Light the Night Kick-off Event

We are once again participating in The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Light the Night evening walk and fundraising event. It is the nation's night to pay tribute and bring hope to thousands of people battling blood cancers. We walk in honor of my dear friend Emily Shimpach who found out she had CML while she was pregnant with her 2nd daughter. She is doing great and responding to her medicine, and we are thankful for that! Her oldest daughter Ava and Keira are two days apart, and in February we shared a beach house with their family in Florida. We had a great time and we hope to do this annually for many years to come!

We'll be walking in Raleigh on October 17th, and would love for everyone who is interested/available to join us! If you can't walk with us, but would still like to support our team, click on the blog title above and you can give us a donation. Any amount is appreciated!

On July 27th, there was a kick-off event for the fundraising season, and our family went up to Durham for it. We listened to a few speeches and then headed out to the Durham Bulls game. We had a great time (even though we only lasted a few innings before the kids were ready to go home).

The kids burned some energy at the playground on the upper deck before the game started.

Liam and Keira watching the game. They had more fun watching Wool E Bull than the actual game!

Keira gets here chance to meet Wool E Bull up close and personal!
Liam wanted no part of it, and held on to Chris for dear life!!

Brewery Tours

Thanks to some great friends and a babysitting swap, Chris and I toured some of our local breweries with a few other couples. Our first stop was the Carolina Brewing Company in Holly Springs (photo on right). We got there about 15 minutes before they opened, and there was already quite a line forming. Once they opened the doors, the taps were flowing and we were free (literally!) to taste any of their beers on tap. Chris and I opted to each taste their anniversary beer first which was a Belgium triple (over 8% alcohol). It was delicious (we bought a six-pack of this one), as were most of their other beers. I was already feeling the first beer, so I opted out of round 2, but everyone else we were with got back in the line for another free pint before the tour began. The taps were shut off for about 1/2 hour while the tour was going on, and as soon as the tour was done, the taps were turned back on again for another hour or so. Enough to get down a few more free pints, and by this time I was thankful we were not driving!

Stop number two was the Aviator Brewery in Fuquay Varina. They have quite a few beers on tap (for purchase) that you can try - most of their beers were good, and their Saison was fabulous (we filled our growler with this one). We went on a tour of their brewery (much smaller than the first), and had a free sample on that tour as well. Luckily there was popcorn in the tasting room so we could get something in our stomachs besides beer!

To end the night, we all headed back to Debra/Jamie's house for a fish fry with a bunch of friends and the kids. It was a great time, and a special thanks to Nikol/Collins for watching our kids all day, and to Debra/Jamie for driving us around!

Fort Fisher Aquarium

The kids and I took a road trip to visit the aquarium outside of Wilmington, and met Gramps and Grammy there. It was just over 2 hours for us to drive there, and about an hour and a half for them...so a great place to meet up and spend the day together. Unfortunately it was raining at the beach, so that meant everyone on vacation had to be inside, which meant the aquarium was PACKED. Next time we'll pick a nice sunny day to go there! :) Even though it was crowded, we still had a great time. There were a lot of fish to see (of course both kids got excited about "Nemo"), and they really liked the moray eel (so much so, that Liam had to take one home with him...photo below, which is how he fell asleep with it on the ride home!). After the aquarium, lunch and a short walk around the beach area, we headed home. It was a long day, but a lot of fun!

4th of July

We took a road trip to my mom's in Bluffton, SC to spend the 4th of July holiday weekend. We arrived Thursday night in time for dinner at Nana's house. Jaye, Jamie, Allie and Drew arrived later that night, so we were able to catch up a little bit before heading to bed. They hadn't seen Keira since she was 6 months old, and had never met Liam, so it was great to see them again. And I hadn't seen Allie and Drew for a few years, so I can't believe how much they've grown up as well! Friday morning we went over to Russell's for a boat ride before it got too hot. Chris and I, the kids and Allie went out on the first ride. Allie got a chance to drive the boat (photo right), and we saw a lot of dolphins! Liam fell asleep shortly after the boat ride started, so he got a great nap in. After we got back to the dock, Russell took the next group out, and the rest of us had a picnic on the dock. We spent the remainder of the day relaxing and hanging out. Russell caught some shrimp and Keira loved to touch them (Liam was a little freaked out by them). A few of the shrimp were used as bait to catch fish, but most of them went safely back in to the river (as did the fish).










Dini shows Keira and Liam a shrimp out of the bucket (left); Keira touches a fish that Russell caught of the dock (right)

After dinner Friday night we went on a sunset boat ride. Keira got a chance to "drive" the boat, and it was beautiful to watch the sunset over the river!











Saturday was the 4th of July, and we started out the morning by going to the beach and swimming in the river and playing in the sand. Later that day we went to a BBQ, played on Russell's dock, caught fiddler crabs on the beach and rested before the fireworks. This was the first year the kids had seen fireworks, and Russell's dock on the river was the perfect place for it! We saw numerous firework displays along the river and the dock next to us shot off fireworks as well. The kids liked the ones farther away since they weren't loud. The kids/grandkids next door joined us on the dock for fireworks, and all of the kids had fun playing with glow in the dark bracelets.

Hope everyone else had a safe and wonderful 4th!

Father's Day

Since Chris had to share his weekend with Keira's birthday, I figured he should get his own blog post. :) Regan/Indie, Gramps/Grammy and Oma/Pop-pop spent the night after Keira's birthday celebrations, and we celebrated Father's Day on Sunday. We hung out in our pjs in the morning, sipping bloody marys and mimosas....and then we had a nice brunch and everyone headed home afterwards. I am lucky to have such a wonderful husband and father to my kids...as well as a wonderful father myself. I am also thankful to my father-in-law for raising such a great son/husband/father. I'm glad I got to spend Father's Day celebrating with them all, and I hope they had a fabulous day!

(below left - Gramps and Grammy have pj time with the grandkids; below right - Keira just HAD to hold Indie...and Liam didn't want to be left out! No morning photos of Chris...we let him sleep in!!)

Getting a photo with my dad and the kids was like trying to herd cats!

Keira turns 3!

Hard to believe our baby girl is already three! We had a weekend-long celebration for her birthday, which also fell on Father's Day this year. Saturday morning I made her a special birthday breakfast (pancakes, one of her favorites!). Saturday afternoon we had a party at our neighborhood pool, and invited a few of her friends. She had a great time swimming. Keira is a huge Dora fan, and her favorite episode is the one with Turtle River, so she also now loves turtles. We combined her two favorites by doing a Dora themed birthday party with turtle cupcakes.













After the pool party, we headed back to our house and had a family dinner with Regan/Indie, Gramps/Grammy and Oma/Pop-pop. Pizza, more presents, more happy birthday singing, and a turtle cake. Keira had a great birthday, and thank you to everyone for making it so special! (and a special thanks to Oma for doing all of the piping on the turtle cake/cupcakes!!)

Girls weekend

Every year my girlfriends from Wisconsin and I get together for the weekend....ok, a long weekend...and it's so great to see them and catch up. Most of us have moved away from Wisconsin, so it's even more fun to get together since it's usually only once a year we get to see each other (although maybe this year there will be a wedding?!)... This is our seventh year getting together, and we rented a beach house in Folly Beach, right outside Charleston. We spent most of the weekend laying at the beach or pool and relaxing, and lots of drinking (too much drinking for me, I am out of practice!). We did manage to get to Charleston one morning for sight-seeing. I had never been to Charleston before, and it was a cool city - we hit the Farmers Market and the Market Street Shops. And of course a cocktail before heading back to the house and hitting the beach again. Destination is still TBD for next year, but I know it'll be a great time, and I can't wait to see my girls again! The photo to the left was taken in Charleston (front to back): Katie, Leah, Emily, Susi, me, Kristi and Iris)