NC

We had a great trip to NC in July. Alice and Will always love seeing Gigi and Papa and their cousins. I went by myself with the kids because Brad had to work. The kids were the best little travelers this time. For the first time since Alice was born, we did not take a stroller. It wasn't by choice -we couldn't find the umbrella stroller. Also for the first time, I read a magazine on the plane. I had a little stroke of genius and bought 2 headsets in the airport gift shop. They both watched a movie the whole way there.






Will and Andrew really enjoyed each other. It made me a little sad that they don't get to see one another very often.


We celebrated our 35th Adoption Day with the traditional cookie cake.


Mom and Dad invited old friends and relatives for a party. Aunt Rae and Uncle Johnny, who I haven't seen since Alice was a baby, came from Virginia. It was so wonderful to see them. As is the custom, we took a picture of all the "Raes" -Lisa Rae, Jessy Raye, Minerva Rae, Michael Ray
Dad and Aunt Rae are still looking good in their late 70s.


It has become a family tradition to go to the beach for a week during the summer. This year we decided not to rent a house, but I was dying to go the beach, even if just for one day. I love living in the Midwest, but I do miss the beach in the summer. Lakes are great, but they just aren't the beach. Mom and Dad understand this and arranged for us to go for a few days. Thanks Mom and Dad. Bryan and the boys went with us and we really had a nice time.



We stayed at a hotel on Carolina Beach. I haven't been there since I was in middle school, but I have fond memories of my time there. We made some nice new memories during this trip. The kids particularly loved the boardwalk. They still still have homemade donuts and a slushy store with so many choices that I remember.















We had a wonderful time in NC and already miss everyone very much.

Summertime

A highlight of the summer for Alice was Saftey Town which is put on by the city. For one week, Alice learned about traffic safety, drugs, water safety, etc. It was right up her alley, a whole week of rules. Each night when she got home, we got a little lesson of what she learned. I think she really learned a lot while having fun. For a portion of the day, they drove around the "town" on their big wheels learning about traffic saftey.


When the week was over they participated in a ceremony during which their police officer (teacher) had them take an oath to follow the saftey rules they learned.

Sixth graders led each small group. This is Alice with her leader, Annie.

We've been wanting to try sidewalk chalk for a while, and we were glad when we did. Alice and I spent several hours painting. Will isn't quite old enough to goin in the fun.

Is it July Already?

We celebrated the 4th of July all week last week. It was the first week we really didn't have much going on so we had plenty of time to do lots of projects!

We made marshmallows on a sticks dipped in white chocolate. While the chocolate was hot, we dipped them in sprinkles and sugar. I caught Will using the marshmallow as a "spoon" for the sugar. Can't say I blame him- what's better than chocolate and marshmallows- chocolate, marshmallows, and sugar of course!





We had some coop kids over, so they got to enjoy this project with us!

There were plenty of left-overs...

It was a good thing, because we had company later...

I used red, blue, and glitter polish to paint Alice's nails.
She got special nail pens for Christmas that we used to write USA on her big toes.

We made RED, WHITE, and BLUE necklaces with beads and pieces of straws...


We made a World Cup soccer game out of clothes hangers and glued flags of various countries on each hoop. Alice made me time her to see how fast she could kick the ball through all of the hoops. She played over and over trying to beat her last time. I'm not sure were she got the competitive determination (ha!) Will has quite a kick too.


She got a new soccer shirt that she insisted she wear while they played...

On Saturday we took the kids to a 4th of July parade. They were super excited about all the candy they got. We didn't last all that long becasue it was pretty hot.


Will wasn't too sure what to think about the clowns...



We made RED, WHITE, and BLUE cookies. It took a ton of red and blue dye to make them the right color. Not the healthiest treats we've made, but they were tasty.



We made fireworks t-shirts. Will really wanted to paint, but he can't stand getting paint on his hands. He washed them after each time he touched the paintbrush. Alice had paint all over her body and couldn't have cared less...



We made red and blue ice cubes. Will was very disturbed when he walked away and came back to find that his ice cubes were missing. Of course he assumed that Alice took them!


We made homemade ice cream. It was so much easier than the way we used to do it when I was litte, although I have fond memories of making ice cream growing up. I got a Cuisinart ice cream maker which made wonderfully creamy ice cream.


If you ask me, July is off to a pretty good start!