July has been a fun month though it's hard to believe summer is coming to an end. Here's some of the fun things we did this month.
After dropping the girls off at camp, Ryan and I drove over to Black Mountain Biscuits for a yummy brunch. Then we drove into Asheville because we can't miss our two favorite shops. At Malaprops, I couldn't resist buying two new blind dates with a book. I think I picked wisely; they are outside my norm but look really interesting.
Of course we walked across the street to Chocolate Fetish as well. We couldn't resist a dozen of their milk chocolate caramels with sea salt. Who am I kidding? We also bought several other truffles to try too! These are always SO GOOD.
We spent the vast majority of our time while the girls were away cleaning. It felt so great though to clean out closets and drawers where stuff has been accumulating over time. We enjoyed having my parents over to celebrate July 4 with us, and we met Jeff and Elizabeth Smith at Bad Daddy's one evening; it was so good to catch up with both of them. We had a date night to see Mission Impossible one night; that was a really fun movie! We also had a great date night at Rathbun's one night which was delicious. Of course, we made a couple of yummy dinners at home including this fabulous meat and cheese spread one evening and Ryan's fantastic philly steaks another.
We were all very excited to celebrate my dad's retirement from Northwest Exterminating one day! He came on as their CFO in 1999 after selling his tax practice. He has helped it to grow into the tremendously successful company that it is today. It was so kind of Northwest to honor and celebrate him. We loved hearing several people speak about what a great business leader he is and also what a great man he is. I am incredibly proud to be his daughter!
We were glad to pick the girls up, and then we headed straight down from Asheville to New Smyrna Beach. It's our family's annual beach trip! We were actually missing about a dozen people this year, but we were glad Grandpops was able to drive over for hot dog day/family picture day this year; it's always good to visit with him.
Ready for hot dog day!
We enjoyed cousins' dinner at SoNapa this year. It was delicious and fun!
The weather the first few days wasn't great, but it was pretty wonderful the last few days. Lily and I managed to sneak in some good beach reading time which we always enjoy.
Peace and quiet one morning before the chairs and tents went up.
The day after getting back from the beach, Ryan, Lily, and I went to see Avery Hobson in Once Upon An Island musical where she played the goddess Erzulie. She (and the whole cast) did a great job! It's always fun to see a musical, but it's even more fun to support our friends!
Ryan and I enjoyed a dinner date at Lazy Dog afterwards while Lily went over to Katie Brooks' house. The two of them hung out for awhile then they actually went to the evening showing as well. They met up with some other friends who all wanted to support Avery too. We are always thankful for friends.
We took one day to drive to Greenville, SC. We all went to watch Oppenheimer at a local theater; man, it is so good! We ate some delicious burgers at Windy City Burger. Then we headed over to the Peace Center to watch Six. We all enjoyed this show when we cruised New England last year, so this was a fun new way to see it.
We decided to have a little extra fun this time and actually bought box seats. Ryan and I have always wanted to see a show from a box like this! It was really cool!
I think it took some effort for the girls and me not to sing along to this one! It was a fun show, and we were all glad for this evening.
Just a few days before school started, Lily had the opportunity to spend some time in federal court with our friend, Katie Klimko. Katie clerks for a judge, and when Lily expressed interest to her about becoming a lawyer, Katie invited her down to watch the trial that's going on. She told me afterwards that it was a 3-defendent trial surrounding tax conservation easements. This is right up my alley! She really enjoyed seeing the whole process, meeting the judge and clerks, and getting a feel for what a real trial is like. We all appreciated that Katie gave her this opportunity!
It's a little surreal that summer is wrapping up. Ryan is starting pre-planning days at school; we're so excited that he's actually picked up a new class to teach this year. In addition to 7th grade history and 7th, 8th, and 9th boys' bible, he will be teaching Systematic Theology to seniors in the fall then juniors in the spring. He's in the process of writing the curriculum now. I can't wait to hear how this class goes! It feels like there's still a lot to do for all of us to get ready for the fall schedule that is quickly approaching; hopefully there will be a little bit of rest in there as well!
