Catching up with Casey

David and I had an agreement in place when I conceded to pack us all up and move to Illinois.  The agreement was that I would fly to see Casey after she had my niece, without argument from David.  I bought my ticket at the end of May.

And waited, excitedly, for August 2nd.  

Just 3 days before the girls and I leave, I found out that Ethan wasn't going to be there for most of my time there.  I struggled for about 24 hours over what to do.  I pondered putting off the trip, so that I could be in California with Ethan.  Eventually, I decided to continue with my plans, because I couldn't guarantee I would be able to go later in the.  If something were to prevent me from going I at a later date, I would not be able to forgive myself for passing up this trip.  

So Hannah, Riley and I flew out to see Casey, Matt and Annalisa.  We knew it wouldn't be the same.  We knew it would be hard when we talked to Ethan.  But we also knew that we'd still have a good visit.  The other downside to my trip was that Casey would have to leave for 3 days.  She actually had to fly back to NC for family court (it's a super long, complicated story).  

Since getting to Casey's house, we've spent hours talking.  It's been so good to catch up with her.  Casey and I have always been close.  I feel blessed to be as close to my sister as I am.  

We haven't done any exciting things yet.  We did make it out to the wineries.  When she gets back with Ethan, we're going to head out to the ocean.  I've never seen the Pacific.   

Today, Casey flies out for NC.  She'll be back on Friday with Ethan, and a whole new set of fun times will begin then.  In the meantime, the girls and I will explore California and spend time with my friend Pam.  

A Visit with Grandpa Bob

After leaving Brittany's house, we drove an hour to Grandpa Bob's house.  I figured there was no reason to not spend some time with him and Susan, since I was already so close.  It's really important to me that my girls know their family and spend as much time with as possible.  Especially their grandparents. Plus, grandpa Bob is newly retired, and has plenty of free time now.  

Riley, just hanging out on the back deck.  

Pool time.  

More pool time

While with Grandpa Bob, Hannah learned to drive a golf cart.  She started out a little rough, driving all over the drive way and almost running into the car but by the end of the of trip she was pro.  We went swimming every night.  Hannah gained a lot of confidence in the water.  At the beginning of the trip, Hannah was pretty timid in the water but by the end of the trip she was going in with wings only.  Grandpa had a lot of fun throwing Riley in the air.  

While hanging out, Grandpa and I talked about all kinds of exciting stuff: politics, money matters and homeschooling.  And I discovered the joy of shopping at a Goodwill.  Like I said, exciting stuff.  

Italy Gals Reunited

The third week in June Michelle, Patricia, Brittany and I met up at Brittany's house in Dahlonega, Georgia for a reunion of sorts.  This part of Georgia is absolutely gorgeous.  It's green, mountainous, and peaceful.  Brittany's house sits tucked in the mountains, she's got a big back yard with a pool and an awesome tree house.  

Brittany's house

Here we are at Amicalola Falls State Park.

Just one of the waterfalls located within the park.

Panning for gold at Crisson Gold Mine.  Georgia was the site of a very large gold rush

The most awesome tree house ever!

Swimming

The big water balloon fight.  Why is filling water balloons so time consuming?!??

5 years 

I feel so fortunate to have meet these ladies.  Ya see, unlike many "moms groups," we all knew each other before we got pregnant.  It started with Susan, Michelle and I.  Then this group formed when we got pregnant, we all gave birth within about 6 weeks of each other.  Except for Gretchen, who couldn't make it this time.  She's our group advice leader; her kids are much older than ours. ; )  We've stuck it our for 5 years so far.  We have our own little email circulations, emailing about daily to each other.  Sometimes it's less, sometimes it's many in a day.  Sometimes our emails contain 1 sentence, other times they are small novels.  And we discuss all sorts of things!  We want to make our get reunions annually, but it's hard because we're all so spread out.

Next year, we'll see where we end up.  With Gretchen in Texas and me in Chicago, we're trying to find the middle from there.    

The last month or so

has been loads of fun.  I've been all over the place, which is pretty easy to do when you're "houseless."  I went to Georgia and spent 3 weeks there.  Then I spent a few nights with Amy and Tom.  Then I came back up to Chicago to celebrate our 10 year anniversary, David's 30th birthday and Riley's 1st birthday.  It's been a summer full of BIG events!

We've spent a lot of time at parks, enjoying the warm sun.  

We've been so busy having fun, I forgot all about blogging!