Thanksgiving Week

Skip took Thanksgiving week off from work, and we decided to stay home this year. Because we had decorated for Christmas a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving, we had a lot of free time to spend with the trio who were also off for the week.

On day one we went to a favorite local lake. Grammie loves it too, so she joined us for some scenery, some time on the playground and a nice lunch.

We also spent some quality time at a couple of playgrounds, that being George's happy place. Thankfully, Lauren and Grace still love them, too, although we know that will be fading soon. Currently, they still love to climb.

We also made time for bike riding.  Although we normally ride through the neighborhood, Grace took a ride with Skip on a "big road," and she was fantastic!

Also, in belated news, George has ditched training wheels. Gracie spent one Sunday afternoon teaching George how to ride his bike.  They were both so awesome!

Here they are in action. (Please don't judge our basement. :)

Grace Teaches George To Ride A Bike from Cathi Lindsey on Vimeo.

So after a week of playing, we celebrated Thanksgiving with Skip's family on Thursday, and we enjoyed catching up with everyone. Of course, the trio were super excited for some needed cousin time.  

Naturally we watched the Iron Bowl that weekend which topped off a perfect week.  

Roll Tide, friends! 

Cousins

This weekend Skip's sister and her family visited from Atlanta, which means that the trio got to have some cousin time.  After a quick stop at our library (AR tests/competitions are in full swing), we picked up my mom Saturday morning and drove over to join the group. The fellas (above) were pretty tight all weekend.  Will may be happy to have some personal space again, but William George misses his running buddy.

Everyone enjoyed breaking in Ralph and Sally's new swing.  I posted an early photo of the structure on Instagram, but they have finished the project by adding mulch and a flagstone path. They have some solar lights to string up, and once that is completed, they will be ready for many fall nights around the fire pit.

Gracie in full swing

He starts off a little slow, but manages to get himself going in no time.

Lauren was having a good time with Will, but obviously was not happy about being photographed.

And Riley claimed a nice place to relax.

We had a wonderful visit, and look forward to next time.

PS: Happy 52nd anniversary to Ralph & Sally!

July 9th & 10th

Uncle Bill at the kids' table

For a very special summer treat, Uncle Bill and Aunt Kathy came to visit, along with Lori and David. At long last we got to meet Reagan and Baby Harper, and the best part is that Lori, David and those two lovely girls of theirs stayed at our house, meaning lots of play time!

Baby Harper

Lori and David arrived at approximately 10:00am on Thursday, having left the NOVA area at midnight (and after having attended a Kid Rock concert. Those crazy kids!). We loved spending all day with Reagan and Harper and then heading over to Gran and Poppa's for a family feast of barbecue.

Friday morning, we decided to take all five of our monkeys to the zoo. We were not at all deterred by the heat. We saw the elephants, monkeys, and rhinos before grabbing a quick lunch. Then we fed the giraffes, saw the lions and then made our way back home when we started melting from the heat.

Lauren

William George

Reagan

Grace, feeding the giraffes

Lauren, feeding the giraffe

George and Reagan, feeding baby Griffin

After recovering from the zoo, we went back to Gran and Poppa's for a birthday dinner and celebration for Riley, who turned 14 on July 13th.  In addition to a fantastic dinner of steak and salmon, Gran served a delicious homemade red velvet cake.

Bill and Harper

Brother and Sister

Cousins

Kathy and Harper started a band

Bill and George wrestling

Harper

The birthday girl and her daddy

Skip and George

Reagan

Grace and Reagan

The fellas

After visiting and feasting like kings, we called it a night and came home. Many thanks to Ralph and Sally, and the best and happiest birthday wishes to Riley!

Cousins

When we went to the American Girl store in Atlanta a couple of weeks ago, we were fortunate enough to spend the night and visit with Skip's sister and her husband. That meant the trio got to visit with three of their cousins. COUSINS!  

That word is magical at our house, as all of their cousins have total rock star status. As a funny aside, we contemplated an overnight stay at the the American Girl-affiliated hotel (sadly, it is no longer the Ritz Carlton) to complete the AG experience and in the event that our Atlanta family had plans or a conflict. Y'all, the AG hotel option was our Plan B. That is how awesome cousins visits are.  

Anyrate... they were kind enough to work with our schedule. We bombarded their home at dinner time Saturday night, ate like kings/queens (lasagna!), spent the night and had so much fun playing and visiting Sunday. Grace took the opportunity to showcase her 8 year old responsibility by taking care of Molly the dog, and Lauren basked in the company of Lindsey, Riley and Will.  

Playing With Cousins

A couple of weekends ago we were blessed to have family in town. Specifically, cousins Riley and Will were here, and the trio were ecstatic when they surprised them at their softball opening day festivities. Because we had them for not one but TWO Saturdays, we got to have some extra time to play. While the duo were playing softball, we cheered them on, and George got to have a little one-on-one time. Obviously, he was in heaven. After the game, we all went to Gran and Papa's where a heated game of kickball was soon underway.  

We had a BLAST visiting with family and are looking forward to the next visit. 

Lauren #9, Gracie #8