Daycation

On Friday Thomas took the day off and we took a day-cation to Wilmington & Carolina Beach.

We wanted to take Riley to the beach when it wasn't miserably hot and crowded since we are not big beach people ourselves. We picked the perfect day! The forecast was for rain all day but we did not see a drop. It was cool enough that we didn't sweat but warm enough to go in the water. It took a few minutes for Riley to take in the new environment but once she did she was "all in"! She laughed every time the waves crashed the shore, even when they knocked her down. She loved transferring sand from one pile to the next and knocking down any castle that we attempted. This was a much better experience than our trip in March.

After we washed all the sand off (which reminded me why I don't like the beach!) we headed to downtown Wilmington. It is a fun place to walk around with its funky shops and scenic waterfront pier. The pier is pretty long and areas of it were people-free so we let Riley get out and run around. Another reason I like downtown is because many scenes from one of my favorite shows to watch in college (Dawson's Creek) were filmed downtown. While walking along the pier we saw that across the water they were filming scenes for the show One Tree Hill. And...

of course we had to check it out! We are always on the hunt for film-making magic!

We were able to stand near by and watch the action. Thankfully we weren't the only celebrity stalking weirdos who drove across the bridge to watch. Thomas got a few good shots of the actors thanks to the zoom on our camera. We only stayed a few minutes and probably would of been asked to leave if we stayed much longer since Riley did not get the concept of "we're shooting, be quiet" (oh and because she was throwing rocks at the Range Rover they used in     a shot). 

 Afterwards we got dinner and headed back to Cary. The weekends are always so busy for us so we rarely get a whole day to spend as a family so it was extra special for us to be able to do this. We plan to do this a couple more times this year since Thomas has some vacation time to use. Yea!

Our Wet & Wild Wedding Weekend

This past weekend we were able to get away to Winston-Salem to visit with our dear friends Betsy & Justin and to attend a wedding of a friend from our old church. Saturday was the wedding and it was a emotional, intimate and very beautiful day. You can always tell at a wedding when the couple truly loves God, that passion flows into their love for each other and this couple definetly loves God! It was great to see so many families we hadn't seen in a long time and many got to meet Riley for the first time. I did not take a single picture at the wedding because I was chasing Riley the entire time. Thankfully Betsy took a couple!

That night we cooked out and ate on the deck. It made me miss having a deck. 

All we have now is a slab of concrete:(

And then the girls played in the sprinklers...or more like played around the sprinklers.

On Sunday we got to attend Betsy & Justin's church. Their church is a new plant like ours so it was nice to check it out. They are doing great and just got a new building. Riley went into the nursery with Salem. When I went to get her one of the girls was holding her, this always happens. Every time I ever pick her up from a nursery/daycare setting she is always being held by the teacher. What a high maintenance little girl, making them pay attention to her when they need to be watching all the other kids!

Thomas got four free tickets (YAY!) to Wet n' Wild that had to be used by Labor Day. How perfect that we just happened to be going to Winston Salem that weekend and had just enough tickets to bring the Luckett's with us. So after church and lunch we headed there for a few hours. There wasn't a whole lot of things the girls could do but with the tickets being free it was nice to let them have fun at a "glorified pool."

*Side note: Riley did not like this big slide. 

After a weekend of fun we said our good-byes and headed home. 

Thank you Betsy & Justin for your wonderful hospitality!

A Glimpse of Fall

This week we got a glimpse of some goodness...FALL

Oh how I love this time of year!!

Turning the air conditioner off & opening the windows=FALL

Football Games & Cheerleaders=FALL

Riley loved the cheerleaders and clapped right along with them. That just warms my heart!

Playing outside without breaking a sweat=FALL

Cute girls in long sleeve shirts & pigtails=FALL

I know that next week the weather will be warming up again but this week was a sweet reminder that FALL is just a few weeks away!

15 Months Old

My baby is not a baby anymore. She is constantly on the move and catches on to things daily. We had her 15-m check up and here are her stats: 19 lbs, 11 oz (7%) and 30 in (45%).

This is such fun stage and we have the best time playing with Riley!

Home Sweet Home

We are home from Florida! We had a great visit with our families but are glad to get back to our life (well...most of our life!) Riley was very excited to be back home (she slept in at least 4 different locations while we were gone) and ran from toy to toy all night. I am way behind on my blog posts and hope to catch up in the next couple weeks. Check back soon for updates!!