my birthday

We kicked off birthday celebrations on Sunday night!  We went to dinner with Nana and Paul because Nana was headed out of town on my birthday.  A storm was rolling in as we got to dinner and the power flickered some and even went out before coming back on, thankfully.  

Unfortunately, the power did go out at Nana's house, but we still had everyone over for cake and ice cream in the dark.  

Our power had also gone out during the storm and was still off on my birthday.  Thankfully we have a generator to run lights, fans, the refrigerator and a few other things, but boy did it get hot.  

A sweet gift from Emmy!  The kids had sports in the morning, so Jason and I went to breakfast since we didn't have power.  I had planned to spend the day at the pool, but they also didn't have power, so I read a little and caught up on life since we had just gotten home from being gone for two weeks.  

We had dinner at Sedona Taphouse and then did a little shopping to round out the day.  

I got a weighted vest for my birthday and couldn't wait to try it out on Tuesday.  

On Tuesday night I went out with the girls for our monthly outing.  We try to get together every month, but it doesn't always happen, but we are pretty good about getting together on birthday months.  We like to go to a local restaurant for trivia.  We walked away first place winners for the second time. 

nags head take 2

After getting a few hours of sleep on Sunday night, we were up early Monday packing to head back to Nags Head for a re-do trip with MeMa.  We got there just in time for a little beach action.  

We dropped Bryce off with Avery's family.  They were back at the beach again, so Bryce got a re-do with their family since he had baseball during their last trip too. 

Kelly took the kids to Jockey's Ridge on Tuesday night to play on the dunes.  

We were all reunited on Wednesday.  Avery's family was headed home so the spent the rest of the week with us. 

MeMa was so excited to get to come to the beach since she missed the first trip. 

The beach is their happy place for sure. 

We've been taking this picture since 2015, but we've missed a couple of years. 

Their jumping hasn't really improved all that much over the years, ha!

Kelly's and the kids left on Thursday, so it was just the six of us for dinner at Fish Heads. 

MeMa loves the nature preserve where you're guaranteed to see bears.  Bryce and I missed the excursion last time, so we knew we had to go back with MeMa. 

After not being able to enjoy the ocean in Mexico, we were looking forward to coming to Nags Head for the beach.  Unfortunately, the first days we were there the jelly fish were terrible, so no one got in the water.  The next two days were really rough, so they didn't spend much time in the water, but Friday was perfect for swimming and fishing.  Emmy learned how to throw Jason's casting net and caught some croaker.  It was a great trip and now we're home to wind down summer over the next three weeks. 

mexico

Bryce and Jason left on a mission trip with our church last weekend.  They served a community in Cancun. 

Bryce, Chase, Taylor, Kelly and Jason all went on the trip.  Emmy wasn't quite ready to go on this one.

The group did projects at a community center during the day. 

When the kids got out of school they came to the community center and our group got to do crafts, sports and educational lessons with them.

They ate lots of authentic Mexican food.  Some they cooked and some the locals fixed for them.

Emmy and I flew down to Cancun on Wednesday and met up with the boys at a resort after the mission trip. 

We were all ready for some relaxing. 

From the pool to the hammocks, we were relaxed.  

We got our best group shot on our first night at dinner.  This one may be the Christmas card this year!

The boys had booked a fishing trip for one of the days.  They caught lots of mahi and ended up getting one mounted.  

Emmy and I had a spa day while the boys were fishing.  Emmy enjoyed her first massage.  We booked a short one because she thought she might get bored, but she quickly realized the beauty of a massage and can't wait to have another one and longer next time!

We enjoyed a fun dining experience on night two. 

Relaxation is what we needed and that's what we did!

Vacation mode after days of working in the heat and humidity with no AC. 

We had dinner at the marina on our last night. 

It was a short trip, but our first this summer where it was just us and it was so good to have some time together away from the everyday hustle and bustle.  

darius rucker

Emmy went to her first concert on Friday night.  She had fun buying boots and picking out her outfit for the occasion.  

She saw her friend Palmer from the gym.

Bryce got a ticket for this concert for Christmas and then the whole family ended up going.  When Chase got there, he took Emmy around to hang out with everyone.  She found Taylor. 

Tseaaylor's friends let Emmy get in a picture with them.  The 8th grader with the big girls. 

We ran into our neighbor, and she snapped this picture of us.  

MeMa ended up buying 4 platinum seats when she got Bryce's ticket for Christmas.  We ended up using those tickets and bought Bryce a general admission ticket so he could hang out with his friends.  

Chase is such a good sport, but he really is Emmy's person!

We just so happened to walk out behind Bryce and Avery and their friends, so I made them take a picture.  It was a fun first concert for Emmy and great family outing before the boys left for a mission trip early the next morning.

4th of July weekend

We kicked off the 4th at Burkwood for their annual festivities.  Emmy won the goggle toss again this year!

Bryce and Chase both had to work on the 4th.  

After the pool we headed to a friend's house to celebrate.  The kids enjoyed the water slide and wiffle ball while we waited for it to get dark.

Jason put on his annual firework display. 

We got festive again on Saturday night for a shrimp boil at the Caddell's.

Watching the boys shoot skeet.  

I convinced her to join in the fun. 

Bryce was at the river for the weekend with some of his old baseball buddies.  

We wrapped up the weekend with our neighbors. 

It was a fun and festive weekend!