I'm early!

Since I typically lag a month or two between posts most of you will be surprised that it's been a mere week! Many of you may not even check our blog until some-time mid August only to find that you're behind on our blog, not me!


Anywho...


We just returned from a busy weekend in PA. As most of you know, we STILL haven't sold our house in Marietta. We have taken it off the market and have listed it for rent. Our property management company seems to think it will rent pretty easily, but it needed a fresh coat of paint in the living room and a water-proof seal in the basement. I got some quotes for painting... yikes - $$$$! So we decided why not make a trip and get the house-work done and visit with friends? This was my grand idea... one day doing home improvements and the remaining three chillin with the McBrides. Justin knew better but he let me dream. Friday, Jeanette watched the kids while we taped, painted trim and pretty much prepped the living room... there goes my one-day theory. Saturday, Justin painted while I put a coat of sealant in the basement. Sunday, Justin continued painting while I put a second coat of sealant in the basement. We left Monday morning feeling pretty good about what we accomplished. And, it wasn't all work (well, maybe it was for Justin) we got some other things in.


Friday night we went to dinner with my friends Jeanette and Lisa and their kids. It was fun to catch up with them, but Carson was terrible! He knows just which buttons of mine to push and it made for a stressful evening. Averie loved playing with Molly and Tyler then enjoyed a sleepover with Molly.


Saturday, Averie went swimming with Molly. Then the kids and I went to a 24th of July picnic with our old ward. It was great to see our Lancaster 2nd friends. Averie and Carson played to their little heart's content!


Sunday, the kids and I went to church. Again, Carson pushed my buttons and we spent sacrament meeting in the foyer, but he did well in nursery so I had a bit of a break. Then Sunday evening we spent some time with our friend's the Allens and later with the McBrides. At least Justin got to join us Sunday night!


I brought the camera, but didn't take many pictures (I stole the picture of Averie and Tyler from Lisa's Facebook!). Out of the whole weekend, the pictures we took were from Justin's phone on the ride home... I know, we're wierdos!


This trip was bittersweet for me. It is probably the last time we will stay in our PA house. However, next time we can focus on playing!

Averie and Tyler under the table at dinner.

Whose great idea was it to give this boy chocolate? (OK... it was me... it was a long drive and I was ready to give him anything just to keep him happy)

Averie and Sadie...



Taking a break from her movie to pose.

Justin played with the camera while we all took a nap. Glad he at least kept one eye on the road and got us home safely!

Despite the cramped quarters, Sadie had a good trip.

Summertime...

As you can probably tell by the re-design of our blog... I'm totally in a summery mood! It's hard to get into the swing of summer when you work full-time, but we try to take full advantage of the weekends.

If you're anything like me, you may skim through the text on a blog and look for the pictures. For those of you, I apologize, this blog is heavy on the text. I haven't taken many recent pictures. The few I have taken are still locked away in the camera waiting patiently for me to upload them. Until then, this post contains one, ugly, lonely, grainy picture (thanks to Justin's phone). We had a run-in with wire cutters. Carson got a hold of them and when Justin tried to take them away, Carson clamped Justin's finger. The result... a frantic call from Averie, "Mommy, come home VERY quickly!", four hours in urgent care, and four stitches. As badly as I felt for Justin I couldn't help but be thankful that it wasn't Carson. His sweet little toddler fingers might not have fared as well.

Aside from the stitches incident, our summer has been fairly low key.

We got season passes to Carowinds (a local amusement park) and have spent a number of days there to ride the rides or lounge at the water-park. Averie and Carson are little dare-devils. Averie has ridden on every ride that her height allows, including some pretty fun roller coasters. If only she were two inches taller, she could ride ALL of the thrill rides. Carson LOVES the toddler pool, where he goes down the little water slide, head first, over and over and over. The kids love Carowinds, but Justin and I have had our share. We've definitely gotten our $$$ worth out of the passes and I think Justin wouldn't care if we never went back. But I'm sure there will be many more days that we will brave the miserable (humid) heat, long lines and obnoxious people to have "fun" at the amusement park.

We've been going to a local park a couple times a week where we walk a couple laps around the trail, then let the kids play on the playground. Then Justin had a "great" idea... We can use this time to get in shape. We will alternate one of us jogging a lap around the 1/2 mile trail while the other walks with the kids, then when the jogger catches up to the walker we switch. Seemed to me like it would be a piece of cake. So, after a warm-up lap, we started off and I jogged first with Sadie in tow. One lap down, I can't see them so I figure I'll walk a bit to catch my breath... Two laps, they're still not in my sight, I feel like I might pass out... Two and a half laps, I see them, but I swear Justin is walking at lightning speed, how can I ever catch up with him? My legs feel like rubber and I'm afraid that if I go any faster I might trip and fall. Driven by my deep desire to be done with this misery, I sprint the last little bit and catch him. It took one full lap of walking for my heart to slow down enough before I could be certain that it wouldn't thump out of my chest. Needless to say, I'm out of shape! Justin didn't do so badly. I like to think that maybe since I jogged first, I was completely worn out and walked at a slower pace so he didn't have as many laps to catch me. Anyway, it's a good family activity and the kids enjoy it.

Justin has pulled out the bikes and bike trailer and cleaned them up. Last night I took Carson and Averie for a quick ride around the block (Carson in the trailer and Averie leading on her bike) just to make sure the tires stayed pumped and Averie could ride at a reasonable speed. Hopefully we can get some nice bike-rides in through the rest of the summer.

That's the update for the month. I vow to take more pictures so the next blog is more interesting!