The Rest of July

So the pictures are all out of order but, oh well.  The rest of July was filled with lots of family, lots of swimming, and lots of painting!!  And oh so much fun!!!  I finally got Collin to warm up to me and he would call me Aunt Juwie mom.  His cuddles are the best and I miss him so much.  

 We enjoyed seeing the Redfern cousins in Salisbury and had a grand time.  Below Grandpa is showing them the bird egg from one of his bird houses.

 We also went to Kernersville to see the Schroeders.  They kids always pick up right where they left off and had a great time playing.

 Their dog Bear is HUGE compared to when we saw his last.  Eric wasn't a fan.  The dog is bigger than he is!

 Oh sweet boy!

 Caroline, being the oldest, sure did love to hold and cuddle the younger cousins!!  She misses them.

 And Austin, is a fan of guys for sure!  I never got him but he was a fan of Will's for sure!!  Here they are doing butterfly kisses!

 Fun in Salisbury with cousins swimming.

 We also went to a fun park with laser tag, bumper cars, and race cars.  I did not do the bumper cars but the laser tag and car racing were lots of fun.  They kids had a great day.

 We tried to recreate an old family picture.  The kids have gotten so much bigger!

 My sweet Eric is getting so big!

 More fun with cousins at the pool.  We swam so much in July that the Redfern kids had 4 cases of swimmers ear.  Good thing we were staying with a Dr.!!

 Taking Miles for a walk.  It's always good to have some super heroes with you.

 I love this picture of Dad and Caroline.

 We also went to the Durham museum of (I don't remember!)  with Keith.  Austin was stuck like glue to his Uncle Keith.  It was so sweet to watch.

 More from the walk with Miles and my caped heroes.

 Part of the race track.  The adults all raced at the same time (Jeff, Amanda, Justin, Me, and Grandpa), the kids had a separate race time.  Eric was tall enough but not old enough so he didn't get to race.  I had the fastest time of our group!!

 More from the museum in Durham.  It was amazing.  So many fun outdoor things to do.

 More cuddles for Caroline!

 And even Justin got to receive some of Austin's butterfly kisses!!

Beach Week

After 2 years of living in the middle of the country, land-locked, we finally made it to the beach!!  We all were so very happy to be there.  The weather was perfect and there were great tide pools at low tide every day.  

With the great tide pools there was also opportunities to build dams. 

 Miles and I enjoyed our morning walks.

 The 4th was great.  We had picked up some fireworks and the kids enjoyed them.

 Jumping off the porch was lots of fun while waiting for it to get dark enough for fireworks.

 Miles loves being with us at the beach.  He also always wants to sit on my lap.  So Justin offered him his chair!  He sat there for quite a while, happy as can be.

 Miles also watches the kids int he water intently.  And will go back and forth between me and the kids making sure they were ok.

 Having the hammock up was delightful.  It was pretty much always in a shady spot.  Perfect for reading and relaxing.

 They do get along!  Justin and I weren't quite done putting on our sunscreen, so we told the kids they could wait in the tide pool.  They enjoyed it!

 Justin, just sitting in the incoming tide.

The Wheel House is one of our favorite spots to go and we can't wait to get back!!

Moving week

Monday, June 25th 2 guys came to start packing up our house.  They worked pretty slow for 2 full days and then a crew of 4 showed up to help them finish all the packing on Wednesday.  

Caroline's bed and dresser were in the trailer to come to NC so her room was empty so we put all the pictures in there.  The picture below is not even half of the wrapping of all the framed stuff we have.

 The van with car top carrier and trailer, car with 6 bikes, a cat, dog, and 3 kids and we were ready to drive to NC!!

 Quiet morning sitting in pj's before the movers showed up.

 Mt Vernon, IL.  First stop of our trip to NC.

 Thursday was "load the truck day"  and thankfully we did NOT fill up the truck!  Close though.

 I found a few boxes labeled with the wrong last name!  I marked off 'Redford' and put the correct one on there.

Our stuff is still sitting in a warehouse in KS.  Once we have an address in TX (mid-July) we will be able to schedule delivery.

We had amazing friends that provided childcare and dinners this week and it was much appreciated!

My 40th Birthday!

I had a great birthday.  Started out with a great bike ride with Justin and a stop on the way back in town at our favorite donut shop.  Then home breakfast with the kids and presents.  

This picture was a few days after my birthday, when the Cotovsky family hosted us for a birthday/going away cookout.  We will surely miss our friends from the past 5 years.

 Two days before the packers showed up, Justin and his buddy Mike decided to do a 50 mile gravel race!  They had a great time and enjoyed the day.

 Trying on my new flippers!!

 Justin and Mike riding.

 They finished with no crashes!!

 Breakfast before the race.

 After my birthday ride!