Family Vacation

On May 29, 2010 we left home early in the morning. We spent the whole
day in airports, on airplanes and in the car. Finally at about 10:30 pm
we arrived at the beach house on Caswell Beach NC.

Ryan's brother Christian came with us. we really appreciated all of his help.

The children were very good on the airplane. We had fun and got
some sleep on the airplane

Everyone did their part and pulled their own bags, except for me.
The doctor told me I could not lift more than 15 lbs. and Ryan would not
let me carry any thing except my purse.

We had so much fun on the beach with all of Ryan's family.
The kids loved spending so much time with their cousins.
Here they are with cousins Karl and Talia

Grandpa Paulsen playing with Anna on the beach.
We spent several hours everyday out on the beach. It was so fun.

One day we took a ferry to the North Carolina Aquarium.
When we got to the aquarium they tried to sell us a family pass.
We told them that we were from UT so we would never use it again.
They said it could be used all over the country. They said we could use it
at Hogle Zoo. Ryan told them we had a family pass to the zoo.
We were able to use our zoo pass to get into the aquarium for free.

I think the kids favorite part of the aquarium was climbing
on this big frog.

Here is a good 30 week belly shot.

We really enjoyed the Aquarium. We went with Ryan's sister Tiffany, her
husband Karl and their three kids, Talia, Karl and Samantha.

After the Aquarium we went to Fort Fisher. This is a Civil war museum.
Again our favorite part was climbing on this cannon.

This picture needs some explanation. This was the last night we were
all together. We went to a restaurant called Elijah's in Wilmington.
I had a hard time ordering. I was deciding between to safe options, but at the
last minute I decided to try something new. I ordered a soft shell crab sandwich.
Being a Utah girl, I thought this would be some crab meat on a bun, but I was wrong.
When my food came there was a whole crab, battered and deep fried on a bun.
It had legs and claws and a face. I was so surprised, I started to cry(stupid pregnancy hormones)
The waitress offered me something else, but I had ordered it. I gave the crab to Ryan,
but then I decided I should at least try it. I always tell my kids to try something before they
decide they hate it. I tasted it but I could not get past the look of it. The waitress told
me she has seen many reactions to a soft shell crab, but I was the first person to cry.
Ryan ordered me a dessert, and when it came they had drawn a crab on it.
The waitress told me that she would say it was my birthday and it would be free.
I felt really bad for being rewarded for my bad behavior, but the desert was very good.

It really was a wonderful vacation. It was a really good way to celebrate Ryan's graduation.