Slacker

I have been a slacker in blogging - I have been so busy, it's crazy.

NY Trip
Our initial plan was to head to NY early early Thursday morning. But I got a call from daycare a little after 2 on Wednesday that they were shutting down due to the water contamination in Greenville. So I picked up the girls, headed home, finished packing and waiting for Joe to get home from work and then us 4 girls headed out. We drove about 1/2 way and got a hotel. It was Raegan's first hotel stay and Alli was so excited!!! We got to Cuba about noon on Thursday and chilled all day long. It was wonderful. Mom got the girls a few gifts, as usual. Alli loved the dresses and Raegan loved the baby doll, she took it everywhere along with her blankie. The girls had a blast riding the hummer and the Rhino. Alli swam a lot, but it was to cold for Rae. I did manage to get in a few times myself, but man it was chilly!!! Some family came up Friday night and we had a wonderful time. Saturday it was a girls (Gram, mom, Annie, Me and the girls) morning/afternoon and we headed to Sprague's for a late breakfast, Raegan ate pancakes and hasbrowns like a champ and Alli had to have her usual...chicken tenders, french fries with ranch and chocolate milk (normally it's sweet tea, but you can't get that in NY). Saturday evening I had a great time visiting with friends that I have not seen in a long long time. Surprisingly it was a wonderful evening and I enjoyed my self. It was nice being able to go out without the girls...they stayed home with my parents. But I guess Alli had a major meltdown with the thunderstorm, oops I guess I should have warned my mom that she really doesn't like storms; she takes after her mommy!!! Sunday was the baby shower for Shannon and she looks wonderful! We headed back to NC Monday morning and had an uneventful trip back, thankfully! The girls traveled wonderfully both ways, which made the trip that more pleasant.

July 4th
We got a surprise visit from Joe's brother and kids late Wednesday night. My house was a total zoo all weekend long. I need a vacation now!! Friday we chilled in the pool and then had Joe's family reunion to go to. Saturday we had a cookout with the family and our neighbors; as usual we had way to much good food and I ate too much. We all got a little sun, including the girls. Thought we were going to get rained on but it just thundered a bit. Joe and I attempted to watch the race Saturday night, got most of it in but with 11 laps left I think we both rolled over and never saw the ending. Had to watch the exciting finish on the web Sunday morning. Sunday was a day of relaxing and not doing much of anything - trying to recoup from the hectic weekend.

I have pictures that I will try to post at some point of the NY and 4th weekends.

We have a busy couple of weeks ahead of us....party on the 12th, thankfully someone else is having the party so I get to enjoy it. Then the following weekend is Raegan's 1st birthday party. I can not believe she's a year old already - where has the time gone. I was looking at her birth pictures the other day, and it amazes me how much she has grown. She has started to walk. She would prefer to crawl, but she will walk a few steps at a time! This past year has had it's ups and downs; the highlight being Rae's birth and the lows with the passing of Norma and Gary and my near miss in surgery for Rae. I have definitely done a lot of reflecting lately and am so thankful to have my life, my husband, my girls and my family!!!

Hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July!!!