wavywards: July in the East

We left Colorado at the end of June and headed East for our annual lake and beach trip. First stop was Lake Gaston to spend a week and a half with Grandma Gail and Grandpa Tom and Rimsky at the lake house. Aunt Marcy, Uncle Stuart, Lily and Jack, Aunt Kel and Bodie and Cousins Alli and Davis all took part in the annual July 4th reunion.

Casey started the week off a little skeptical, but by the end she had gotten up on skis; was jumping in the water by herself, no goggles; and was sliding down the slide like it was no big thing. The weather was also a little frustrating at the beginning of the week, but by the end, it was warm and sunny and not too humid. We cooked smores, waved sparklers, burned snakes and set of Roanoke Rapid Wal-Mart special fireworks on the 4th, then got to see the big Lake Gaston firework display the following Saturday. There were trips to the marina for ice cream and several trips to Goat Island...to feed the goats.

Garrett had a blast at the lake. He would wake up and be ready to go out on a boat, which he can now say over and over. He loved swimming. He just needed his swimmies and he would be off. The slide was a hit, until he realized that hitting his head over and over at the bottom really starts to hurt after a while. He is very good at saying "mine!" for everything and anything. He runs all over the place, his belly leading the way.

Everyone left by Sunday, so we had our friends Chrissy and Andrew and their 10 month old, Duncan come up from Greensboro for a visit. Monday, Grandpa Tom took Casey flying for the first time. She had fun and talked the entire time.

We left the lake, picked Gramma Lois up in Roanoke, then headed down to Birmingham, Alabama to see Aunt Lisa, Uncle Dave, Ashlynne, Morganne and Max's new house. Dave started his residency in radiology at UAB. We spent a couple days getting to know their new neighborhood before packing up again and heading to the beach with everyone but the Doctor.

We stayed in Indian Pass, down the street from Cape San Blas, a bit south of Panama City. The house was perfect, right on the beach. A river formed on the shore and stuck around, which helped the kids create a "fort" that they played in all week. Garrett played right along with the big kids. When he wasn't digging or stealing toys or wrecking newly built walls, he was running circles in the sand...around and around and around and around...

By the end of the week, the weather had calmed so we were able to take all the kids out past the first break. They all, including Garrett in his swimmies, loved it out there...didn't want to come in. Needless to say, they were exhausted by weeks end.

We had a great time visiting with everyone. Hopefully we didn't cause too much of a mess!! It's good to be back in CO. Hope everyone is enjoying the Summer.