker and I ate Chick-Fil-A.  He gets diet lemonade with his kid's meal and he loves it!

That night, Brad went golfing with Casey and Larry, Casey's dad, so Parker and I ventured out into Wilmington to see what we could do.  As we were leaving our hotel, a friendly shore bird was walking on the path. 

We ate dinner at O'Charley's and Parker had bite-size shrimp and mandarin oranges.  He ate every single bite on his plate!  I couldn't believe it!  I think he was still hungry, so I gave him a few animal crackers.  I'm telling you, the boy can eat!!

When we got back to our hotel, the cleaning staff had made this for Parker - an elephant towel!!  How cute is that!!

In some sad news, please be praying for a blog family, "In This Wonderful Life."  I have the link on the side of my page, "Praying for Cohen."  Cohen is just over a week old, and is not going to make it, and in fact, he may have already gone to be with Jesus.  He was born with a heart defect and had multiple surgeries over the past few days.  The heart surgery was successful, but his kidneys and liver shut down, because of the medicine needing to be used for the procedure.  They started dialysis, but then found a tear in his trachea, and the doctors could not do anything else for him.  It's such a sad, sad story.

I don't know this family personally, but I have been following their blog for a while.  They have touched so many lives, so if you would, please say a prayer to heal their family during this most difficult time.