What I did this summer...

Countdown to school starting...3 days! As we begin the final weekend before the 2007-08 school year, it's time to reflect on our eventful summer!

The girls got out of school in May and we couldn't get to North Carolina fast enough...but that still took nearly 3 weeks for all of us to get up there. Things worked out that Erin and Katie drove up with my parents. Several days later, my dad flew back to Florida. Alison had gone to Texas unexpectedly, so I flew the Bob-Bob Express up to NC with Cassidy and Lily, while Ryan stayed behind with school and work. Ryan and Alison drove up on Friday the 13th of June when she returned. Ryan and the three older girls spent Father's Day weekend at Camp Ginger Cascades in Lenoir, NC. Ginger Cascades is a Girl Scout camp that I attended as a child, and the girls attended last summer. They spent the weekend fishing, canoeing, rock climbing (on a wall), and eating! They were joined by our friends, Jorge and Sofia Garcia and George and Caroline Rimel. The rest of the Garcias (Christine and Sam) and Rimels (Tami, Audrey and Jarrett) came up to Beech Mountain to stay with the baby girls and me. Everyone had a great time, both on the mountain and at the camp, check out some photos of both!

Ryan and Jorge had to get back to Florida to work and school, so they left just after camp ended. Ryan flew back on the Bob-Bob Express George, Tami and Jarrett left early in the week. Christine and I stayed up there for about another 3 weeks with a combined total of 9 kids! After 2 weeks, we decided we didn't have enough kids, so we got my dad to bring my neice Bailey back with him while on a quick Florida trip. With 9 girls and our token Sammy Boy, we had great fun for the remaining week.

Ali, Erin and Katie went to a couple of camp sessions during the 3 weeks and had a blast. They can't wait to go back next year. They caught up with some of last year's friends at camp and reformed friendships.

Reluctantly, we returned to Florida, hating to leave the beauty and fabulous weather of North Carolina. Alison headed to Texas for a month with her dad and family. Erin and Katie attended a variety of day camps, ice skating, gymnastics and Erin attended a week at SeaWorld Adventure Camp. She had a great time learning all about a varitey of animals...from dolphins to manatees, aligators to penguins. She definitely wants to repeat next year, and wants Ali to have the experience as well. I had to return to work, to help complete the sale of the family's business. After running the 40 year old family business for 10 years, my parents made the decision to sell. It was an emotional couple of weeks, but we closed on Friday, July 27th.

A week later, on August 5th, Alison returned from Texas and we started up to North Carolina for another week long vacation. This time, we took everyone! We spent a very relaxing, yet too short week enjoying the mountains. We celebrated my father's 65th birthday up there on August 6th. We mostly stayed on the mountain and enjoyed the mild weather and scenic views. The girls had a great time with my parents, hiking, playing baseball and tennis. Ryan and I started a new vacation passtime...geocaching. Using a GPS, we locate different caches around the area. A couple just had a log to sign, but the other 2 had little trade items in them. We learned of this from our friends, Shelly, Tom and Ashley Hartwig here in Florida. It's like a scavenger hunt and it is pretty fun. Ryan was the ultimate finder...3 of the 4 were his finds. Ali and I found the other one. Ryan and I drove home with Erin, Katie and Lily. Ali and Cassidy stayed in NC for an extra day and took the Bob-Bob Express home on Monday the 13th.

This week has been a week of re-entry and preparation for school. All the shopping is done, backpacks and school supplies are all stocked and ready to go. Ali is getting to experience school without uniforms for the first time. She's excited that she gets to wear a choice of clothes, I'm going to miss the simplicity of all 3 in uniforms, for sure. At least, Erin and Katie inherit Ali's uniform shirts from last year, so they are all set for school clothes this year!

I have posted some pictures and there should be more to come. For the time being, enjoy!!!

-Laurel