Fourth of July

We enjoyed playing with sparklers the night before the Fourth of July. Our neighbor, Jack, came over and shared in the fun. Olivia liked it but they made Natalie a little nervous.

Fourth of July was rainy but we decided to make the best of it and met up with our friends at the Americana parade in Centerville. The kids enjoyed the parade and afterward, we checked out the festival and ate some yummy food before heading home.

Fourth of July

We enjoyed playing with sparklers the night before the Fourth of July. Our neighbor, Jack, came over and shared in the fun. Olivia liked it but they made Natalie a little nervous.

Fourth of July was rainy but we decided to make the best of it and met up with our friends at the Americana parade in Centerville.

June phone pics

June was jam-packed with fun! We made trips to Monnin's to pick strawberries, Learning Tree Farm, Wegerzyn Gardens, Russ Nature Preserve, and the Oakwood Farmer's Market. Meghan and I hosted the MOMs Group Committee Thank You Event at our house and we took our vacation to North Carolina! Looking back, I'm impressed we fit that all into one month!

proud of the picture she drew for Aunt Sarah

pretty new outdoor lights Yusaku put up

sisters snuggling and reading together 

enjoying the Farmer's Market with Maga and Papa

making a fashion statement

strawberry picking round #2

our bounty 

fun at the Wegerzyn Children's Garden

hanging with friends before they move away

sweet Violet and Natalie 

we'll miss the Merrills! :(

fun at Russ Nature Preserve with Ian and Meghan 

Boonshoft!

our garden - coming along! 

big changes in our house - Natalie moved into a big girl bed in Olivia's room

Natalie and Ian during our second trip to Russ Nature Preserve

North Carolina: Part 4

Thursday included more beach time, frozen yogurt with Florence, and another beautiful sunset over the intracoastal.

Friday wasn't supposed to be a great beach day so we took the girls into Wilmington for a visit to the children's museum. We always try to make a stop there when we come down because it's such a neat little museum. The kids had a blast!

Before leaving Wilmington, we had lunch with Flo at Elijah's and then walked over to Steve-o's bar - Tavern Law. It was nice to get to check it out and see the little plaque on the bar where Pop Pop's spot is.

On the way back toward Topsail, we stopped by Suzette's house for one more visit with them. Once again, the girls had a great time playing with them.

Friday also happened to be Yusaku and I's 10 year anniversary (!) so we celebrated by going out to eat sans children. My parents watched the girls and Yusaku and I went to a nice place close by called Beauchaines. We had a nice view of the intracoastal while we enjoyed some yummy seafood.

Before we loaded up the car Saturday morning, we had to come down and see the ocean one last time! It was a wonderful vacation as usual but we were glad to start the journey back home.

 The beautiful scenery on the drive back makes all the hours in the car a little more tolerable.

We stopped in Charleston, WV for the night and as you can see, the girls were quite happy to be out of the car!