The rest of our summer was a buys whirlwind of activity so I'm sure I'll leave something out of this account, but lets try to hit a few highlights.
The end of June brought us the joy of living near family for the first time! Ron and Jenny-Lynn moved to Travelers Rest with their three sweet ladies and have made moments like this a regular occurence:
We are so glad that our kids will get to grow up with cousins close by and we're kinda loving all of the fun that comes with last minute dinner dates, coffee nights and even camping trips! The babysitting exchange is pretty handy, too. Mom and Dad came for a visit shortly after they moved in and while I know they love the easy access to two sets of grandkids in one trip, they were feeling the pressure to learn how to divide the time "fair and square". No one has ever had to share Maw Maw and Paw Paw before! Though honestly, there are worse things in life than being "fought" over by these cute little faces!
We got to spend July 4th with the whole Kyker-side bunch in Balsam, NC. Our weekend was filled with good ole' fashioned three legged races, sack races, relay races, corn hole tournaments, card games and, of course, Ga Ga's famous BINGO games, complete with an overflowing basket of prizes for every winner. Bruce and Kelly let the kids go crazy decorating the car for the Balsam Mtn. car parade and piled them all in there for the ride down the mountain. They sang God Bless the USA at the top of their little lungs as they waved to all the spectators. It was the perfect small town Fourth of July, to be sure. The great mountain house was busting at the seems with our wild and crazy crew (and no, there was NEVER any chaos and mayhem going on after midnight), but it was a good time had by all.
The end of June brought us the joy of living near family for the first time! Ron and Jenny-Lynn moved to Travelers Rest with their three sweet ladies and have made moments like this a regular occurence:
We are so glad that our kids will get to grow up with cousins close by and we're kinda loving all of the fun that comes with last minute dinner dates, coffee nights and even camping trips! The babysitting exchange is pretty handy, too. Mom and Dad came for a visit shortly after they moved in and while I know they love the easy access to two sets of grandkids in one trip, they were feeling the pressure to learn how to divide the time "fair and square". No one has ever had to share Maw Maw and Paw Paw before! Though honestly, there are worse things in life than being "fought" over by these cute little faces!
We got to spend July 4th with the whole Kyker-side bunch in Balsam, NC. Our weekend was filled with good ole' fashioned three legged races, sack races, relay races, corn hole tournaments, card games and, of course, Ga Ga's famous BINGO games, complete with an overflowing basket of prizes for every winner. Bruce and Kelly let the kids go crazy decorating the car for the Balsam Mtn. car parade and piled them all in there for the ride down the mountain. They sang God Bless the USA at the top of their little lungs as they waved to all the spectators. It was the perfect small town Fourth of July, to be sure. The great mountain house was busting at the seems with our wild and crazy crew (and no, there was NEVER any chaos and mayhem going on after midnight), but it was a good time had by all.
August sent us south bound to Florida, where we got to celebrate Grandpa Shook's 90th birthday. Mom planned quite a bash that pretty much surprised the socks off of Grandpa.
The party was held in a museum where Grandpa has volunteered his time and donated memorabilia from his days as a Hump Pilot in World War II. He was absolutely in his element and loved every moment of being celebrated. I can pretty easily get all wrapped up in the sheer amount of effort that it takes to make a trip like that happen with this many "cats" to herd, but once we were there we agreed that it was worth every second.
After our time on the east side of Florida, we crossed the state to visit Grandpa Shepard. It had been a while since we had seen him and we wanted to introduce him to our little John Shepard. He has a fondness in his heart for Jimmy from all of those summers he spent filling up a wagon of Grandpa Jack's garden vegetables and selling them door to door to all of the neighbors, and that fondness has extended over to Jimmy's kids.
We were thankful to have that time with two of our sweet grandparents, and were encouraged to be reminded of the good care that our parents take of their parents. One day it will be our turn to care for them and they've given us a wonderful example.
Our summer was full of family, friends and good times, just the way a summer should be. Foot loose and fancy free is our aim for summertime, but by the end of August we were all looking forward to buckling back down and embracing our routine again. Details about our school year will be coming soon!