Beach Trip #1, Summer 2015

It's been A LONG time since I have posted.  These summer days have got the best of us keeping us busy with lots of summer fun, but having all three kids home all day without a moment to think (especially as settle into a new house), I just haven't found time to do some of the things that I normally do!  So before summer ends, let me update with a few favorite summer pictures!

We actually kicked off our summer by kissing Daddy good-bye (as he started his new job in June) & heading south with my mom, MeMe Ruff.  We took a short stop in Raleigh before heading to my favorite place, Emerald Isle.  The kids and I spent a full week here, enjoying some time unplugged at the beach with grandma and great-grandma (and a few special visits from extended family).  It was the perfect way to say "hello" to summer as we just said good-bye to all the busyness of our normal routine and enjoyed time together.  We honestly didn't do anything besides hitting the beach twice a day, simple family dinners at the beach house, & a few fun special activities.  What a fun week (& I have decided that I need a beginning of summer trip every summer, it was the perfect way to start summer)!  Below are a few favorite pictures with a few more posts coming with more:

More Summer Ordinary Moments

Besides moving & traveling, a lot of our days are just plain ordinary!  

Here are some of the special ordinary moments that I managed to capture:

Summer:)

The three amigos!

Superman ready for church!  He places his cape under his shirt, just like Clark Kent so he is ready to go when he is summoned!

We love our new backyard!

This is what happens when you refuse that afternoon nap... (a couple hours later & she falls asleep amidst playing toys!)

Little girl on our big counter!

Home sweet home for breakfast

We are so excited that we are now only a couple blocks away from one of our favorite parks, the Lost Toy Park!  A great place to play & now it's SO easy to get to with our bikes and stroller!

Someone is happy to graduate kindergarten, his last day of school!

Sweet Abby

Ordinary Moments, Summer Edition

It's hard to believe that we haven't even had a full month of summer yet!  I would still say that we are moving into our new house, as we work on unpacking & finding a spot for everything.  We have traveled for a week to North Carolina.  We had a week of VBS.  We had a family reunion at our new house.  But, in between, all the busy days we are enjoying the long lazy summer days (although I would say that they aren't so lazy when you have three little kids running around all day)!

Here's a few of my favorite pictures from summer so far:

Andrew on his John Deere

Pool time!

Happy Abby

This is how you roll with three :)

Happy kids, happy mom

Groceries for a family of five.  We can never seem to leave the store without a full cart.  It takes a lot to feed this family!

We are loving our swing set!

Summer joy

My little superheroes

Daddy & his princess

A Fun Family Reunion

This past month, we were excited for a very special time in our family!  With big sister Jill having a big birthday, we decided it was time for a little reunion (minus West Coast California Andy).  Everyone headed to our new house that was JUST moved in & we managed to keep everyone fed, entertained, & having fun minus not much furniture and lots of boxes!

Here's my family:)

It's been several years since the cousins have all reunited, with us living far away from one another, so it was really fun to see them together and having fun.  

Cute cousins :)

Oh wait, I think Uncle Andy did make an appearance.  Do you see that strange man in between Jill and Jen, yep that's Uncle Andy!

We did lots of fun things together over the HOT weekend!  We went cherry & black raspberry picking, went to the movie Inside Out, & headed to the national Zoo.  Do you see this full car load?

 

And amidst the wildness, we even had a tornado warning (in our brand new house!).  We never get tornado warnings around here so it was a bit crazy, but we all managed to stay intact.  Jen & I were the crazy weather watchers while everyone else hunkered down in the basement.

This is what family reunions look like in 2015, lots of playing followed by some iPad time!

More cute cousins :)

And they all love their Grandma!

And their Grandpa!

What a fun weekend & hopefully we reunite again sooner than later!

Thanks to everyone for driving and helping manage the chaos!

Smiles for Our New House!

It's been a long time since updating this blog but in the past several weeks, we have packed up our rental house and moved all the way...across town.  It's been a crazy month as we packed up our rental house, prepared to move, & survived the transition to a new house with three young children.  We are so thankful to call Vienna, VA home sweet home for hopefully the next many years.  Chris has returned back to Deloitte this month after finishing his fellowship up at the SEC at the end of the month & is excited to start in his new position that will be located in Washington, DC.  We purchased a home and are so excited to be in our new home, moving in just about a week ago.  It's really my dream home:  close to town so we can walk to many restaurants, businesses, parks, library, & more.  It has a great fenced in backyard, located in a cul de sac for lots of driveway & street playing, and I just LOVE everything about the house!  We are still in the total moving in process surrounded by boxes, waiting on furniture to arrive, & finishing the end of school year all at the same time.  The kids are hanging in there & have been troopers through this big transition.  Aiden is eager to finish kindergarten & start first grade at his new school, but he is more excited to be home all SUMMER long.  Andrew finished another year of preschool a couple weeks ago and attended a camp at preschool for two weeks to help give him something to do during the move.  He is happy to have lots of space to play superheroes & is looking forward to not sleeping on the floor much longer as wait for bunk beds to arrive hopefully soon!  Abby has adjusted well to the move, but she is just her usual two year old super feisty, energized self.  She definitely can give someone a run for their money.  So as we start this next chapter in our life, we are embracing it with joy and gratitude and look forward to making many memories in our new house.  Here's to another home sweet home for the Rogers family!

Our April in Review!

Today is the last day of May, so it's only fitting that I recap April quick before summer arrives!  We started April off at Meme's house in NC for our week of Spring Break.  And thankfully, Meme drove back with us & we were excited to welcome some super special visitors for a full 24 hours for Easter Sunday.  Andy & Cynthia came to visit, on their layover to St. Lucia (rough, right?)!  We had a full quick visit with them & were thankful for any moments that we get to see our West Coast family!

I would have to say that these two were ready for a relaxing vacation after just a day in our house!  It's not easy to wrestle these kids together for a picture, just ask Grandma...

Easter Sunday, the Rogers family

 School started back up the second week of April after Spring Break & we quickly got back into just our normal daily routine.  School, activities, & more.  A new activity included soccer.  Aiden enjoyed it, but I'm not sure he LOVED it!  Only a few more weeks to go & we have finished our first season of league soccer.  

 We had a nice visit to the Cherry Blossom Festival in DC...

 And swim lessons are in full swing.  Poor baby girl just has to watch from the sidelines until one of those brothers graduates (the cost of being a third child...)

 Andrew had "Take a Sibling" morning at preschool on one of Aiden's teacher work days.  Both of them had so much fun at Andrew's preschool together:)

 April showers.  Sunny & hot on the way to pick up Aiden.  As we are walking home, the clouds rolled in quick and let's just say I got quite the workout pushing this heavy crew home running in a sudden major rainstorm!

And with all that rain, it means puddle jumping time!

April was full of a great trip to NC, special visits from family, school & activities, & another fun month for the Rogers family as we welcomed spring in with big smiles!