June!

We survived our first month of summer! It was a good month with lots going on! Anna and Bob spent the first week on their epic Australia adventure as a part of his biannual work trip to Sydney. They went to a zoo, explored 2 beaches, and tried some new foods in Sydney...On Wednesday that week, they flew up to Cairns for a Great Barrier Reef adventure! They took a one-day tour that visited 3 parts of the outer reef and had an amazing time viewing the reef and sea animals. Also in Cairns, they explored the town, enjoyed the resort, and did a little shopping. From there, it was back to Sydney for their return home. It was a successful and memorable trip!

While they were adventuring, Erin stayed busy with 5 work shifts in 9 days and also got her Level 3 driver's license. We both volunteered at CPO on Wednesday, and I went back on Thursday while she was working. We also supervised the finishing touches on our kitchen floor (the final step in the project), hit the pool and the gym a few times, and had a cat-sitting job. The travelers returned on the evening of the 7th and jumped right back in to reality with a fun 2-family dinner with the McGees at Colletta's on Sunday, celebrating Erin's and Olivia's Confirmation! 

Anna hung out at Lyla's pool on Monday the 10th while I had a nice lunch and catch-up with my friend Denise. Tuesday, Bob, Erin, and I had a really fun day trip to DC, where we toured the Catholic University of America! We took a 10am flight on American from Raleigh to Reagan, metro-ed in to town, had a nice Chipotle lunch across from campus, visited the Basilica of the National Shrine (adjacent to campus) prior to the presentation and tour of campus. The tour was great! It's a beautiful campus and seems to have great programs and facilities. After the tour, we hopped back on the metro for a quick walk through the Mall, Capitol, Union Station (here was where we discovered that our flight home was delayed, so we attempted to catch a train unsuccessfully), dinner, and back to Reagan for our flight that was a couple of hours late, but we got home by about 11:30pm. It was a really good day, and Anna and Finley managed just fine at home.

The girls volunteered at Gibbons Gateway on Wednesday and Thursday that week, leading groups of incoming freshmen through activities to help them acclimate to Gibbons. Anna had a 5-day cat-sitting job at the end of the week, I was back to CPO on Thursday, and Anna visited Sky Zone with Bella and her sister on Friday. We had a nice family dinner at Noodle Blvd on Friday after Anna came home raving about the ramen in Australia. 

Saturday the 14th, we hit the lake while Erin worked. Bob had a nice Father's Day on Sunday the 15th, including homemade tortellini by Anna and me for dinner.

Monday the 16th, Anna swam at Juliet's pool until it started storming. Bob and I cashed in a gift card to Outback for dinner, which was yummy! Erin started her 10-week SAT prep class via Zoom on Tuesday with her friends Olivia and Vera. So far, she's finding it to be helpful. Anna had a babysitting job on Wednesday and helped me at CPO on Thursday before babysitting again, this time for a new family, the Overtons. It went well! Bob enjoyed a night out at Topgolf with David and Josh that evening. Saturday afternoon was back to the lake while Erin worked again (sorry, Erin!). Sunday, Bella came over for some pool time, and Erin's friends also came over later in the afternoon after she got off work. They had fun hanging out at the pool and having some pizza and sides for dinner! She and Bob went to the Cathedral for 7pm mass that evening. Erin was very busy that day!

Bob headed to Denver on the 23rd for 4 days of work meetings. We had a girls' dinner at the new ramen place in Apex on the 23rd.

We ladies did more of the usual that week - Erin had her SAT class, Anna caught a movie with friends, I had a dentist appointment, and Anna went back to Juliet's pool on Wednesday. Anna started her 3-session AP World History prep class on zoom on the 25th while Erin went to Gibbons Gateway and led the presentation on Compassion. Both kids were back to Gibbons Gateway for the final session on Thursday while I was at CPO.  Bella slept over on Friday, and Bob took his friend Jeff M. out on the lake on Saturday morning. Saturday, Anna began her week of 3 pet-sitting jobs: Luna the cat for 4 days, the Hansen cats for 7 days, and a new pet, the Weaver bunny, for 8 days! All went smoothly. Erin and I tried a new mass, the 5pm on Sunday at St. Michael, as she's had a lot of weekends with Saturday afternoon/evening and Sunday morning shifts at Harris Teeter. It was great, and we all attended it the following week! 

That rounded out the month! Anna has been practicing her driving, and otherwise we are staying busy and also trying to relax and enjoy the summer. Bob helped me set up our supposedly squirrel-proof bird feeder. After some initial issues, we think it is now fully squirrel-proof. 

We are really looking forward to a fun week in Hilton Head with cousins and grandparents coming up in July!

June!

I think June is always a weird month, adjusting to being out of school and the hot weather, but it's also nice to get a break from the hectic schedules.  Anna and I started out with a really fun and relaxing mom/daughter beach trip to Topsail with Lyla, Annie, their moms, and Lyla's sister and her friend.  Lyla's family generously let us use their beautiful house on the 2nd row from the beach!  We had a really fun time, mostly hanging out at the beach, and also playing fun games in the evenings.  While we were gone, Erin enjoyed meeting up with a few friends at Tripp's house for his sister's graduation pool party, and then she went to the Greek festival in Raleigh that Sunday with Olivia, Vera, and Elena.  Bob also did a trail ride on the Tobacco Trail.  

I got to go to book club twice in June, which is unusual and was super fun!  July is so crazy for everyone that we bumped that meeting up to late June.  Bob went to Sunnyvale, CA for a few days over the first week of June.  On the 5th, Anna and I took dinner to her babysitting customers who had a new baby, and she also had a fun time at Meredith's on the 7th.  Erin had her first real weekly gig as a library volunteer on the 6th.  That's going very well!

Bob and I had a nice afternoon on the boat on the 9th.  

We went to a farewell party for our friends the McKees on Monday night.  They're moving back to Ohio to be near family.  Erin went to a leadership training at school on the 11th, and she and Anna both went back on the 12th for Gibbons Gateway, a half day to help freshmen learn more about the school. Erin was a student leader and participated in the uniform fashion show, and Anna was there as a rising freshman.  Both had a good time!  Anna and Lyla went to see Inside Out 2 on Friday, followed by a sleepover at Lyla's house.  Bob and I enjoyed cashing in my cat-sitting gift card at a new-ish restaurant in Raleigh that evening.

Erin and I hosted her friend group's monthly hangout on the 15th, including a mom's hangout, which was a lot of fun!  Everyone stayed 2 hours longer than planned!  Bob worked at the spaghetti dinner farewell for our priest that evening.  Bob had a nice Father's Day, including a Mexican lunch out and then a Salamanders baseball game with the Knights that evening.  

Erin participated in a 4-day piano camp from the 17th-20th, which was only 2 hours per day, but she learned a lot and had a great time with the two other girls there!  She also got a lot of driving practice to and from piano that week.  She, Bob, and I had a nice morning on the lake that Friday - the water was super calm and it wasn't too hot!  While we were living it up, Anna had a busy 6-hour babysitting job.  We all had a blast that evening at Hi-Wire in Durham where we got to see Maria, Vinny, Ana, Jonathan, and Avery!  Maria and Vinny were in town visiting.  

On the morning of the 22nd, Anna and Bob did a bike race on the new part of 540, which was a fun experience.  

We enjoyed seeing Pam and John for dinner on the 23rd!  

Bob was off to Seattle from the 25th-28th for work.  We are thankful for all of these trips to help pay for flights and hotels in Europe next month!  Erin had her first of four teen summer groups on the 24th.  It was fun to see their new farm!  Anna had a fun afternoon swimming at Lyla's on Tuesday, and Erin was back to Gibbons on Wednesday to help at the second Gibbons Gateway.  I went to the newly-resurrected neighborhood Bunco on Thursday, which was a lot of fun (and I only felt a little bit old).  We are excited to meet up with Pam, Jimmy, and Danny this afternoon to swim at their pool!

This weekend, the plan is for Anna and I to go to a celebration of life for a mom of one of her classmates, and then we get to go to Bellamy's graduation party, both on Saturday.  Sunday, we get to meet our new pastor and might head to the lake in the afternoon, weather permitting.  It has been extremely hot the past week, including a record of 105F on the 26th! 

Other than all of that, Anna has had a few pet sitting jobs, we've been at our neighborhood pool a fair bit and have been very busy shopping and getting ready for our Europe trip in July!  We are super excited and can't wait!  Between that and a week in Hilton Head (plus two work trips for Bob and a day in Concord for Elliott and Grandpa's birthdays), July is going to fly!

June

 June was a busy and fun month getting summer started off on the right foot!  The first day of the month was Anna’s last day of school, which she stated was one of the first years that she wasn’t sad to be ending.  I’m not sure if we should attribute that to her age or if it just wasn’t her most favorite year, but regardless, she (and Erin) did a great job this year academically, socially, and just all-around!  We are very proud of them!

That evening, Erin had her dress rehearsals for her dance recitals the coming weekend.  We lucked out by getting both classes’ rehearsals on the same night, albeit with a 2-hour break between them.  We ended up going to get Mexican for dinner nearby with Tara and Ella, so it was wonderful to catch up with them!  

Friday the 2nd was Anna’s 13th birthday friend party, which was a blast!  She invited 7 girls over for a taco bar lunch and cake (which Anna decorated herself), and then we all ventured to Jordan Lake for an afternoon on the boat, swimming and tubing!  The girls had a great time, and Bob and I were worn out!  

Saturday and Sunday were Erin’s dance recitals: Saturday at 1:30pm was her ballet class recital, and Sunday at 4:00pm was her contemporary ballet recital.  Both performances were beautiful and she did a terrific job!  After the Sunday performance, we checked out the Morgan Street Food Hall for dinner, which is sort of a glammed-up food court, but was very good (even though several of the options were closed on Sundays).  

Monday began our super fun week in Hilton Head via Concord.  There’s a separate post for that HERE.  Upon returning on the 12th, Bob headed to the airport to go to NYC for work after a quick stop at home to do laundry and re-pack.  Erin went to her first summer ballet class.  We mostly recovered on Tuesday, then Erin and I went to help organize the storage hallway at StMM while Anna had her first weekly summer babysitting job.  Anna had her checkup at the eye doctor on Thursday, and I enjoyed seeing my friend Tina for lunch on Friday.  Saturday, Bob, Erin, and I took a relaxing pontoon boat ride and then Bob, Anna, and I went to a really fun NC Courage (women’s soccer) game that evening.

We had a fairly laid back Father’s Day, including Anna holding down 2 simultaneous cat-sitting jobs (plus 2 more over the course of a couple of weeks).  The week of the 19th was Erin’s morning dance camp at Gibbons, and Anna decided to try the StMM girls’ basketball camp in the afternoons.  It was a little complicated to manage the driving schedules, but we got it done and everyone had fun!  The dance camp put on a very nice performance at the end of the week.  

Saturday the 24th, Anna went to Morgan’s house during the day and Bob and I then cashed in my dog-sitting gift card at Chef’s Palette for dinner - not sure why we always forget about this nice little place that is so close to us!  Sunday, we went to church and then met our StMM buddies the Kavanagh’s at the lake and took them out for an afternoon on a deck boat.  Their kids really liked swimming and tubing!  It was a great time!  Erin and I (and Finley) saw a beautiful rainbow that evening as well.

Anna decided last-minute to join the Gibbons volleyball camp in the mornings during the week of the 26th, which ended up being really great!  4 of her friends from school were there, and it sounds like they had a great time working on their skills before the season begins.  Each day, they focused on a different aspect of the game.  While she was there on Tuesday, Erin and I ventured to the Catholic store in North Raleigh, but sadly weren’t able to find the stickers that she was looking for.  On Wednesday the 28th, Erin had freshman orientation at Gibbons where the goal seemed to be getting to know each other and the school.  She had a good time!  Her friends Olivia and Vera came home with us after the orientation for lunch and hanging out.  Thursday, Erin and I went back to StMM to do more cleaning of the hallway while Anna was at volleyball.  Friday was Anna’s checkup and a more relaxing day.  Anna also had 2 cat-sitting jobs over this week as well.  She has been making lots of money this summer!

So, it was a busy month and it’s always got some adjusting to the summer routine (or lack thereof), but we had a great time - had some lake time, pool time, relaxation, a fun beach trip, activities, a little work around the house, and more!  We are looking forward to some more down time in July, plus a couple more trips thrown in.

June!

June was another busy month before the alarmingly wide-open month of July hits.  We started the month out running with Anna's rescheduled friend birthday pool party on the evening of the 1st.  Anna did a great job planning the meal, cupcakes, games (alligator races, scavenger hunt, decorating flip flops), and music.  Everyone had lots of fun!  

The next day, we had a nice hike at Crowder Park with Finley in the evening.  Friday the 3rd was our first time out on a boat alone!  We reserved a deck boat at Jordan Lake from 2-7pm and had a really great time tooling around the lake and trying out our new life jackets and towable (not really a tube; not sure what to call it).  We had a yummy dinner of subs on the boat and really enjoyed everything!

Saturday was Erin's first of two ballet recitals at 1:30pm, and she did a fantastic job!  

She and I went to Kabuki for dinner after we got home, while Bob and Anna went to watch the Cardinal Gibbons women's soccer 4A state championship, which Gibbons won in an upset!  So exciting!  We had a great time swimming at our pool with Jimmy, Danny, Uncle Tom, and Aunt Pam on Sunday afternoon, and then Erin's second ballet recital was that evening at 7pm.  We enjoyed watching that as well!  Way to go, Erin!

Erin and I had a great time in Clearwater Beach, FL, from the 7th-10th.  Since Anna and I went to Universal Studios in March, Erin wanted to do a beach trip.  We flew direct from Raleigh to Tampa on Delta and stayed at a Residence Inn in Clearwater Beach, across the street from the beach.  It was a really nice area and Erin did a super job of planning our meals and activities, all within walking distance of the hotel.  The beach there is so nice, and there are lots of great restaurants around as well.  We were all set to return on Thursday evening, but storms caused a delay that bought us another night at a hotel near the airport.  It had a really nice pool, though, so we weren't too upset!  We were home by mid afternoon on Friday.

Anna's friend Addie came over on Saturday the 11th and we all went to the pool and then church.  Sunday was Finley's first time on a boat!  We had the morning shift this time.  While he loved being on the pontoon boat, he was not interested in swimming in the water.  We got him onto dry land and then lured him into the water about halfway up his legs with some treats, but that was it.  Maybe next time!  

The week of the 13th was Anna's first of two volleyball camps at school for 3 hours in the afternoons.  She had lots of fun and got to practice her skills before the season starts.  Erin's two weekly summer dance classes also started this week, and she's enjoying those as well.  I hosted book club here on the 13th, and Erin also had her first of 6 summer teen social groups.  She has been to 3 now, and she is doing a great job there and learning a lot.  We are very proud of her!  

Saturday the 18th, we met Ansley and family at Falls Lake for a fun day on a pontoon boat.  We had so much fun cruising around and swimming!  They closed down due to wind/rough water around 3pm, but we still got about 5 hours in, so it was ok.  Bob left Sunday for Austin, TX for work, so we had an abbreviated Father's Day celebration.  The week of the 20th, we girls stayed busy with activities and appointments and hosted friends before we left Thursday morning for our super fun trip to the Midwest!  

We flew from Raleigh to Midway and were delayed for about 1.5 hours due to a mechanical problem.  Our best laid plans were for Bob to fly from Austin to Midway that morning as well and meet us there, but he had to wait around for awhile until we actually landed.  Once we were reunited, we ate lunch and rode the L to a stop near our hotel (Fairfield Inn north of the river, "North Loop").  We dropped our stuff off at our hotel and then set off on foot to explore the Riverwalk, Navy Pier (Bob and Anna rode the ferris wheel while Erin and Gina rode the swings), then hopped on a bus to Aurelio's near Soldier Field for a super yummy pizza dinner.  After that, we rode another bus to Grant Park and saw Buckingham Fountain, then walked to Millennium Park and saw the bean.  Then, we rode another bus back to our hotel.

Friday we packed up, had breakfast, and divided and conquered a little more of Chicago!  Bob and Anna kayaked on the Chicago River while Erin and Gina took the train to the cathedral, admired that, and got beverages for the kayakers.  We met up and decided to skip another stop at Navy Pier (our original plan) in favor of heading to Indiana.  So, we all hopped on a bus (we got our $5/person worth out of our 24-hour transit passes!) and the girls went back to the hotel to get our bags while Bob picked up our rental car near the hotel.  He picked us up, and we were off!  We made a quick McDonalds stop at the state line, then got a few things at Meijer in Valparaiso, dropped our stuff at our Fairfield Inn in Warsaw, and were at the lake by 4pm (EST).  We had a lot of fun swimming and making pizza pudgie pies (and dessert pies!).  Then we did some more swimming and party setup before going back to the hotel.  It was still daylight at 9:30pm!

The action must have caught up with the girls, because they slept until 8:30am on Saturday!  After breakfast at the hotel, we stopped at Walmart and were back at the lake.  We had a yummy lunch with an extra yummy Michigan watermelon, then took a boat ride before the party started around 4pm.  The kids also spent a lot of time playing volleyball at the lake, and Logan was happy to give golf cart rides to anyone who wanted one!  There was loads of yummy food!  It was so nice to see so much of the family; we had a wonderful time!  Sadly, it ended around 7pm and we went back to the hotel that evening to shower and pack up.  

Sunday, we were out of there by 8am and drove an hour to Notre Dame campus, stopped in the bookstore, and went to mass in the basilica at 10am.  It was gorgeous, crowded, and was a really nice mass!  After walking around a little more, we had lunch at Portillo's in Mishawaka (everyone except Erin liked it), then drove/walked through St. Mary's College campus.  From there, it was on to Indiana Dunes!  We went to the eastern side of the (now a national) park first and found that it was full, so we drove 9 miles west to the West Beach area, entered the park, parked, and walked around briefly along the trails and checked out the beach.  The water was closed for swimming when we got there due to whitecaps (we were less than impressed with all of our ocean experience), but it opened up as we were leaving.  We could see the Chicago skyline from the beach!

Anna got a Kona Ice from the mini truck, and we headed back in to Chicago, got to Midway after a nice drive through some residential areas with historic buildings.  We dropped off the car, got a quick shuttle ride to the terminal, through security, and picked up bagel sandwiches before our 4:35pm (CST) flight that took off only about 20 minutes late and was a smooth ride home.

So, it was a really fun, quick, but awesome trip!  We really enjoyed seeing Chicago and would love to go back to do more.  The cooler weather and breeze didn't hurt, either!  It was cloudy at the lake on Saturday with a breeze, and that felt so nice.  We definitely appreciated the lower humidity compared to NC.

After we got home, it was right into a busy week with Erin's ballet camp in the morning and Anna's second volleyball camp in the afternoon, plus Erin's Monday group and 2 dance classes and Anna's gig watching the neighbors' cats.  We were happy to see Finley again, and he seemed relatively unscathed from 3 nights at the kennel.  More trip pictures and general summer pictures can be seen HERE.

Those were the highlights from June!  It was packed full, and now we need to come up with things to do in July.  It should be ok, though, as we have friends coming over on Saturday, a baseball game on Sunday, Grandma and Ansley are coming up next week so Anna and Ansley can take a babysitting class on Friday, then Elliott's birthday celebration and our last-minute "vacation" to Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia July 11-14 while we get our hardwood floors refinished.  After that, Bob has a quick trip to Colorado for work and Erin has piano camp, then Bob goes to California to finish up the month.  So, I guess we will try to keep busy, though Anna and I are pretty wide open.  The floor project preparation and putting everything back after should keep us busy for a little while.  Otherwise, we will try to balance relaxation, fun, and work.  I guess that's what summer is for!

June!

Summer is in full swing now that we have made it through June.  It was a good, busy month with lots going on!  Bob and I also went to Logan's confirmation on the evening of the 1st, which was wonderful!  Bob got to present Logan to the bishop, and both of them did a great job!  

The 4th was the last day of a most unusual school year.  We were all pretty relieved that it was over!  The kids had a fun ice cream outing with the carpool friends, and then it was officially summer!

Saturday the 5th was Erin's ballet recital.  We were all happy that she got to have one in person this year!  For some reason, they had to have it at Hope Community Church in Holly Springs instead of downtown at Fletcher Auditorium.  Hope is closer to home, cheaper, and better waiting areas for the dancers, so seemed like a good thing to me.  Erin says she prefers Fletcher, though.  Who knows.  She did a great job!  

Sunday, we had a really fun day trip to Concord to see everyone, including Uncle Dale, Aunt Maria, Cole, Cooper, and Vinny, who were visiting from California!  We had a blast grilling out, playing on the slip and slide, and playing a rousing game of kickball...plus ice cream sundaes and Bingo!  So much fun!

Monday the 7th, Anna got her cast off after 5 weeks of wearing it. She was a real trooper to wear it in the heat and at the beginning of pool season (even though she could wear it in the water, it was still not fun).  The bone had healed nicely and she's as good as new!  I enjoyed book club that evening as well.  Tuesday, the girls and I went to see Raya and the Lost Dragon in the theater with some tickets that Ms. Karen had given to us for cat-sitting pre-Covid.  Wednesday evening, we all went to a Holly Springs Salamanders game.  It was Bark in the Park Night, so Finley even got to go!  It was a fun time.  

Friday was our trek to Fort Wayne for Stephanie's wedding.  We left around 7am and were to Fazoli's on Stellhorn Road before 6pm.  That included an adventure for lunch at the mall in Charleston, WV.  We stayed at what is now a Sonesta hotel on Washington Center Road, though Anna slept over at Grandma Harvey's with Ansley the second night.  Friday evening, we visited at the Harvey house.  Saturday morning, we toured Sweetwater Sound, which was a big hit!  We also enjoyed 2 trips to Meijer.  Saturday afternoon and evening was the very nice and fun wedding.  Sunday morning was church and then a day at the lake!  We all had a wonderful time.  Monday was a smooth drive home.  It was so nice to be there and visit.

Erin's two weekly summer dance classes started on the 15th/16th, and Anna's weekly summer futsal clinic began on the 17th.  

Erin also helped sort used uniforms on the 16th, and both kids came back to school on the 17th to give tours to incoming middle school students.  She got her second Covid vaccine that afternoon as well, and will be declared "fully vaccinated" on July 1st.  

We went took Caroline with us to the YMCA pool on Friday.  

It was a fun week!  Bob had a nice Father's Day on the 20th, and he did the usual cooking on the weekend.  

The week after was our pet-sitting week.  We had the Tierney birds here (we had 1 fatality the first day, but she was on her last legs prior to us taking over), the girls watered their plants, and we took care of the Sauls house (guinea pig, 3 fish tanks, mail/trash, and plants).  It gave us something to do, which was nice.  

We also had dance/futsal, Erin's friend Carson came to our pool on Monday, and Erin visited Olivia and Elena at Olivia's on Wednesday.  Anna also had her 11-year checkup on Tuesday and got a great report!  Go Anna!  We had Jimmy and Danny over to swim on Thursday, which was lots of fun, too. I have agreed to help the PSO president next year, so I have been busy getting plans together for next year, including two meetings that week.  Hopefully once we have things in the works, it won't be as busy.  Good news is that next year will be more "normal" in terms of events.  Yay!

Saturday the 26th was OFTN for Bob and house chores for us girls.  I enjoyed David's 40th birthday dinner at Osha in Holly Springs.  Erin altar served on Sunday the 27th, and we girls hit the pool that afternoon.  The week of the 28th was our big camp week - Erin had the Carolina Ballet Summer Intensive from 9am-3pm Monday-Friday at St. Mary's School in Raleigh (not to be confused with their regular school), and Anna had volleyball camp at Cardinal Gibbons from 12:30pm-4:00pm Monday-Thursday.  It's been a busy and fun week and I have thoroughly enjoyed touring Raleigh for a few days.  Erin and I checked out NC State campus on Tuesday, and I visited the Alexander YMCA on Hillsborough Street on Tuesday and Thursday.  

Erin is really enjoying the ballet camp, which is wonderful!  She's so happy and not too exhausted each night.  

We are excited to get to watch her group put on a performance on Friday afternoon.  St. Mary's campus is beautiful, and now it's concerning that Erin is aware of this all-girl high school option in the area.  She would be paying for it, though!  Anna is also enjoying learning volleyball.  As of now, the verdict is still out about her trying out for the school team in August. She seems to still like soccer more, but she likes volleyball too.

So, that was our busy month of June!  We are thankful that this June is much more normal than last June.  We are not thankful for the heat and humidity, but it goes with the territory around here.  As far as Covid, nothing has really changed, and the current orders are in place until July 31st, but we are really hopeful that masks will become optional in school this fall.  Cases are dwindling and vaccinations are increasing, but kids 11 years old and younger are not eligible for vaccines.  We will see.  Other than that, mostly everything is back to normal.  Thank goodness!  We did have some sad news that our NC State baseball team that made made it to the final 4 in the College World Series was disqualified for having several players in quarantine for testing positive for Covid.  Bummer!  Bob is still working from home and has not traveled, but he seems to be ok with that.  Here's hoping for a continued return to normalcy!

June!

Well, we spent another month in various degrees of "quarantine".  However, we have still tried our best to make summer as fun as possible!  We spent the first 5 days of June not in Banff as originally planned, but instead in Hilton Head!  We had a blast on the beach, in the pool, and riding bikes all over the island.  The weather was wonderful and it wasn't too crowded.  It was also great to get away from the house/dog!  We stayed in a condo in Shipyard Plantation and brought Bob's and Anna's bikes.  We rented a tandem for Erin and me, and it all worked perfectly!  We could ride the bikes to the beach on a paved path, and also biked around the island.  We discovered the northeast end of the island one morning, a really neat secluded beach with views of nearby islands/mainland.  It was a wonderful week, and we can't wait to go back in August with family!

Once we got home and got Finley readjusted from the Pooch Pad (he was exhausted and under the weather as he always is after going there), it was time for summer mode!  We tried to stay busy with neighbor friends, Sarah, and had a fun week watching the Tierneys' parakeets while they were in Branson (other than one passing away on our watch...apparently he was at the end of his lifespan and they were not upset.  Whew!).  We also got window films put on the front windows of the house on the 8th.  They look great and make a huge difference in heat inside the house in the afternoons.  Yay!  I finally got to go back to the Y on Friday the 12th for cycle class, but it had a twist.  Cycle class was outside!  They have been moving the stationary bikes outdoors for the classes!  It was warm but really not bad at all.  I was so happy to be back.  I signed up for class the following week, but it got rained out.  I was able to go on the 26th.  Between those, Bob has been sharing his stationary bike at home, plus we have been doing lots of dog walks and a few yoga videos at home.  I should try to branch out a little more!



We had friend Caitlin over on the 13th in the morning, then enjoyed a belated pool opening day on Sunday the 14th.  As with everything, there are changes to the pool this year.  There are no chairs/tables and no floats/toys allowed, but we are nonetheless thankful for it to be open.  The 15th-18th, Anna had tennis camp over at Sunset Ridge.  She and Sarah had a blast, despite 2.5 out of the 4 days being really rainy.  That may have been better than 90 degree humidity, though!  Erin went to the dentist while Anna was at camp, and I got a haircut that week as well.  Bob had a nice Father's Day complete with bike ride and a belated grilling out due to helping with the meals on his actual day.  We got him some more bike accessories!



The 20th-26th, we got to spend some time with neighbor friends Joey and Quint while their mom and Laney went to see family in Florida.  They were over from 9am-2pm and we had lots of fun playing here, going to the pool, having a pizza party, playing outside, etc.!  It kept us busy as an added bonus!  Anna also had her 10-year checkup and dentist appointment that week.  One went better than the other, but we are cutting back snacks and working on some improvements ;)

Saturday morning the 27th, Anna and I drove up to Wake Forest to pick up our first-ever host dog for the week!  She has been asking to host a dog for a week/weekend, and we were finally able to do it.  We got the sweetest little young adult German Shepherd mix who must be mixed with something small, because he is only 34 pounds.  He is wonderful!  Finely was NOT pleased the first 2 days, but seems to be calmer now.  The host dog (we are calling him Carter to go with Finley) is quiet, well-mannered, house-trained, and great on the leash.  We could not have gotten a better dog.  The good news is that he has been adopted, but for some reason he can't go to his new home yet, so we get to watch him this week.  That's even better news because we won't have to be sad about taking him back!  So, that's been something fun and new to try.  I don't know how often we will host due to how far Saving Grace is from our house, and also Finley's attitude.  But, we will see!



So, that was June.  Other than all of this, we have been trying to get outside as much as possible and also have done a few more home improvements.  In addition to the window film, Bob replaced one toilet and has a second one on order.  And, we got a new mattress for our bedroom.  Bob managed to convince me to try a latex foam one, and so far, it is great!  Finley seems pleased, which is what really matters.

"Phase 2" statewide restrictions got extended from June 22nd to July 17th, and the governor made masks mandatory in NC until we hear otherwise, so that means masks in public with a few exceptions and no gyms or bars opening.  We are still doing TV Mass and "drive through" communion, but our wonderful pastor, Fr. Staib, is retiring today (!) and we are getting a new pastor, so we shall see what he decides to do as far as church.  As before, it is hard to know what all to believe about all of this, but we are trying to hang in there and hope and pray for school to start in August.  The governor is supposed to make an announcement tomorrow regarding school requirements.  People seem to think that they will open with some modifications, so we will see.  Our principal took a survey in June, and 94% of respondents said they'd send their kids back if it was "reasonably safe".  Sooooo...that's a good sign!  Erin the optimist has already bought most of her school supplies.  Let's hope they are put to use!