Summer is flying by!

Wow it seems like school just let out for the year and already the 'back to school' ads are starting to air on TV. Seriously! Just over a month from today the kids will be getting ready to go back to school.

So here's what we've been up to since May...

The final week of Kate's Kindergarten year mean her first Field Day! The kids had a ball playing outside, having their pizza party moved inside (because it was chilly!), then being showered by the firetruck! 

The last day of school started with all smiles but ended with tears.  Kate was the only kid who came out with the walkers that afternoon in tears.  She said she was sad to leave her teachers and friends!

The month of June pretty much looked like June of 2014 - lots of pool time and little kids being carried across the pool by teenagers.  Kate had a blast, of course! On to the BIG swim team next summer!





















Sadly, June also meant saying goodbye to our good friends from Texas. The friends who lived in Georgia for 2 years - who are now moving to Seattle.  We will miss the Rockenbach family!

The end of June and the first 2 weeks in July were spent in the NC mountains.  We all had a great time - relaxing, enjoying the cooler temps and playing!

Ice Cream!

Lost kitty we all fell in love with.

We finally were able to celebrate July 4th in the Echota community. They throw a big bash - complete with a parade, BBQ and beer - every year!

Much of our time in the mountains is spent at local parks - exploring and playing. It's such a beautiful area, we just want to relax and enjoy it all!

The next few weeks will be spent at home before we head up to LBI. And immediately after our return to Greenville it will be time for school to start.  It's hard to believe that summer is already almost over!

Whoops. I missed spring.

I am deeply ashamed of myself!  I have no excuse.  Not even the one about losing my camera case with the cord to upload photos to my computer.  That was a good excuse but it was only true for about a week.  All I can say is I'm sorry and will try to do better!

Late March and early April meant Spring Break and Easter.  Although we had planned to get to the beach for Spring Break a stomach bug altered our plans and we ended up in Charleston instead.  It was fun though - Charleston is such a beautiful city with so much history and charm.  We stayed in downtown Charleston so we could walk to everything.  We even ventured out to see Shem Creek one day.  It was a fun trip!

Easter meant egg hunts and church...

Verizon Wireless held their annual Family Fun Day in mid April.  The girls had an absolute ball and I was impressed with the scope of this event!  Rides, games, food, face painting, balloon animals, cake walk, etc etc etc.  This was a serious festival - all put on for employees.  For free.  What a treat!  The girls (and daddy) even got to meet Anna and Elsa!

Here are a few random shots I've taken over the last few months...

In May we finally got out to ride the Swamp Rabbit Trail!  This was something I had wanted to do for a long time.  The trail runs from the Greenville Zoo all the way to Travelers Rest, a little town north of Greenville.  We parked at the zoo, rode through downtown and up to the Swamp Rabbit Cafe where we had lunch and relaxed a while.  There were lots of fun places to stop along the way since the trail runs past parks, along streams and by lots of businesses.  All in all we rode about 5 miles and were gone about 4 hours.  The really impressive part was that Kate rode her big bike (16" bike) the entire way.  We all had a great time!

Today was Mother's Day so I got to pick what we were going to do so we went to Conastee Nature Park.  I knew there were trails behind the playgrounds but had no idea the extent of this park.  All in all it encompasses over 400 acres, tons of walking and bike trails, boardwalks over swamps, a lake and several lookouts.  It was so fun to explore.  And I will even admit that I plan to return for an early morning bird watching walk with a guided tour one Saturday soon. 

 We've apparently been busy enjoying Spring!  I will try to write again before I am posting back to school pictures!