The Island...an Introduction!

After we left Washington D.C., we drove to Seabrook New Hampshire where we met our friend's and neighbors, The Macleod's...

~Dawson, Dave, Lauren, Erin, & Cameron~

We met the Macleod's eight years ago, right after we moved here.  They live around the corner from us.  They have three kids, whom are all the exact same ages as our kids.  Our husbands and youngest daughter's even share the same name!  They are some of our  dearest friends.  Ever since I met Erin, she has talked about her favorite place in the world...a private island off of the coast of Maine that has been in her family for generations.  It belonged to her Grandmother and Grandfather (Gene Tunney).  She spent her summers there as a little girl, and it has become her children's favorite place as well!  So, we've heard all about it but never dreamed we'd get to go.  A couple of months ago, Erin called and invited our family to go to the island with them.  We were beyond thrilled!!!  So, plans were made and July could not come fast enough!  There were 17 of us on the island...The Macleods, Us, The Lallensack's (the Macleod's best friends from Boston)...

~Brian, Everette, Carla, Alex, & Brooke~

... Dave Macleod's mother Nancy (a.k.a. Grancy), and Alex's best friend Jane...

~Jane & Grancy~

It was grand!  We left Seabrook on Tuesday morning (July 12th) and headed to Damriscotta, Maine.  From there, the kids and hubby's headed to the Island...

While the ladies...

~Carla, Erin, Grancy, & Halli~

...headed to get enough groceries to last 17 people 6 days!  We got to the island just in time to make dinner and check things out.  It is the most amazing place I've ever been.  It is breath taking, peaceful, serene, exciting, cool, beautiful, etc. etc. etc.  (I could go on and on!)  We feel so lucky & grateful to have been invited...it truly was a once in a lifetime opportunity (and totally worth Taylor missing girls camp for!)  Even President John F. Kennedy spent a weekend at the island, during his term as president, as a guest of the family.  They still have the phone that was installed for him during his stay there...

Carter absolutely loved it!  :)

And this flag was flown on the island while he was there... 

It was pretty cool!

One third of the island is grassy, this is where the main house is...

 and it's just as pretty inside...

  There's also a playhouse...

...where all the boys stayed, and a captain's cabin where Grancy stayed.  The rest of us stayed in the main house.  It was fabulous!  Two thirds of the island is forest which has "awesome climbing trees" according to Lauren...

And there are three private, sandy beaches...

~Lauren Macleod & Lauren~

...where the kids played for hours!  I'm telling ya, it was a dream come true!  I can't wait to tell you more about it!  :)



Washington D.C.

We got home last Sunday night (late) from a road trip that took us all over the east coast!  We were gone for a little over two weeks and had a fabulous time!  We left Texas on Friday morning (July 8th), drove 14 hours to Nashville, Tennessee where we stopped for the night.  We got up early the next day and drove 11 hours to Washington D.C.   We spent all day Sunday in Washington D.C.  Since we only had one day there, we decided to take a tour.  We chose the DC It All tour.  We loved it and felt like we learned a lot and got to see tons of great stuff like the U.S. Capitol Building...

From there we headed to the Washington Monument...

 This was one of our favorite stops as was the World War II Memorial...

 There are 4,048 gold stars on this Freedom Wall.  Each star represents 100 Americans who died in the war.  It was humbling to see.  

We also enjoyed the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial...

  ~Lauren & Carter in a bread line~

The Lincoln Memorial was Carter's favorite...

Dave loved the Korean War Memorial...

Taylor's favorite was the Iwo Jima Memorial...

 And, of course, the highlight for us all (and my favorite) was The White House...

The kids kept asking if President Obama was there.  They were so excited.

There was a sniper...

 ...on the roof of the White House.  I waved at him and he waved back!  :)

After the tour, we had a couple hours to walk around D.C.  We went to The Archives of the U.S. of A...

We saw The Constitution, Bill of Rights, and The Declaration of Independence.  Amazing.

 At the end of the day, we asked the kids what their favorite thing they did in Washington D.C.  They all said, "feed the squirrels!"  Go figure!  :)

 We loved Washington D.C.  There is so much history there.  I'd love to go back and spend more time...Someday! :)

Dog Bite

So, this is how it went down...Wednesday, around 12:30 p.m., Dave headed to get the mail.  As he was approaching the mailbox, a lady with her large Chow Chow, Great Pyrenees mix was leaving the mail boxes when the dog broke free from it's leash and lunged at Dave biting him in the butt...

It ripped through his shorts and underwear and punctured his skin.  Needless to say, Wednesday was an exciting day for us.  We proceeded to go door to door to try to find the owner as he did not get her contact info.  Once we found the dog, we were able to verify that it was current on all of it's shots.  We filed a report with the police department as well.  Carter could hardly contain himself with excitement when the police showed up at our house to take the report.  :)  Dave is fine, it's a surface wound that will heal.  We are just thankful it wasn't a child!

Way Back Wednesday!

~Carter & Grandpa 2002~

SilencerShop.com

A couple months ago, I mentioned that this guy...

...was starting a business...remember?  Well, we finally launched!  Yay!  You should definitely check it out, even if you're not into guns and stuff, cuz' he's worked really hard and his feelings will be hurt if you don't take a peak.  Trust me. Just click on this link...www.silencershop.com!   I may just send you something free if you leave me a comment and let me know what you think.  I'm just sayin'.

Even Carter thinks you'll like it!

Way Back Wednesday!

~Taylor 2001~

Way Back Wednesday!

~Carter 2001~

Way Back Wednesday!

~July 4, 2001~

~Lauren...4 months old~

Fourth of July

We headed to Dave's sister, Katrina's house to celebrate America's Birthday.  We ate dinner at Texas Roadhouse and then headed to Ft. Hood to watch the fireworks.  Due to the burn ban here, they canceled our fireworks show so we felt pretty lucky to enjoy a great show.  Thanks for inviting us Katrina...it was fun!

 ~Katrina & Halli~

 We hope you had a Happy 4th of July!

P.S.  Check out this darling video my friend Rachelle posted on her blog...it's the cutest thing ever!



It's a Tradition!

My friend Liz...

...came to visit!  It's a tradition!  She came last year and the year before, remember?   And, she picked to stay with me again...don't be jealous.  :)  She stayed with me last Monday through Thursday.  On Monday, we took Taylor and her daughter, Megan, to EFY in San Antonio.  Taylor won't get home until tomorrow.  She's had the time of her life and met lots of new friends.  Carter had a basketball camp all week so I've had lots of time to hang out!  We went to the movies, out to lunch & dinner, and took Lauren to get manicures & pedicures...

~Lauren's tootsies (zebra stripes), Liz's tootsies (red), & My tootsies (french)~

It was so good to see her!  I can't wait until next year...cuz' it's a tradition, so she has to come and stay with me!  I miss her already.