Katie's Shower Cake

Charleston 2010

Again this year, we joined Matt on a work trip to Charleston, and had a fabulous time, though our hotel room was tight with 2 double beds and 1 large dog crate.  The kids LOVE going to hotels.  I suspect it's because they can jump from bed to bed to their hearts content.  Of course, I LOVE going to hotels because we wake up and have breakfast already made, and there are no dishes to do!  The week was filled with many adventures, including nightly trips to the beach, the Charleston Aquarium, the Charleston Waterfront Fountains, and an amazing county park. 
 

The Charleston Aquarium was loads of fun!  At the end we even got to watch 2 divers in the humongous tank feed the fish and swim with them.  It was awesome.
 

At the aquarium, they had an awesome petting pool where the kids go to pick up and hold starfish, anemones, and stingrays. 

Ahoy there mateys. The kids had a great time playing in a real boat, that was forever docked in the aquarium.

This is the county park I was talking about.  The playground was huge, there was a dog park, a water park, a marsh with trails, and lake.  It was incredible.  Though it was terribly hot, we spent hours here.  Here are Maddie and ry at the top of a very large rock.

Lake Day

We love these special days at Jordan Lake with our church.  It is a great time of fellowship, and special to witness baptisms.  In addition to swimming and playing in the sand, Matt and the kids love going out on the boats and riding the "rafts" that are attached to the boats with ropes.

School's Out for the Summer!

Madeline thinks that she's more excited about this than I am, but WRONG.  It feels so nice to wake up each morning without a lesson to teach, materials to gather. . .  Because of the possibility of dynamics changing this year, we will start back up again in the beginning of August in case we need to "track out" for a period of time.

As expected, Madeline continues to be an excellent student.  She is a quick learner and a diligent student, always completing her work.  Now that the summer's here, she can't get enough books to read.  Right now, she is enthralled by the American Girl doll series.  We bought her a clip-on reading light for nighttime, and we have to go in and tell her to stop reading and go to bed.  I am so proud of her.  And today she lost her 2nd tooth!!!  My big girl.

Ryan continues to surprise me with his masculine, rough and tumble behavior, combined with his tenderness and sweetness toward those who are younger than him.  I was so proud of him yesterday when he came in from a walk with the fam.  Madeline had fallen off of her bike, due to large shoelaces.  They had planned to play a game upon returning from their bike ride, and Ryan told her that because she had fallen, she could have 8 turns before he took one.  And I think the boy is ready to begin kindergarten in August.   Already he's reading a little.

A Day at Marbles

   

Wednesday, we had a delightful day at Marbles Museum in Raleigh with our friends Jessica and Conor.

 

Go, Ryan and Madeline--shake those hips.

 

A game of chess--it was really short lived.

 

My little fireman, as cute as can be.

 

Fun on crutches.

  

Let the puppet shows begin.

 

 

Ryan busts a move.

Ryan loved this work bench.  I could not believe that they had real saws, but they did.  Ryan was determined to saw through his piece of wood.  It was HARD work, and took a long time.  It gives you a great appreciation for power tools!

A Trip to Kailyn's Pool

Saturday morning there was a little knock on our door.  It was Kailyn asking Madeline and Ryan if they wanted to come play in her pool.  They had a blast going down the slide into the water.  This last picture is of them running from Mr. Shannon, who was trying to get them with the hose.

Durham Bulls Game