D A T E

Whoo-hoo! We finally had a date night for us the other night. Grandma & Grandpa watched both girls at their house while we started out with a bike ride/jog together and then had a great evening of quiet eating and a movie planned ahead! We went to the restaurant that I had my bridal luncheon at (love it!) almost 8 years ago. We had a spectacular meal, then went off to Barnes & Noble to walk around for a while. We are so behind on movies that we rented one to take home for our movie as well. On the way home, I realized that I did not have my cell phone that is normally clipped on the purse. I thought I may have left it at Barnes & Noble. So, we drove back to there after calling both places. There was no phone to be found. So, I was frantically praying on the way to the restaurant. They stated again that no phone had been found but went to our table to check. It was found wedged in between the wall & the table foot! Whew! So, that made the rest of the evening more light as the hour we spent rushing around was then humorous (on my expense!). We then snuggled down for a movie and ate some popcorn in our quiet home.

We did miss the girls and picked them up the next day. Although, I don't know if they missed us as much!

Celebration Time

We went after our date night to meet up with the girls and Grandma & Grandpa. It started our celebration time for Woody's birthday. Although, it has seemed to be going on for some time as we did have a cake and mini party at Poppa & Mimi's house when we were there too! It has been a great time of preparation & celebration. Here, the girls and Grandma & Grandpa were all dressed up to meet the birthday guy!

We met out at the lake and had a great windy time to take out the sunfish together as the first activity while Grandma watched the girls.

After lunch, it was time for the inner tubing behind the boat that Natalie wanted to do. She started out with Woody (hence, the feet!). She loved it, and had Mommy next and then Grandma for the tubing fun with her!

We then celebrated dinner the day before Woody's bday with a special pie and dinner. His schedule won't allow celebrations on the actual day sometimes!

The girls had a blast decorating and wrapping with me while he went back to work. They had done some crafts for presents too, which made them really feel special. And, of course, decorated their own cards!

Omelet and grits for breakfast. Two things we don't have very often, but it worked! Unfortunately, Woody had to rescue a person out on a trail the night before and had to work until midnight, so me & he were little extra sleepy that morning! But, it was still good to celebrate the entire day! Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!!!

Last Big Trip Time

Last big quick trip before school! We went to see Mimi & Poppa at their place earlier this week. The first thing Natalie wanted to do was the "jumping thing." So, Poppa took her and Nicole to jump at the mall. They both enjoyed jumping up high on the bungie machine. Then, they rode the coin cars together and played in the area for kids in the mall. It is too hot to do much outside!

The fire truck came by Mimi and Poppa's home while the girls were standing outside and gave them a hat!

We had planned to go to the community pool but their school starts early so we ended up crashing at Uncle Tom's pool. It was a great time with family we don't see too often! The girls really liked it too!

Off the board for Nicole!

Natalie is now a pro!

Seeing sweet Callie and Alisa there too. What a treat!

We then ventured into the mountains to picnic and put feet in the cold water. They really liked that!

Mimi and Poppa picnicing!

We then piled into Poppa's truck in the back to go around the loop. It was great as it had cooled down some. There was still more traffic than I thought we would see, though!

We saw the usual deer and other "tame" wildlife...

We saw the old churches and houses there too...

We also saw a bear cub high in a tree as you can see from this photo, eating cherries. It zapped the climb a tree theory really quick...bears can climb too!

At the mill with the family...

In what must have been a mansion of its time...

On the rock, the 2 sisters!

We then see how you stop for wildlife in a row as big racked deer made everyone want to stop, like the crowd for the bear earlier.

We had a great time!

2 Teeth Down

I forgot to blog that Natalie lost her second bottom baby tooth at the end of July. The tooth fairy came again and brought her a Susan B Anthony dollar plus a couple of dollars. She is really starting to like the tooth fairy!

Swimming Again!

What was our main activity from mid July to early August? Swimming lessons again for Natalie! This time, she had the benefit of having her friend, Elysia there as well. They really enjoyed being reunited especially since they won't be at the same school next year.
Natalie was initally really excited about swimming. Here she is with Elysia on the first day. She really liked the swimming part and did really well. What she did not like was jumping off the diving platform and board. She didn't like the depth of the pool, although we talked about it a lot.

The first day, she did really well with it, but it made her fearful. Finally, after the first week, an incentive of having her toe nails painted if she went helped a lot. She tried it again, and she did really well and had pretty nails and toenails too! The last day, she wanted to jump off the board one more time but the teacher said it was time to leave. So, a great experience this year for swim lessons! It's been great that we have had the same teacher for 3 years too. Next year, hopefully she will love it again!