pure bliss

This year we got two spend two whole weeks at Ocean Isle Beach. pure bliss. The first week we went down just our family of 5 for the first few days and then half way thru the week Phil's parents joined us.  It was so amazing relaxing and wonderful. The ocean is where my heart recharges and my mind rests. The beauty, the salty water, the slow pace, the sand - and thankfully my children love it as much as I do. We had a great week together and one I don't take for granted. It was a blessing. 

Camp Whip-poor-will

So while Lucy was at camp Clark and Noah went to went to Camp Whip-poor-will. It is a day camp and it is everything you want camp to be. It's old school, nature hikes, arts and crafts, archery, hiking, camp sing-a-longs, horseback riding, creek climbs, fishing.... it is awesome. it is all out doors all day. So every day we would pick them up and head to the pool for a few hours for a dip and some ice cream. Clark and Noah were inseparable. They had many sleepovers during this week together and are really good buddies.

Piper and I had a fun week together too. We saw lots of friends and did a lot of swimming.

Lucy goes to Camp!

Lucy went to Camp Lurecrest for the second summer in a row. She is so grown up, she spent a week away from us with her friends, taking care of herself, learning about God and being independent. She is growing into this amazing young lady that we so love. We are so encouraged by who she is and excited about who she is becoming. God has given us a great gift in her and we have learned so much from her and I know this is only the beginning. 

Brave

We went to see Brave. We LOVED it. Piper got decked out in her new Merida dress and purple sparkly shoes. She is such a princess. And I loved the way Lucy and Clark totally supported her and kept telling her "you look so beautiful" "I love your dress" "Piper you are so cute". It was really sweet, they knew she was so excited to see the new princess movie.

Camp Qualla

One of the best days of the year is the day we go to Aunt Margaret and Uncle Tom's. They open up their home and pond to us and we have a blast. We spend the day slip n sliding, floating in the pond, fishing, playing with the dogs, watching for turtles and exploring. This year Lucy and Clark learned how to drive the tractor, the roads will not be safe. 

We LOVE Margaret and Tom and we LOVE our day at Camp Qualla!

generations

When I was a little girl I wore this nightgown, it was my favorite. I remember waking up Easter morning running into our living room and seeing my new Easter kittens that were waiting for me. I have a picture of me snuggling up with them in my childhood home wearing this nightgown. When Lucy was born my mom gave me the nightgown that she had saved all these years and said "it was your favorite". Lucy wore it and was beautiful in it but she liked it but it was just another piece of clothing to her.  And I remember thinking how fun to see her in it. 

This summer Piper was of age to wear it. I took it out for her and thought she would just enjoy it in the same way that Lucy did and didn't think much of it. The day I presented it to Piper and told her that I had worn it and so did Lucy and that I would like for her to have it, she took one look at it and started jumping up and down with excitment. She took off all of her clothes and wanted to try it on right then. She ran over to the mirror and twirled, and twirled, and twirled in it. She had a huge smilie on her face marched right over to me and said "It's my favorite, I love it!"  Often after she puts it on I get a glimpse of her looking at herself in the mirror smiling at herself. I love those little moments of mothering, they are gifts.

summer fun

When it wasn't hot enough to swim we had to find some other fun things to do sooooo we....

played at the park and did the ropes course

 had crazy dance parties...

 went bouldering...

caught bugs...

went to the movies...

and just enjoyed the slow pace of life.

Blueberry Scones

Yummy blueberry scones that were made from our fresh-picked blueberries from Austria.

Austria

We left lake Bled and headed to Austria were we met up with our sweet friends the Pokludas. Our first day out we rode our bikes to an amazing little swimming hole and had a glorious morning of swimming and jumping off the dock. Out of nowhere a huge rain storm came in and we hopped on our bikes and rode home. The rain was so strong Phil said that as he was riding all he could think of was the Wizard of Oz song that plays as the witch is riding her bike in the tornado. We were SOAKED thru and thru but laughed so hard about it all. 

The kids got these great Austrian outfits... Lucy didn't want one but by the end of the trip she was dying to get one. 

 We played at our apartment and they did LOTS of shows for us.

 We visited seaside towns that were so cute.

 On our last day our family headed to Salzburg to see some of the Sound of Music sites. The kids love the movie and we just had to take them. Phil and I stood in front of the gazebo 10 years ago and took this same picture when we were on a scouting trip to see if God might be calling us to Europe.

 And here we are 10 years later, 3 kids and a life full of adventure!

 We saw a pick your own blueberry farm that was open so we HAD to stop. We had so much fun. The kids got their buckets and took off running. We picked tons!

 When we were done we hopped in the car to head home and then HAD to stop at this amazing garden festival. It had such beautiful things. Not only beautiful things for your garden like flowers and furniture and hammocks but beautiful things to wear while you are working in your garden and amazing food to try that was all organically grown and made.

We have been to Austria many times and each time our love for the country grows and grows. The nature is beautiful, the people are lovely and the mountains speak to me. The hills are alive!

countdown to yaya and papa's house

This was Piper's summer countdown - she could not wait to get to her papa and yaya's house!

Lake Bled - Slovenia

We headed out of town for a week and our first stop was to Lake Bled. It is a a cute little quaint lake town in Slovenia. We swam and swam and swam which was so lovely, we biked around the lake each day, and we hiked. It was just what we needed... the nature, space and time to take in the last year. 

 We jumped off the the docks and soaked up every minute of sunshine we could.

 We saw a show up at the castle.

 We ate dinner on the terrace that overlooked the lake.

We took a boat to the only island in Slovenia, then climbed 99 stairs to the this chapel, where we made a wish and rang the bell... hope it come true!

 We ate the classic Slovenian- Cream Cake.  YUMMY!