U.S. National Whitewater Center

The USNWC, in Charlotte, North Carolina is the Olympic Training Center for Whitewater rafting and kayaking, but they offer day passes for all their cool rafting, climbing, and zipline activities. We spent the day of Jones' wedding here, and started the morning with their "Climb to Zip." If you're up for a challenge and a good scare, this is the place to go! The surroundings are beautiful there, very scenic.


Mike ready to climb.


It was a pretty challenging climb, there are a few spots on the pole that don't seem to have grips or foot holds where you would expect them.


The scariest part of the climb to zip for me, was sitting on the edge of the platform and having the guide tell us that it is possible to hit your head on the platform if you don't pitch forward far enough. The best part of this picture though is Mike's expression.


Mike on the platform, right before his turn. Mike took the best zipline pictures out of all of us, that's why he appears here so many times.


Go Hawks!!





I think Dave surprised Mike and Andy with how quickly he flew up the climbing pole. They kept telling Dave he looked like a panda bear climbing up the tree after a coconut.


Little did Mike and Andy know that they were describing a scene from one of our girls' most beloved Hawaiian children's book, in which ALOHA BEAR goes in search of his lost Guava Jelly Sandwich.


Dave and I climbing together.


Dave and I having a mini-celebration as we share the zip line platform.


In mid-air.


Happy to be back on the ground.


This was definately the more relaxing of the two ziplines. For the Mega Zip, you just step off the platform and enjoy the view as you zip across the entire park.


We were told to put our arms out like this because there was very little wind this day. Having your arms out, would eventually slow your speed a bit, allowing the breaking system to catch you at the end of your zip.


I think Mike and I are somewhere above the rapids in this picture. At one point I tucked up my legs because I felt like I might kick someone in a raft below me, I don't think we were ever even nearly that close, it just seemed that way. It was a lot of fun.



Below are links to some pictures taken by the USNWC while we were on the rapids paddling for our lives. As Mike told our guide, "Fear is a powerful motivator!" We opted for their most exciting rafting trip, the Rodeo Rafting, but they also offer less intense Family Rafting Trips (unlikely to fall out of the raft), and the Adventure Rafting (middle of the road trip).
After all four of us fell out of our raft, Dave and I body surfed down a Class 3 rapid. It was a little much for me, but I can say now that it's over, I'm really glad I did it! It was a pretty intense run. The guy I returned my equipment to was missing ALL OF THE TOES on one of his feet, just to give you an idea of how rough of a sport rafting can be.
Dave, Andy, and Mike (and of course, the guide Rob Smith) did an awesome job navigating a Class 4, they didn't fall once, which I think even impresed our guide! It was a really cool experience, and I can't wait to take the girls once they are old enough. The safety training and techiques they provide before each trip are a worthwhile and confidence building experience on their own.





Charging the rapids!


The four of us about to hit the water, notice how our guide is very excited about it!!


Reuter, Mike and Dave in the class IV


Link to the USNWC

Jones' Wedding

Brian and the ring bearer, his nephew.


Brian and Renee getting married.


Mike, Dave, Brian, Andy.


The guys were all speculating as to who would be going into the pool behind us before the night was over. All I could think of was all the swimming that had already taken place earlier in the day :)

Some Mistakes...

In some of my previous posts from Spring Break, I was having a hard time getting the text to line up with the correct pictures. I'm not sure why it happened, (maybe because they are longer posts?)but anyway, I think I fixed the problem. If they looked all jumbled up before, you should be able to scroll down now to see versions that make sense.

Beautiful Spring Weather At Grandma and Grandpa's House

We spent the second half of Spring Break at my parent's house and the weather was gorgeous! Unfortunately, after a stretch of a few really nice days in a row, we haven't quite been able to break our current cycle of chilly, windy, rainy days.


Emma made a rock sculpture that she was very proud of.


Sliding backwards.


Alyssa's Mud Pie ~ YUM!


The three girls with the stepping stones they made. It was a fun project, and I wanted to take more pictures, but it was such a messy process, that I decided against bringing out the camera.


The final product of the 4 stepping stones we made.


My parent's kitchen is being remodeled, and after we got tired of eating out, we decided to get some TV Dinners that we could make in the microwave. Our girls had never had one before, and they were so impressed!


So pleased with their Kid Cuisines!! They could not have been happier that all their food was separated into little compartments, and that the little tray represented almost the entire food pyramid.


Enjoying the sprinkler for the first time this season.

Watching the big girls run through the sprinkler, but not very sure about running through the cold water herself.


Emma airborne as she runs through the sprinkler. Both this picture, and the one below it of Alyssa jumping, are better if you click on them so you can see their excited facial expressions as they jump through the water.


Alyssa running through with a wild jump!


Emma all excited as she tries to jump to the side, avoiding the cold water.


I posted this just because I thought Rebekah looked SO TALL.


And the best part about running through the sprinkler...? Sticking your face in to try and get a drink!!!

The Public Museum with Grandma

On Wednesday of Spring Break, we went to the public museum. The first thing the girls wanted to do was check out the bugs and butterflies. They built this butterfly model.


If you click on the photo, you can see these huge beetles better. They made a strange hissing sound.


The tarantula.


Alyssa with a butterfly resting on her hand.


The slight black blur above Emma's hand is a butterfly that she ALMOST had :)


Bekah looking serious as she finds butterflies.


The butterlies on their feeding "sponges." These trays with sponges on them were filled with all kinds of fruit and sugar water. There were lots of slices of watermelon, strawberries, and bananas, I told the girls that the butterflies like to eat all the same stuff that they like!


A shell fossil that the girls thought was pretty.


Emma said she was sitting on Grandpa's lap.


Alyssa was "playing dead" so the bears wouldn't eat them.


In the igloo.


The girls were so excited to find a new area we had never seen in the museum before today. There is a hidden stairway next to the Guatemala exhibit, that led to a hallway of exhibits we had never explored before. At the end of the hallway is a window that looks down on Guatemala, it was cool to be in uncharted (for us anyway) territory!

Bowling and Hannah Montana: The Movie

My mom and I took the girls to go bowling. It is a really nice, new place that is super comfortable, and they play fun music videos on huge screens that span the entire 11 lane room. It was neat.









2 little girls relaxing on the couch.



Walking up to help Kamele.






Pleased with her spare!





Silly duck walk.


I loved the cute tiny bowling shoes. They probably won't look so cute in a year once they've had more use, but it was nice to put bowling shoes on the kids and myself that I didn't feel completely grossed out by!



After bowling we went to the Cinema Grill to see the Hannah Montana movie. It's a fun theatre for the kids because they serve you a meal and/or dessert during the movie just like at a restaurant. The girls feel so fancy there, and the ice cream sundaes are yummy!!




Bunny ears for Bekah. The movie was really good, a lot better than I thought it might be. All three girls were GLUED to the screen, I wanted to take a picture, but figured that would be rude to the rest of the movie-goers.

Thank You for All the Wonderful Gifts!!

Thank you so much to everyone for all the wonderful gifts on Emma's birthday! She has had so much fun playing with all the toys, and she received so many cute outfits. This cute turtle purse she is holding came from Grandmommy and Granddaddy and it has coordinating turtle capris~ so adorable! Emma was very excited about EVERYTHING! Thank you very very much to all her Grandparents, Aunties, Uncles, and cousins!!
A cute top from Aunty, she chose to wear this the very next day :) ~ Thank you, thank you!