Happy 8th Anniversary!

Happy 8th Anniversary to Chris:)

It's funny because last night I looked at the calendar and realized that tomorrow is our anniversary.  I guess the saying "time flies when you are having fun" applies to us.  We have had such a fun summer that I didn't even realize that it is the end of July & our anniversary.  Since we didn't even realize the date until last night, there are no big plans in the cards but we don't need too much to celebrate the fact of our wild lives.  Just think five moves, three little kids, several job changes, lots of travels & adventures,  and meeting great friends along the way have made the past eight years fly by.  I'm pretty sure that there is a lot of adventure to come, especially in this next year again!  

(And I'm pretty sure a family picture is in the cards again soon because this is our last picture together!)

Happy Anniversary Chris!

A Quick Trip to NC:)

We headed down to North Carolina at the end of June for a very short but sweet trip for two awesome reasons:

1.  MeMe Ruff volunteered to dog sit while we were in Iowa for two weeks.  Amazing mom & even more amazing is that she STILL has them for us until we make it back down there!

2.  But the bigger reason on why we were excited to head south----to visit Aunt Jen and cousins Clem and Tal.  It's been almost two years since we have seen these wild ones since the moment they decided to move from the Bronx to Indiana.  We saw them almost every month when they lived near us so we were excited to see our cousins once again!

We arrived on Friday afternoon & of course we hopped right into the pool at Grandma's!

After a fun & wild night, the kids and I headed over to my grandma's house where we would be staying for the weekend!  Six kids (Jen had an extra kid that she brought along!), six and under, in one house was a little too much so we headed over to Grandma's to spend time with our great-grandma and hopefully catch a little sleep.  Of course a trip to Grandma's isn't complete without some games!

They headed over on Saturday where we took all the kids to my favorite park in Raleigh, Pullen Park.  It was SO hot that we spent a lot of time at the park doing this...

And of course we took the train...

And the boats...

And just played...

My mom and I took the boys' for a special Target trip while Jen held down the house with the girls.  I love seeing Andrew & Tal holding hands...

And of course a trip to Target isn't complete without Icee's and twirly straws!

After a wild and crazy day, we said our good-byes and headed back to Grandma's.  We treated Grandma out to a fun breakfast out at Krispy Kreme.

Nothing more exciting than watching donuts being made!

Sadly we said good-bye on Sunday when they headed to the beach, but it was great to catch up with them all for a few short days.  Hopefully it will be less than two years before we see them again.  We headed home the next day with just enough time to unpack and pack before heading out to Iowa on Wednesday!

Summer. Summer.

I am WAY behind on posting, but it's been a BUSY summer.  After we arrived home from the beach, we had just about a week at home before we left again.  So we filled our days with lots of fun summertime activities.

Chris was off on Saturday and we were excited to have another guest with us.  Meme Rogers flew in to DC for a very short visit & work trip so we got to see her for a full 24 hours!  We took her up to the Baltimore aquarium again where we also met Courtney, Tom, & their kids for a fun aquarium trip and dinner out!  We took advantage of MeMe being around on Sunday & just enjoyed a nice family day at home!  

And maybe managed to sneak out for a short bike ride with our littlest ones with our new bike trailer...

Of course, summer days means some bike rides in pajamas...

And a trip to the pool with friends...

We tried to visit the new Peet's coffee in town but when we pulled up they were closing unexpectedly.  Instead, they gave us their giant "welcoming" balloon bouquets to these three happy kids!  

Someone had their 15 month check-up & weighed in at a big 17 pounds:)

Chris and I managed a night out to Wolftrap.  It was his big Father's Day present...concert tickets to John Butler Trio.  And the kids did great back at home!  I actually swapped babysitting with a fellow mom so I babysat the following night so her and her husband could go to a concert the next night.  Wish we could attend more of these concerts since they are in walking distance!

And this sweet trio all ready for the next road trip...off to North Carolina on Friday to see some family!