Catching up: June and July!

JUNE:

"Happy birthday dear Keira"....

Keira is four!  Keira celebrated her 4th birthday with friends and family at Harris Lake Park.  It's one of her favorite parks, and we picked it because it's a great place to ride bikes....and she got her first big girl bike for her birthday!  Keira loves to ride her bike, so we wonder how long it'll be until she's taking off the training wheels.   Although it was a hot day, we had fun celebrating.  We grilled out and the kids rode bikes and went looking for bugs.  Keira is a girly girl, but still likes her bugs... so it was a bug birthday theme full of ladybugs and pink and purple butterflies!

Daddy, Mommy and the birthday girl!

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Nine family tents lined the perimeter of the Willis' backyard

In honor of National Wildlife Federation's Great American Backyard Campout, we camped out in our friend's backyard with eight other families.  There were 17 adults and over 20 children (at one point...some did leave in the middle of the night...boo!).  It was a really hot day and night, but thankfully we were in the Willis' backyard, so we were able to use extension cords and box fans to stay comfortable.  We grilled out, played in the sprinklers and of course roasted marshmallows.  We had a great time, and were thankful the kids did too!   Now that the kids are older, and we know they like camping... we plan to do many more camping trips in the future.

Marshmallows and glow sticks!

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 JULY:
Our annual trip to Brant Lake!  We started our trip to Brant Lake (in the Adirondacks in Upstate New York), with a short trip to the Engelbrecht's.  We decided to stay there Wednesday night and caravan to the lake on Thursday morning.  We got an early start (5am!), and made it up to the lake by lunchtime.  The long trip is worth it, as it's cousins cousins and more cousins... and everyone has a great time.  We were up there with Cheryl, Tyler and Nicole; Cheryl and Dave; and Tiffany, Chelsea and Nate.  Not to mention four dogs!  We did a lot of swimming, boating, tubing, and overall just having a great time.  We had one not-so-great weather day, and we went to an indoor water park (the rest of the family went to the movies).  It was nice to spend a little time with just our family of four and play together.  The kids loved the waterslides... and the bigger the better for Keira.  Unfortunately she was a half inch short of the big slides, but was able to go on the big family slide, which she did over and over again.  Liam was not a big fan, so we had to alternate going with her.  We'll definitely have to go back next year so she can try the big slides!  Keira is quite the dare-devil on the lake too.  She started out tubing with Liam, but she wanted a faster and bumpier ride, so she kept going with different cousins until the perfect match was found... her older cousin Nate!  After a week at the lake, we had a caravan back to the Engelbrecht's, and we stayed there another night before heading home.

Cousin fun on the hammock... Nate, Tyler, Nicole, Chelsea and Keira

Keira and Liam getting ready for their first tube ride

we've taken this same photo the past 3 years... I'll need to put them on here side by side

 (Keira, Liam, Tyler, Nicole, Chelsea, Nate)

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Cousins weekend in Richmond!

On our way back from New York, Chris dropped the kids and I off in Richmond to spend the weekend with  the cousins on my side of the family.  The kids did a lot of swimming in Regan's pool, and playing in the backyard.  It was great to catch up with everyone, and hope that we can do another cousins weekend soon!

Kylan, Liam, Tessa, Indie, Haley, Keira and Ethan

Jen, Indie, Regan, Maggie, Debbie and Poppie

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 Family in Raleigh!
Whenever I get a chance, I get a four generation photo!  My mom, Nana, Barb and Jaye came in to town for the weekend to hang out (and plan Nana's 90th birthday party!)... so I took the opportunity to get a photo after lunch.

My mom Pat, me, Liam, Keira and my grandmother Helen

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Liam starts gymnastics!
Keira has been doing gymnastics for about a year now...and ever since she started, Liam wanted to do it too.  We told him as soon as he turned 3 he could try it.  Well, he started about a month before his 3rd birthday (that's when the new session started), and he LOVES it.  It'll be great for him to learn some coordination and balance for his sports career later on.  (at least we hope so!  Liam eats so much we keep telling him he needs to get a college scholarship because he's eating his college fund right now!)