Catching Up--May and June

I have been so incredibly busy this summer that I don't feel as if I've had time to breathe let alone blog! It's kind of a bummer, because I always think of summer as a time of relaxation where we hang out by the pool, eat dinners on the deck, play badminton in the backyard, and take family walks in the evening. Not so much this summer! I actually find myself looking forward to fall when I feel things will settle down. You know you're busy when back-to-school time seems like it provide relief from a hectic schedule!

There are a lot of things I've wanted to blog about but haven't had the chance to, so I'm going to remedy that today...sort of. I've decided to include all of the pictures that I've been wanting to post with brief descriptions. I should be able to do this relatively quickly and then I'll be all caught up!

For Mother's Day weekend, Keith, Nicholas, Avery took me to Myrtle Beach. We almost always stay at the same hotel whenever we go to Myrtle Beach, but this time we tried something different. We stayed at the Dune Village Resort and loved it! I think this is our new favorite hotel destination in Myrtle Beach. We had a lot of fun playing on the beach, swimming in the pools, playing in the waterpark and relaxing. Nicholas had fun on the beach again and has been asking ever since when we can go back. Avery tried her pool float for the first time and liked it. Yeah for that!




Our room overlooked the pool, which was between us and the beach. On Saturday afternoon, we were treated to live music being played pool-side while we sat on our balcony and had lunch. It was such a wonderful treat (and the guy singing was really good--he did lots of John Mayer)! Sunday wasn't as great. Amanda and Alaina were with Lois for the weekend and, unfortunately, she wasn't in a good "phase" at the time. She jerked us all around for almost the entire day (we spent most of the day chasing her around the coast between Myrtle Beach and Wilmington so that we could pick up the girls) and it was very frustrating. In the end, though, we were finally able to get Amanda and Alaina back and, once our family was together again, we enjoyed the rest of our day together.

The following weekend I took the kids down to the lake near our house to hang out for awhile. We all have lots of good memories of time spent on the lake in the summer from when we had our boat. There is a nature preserve on the lake near our house, and there is a really pretty area where we actually had family pictures done a few years back (pre-Nicholas and Avery). We went to that spot and just hung out for a bit. Good fun!

The next morning was Amanda's first day of work! Most of the neighborhoods in Charlotte have community pools, so Charlotte has a pool management company that neighborhoods can hire to open, maintain, staff and close their pool. Amanda was hired as a lifeguard by this company and has been busy, busy, busy working at two pools and teaching lots of swim lessons. Just last week we found out that she was selected as rookie of the year! We're so proud :)

On to Memorial Weekend. Nascar is in Charlotte every year on this weekend, so each year the City of Charlotte hosts this huge event uptown called Speed Street. There are lots of booths with different give-aways (mostly sponsors of Nascar--example: an M&Ms booth giving our packets of candy), some booths that sell things, some kiddy areas with bounce houses and play things, and lots of stages with various performances from kids from the local dance studio to magicians to bands like Lifehouse and Kelly Pickler. And it's all FREE! Yeah! I love Lifehouse, so we planned our visit to Speed Street so that we could see that concert. Below is Avery at her very first concert...sleeping!


The beginning of June was here before we knew it! The last day of school was just around the corner and everyone was excited for the "break" (ha!) that was going to be summer. That weekend, though, we found out that Grandpa Bradds only had a few days left so we packed up and headed to Ohio. I've already blogged about our trip to Ohio, but I have a few pictures that I haven't shared yet. Below are the kids with Keith's mom and step-dad. They love swinging with Grandma B and Papa!

Avery with Keith's brother Gary and his wife Kim at Nicholas' birthday party

These are a few of my absolute favorite pictures of Avery! We were at Gary's house and Avery was sitting on the counter being cute, so I got out the camera. She started making all of these cute expressions and I'm snapping away and then, all of a sudden, she makes this crazy face and then goes right back to these sweet expressions. I laugh everytime I look through these!

Just before we headed home from Ohio, we spent some time visiting with Keith's dad and step-mother. They live on a huge piece of land in a more rural area with lots of fun stuff like four wheelers and horses. Of course, Nicholas loved the four wheeler!

Avery with Gram and Grandpa Bill

Once we were settled back at home, the day had arrived for Nicholas to give up his pacis. He's only been using them in bed, which is where they've stayed, for a long time (since he was 1.5, I think). We agreed that after he turned 3, it was time for them to go for good. Nicholas helped me collect all of them up and we mailed them to the paci fairy. You can see from the picture below that he was not really excited about this situation! In exchange for his pacis, the paci fairy sent him a really cool water toy that hooks up to the hose. Nicholas fussed for his paci at bedtime for a day or two, but after that, he forgot all about it. And he doesn't even try to steal Avery's pacis! The whole thing went pretty smoothly I think.

I also love this picture of the kids. Nicholas had his 3 year well-visit with the doctor this day. Avery has this expression that looks like she's saying "uh-oh...you're totally going to get a shot when he gets in here" and Nicholas looks like he's saying "oh crap...I didn't think of that." Nicholas did end up getting 1 shot, which he really didn't like. He's grown a ton since his 2 year visit--he's now 36 pounds and 39.5 inches. That's the 90th percentile for both weight and height...a huge leap from where he started, which was the 10th and 25th percentiles at birth. He's such a big boy now! A few days later was his first visit to the dentist to get this teeth cleaned. He did a great job! No cavities and two thumbs up on our brushing. Hurray for us!

Finally, I've already mentioned that for my birthday we went to Salsaritas, one of my very favorite places to eat. Well, we have sort of started a family tradition of feeding our little one black beans at Salsaritas--a healthy but very messy endeavour. Nicholas LOVED them when he was a baby! Here is a picture of Avery after enjoying her first black beans. As you can see, she loves them as well!

(As I'm typing this, I hear Keith and Amanda in the other room. Keith askes what we are having for lunch and Amanda's response: "let's get Salsaritas." Haha!!!)