Feeding the Goats at Fearrington

We had a fun time yesterday with Clair and Hutch at Fearrington Village, looking at the cows and feeding the goats! Cows are Hutch's favorite thing these days, so he was really excited.

Rachel's Drawing

Over the weekend, Rachel drew this picture of her family. I love everyone's smiles -- and the fact that we all have legs but no arms. The arms, legs, hands, feet, and fingers seem to vary in her pictures from one day to the next. This one was particularly cute, though.

Claudia and Ceil visit from Miami

Claudia and Ceil visited this week from Miami, and we had so much fun with them. The older that Rachel gets, the better she can play with Claudia, who's 8. They had the best time swinging on the swingset, making cakes in the sandbox, and on a walk along the trail in our neighborhood. If only they lived closer so that we could see them more often!

In the pictures below, they are swinging with our nephew, Hutch, who is 20 months old.

Shopping Cart

It has been an exciting milestone for Caroline to be able to ride in the shopping cart at the grocery store, and not in her car seat like she used to. These days our cart of choice is the racecar -- she has even begun to drive with the steering wheel! She and Rachel love getting to ride together, and they both talk to everyone they see as we shop. Rachel tells them how old she is and something silly that Caroline did that day, and Caroline just beams and smiles -- and sometimes waves -- at the passers by.

Weekend with Dad & Margaret in Montreat

We had a fabulous weekend in Montreat celebrating my dad's retirement. We enjoyed a picnic by the creek, played on the playground, went for walks, and climbed Mount Lookout! Here are a few photos.

Picnic at Anderson Park

We had a fun picnic with Grandmommy at Anderson Park!

4th of July dinner at the Ruvos' house

We had a nice evening celebrating the 4th of July at the Ruvos' house tonight.

Since I seem to post a lot fewer pictures of Caroline, here's a cute one of Caroline with Laurel Ruvo, her counterpart. Laurel is just one day older than Caroline.


While the grownups (and babies) were downstairs getting dinner ready, the older three girls (Amelia, Gabi, and Rachel) were upstairs playing. They came down looking like this:


They were hilarious wearing undies on their heads! (If only they knew how incriminating these photos might be someday!!!) Thankfully they play very well together. Well, most of the time, anyway.... as much as two 3-year-olds and a 6-year-old can....

4th of July Parade

We had a fun time at the Heritage Hills 4th of July Parade.

Here's Rachel with her friend Fei-fei, getting ready for the parade to begin.



Brian helped push Rachel on her tricycle, and Andy Ruvo helped Amelia on her bike:


Rachel with Gabi and Amelia Ruvo after the parade:

Fun at the pool with Grandmommy

We had a fun time at the pool today with Grandmommy! It was a gorgeous morning -- warm but not hot, and LOW humidity, which is such a nice change for July in N.C.!! Caroline loved playing by the fountain in the baby pool, and Rachel had her second-ever swim lesson. She is so excited to be learning how to swim.

Brian & Rachel cooking dinner

Tonight Rachel was very excited to help Brian cook dinner!



In the video below, Rachel is saying, "I'm stirring the wine around... I'm stirring the wine around... Am I stirring the wine around? Me too! I'm stirring the wine around!"