Museum of Natural History

On Saturday we visited the Museum of Natural History in downtown Raleigh. There were so many exhibits and things to look at. We learned about and saw so many cool things; dinosaurs, snakes, a live butterfly room, gemstones, turtles, a live bee hive, North Carolina history memorabilia and oh so much more.



They had a children's discovery room with interactive activities. This is where they had the bee hive. They were behind a glass wall and you could see them fly out the tunnel to the outside to get the pollen. Then the bees would come back in and do their thing. We even saw the queen bee. We held beetles in our hands and dressed up like bees and ladybugs. They had a puppet center and books about insects. Emma liked the book area and found a spot on the steps to read. We also saw spiders, really big ones!!

The museum was a great way to spend our Saturday. The kids enjoyed it and so did we. We promised the kids that we would go back again because there was so much to see that we didn't get to it all (there is a pirate exhibit that we missed that they are begging to go to). And Dusty made friends with the friendly guy below, so we will have to go back to visit him too.

Dance Classes Begin

Our girls started dance this week.

Emma is taking ballet & tap. She is in the "Opals" class and wears pink tights and leotard. Her teacher is Miss Kathryn, who has a really cute English accent and is so cute with the little girls.

Alexis is taking ballet with character dancing. She is in the "Ruby" class and wears pink tights with a ruby leotard. The character dancing requires character shoes. They look like clogging shoes to me. They also get to wear these fun, flowing skirts. There are a lot of girls in her class, 15 that I counted. When we showed up for class we found out that her teacher is a male. Alexis looked at me at said "Oh, great! Now everyone is going to make fun of me". I can't say that I didn't have some of the same thoughts I know most of you, as well as Alexis, are having. But when class was over she had enjoyed it. So all is fine.

Jordan Lake

This week I went to Jordan Lake with my new friends Carolina and Kalyn. The water is partitioned off so the kids can't go out too far. There is a sandy beach and we put up umbrellas, eat lunch and let the kids play. We were there for about 2 hours before it started to rain. We thought it might pass over and waited, but we decided it was time to pack up and head home when the thunder and lightening began. This is the second time the kids and I have been there. I really love going to this lake because it is 15 minutes from home and it only costs $5 per car.

This was our last outing before school starts. The kids had a great time and I was able to relax. Fun summer days!!

Harris Lake

Last Saturday we went to a barbecue at Harris Lake with some of Dusty's co-workers. It was absolutely beautiful with all of the trees and the water. The kids played on the playground and played soccer out on the grass. We strolled down to the water to skip rocks. I had forgotten my camera so I asked one of the other ladies to take a picture of our family. She just sent them over and I wanted to post them right away for you all to see.

Playing soccer as a family

Close-up of the family

The lake was so beautiful. I think we might go back and try fishing a bit.

Sisters Pictures

While I was in Utah my sisters and I got together and took some pictures to give to our mom for her birthday. The pictures turned out really cute. My sisters and I aren't together very often so it was good to capture some moments of us together.

Below is Amy.

Below is Becca.

Below is me.

Below is Julie.

For us just messing around and snapping pics with my sister's camera I think they turned out pretty good.

Durham Bulls Game

Last Friday we went to the Durham Bulls Game. They are a AAA baseball team. We were down close to the field by 3rd base. I liked seeing the pitcher practice. Man, they throw those balls fast!! The game was exciting to watch. At the top of the 9th we were winning. The other team hit a home run, which the entire crowd and our coach thought was a fowl ball, and they ended up beating us by 2 points. Even so, it was still a fun night.

The kids took in the whole experience and loved it. And what would a baseball game be without yummy stadium food? Lex got to have her Tiger's Blood Snow Cone. Emma opted for popcorn, but stole my nachos. And Jacob had popcorn. We ate a ton of junk food and had a great night.

When they hit a home run this bull's eyes light up red and his tail moves and he lets smoke out of his nostrils.

They did fireworks after the game which were fun to see. We haven't seen fireworks like that in years.

Where in the world have the Burke's been?

Yes. I am finally posting on our blog. We are finally home. The five of us arrived in North Carolina late Monday night. We had a long day of traveling with a stop in Denver for a few hours. This being the kids' first time on a plane we were interested to see how they would behave, but they did remarkably well. Both plane rides were extremely turbulant, so they think that flying is always like that. I guess they will be surprised next time we fly if it is smooth sailing.

What have we been up to???

Tuesday: Dusty headed back to work.. The kids and I stayed at home and unpacked all day.

Wednesday: The kids and I went grocery shopping. Lex loved hearing all of the "locals" talk with their accents and kept trying to imitate them.

Thursday: Took the kids to lunch and both Dust and I went to the DMV to get our North Carolina driver's licenses. They make you take the NC written driving test. It was hard and had a lot of questions specific to NC. Needless to say, we both failed a test that we waited 2 hours to take. I read the entire driver's manual that night.

Friday (today): I went back to the DMV alone with all 3 kids in tow. Passed with flying colors. Now I have to wait for them to mail me my driver's license. I hope my picture turned out good! We took the kids to see "G Force" tonight. This was their reward for helping me move the millions of moving boxes from the backyard to the garage so that they could be hauled off by the moving company on Monday.

Plans for Saturday: Nothing! We are so excited to be together in our new home that we are going to do nothing. Isn't that exciting!!

Plans for Sunday: We are going to introduce ourselves to our new ward and show them all what a good time they have been missing until we showed up.

On a side note, the reason the kids got rewarded for helping me haul boxes was because we had to battle some HUGE spiders and some lizards. That's right, lizards. I screamed and yelled for Jacob to come and help me. Then Emma wanted to see and left the back door open. Don't worry, the lizard didn't come inside. I called Dusty freaking out and he just laughed. He asked at work and they said that the lizards are common and they are not poisonous (phew). I guess they eat the bugs. The big spiders on the other hand have me freaked out. They had really long legs which made them look huge. And they ran really fast. I smashed them with my shoe but they were gross. It had rained on the boxes and I think that had just found a dark, wet spot to rest. I am going to call a pest control company to get the house sprayed though. I just can't handle things like that.

Dusty is leaving on Sunday for a business trip. He will be gone until Friday and most likely back on Saturday. This is something I am going to have to get used to. I knew this was part of the job but it is still an adjustment. That is why I am so excited to go to church and meet people. Most of you know I am social, so I guess I will try to convince some "sucker" in my new ward to be my friend.

I have to go now. Dusty and I are going to watch a movie together. I will post pics just as soon as Dusty gives me my camera back (he was using it for work until his came in).

Bye everyone,

I miss you.