Summertime

Summertime and the living' is easy. But, the blog posts are slim! Without a camera to take pictures I am at a loss for blog post ideas. But, I thought I'd check in with some updates. 


Last week we went blueberry picking at a local farm. So fun and the berries were delicious. While at the farm two funny little guinea hens followed us all over the place. Cute. 


I took the girls shopping the other day. Lily brought along her friend and those tweens shopped 'til they dropped!!! They were allowed to go into a store and shop around without me right at their elbow. They even got matching tops in Target...loved it!



We've spent lots of time in the pool this past week. With the temps in the 100s it has made it very bearable and pleasant. Thankful for that ol' swimming pool!!!


And here are a few photos from the iPad:

A favorite snack of mine

The pool on an afternoon when the storms were rolling in to town

My camera and phone trying to come back to life
The phone did!!!!

Mountains

While John's mom was visiting we headed to the mountains of NC for a little trip. Our first stop was in Ashe County. We went to the Ashe County cheese store and that place was great. Tons of cheeses everywhere. Loved it.




We went to some of our favorite places...the Mast General Store, downtown Boone, and the Red Onion for dinner.


Then we took the drive up to Grandfather Mountain. We walked across the cool suspended bridge. And stood among the clouds. It was a great little trip filled with exciting new sights.

All photos courtesy of Lily's iPod Touch and John's iPhone---waiting for my new camera to delivered.

Walking across the bridge

Shelly, Bestemor, and Lily

On the mountaintop---it was chilly

Jumping for joy at Grandfather Mountain

John and his mom

Oh, and on our way out of the house I decided to turn on my cell phone just to see if anything had changed with it. And, guess what???? It started working! I couldn't believe that a week later the phone was operating. So thankful.

IKEA

We love a good summer trip to IKEA to check out what's new. This time we took Bestemor along with us. Here are the girls enjoying a couple of snazzy chairs!

Random Summerness

• We had our first trip/adventure last week to Virginia Beach. So fun to see our family!
• The girls accomplished several of their Summer Fun list items while we were there...the beach, the Bath & Body Works sale, Busch Gardens, a roller coaster ride.
• I am getting them both organized for two camps this summer. Shelly has two cheering camps and Lily has two volleyball camps.
• We are definitely sleeping in this summer. We get up around 9:00 each morning. It's a true luxury that I don't take for granted.
• John's mom is on her way for a visit with us.
• We spent the day doing household chores. It sure is nice to have helpers. It cuts my cleaning time in half.
• Shelly and I love to bake together. We made a yummy chocolate cake yesterday.
• Shelly has the most incredible morning hair!

• We got a new printer and I am loving its ease of use. So much easier than the other one and it's wireless...bonus!
• Lily looks so cute in her new summer shorts. She was happy to be able to wear some shorter shorts (than the bermudas that she wears at school) now that it's summer time.
• Today is the first day of summer. Cheers.

John and the girls on Father's Day

VB Trip

We headed east to Virginia Beach for our niece's high school graduation. While we were there we also hit the beach, swam in grandpa's pool, did a little shopping, ate great food, had an adventure in Busch Gardens, and had lots of fun family time. 

Daisy road tripping

Pretty Cousins
Chelsea, Sofia (the graduate), and Lily

Chelsea and Lily

Graduation party
Playing at the slide

Shelly playing

Hanging out with Ava

My sweet Lily

Girls reading

Cake for Ava

We were also fortunate to spend time with my dad on Father's Day. So thankful for my pop!!! He's one of the best!!!

Krissy and Shelly on the carousel

Lily 

Fun times

Bumper cars on the Autobahn

The battering Ram

Cousins on the Battering Ram

And, also grateful to have such a super husband who is an exceptional father!


A little interesting side note:  while at Busch Gardens, we went on the Roman Rapids ride (a wet one) and proceeded to ruin my phone and camera. Hence, the lack of photos of the second half of our VB visit! Ugh. Oh well, what's done is done, right???

More Pool Fun

Another day of friends at the pool!!! The girls had their friends over for some fun. They are another set of sisters who are the same age of each of our girls. They all had a great time together and splished and splashed the day away!

List

The list for 2012!!!! We have accomplished the following from the list: sleeping in (!!!), shopping, and some swimming. We have a ways to go. Good thing we have until mid August!!!!

Pool Time

It's time for some pool fun with friends. Lily went to a friend's house to hang out and her little sister came to our house to have fun with Shelly. It was a perfect afternoon by the pool...75 and no humidity. So nice.