Summer Vacation - Williamsburg...

Our favorite campground, the Williamsburg KOA, was the first stop on our summer vacation. We were looking forward to spending two nights there before heading to the Outer Banks. It's actually the perfect halfway spot and it was a great excuse to use our Busch Gardens passes again. 

The kids loved playing in the pool and at the splash pad (which wasn't open when we were there for spring break). Adam also got to take advantage of some pony rides they were offering one of the evenings. We cooked some yummy dinners over the fire, including a new salmon recipe that turned out to be so good. 

Busch Gardens was a big success as well. It wasn't too crowded which allowed for Andy and I to take turns on some of the roller coasters that Adam isn't quite tall enough to ride yet - like Apollo's Chariot (the BEST!) & the Griffon (I still can't believe I had the nerve to ride it - but no line meant zero time to reconsider - turns out it was pretty awesome.) 

We spent some time cooling off at Das Festhouse in Germany where we got to listen to some of the show - Harper was dancing and clapping along - pretty cute. Adam wins the prize though after taking off his glasses and raising them in the air after the performers asked everyone to "raise their glasses." Too funny! 

Lots and lots of fun was had and vacation was just getting started...

Last Day of 2nd Grade...

I remember Adam being a bit nervous before 2nd grade started. He had the same teacher for both Kindergarten and 1st grade and there was some comfort and familiarity with that. All he knew for 2nd grade was the name of his teacher - he'd never met her and had no idea which of his friends might be in his class. Of course upon arriving home on that first day he came racing off the bus cheering about how great 2nd grade was going to be - and it was. He had a lot of great friends in his class, he learned a ton, and boy did he grow up. 

We are so proud of what he accomplished this year and we know there are great things in store for him as he prepares to begin 3rd grade. 

To celebrate I greeted him with a water gun attack as he got off the school bus. He loved every second of it....hello summer vacation! 

Adam earns his purple belt...

Last month Adam had another color belt graduation where he tested for his purple belt and to move up from Level I to Level II. He rocked it, as always. He is really enjoying this and it's been fun to watch him move up. Next up - navy belt!

 

Harper lately...

Mostly this post is just an excuse to share a bunch of pictures of Harper that are just too cute not to have public record of. Of course the trick with Harper is you have to sneak the pictures and catch him when he's not really expecting it. This is not a child who will happily sit still and smile on demand - in fact he's kind of the opposite - I swear sometimes he sees the phone come out and he just automatically looks away. Like some Hollywood diva avoiding paparazzi - haha! :) That said, if you catch him in the right mood and if you're willing to sort through 50 pictures to find the least blurry one (this kid never stops moving) then you find yourself with a keeper. So, I present to you a handful of keepers....

Member Guest...

Last month I had the opportunity to play with my mom in her member guest golf tournament. It was a super clever theme - "Partners in Crime" - and was a really fun day on the course with old golf buddies - and of course with my momma! 

The tournament committee did such a great job with all the clever details of the murder mystery theme. You basically played a game of "Clue" throughout the round with evidence bags on each green that you could open - assuming you met the criteria - for instance "Did someone on your team make a net par?" or "Did anyone on your team hit a tree?" Ha! Luckily (or in some cases not so luckily) we were able to open all the bags so we were able to solve the mystery. 

Everyone was also encouraged to decorate their carts and the course was also "decorated" with bloody body parts and pieces of evidence - slightly creepy but very fun. 

Of course the best part of the day was getting to play golf and realizing that even after 2+ years of not golfing that I still had some game in me. Oh, and did I mention our team came in 1st place for Low Net? 

Such a fun day and looking forward to playing golf again soon! Thanks Mom!! 

Memorial Day Weekend Camping at Shenandoah State Park...

We had a really fun spur of the moment camping trip during Memorial Day Weekend. The trip was inspired by our purchase of a new truck - yes - we now own a pick-up truck. This thing is a towing beast though and we were so excited to give it a try. By some lucky chance someone had canceled their site at the Shenandoah River State Park and so we jumped on it and had the best time. 

We were pleasantly surprised to be able to get such a great site - since we had the only spot open we figured it would be a dud - turned out to be the best site we've had there yet. The kids loved the big open space and Harper really enjoyed shoveling up the gravel into his dump truck - rinse and repeat. 

 

Adam had so much fun riding his bike around the campground and there were a ton of other kids around that he found himself racing round and round the loop. He clocked in quite a bit of bike time for sure. 

We also did a lot of hiking around the campground. The views are spectacular and the lack of cell service is truly a welcomed inconvenience. 

On Memorial Day we decided to head over to the Shenandoah National Park for a longer hike. We used one of Andy's company perks of fitness spending and purchased an annual pass to the National Park Service - we've already gotten a ton of use out of it - but more on that later. The hike we took was pretty challenging but Adam did great and Harper - well, he had a lift so he was fine and even fell asleep! Our efforts were rewarded with a stellar view and then a downhill second half! Ice cream from a roadside stand was our second reward. :) 

It was an awesome weekend and the truck proved to be a great purchase - Andy said he didn't even feel like he was towing the camper! 

We can't wait to go back to this beautiful campground for our apple picking tradition this fall!