Fourth of July!

We had a great Fourth of July!  We had originally planned to go to the mountains early in the week but the weather had other ideas.  We stayed in Raleigh and had a fun day!  

Adeline and Lillian had their very first SnoCones, and thank goodness they did NOT like them :)

That evening we were invited at to the Gaskins for a cookout.  They have a beautiful home and lake in their backyard, a kids wonderland.  There was so much to see and do:  

The girls were quick to find the pig statue, which they had to give a hug...

then they hit the swing...

then the Nonni...

then bubbles and toys...

then the marshmallow kabobs.

We had to leave early because Lillian was on the verge of, well, her own fireworks display.  Once we got her in the car seat with her mimi and "binksy" she was content.  We decided to ride up the road and wait in the car for the fireworks to begin.  I was able to get this awesome picture of Adeline and Luke.

The next morning we left for the mountains, knowing that the weather report was still calling for 90% chance of rain.  It rained while we were there that weekend, a lot.  A whole lot.  BUT we still had a great time!  Uncle Weese read The Little Mermaid to Adeline and Lindsey allowed the girls to play with her hair.  Adelilne was stopped just short of trying to cut Windsee's hair.

As always, the food was wonderful.  Teeny had some help with the grill from Lillian. 

The next day we hit the town despite the grey skies and drizzle.  Adeline had her face painted to look like a butterfly, we thought it looked more like war paint.   

Next stop: bounce house.  She was thrilled to get to bounce in the bounce house before all the crowds.  There did not seem to be anyone "monitoring" the bounce house so Luke and I just let her bounce to her hearts content.  This lasted until the parents next to us mentioned, very loudly, that their child's 5 minutes were up.  Oops.  She was in there for about 20 minutes.

 Then we headed to the Kohler Real estate office for the parade.  Jackie showed her how to write up an offer.  Adeline was selling houses for "dollars".  Best deal in town!

The parade went on despite the weather.  We had an umbrella and Adeline got more candy from this parade than any parade in the past.  

A bonus...we got to see baby Spencer and got glowy rings from Jackie :)

 

Wilson and Lindsey brought the girls a huge bunch of balloons on Saturday.  One got away...what Luke will do to save a balloon:

Finally, we got a family photo :)

It was a great weekend!

Mid Summer Playdate

Adeline has been begging to see some of her best buddies from school.  We finally got them together yesterday afternoon.  They had the best time!  They squealed, changed clothes, played dress-up, changed clothes, put on pjs, played dolls, changed clothes, squealed some more, then took a break for dinner.

This was the aftermath in Adeline's room.  Could not bring myself to take a picture of the destruction in the other rooms.  Adeline's quote as we were picking up: "It was all worth it!"

I have lots of pictures from the 4th of July that I will post soon.  Promise!

Summer, Summer, Summertime

We have had a great summer so far.  We have had lots of trips to the pool and park but sadly there were not many photo opportunities. 

We let Adeline stay up late one night and catch lightening bugs.  She had 6 at one time but we let them go before bed.

Adeline created her own Edible Art cake at sweet Caroline's 5th birthday.

Oh the veggies.  We have veggies coming out of our ears!  It has been so fun to pick veggies and flowers with the girls.  Adeline loves all that is growing in our garden except the jalapenos.  Lillian likes the basket we use to carry the veggies.

We had a treat last weekend.  I headed to Nashville with my Mom, Dad, Wilson and Lindsey... Luke stayed home with the girls.  We went to celebrate our cousin Benson's wedding.  I loved seeing this precious part of our family that we do not get to see very often.  Here we are with Jane at the rehearsal dinner.  The dinner was fantastic, absolutely fantastic.

Saturday we hit a few highlights, the Ryman and The Frist.

The wedding and reception were beautiful.  I do not have any pictures of the bride and groom but a few of us. Me and cousin Mollie on the left.

Luke sent me a picture of the girls after church.  I think he was proud of himself.  He got them dressed with hair bows before 11:00am.  Kinda impressive.  Lillian was pouty, I like to think she missed me Mama.

This was what Adeline picked today!