Last Hurrah

We had one last week of summer break before heading to the beach and then to school, so I decided to use that week as our last hurrah- fitting in all the fun things we hadn't gotten yet! 

Don't they look ready for some fun?

First stop? The Museum of Life and Science in Durham. We never take the time to drive to Durham to go to this museum, but that has been a mistake. It is awesome! Their outdoor exhibits really impressed us like this unique climbing ropes course... 

the super cool "tree house" adventure area...

the creek area where you were encouraged to take off your shoes and play...

and the dinosaur trail!

Don't know if was all the climbing or walking or the extreme heat, but we were worn out after a couple of hours and ready for lunch. Thanks to my old Duke days, I knew just where to go...the Mad Hatter Cafe! Love this place, and now thanks to the complimentary "decorate your own cupcakes", the girls do too.

Later that week, we headed to Three Bear Acres for some fun with the Flynn family. We arrived early and had the place to ourselves. The kids had a blast!

The jumping pillow is a must...

but this time around, the sleds were by far the most popular attraction. Those kids wore us out going up that hill over and over and over. Even Walker and Addie were completely game- shrieking happily as those sleds tore down that giant hill. The only thing that slowed them down were tired legs and when Collins accidentally got bumped off one. It was a scary moment, but she was lucky and only got a bruised knee.

We had never done the paddle boats before decided to give it a try...

A lot of work for Mom, but got to hear the funny commentary of my cute boating companions...

We finished our morning with a picnic lunch and just a few more jumps on the pillow before heading home. The girls love Three Bear Acres- even more so that day sharing it with Charlie, Bennett and Walker. 

Other fun stops that week? The Rainbow Room and the History Museum. Think we officially checked off our summer bucket list!

Celebrating Two Birthdays...One Half and One Full!

We did lots of celebrating and ice cream eating the weekend of August 13-14th with Collins turning 5 1/2 on the 13th and Marty turning 79 on the 14th. 

You know that half birthdays are a big deal in our house (that ice cream cone and extra 1/2 to tack onto your age mean a lot!) and this year was no different. Collins had been counting down to 5 1/2, and she knew exactly where to get her token ice cream cone- State's Howling Cow. This was a great idea until we realized upon arrival that it was freshman move in day! Campus was bonkers! But we waited through a marathon line because the mint chocolate chip was worth it. 

This girl is getting tall! She is growing so fast physically, mentally and emotionally these days. Over the summer she has not only learned how to swim and ride a bike (two big milestones) but is acting so mature and smart. The observations and connections she makes amaze us. I think she deserves every bit of that extra 1/2 year. :)

We were excited to celebrate Marty's full birthday the next night. Donna cooked a fabulous and fancy dinner, and we finished things off with a ice cream sundae bar. The girls REALLY got into this idea! Pop Pop got his fill of ice cream, and the girls got their fill of gummy bears and homemade hot fudge. A fun way to celebete a great man!

Summer in Raleigh

We were lucky to be able to spend a lot of time at the beach this summer, but when we were in Raleigh, we found lots of different ways to entertain ourselves. Here's what our time in Raleigh looked like this summer...

Many hours spent cooling off at Ridge Road pool...

exposing the girls to hockey and a load of bounce houses at the Canes summer fest...

saying yes to fun summer treats...

 cooking out with friends at the park... 

wearing pajamas in the middle of the day because we had no plans to leave the house... 

discovering how much fun taking the shuttle bus to church can be...

 experimenting in the kitchen...

and running wild through sprinklers because some days it was too hot to do anything else.

 

While we were busy entertaining ourselves this summer, I couldn't help but think (with anxiety) that school was looming right around the corner. I know I should have felt nothing but excitement for Collins going off to kindergarten, but I have worried about how she would transition and have been sad about this new permanent change which would have her gone most of the day. 

But as we were leaving Ridge Road pool one afternoon, Collins shouted out, "Look! A rainbow!". We turned the car around and sure enough, there was a beautiful rainbow hanging right over Lacy Elementary. With the summer quickly winding down, I think it was God's way of telling me that everything was going to be okay with Collins starting school and that I needed to put my trust in him. A wonderful reminder and a happy sign of what is to come! 

Tennis Fever

After watching some of Wimbledon earlier this summer, Collins asked, "Can we go play tennis?". She did not need to ask her father twice as he was already loading up the car with racquets and balls. Brian and I both would love to see the girls take an interest in and enjoy playing tennis...and maybe if they earn a tennis scholarship to a Division I college we would be happy as well! :)

But we all enjoyed getting out on the courts and running around, and the next day Collins asked to go play again. And the next day as well. So we took this as a sign that there was a real interest there, so we signed her up for some tennis lessons. 

She played 10 weeks over the summer at the Millbrook Tennis Center through Parks and Rec. Here she is at her first class...

We were excited to find out that she and one other little boy were the only ones enrolled in the class. It was almost a private lesson! But we soon found out that the little boy Luke was going to be a problem. From day one, he did not listen to the teacher, sabotaged the games, refused to participate, caused huge distractions, and eventually was mean to Collins by calling her ugly names. I about lost it at one point, and had to talk to both the coach and his mom about his behavior. He did get a little better after that, but it's still a shame that Collins got partnered up with him because she could have learned a lot more than she did. 

But she did learn a good lesson on how you deal with someone who is not nice to you. She finished the class, and improved her tennis skills. She hasn't asked to play much since so we are not pushing it. We just hope that a love for tennis was discovered somewhere along the way this summer!

Potty Trained...Check!

This cutie is officially out of diapers! We started potty training Addie back in June when we got back from Wrightsville Beach. She showed signs of being ready so we took it at a slow pace and two months later, she is ready to show off her Hello Kitty underpants! There were some issues along the way that required some M&M bribery, but eventually she just "got it" and has not really had any major accidents. We are really proud of her! She has grown in so many ways over the summer, and moving out of diapers and into big-girl pants just proves how big she really is. And checking off this major item from our to-do list before baby comes makes me really happy! Go Addie!

Wedding Weekend in D.C.

We were excited to head to D.C. for the wedding of Brian's good friend Will Sherlin (aka the Pearl). He found love with a great Venezuelan lady, and it was time to celebrate. But first we needed to celebrate a certain Mimi who was coming to town on her birthday! 

Mimi and Baba were so nice to come to Raleigh to watch the girls for us- especially since they were doing it on Mom's birthday! She assured us she would love to spend her special day with Collins and Addie so we decided a burger dinner at Bad Daddy's would be the perfect way to kick off the birthday festivities...

She loved her chocolate praline torte and gardening-themed present...

and then we were off to the nation's capital! First stop? The Supreme Court....had never seen it and was glad to check it off the list.

I told Collins we would send her pictures of what we were doing throughout the weekend and she should do the same...it was hard for us to leave each other because the girls and I hadn't spent any time apart this summer yet. But it was a good thing for all of us to separate a little bit. I thought she would be interested to see how we got around the big city...

The rehearsal dinner Friday night was a tasty dinner at a nice restaurant with an after-party that was really well done. We had a good time, and Brian gave a sweet toast. He told Will he was the type of guy he hoped his girls would one day marry. But by the end of the night, I was done. Standing on heels for hours on end is not easy, pregnant or not! Tried to get some rest so we could take on sight seeing the next day...

Slept terribly, but forged ahead with a full day of activities. Excited to start off at the White House...

then we walked over to the monuments and turns out it was really hot in D.C. that day.

Checked off the World War II monument, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial when I realized I was not going to make it much further. Between the crowds, the walking, and the heat, I was fading fast. But then I had the idea- why not bike it? Turns out you can rent bikes by the hour and see the sights that way. We went for it, and it was so much better! We both really enjoyed biking over to the Jefferson Memorial which we had neither one seen before. It was so far away, we would have never made it on foot. 

It's a beautiful monument, and featured some of the most inspiring quotes. We both agreed it was our favorite out of all the ones we had seen. 

We were returning the bikes b/c Brian needed to go to lunch with the groomsmen when we heard some loud sounds overhead. Turns out it was Marine One (the helicopters) heading to pick up the Obamas at the White House. We made a beeline towards the excitement wanting to see what was going on. Turns out, the Obamas were heading to Martha's Vineyard on vacation and this was their ride. We didn't get to see them come out of the White House, but I later saw them flying over the Mall with the President in tote. Pretty cool!

At this point, I was pretty tired but decided all I needed was a seat and some lunch. I found both at the Natural History Museum, and then toured the dinosaur exhibit, the National Geographic photography exhibit and saw the Hope Diamond. It's a neat museum! I got soaked on the way out the door and then had to walk five blocks in the rain to the Metro. At that point, I couldn't make it back to the hotel to lie down fast enough! 

I eventually rallied and got ready for the wedding which was being held at a nature preserve in Maryland. It was a pretty setting and a fun wedding, but it was HOT. It was the main topic of conversation, and by the end of the night, we all were struggling. 

Look how sweaty we are! And this was not even the end of the festivities! Brian headed to the after-party after the wedding, but the pregnant lady headed home. I am learning that heat and pregnancy are not a pretty combo...

Here's the high school crew looking tough...as usual they can't help but strike a football pose.

It was a fun weekend! It was nice to get away and see a pretty and historic city and catch up with people we had not seen in awhile. But we missed our girls who turns out were having quite the time with Mimi and Baba...

At Marbles...

at Coconut Charlies'....

at Ben & Jerry's...

and at Isabella Cannon Park/Rose Garden. As you might have noticed, Addie has the same dress on in every picture. Turns out Aunt Alli picked out a winner! Addie wore it every day while we were gone. :)

It was a good weekend for all of us!