Summertime!

Summer is coming to an end! My apologies for not having posted in so long, but it has been a hard summer, and taken all my energy just to stay afloat. But, we did have a lot of fun even with all the stress of having the house on the market and being separated from Rod. I will follow with pictures, but here is an overview:
After getting back from PA the beginning of June, we took a trip to the lake with Rod's family for the weekend. The cousins all had fun playing together. They rode in the kayak, fished, swam, rode the jet ski. We all had a lot of fun!
The end of June, we went for a week to Oak Island with Nana Kathy, Papa Fred, and all Nana Kathy's family. The waves were great! Peyton liked the beach, too. The bad news is, we had so much fun we forgot to take pictures, except when Uncle Ian and Patrick rode in the biplane for their birthday/graduation presents! How cool! We learned it was the very plane used in the movie Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood. Our big surprise of the week was that Daddy got a couple days off and surprised us by showing up! It was great to see him!
We spent the 4th of July in Pinehurst on the lawn of the resort. The kids had fun rolling down the hill to the practice greens, and Kylie ended up running into one of her Charlotte friends from preschool and spent the evening with her.
We headed to Surfside beach with Rod's family the next week, and Rod got to be there for most of that time, too. The weather was great, and the kids loved the time together. Kylie celebrated her 5th birthday for the first time there with the family. They also went to feed the turtles, fished on the pier, did crafts, played games, and of course read lots of books with Nana Stewart.
We came home from the beach and had Kylie's birthday party! She had her friends from the neighborhood over for an art party. They painted canvases, made some crafts, and ate cake and ice cream. I still can't believe she is 5!!!
Two days later, we piled back in the van for another trip North! We went to Nana & Papa B's house for the family reunion. It was a great trip! The kids helped set up the "circus tent" for the reunion and quickly mastered climbing the poles. We visited the farm (Eli's favorite) and saw a 1 day old calf, tractors, dump trucks, silos, cows, kittens, ETC. Kylie decided she did not like how farms smell. They also happened to be harvesting greenbeans while we were up, so we went up and watched the big machines working and then dumping their loads into the semi. The reunion was a good time, too! We got to visit with a lot of family members we rarely see, and the kids played games in the yard...and of course we ate a lot. The ice cream machine was running, too, so we had LOTS of ice cream! Kylie and I made sure we ate it every day we could for breakfast, lunch and dinner!
Then we left for Pittsburgh. We spent the week there. We went to another of Erick's roller hockey games (the kids wore their Penguins jerseys). Dad and I got to go to happy hour at Kim & Keith's and enjoy Keith's famous margaritas! We all went into the city and went on the Ducky Boat tour which was amazing! They drove us around and gave lots of history and info about the city, then drove down to the river and we drove right into the water off the sidewalk and rode down the river a bit. The kids got a chance to drive the Ducky Boat in the water! When the driver reached over to change the direction of the boat while Elijah was driving, Eli pushed his hand away and said, "NO! Mine!" After the Ducky Boat, we rode up the incline and had lunch at a restaurant overlooking the city. It was a great day! Pittsburgh is such a great city! Then Rod flew up for the weekend. He and I went with Kim & Keith, and Kris & George to the Brew at the Zoo in Pittsburgh. We had a blast trying lots of new beers as well as some of our favorites and enjoyed the live music, too. Then Sunday was our family reunion at Idlewild amusement park. The kids rode lots of rides, and played hard! It was a fun day with the fam.
Rod flew back to Atlanta Monday morning and we drove home from PA by way of Uncle Ian & Aunt Courtney's house. We really just spent the night there, but we were there long enough to see Peyton crawl! She is now mobile! So that was fun to play with her a little. Elijah mastered climbing out of his pack and play while we were away, so we had an interesting night getting him to sleep there...
We got back to Pinehurst and dumped everything out of the van. It looked like a war zone. Then a couple days later, we loaded up again and drove to Columbia to visit Nana Stewart and Papa Rock before they headed off on their trips. We had a fun afternoon at the pool with William, Bennett, and Walker, then pizza dinner back at the house together. Nana and Papa were heading to Jamaica! They will come home for a few days from there just to head out for an Alaskan cruise! We are SO jealous!
So after our night in Columbia, we came home. How strange to be home!!! And as nice as it is to be in our own place with our own things, it is harder to be here without Rod. One blessing (?) is that since we've been home this week, we have not had any showings, so we really have been able to relax...unwind...unpack...rest. We have caught up with most of our friends and enjoyed some times of fellowship. I got to spend Friday night with the girls to celebrate Caroline's birthday in Columbia and that was such a treat!!! I have really missed everyone this summer!
We are now on our second weekend at home, and we have had sweet times together as a family. But, I have not enjoyed the weekends coming to an end. I never thought I would say this, but I am ready to leave Charlotte. I am ready for us to all be together again. The stress of being alone with the kids all week is catching up with me, and Rod has been alone during the weeks for long enough. We need the house to sell. So, please keep us in your thoughts and prayers over the next couple weeks. The kids will start homeschooling after Labor Day. I am excited about this, but again, when this decision was made, we thought we would all be living together and settled somewhere, so we are struggling to understand the timing of all this and why we are still here.
All of that has led to my decision to head back to Pinehurst tomorrow. We will head out after Rod leaves to go back to work. Thankfully, he is to have a short week, and then a long weekend, so he will join us in Pinehurst for the holiday.
Ok, I am going to try to post some pictures for you, but I want to go ahead and get this published first. But, they are coming...