A Grand August!

Ok, if I mentioned I had a doozy of a post back in July due to an over-abundance of pictures, then this post is a double doozy... And then some!  A grand August indeed, with lots of precious time with grandparents AND great grandparents!  Not to mention, great aunts & uncles, and even a great great aunt & uncle to boot. 

We spent an awesome weekend in the middle of the month up in DE again.  This time included the super sweet treat of seeing Too-Dad's brother and sister, brother-in-law, and nephew, followed by Lilee's first visit to the beach, and then Maelee's first time fishing!  It was a full weekend.  And a fun weekend :)

The last weekend of the month, we had the treat of a visit by grandparents Mee-Maw & Grandpa! It was another full and very fun weekend that included a trip to the zoo, yummy food, and pool time.  

And of course, we all continue to enjoy being closer to grandparents Nana & Pop-Pop with all the help (!) and FUN that brings!

Onto the pictures!

Sweet time meeting Too-Daddy's 96 (!) year old brother, Uncle Noel.

Sweet face :)

Meeting Brent-
Too-Dad's sister, Dare and her husband, Hartsell's son

Lilee sure loved "cousin" Lane!

What a group-
Too-dad with his siblings, children, and half of his grand children and great grandchildren!

Such sweet, special people :)
Too-daddy with sister, Dare, and brother, Noel
Lilee melted a lot of hearts!

Sweet siblings

Firefly Fun with Too-dad :)

The next day was filled with sand, sun, water, and more fun.  We lucked out with amazing weather, easy traffic, and most important, two very happy, little girls!

Hard to tell from the pics, but this little lady went way out in the water with daddy!

Happy as can be!

Stealing hearts in that precious hat and swimsuit!

Yummy yummy lunch at one of our favorite pizza places- Grotto's!

Nana couldn't resist this shot with her shark-loving girl!

I have many memories of Grotto's at the beach and fun at Fun Land from when I was younger (Steve & I had to ride the infamous "Gravitron" in honor of my brother!) so it was so fun to be able to watch Maelee enjoying it now and I can't wait to take Lilee again when she's older.  Such a special place!  After playing hard in the sand, sun, and water, it was time to sit back and take in the rides with daddy!

Steve's version of the "selfie" :)

More pics from Rehoboth:

Summer Days are Ending...

And what a summer it has been!

As the season comes to a close, and I reflect on the memories made in August, I'm realizing what a special time these last few months have been.  We are feeling more and more settled and I'm feeling more and more able to go on with our new life as usual in this new land! :) The opportunities we've had to spend extra time with family have been priceless and we're looking forward to a fall season with more sweet visits and NoVA fun.

We feel ready to commit to a new church home which is very exciting and we're looking forward to new friendships.  NYC remains (and always will!) dear to our hearts and we're already looking forward to our next trip up, but we are thankful that the friendships made there are lifelong and won't end because of distance.  God has been so gracious to place so many special people in our lives and to give us so many sweet memories.

And with that, here are some of our August memories!

Starting with a sweet celebration of Nana on the first of the month for her birthday!

Breakfast at our local diner where both girls enjoyed gifts
their Uncle Dad brought from Japan earlier this summer

Then later that day, we got to take advantage of a fun Shirlington "street fair" down the block put on by the Signature Theater Playhouse.  We had no idea it was going on but ended up spending much of the day there and had a blast!

Our little performers! :)

Elsa balloon

And on the opposite spectrum but equally excited about the shark tattoo!

Lilee continued to try and enjoy lots of new foods this month- 

and especially likes eating her frozen "cubes" through her little mesh holder!

Living it up and making new friends at a social night put on by our complex!

Spraygrounds rock!

Sweet Sister Love

Fun time celebrating good pal, Sana's, 4th birthday!

The second weekend of the month, we got to take advantage of the Arlington County Fair!  It was a great day, from the pig races to all the rides...

Go, piggies, go!

A dino on the carousel- what could be better?

One of the day's favorites :)

Even Lilee had a good time!

Wheeee....

He was a little stubborn at first, but once he got going it was a fun ride!

Enjoying the swing more and more!

More fun with Nana & Pop-Pop

Another impromptu stop at another Shirlington fair- this time a doggie festival! 

Maelee enjoyed her "butterfly face paint"  this time :)

Daddy's girls!

BFFs already :)

During one of the warmer days of the month, Maelee and I went to another super fun "sprayground" while Lilee stayed with Nana.  It was quite impressive and Maelee had a blast both on the wet part and on the dry playground next to it.  We miss being able to walk to so many great playgrounds, but have definitely enjoyed many of the ones we've found around here.

Slippery fun

Sliding fun!

And slides are even more fun when shared :)

It really was a fun month all in all, and the biggest highlights from August (another sweet visit to DE and a sweet visit here from Mee-Maw & Grandpa) will be shared in an upcoming post. Summer, you have been one full season!

Slideshow of pics from August: