Fun in New Bern {2015}

While we did a lot of educational and historical tours around New Bern, we also had a lot of fun while trying to keep cool in record hot temperatures.  New Bern had some great spots to help us keep cool, inside and out.  We enjoyed swimming in our hotel pool that overlooked the river and boat marina, and we also discovered a local splash park.  I think we succeeded in beating the heat...no one suffered any heat related injuries!  We also met up with some friends and learned all about geocaching!  Apparently if you don't know what this is, you are a muggle.  Haha!

The pool felt so nice in the evenings after a hot day exploring.  Evan made friends with a couple of boys in the pool and played catch and Marco Polo.  He never shies away from asking someone to play and is definitely more of an extrovert like his daddy. 

Sweet Brody usually plays more by himself.  Definitely more like his mommy. 

He did try to get into Marco Polo, but when someone would say Marco, he would say Marco back.  Haha!

Evan was a little younger than these boys so he had a little trouble keeping up with their swimming.  

Sweet brothers having a special moment before bedtime.  Of course, it involves an electronic device. Probably some zombie killing.  Ha!

Daddy feeding Mattox a bottle. 

Our hotel did not have continental breakfast so the boys and I had to go out for breakfast.  We had to take Daddy to his work meetings for the day anyway since we were staying in a different hotel.  Brody was really loving his chocolate chip muffin. 

We enjoyed spending a day with Mommy's old friend Regina and her son, Cooper.  Another red head! 

Regina taught us to geocache, and we found our first one at the John Wright Stanly house.  Very cool!  Geocaching is like a real life treasure hunt with treasures hidden all over the world!  When it started many years ago, people would need actual GPS units and the coordinates of the caches to find them, but now there is an app for phones that does it all and keeps track of all the caches you find. 

Evan tried to reach it. 

Opening the "treasure" chest. 

Cooper and Evan at the site of the first geocache find.  This one was a more official one that has been placed with permission at historic sites all over the state. 

After lunch and a little geocaching, the boys enjoyed swimming in the pool together.  We had a little scare with Brody when we arrived at the pool.  Evan had just jumped in the pool because it was so hot, and Brody thought he could just follow him.  He didn't realize he needed his arm floats.  He was sinking when I turned around and saw him.  I hadn't even put the baby or our stuff down yet.  I yelled for Evan to grab him and ran to the pool to pull him up.  Told you this kid was going to give me a heart attack!  When I asked him what happened when he jumped in without his arm floats on, he calmly said he was sinking.  He was right back to jumping in the pool again after that so it definitely hasn't deterred him. 

Cooper jumping in. 

He got some good height with his jump. 

Brody's jumps always scare me a little because he does more of a step than a jump and doesn't always jump too far from the side of the pool. 

Spreading his legs for that jump.  Little dare devil! 

Just looking cute in the hotel room with his silky and teddy bear...or teh-y bear as he calls it. 

On the hunt for more geocaches in Cedar Grove Cemetery. 

We actually didn't have to walk across the cemetery and could have parked right by the geocache.  We didn't find one that we were looking for, but we did find the other one.  I think the other one had disappeared.  This does happen over time if the geocache gets moved or accidently destroyed by a "muggle."  Non-geocaching people are muggles, and you are supposed to try to keep them from suspecting what you are doing.  

The cache we found.  GPS coordinates lead you to the general vicinity and clues are often given to help you locate it.  This was a more unofficial one someone created with just a rubbermaid container.  There is usually a log (piece of paper) inside you are supposed to sign and often people leave a "treasure." This one was covered up by a rock. 

Evan is demonstrating the geocaching technique using my phone app.  It has a built in compass or radar that directs you to the spot.  Of course, if your signal is spotty, it might get confused.  

The treasures inside.  We just added one of the "business" cards Eddie made Evan for Cub Scouts because we had some in the car. 

We didn't get to spend too much time with Daddy, but we enjoyed eating dinner with him and the teachers. 

Brody picked out a little New Bern flag from a gift shop and waves it proudly. 

We found another geocache in a cool spot in Union Point Park.  We found this one with some other geocachers!  

Cooling Off at the Splash Park

We decided to hit up this Splash Park on our last day while we waited for Daddy to finish up.  While on the way, we passed a little church where lots of people were congregating around a minister, and a news crew was across the road.  I knew something must have happened.  That just seems to be the theme of the day.  While the kids played in the water, I sat in the car feeding Mattox and looking for the news on my phone.  Sadly, the news of the day was the horrific shooting that occurred in a church in Charleston, SC during a prayer meeting when the young man entered the church, sat with the congregation through the service, and then opened fire and killed 9 people.  My heart instantly hurt for them.  Yes, this was a racial crime.  The church was a predominantly African American church, and the young man was white.  But this was also an attack on Christians and an attack on my fellow Americans.  However, in the days that followed, I was proud of my fellow Southerners of both races who stood together, cried together, mourned together, and prayed together.  You didn't hear of uprisings, lootings, and other inappropriate retaliation.  The news tried to stir some of this up, but it didn't work.  I will always remember those events because as I sat at the splash park watching my boys playing with their African American playmates, I couldn't help but hope that they would keep their innocent colorblindness as they grew up.  There was nothing at all strange to them about being the only "white" kids playing that day.  They were just American kids playing with other American kids.  

Brody waiting for the water to dump on his head. 

Direct hit! 

I don't think any kid loves water as much as this one.  Evan was done way before Brody was! 

Definitely in his element! 

Evan getting dumped on. 

This is what Evan does all the time.  Karate kicks.  I need to sign him up for martial arts! 

Brody loves letting the water go up his shorts.  Haha! 

I guess it feels good on his booty. 

Baby Mattox and I only got in the water a little bit.  He was not much of a fan of being sprayed.  He likes the calmer water of the pool better.