A Fun Filled Day...if you don't count the sleepy kids...

Saturday in the Park...sounds like a song...ANYWAY...

Today was a very full, but fun day!

Patty, Erin, Lucy, Cassidy, Patty's mom Pat and I went to a craft fair this morning. Well, craft fair may be a little understated...it was more a fine art and handcrafted jewelry show. It wasn't particularly kid friendly and though the booths were full of beautiful items, it wasn't the whimsical stuff that draws us to things called "craft fairs". As Erin observed, "$145 for a purse? I could knit that myself!" And she could.

After lunch, My mom, Pat, Patty, Erin, Katie and I headed to see a local production of "Little Shop of Horrors". It was very cute and well done. The girls recognized some of the actors from "A Chorus Line" which we saw a couple of weeks ago.

All the while, the younger set (Cassidy, Lucy and Lily) stayed with Bob-Bob and Pop-Pop (Patty's Dad). They had a good time...the babies mostly slept!

My mother had declared Saturday night a "Grown-ups" night, so Patty and I had to find something to do to entertain ourselves. Well, we showed them! Pizza and beer, ice cream and a park (ok, so we skipped the beer and opted for coke instead)! We took the girls to our favorite pizza place up here, The Mellow Mushroom, then to Kilwin's for some yummy dessert, then to the park for 2+ hours of play time...it was well after 9pm when we were done there and heading home.

The girls are all being wonderful, for the most part cooperating and being good. Cassidy and Lucy have their little spats...mostly over shoes. They both understand the other's passion for shoes and takes it to a very personal level. It's quite amusing and they really only get mad at each other then they are tired.

We're heading to Tweetsie Railroad tomorrow. Cassidy can't wait to wear her cowboy hat and to get her gun and vest and be a real cowboy! I'm getting a sense of what she's going to be for Halloween!

Back in the Mountains!!!

Wow, it's been a while since my last blog...we were still in the mountains then...and guess what? We're back!

We drove home to Florida on July 5th and 6th. After a 10 days of orthodontist appointments (3) and remodeling packing days (3) and catching up with friends, we headed back to NC today!

Erin, Katie, Cassidy, Lily and I took off at 6am. Stopped in Sanford at 7 to pick up our friends Patty and Lucy and were on top of Beech Mountain 13 hours later. Not bad, considering we made 7 stops totaling between 3 and 4 hours...and we had 5 little girls with us.

We stopped in SC at a little nature walk and had lunch...the picture above is of all the girls at that stop! See how happy they look???? They were all fantastic.

I'm sure I'll post more, now that I'm back in my mountain home! Not so much going on, life has slowed back down and I'm going to sincerely enjoy the next 3 weeks!!!

SHE DID IT!

I have to mark the day, July 2, 2008. Lily took her first very deliberate, steady, hands-free steps! This kid continues to amaze me. I think she must have been sneaking off to the gym when I'm not looking. She hasn't been standing by herself. She cruises around the furniture. But she's just not been looking too steady. But tonight she just let go, was steady and took 3 very deliberate, little steps until she got close to me, then she stopped and stood still for a moment before sinking down to the floor.

It was AWESOME! I'm a proud momma! Can you tell?

Yeah, Lily!!!

It's July!

Happy July everybody!

We are still happily up in the mountains. Cassidy has attended a 1/2 day Day Camp last Friday and yesterday. She's having fun making new friends and playing with other people! Lily is fast becoming Little Miss Independent. She's still not quite walking, but she's getting more stable and fast by the day. We have found a new food that she can't live without! BLUEBERRIES! They are perfect size for her and she devours them before strawberries even!

The girls are finishing up their second session at Camp Ginger Cascades. Erin and Ali were at Babysitters Club, Katie was in Creatures of the Night. I haven't had any letters from camp this go-round, but they have only been there for 48 hours, so there's been no time for communications.

Tomorrow is our last day up here with Ali. At her request, we'll probably head up to Grandfather Mountain and go to the animal habitat they have. She is heading back to Florida on Thursday. I'll pick Ryan up at the same time and we'll stay up here for the Holiday weekend. We're all heading home on Sunday the 6th for a quick and busy 10 days before we come back up for another 3 weeks.

***A huge congratulations to our friends Emily, Brian and Joseph Koziol on the birth of their new baby, Jacob on June 30! Happy Birthday, Jake! We can't wait to meet you!***