What have we been up to?

This post was therapeutic for me. It is a grand catch-up of the past month. Some of these summer days have felt long and boring and some have been fast and fun. Most were somewhere in between but all were good for the boys, I believe. Those fun planned days? Awesome. Those days where I said, "go find something to do?" Awesome as well. They need a mix of a lack of structure and too much structure, tons of fun and time to figure out how to make their own fun. But let me tell you, some of these days have been long. Looking through my pictures, I was able to realize that this balance was achieved. Sprinkle in the almost-daily swims at the pool and the following summarizes what in the world we have been doing. And as always, I promise to be better about blogging. Ha!

Sweet Merritt decided he would rather have a day-trip to the beach than a birthday party (did I mention how much I love him?). We added a little (rather, BIG) surprise by stopping by the USS North Carolina before we hit the waves. What an impressive educational experience!

The beach was naturally wonderful, of course.

We headed to Williamsburg for one more lacrosse tournament. G's team made it all the way to the Championship game before facing a tough loss. Overall, it was a great weekend and we enjoyed our last trip this summer with our Cannons family. 

Here is a picture of G's biggest fans making signs for the Cannnons. 

We guinea pig-sat!

We said "See you in 2 years" to our sweet friends.

We have eaten some great meals - here is Gav's 'last supper' before we sent him off to camp…lobster and salmon…yum!

Oh yes, we have snuggled...

Merritt and Ian did art camp. Wonderful! We are already talking about next year's camp!

Just look at all they created! 

The squirrels officially ate my lettuce…and my tomatoes.

We swam in our neighbors pool!

And cheered for the Durham Bulls with friends!

We delivered this guy to camp and he never looked back...

…so I took the liberties of DEEP CLEANING his room [insert evil mommy laugh].

We celebrated the 4th of July with ice cream, neighbors, and some fireworks!

Oh, and with some wicked body art.

Soccer! We watched and played and talked about soccer. A lot.

And, the boys successfully chose and cheered for #1, 2, & 3 of the World Cup. 

Three cheers for Daddy spending money on the right jerseys. Victory!

We celebrated Daddy's birthday. 

In case you cannot tell from the glow of the candles, that is a 3 and a 7 on his morning toast.

 Oh, and Merritt drew the backside of Rodin's "The Thinker."  Love that kid.

Whew! And there is a month left of summer still!