Hot Time, Summer in the City!

The last half of our summer has largely been spent enjoying time with friends, time with each other, and time in our city.  August was an exciting month in some ways (with Steve starting his new job!!!) and a sad month in others (having to say good-bye to some of our dearest friends), but a busy month through it all.  And the end of July was filled with a little bit of everything, too.  Here's a summary in pictures!

Super sweet visit with my very special friend, Sarah (from MA), who was in the city for the weekend

Another short but sweet visit with another one of my dearest friends, Summer (from CA), who was in the city for a BlogHer conference.

And a round-up of some of our most dearest and special friends in the city celebrating friendship over dinner as we prepared to say goodbye to Pete & Heather Little (sitting to my left)... sniff

And one more farewell get together for the Littles  

sniff, sniff

And Maelee got to enjoy plenty of time with friends, too, and is especially digging some birthday cake!

At a jazz concert at one of our favorite nearby parks...

Mommy & Maelee in red :)

My little baking assistant preparing the liners for some banana muffins

Enjoying some kid-sized versions of NYC's finest at the Children's Museum...

And enjoying some of nature's finest at the Natural History Museum...

A sight on a typical day in our lives- Maelee at the playground with her buddy, Marissa

A special NYC treat a couple weekends back when the streets of Park Avenue were closed off to traffic...

Part of a get-off-your-couch campaign. 

The sign reads "your couch is making you small"

Checking out some parakeets as we head home, over 5 miles later

Fun in the water at one of Central Park's playgrounds

 

Some more pictures from July:

And more from August:

When people wonder why we want to raise kids in this city, we have about a million + 1 reasons why, some of those featured above. The friendships we've made here and the opportunities this wonderful town gives are two of the biggest ones and we really just tried to enjoy both as much as possible this past summer. Especially since in the beginning of the summer, we didn't know where we'd end up at summer's end! It's hard to tell how long the Lord is calling us stay here, but as long as He does, we're 100% in this city!!! 

Swimsuits & Sandcakes

Well, July did not let up!  It was a great month, in so many ways.  We still plan to expand on some of the ways God poured out His incredibly gracious goodness upon us in a post of its own, but for now, let's back track to our fun in the sun in the Outer Banks.

Once again, we were so blessed by the generosity of my Uncle Tom & Aunt Viv for the use of their lovely beach home and my parents for making this special vacation possible.  While the weather wasn't always cooperative (including a crazy thunderstorm that interrupted our first full day at the beach leaving all of us, but especially poor Steve and my dad, DRENCHED!!!) and Maelee's still not a huge fan of the ocean, we all had a blast.

Here's our trip in pictures:

 

Enjoying the little pool right before the rain poured down on our  first full day in NC...
At least it held off long enough for us to enjoy our lunch on the beach!

Too-Dad and Mary Catherine (aka "Too-Mom") were even able to join us for a couple nights which we all loved...

.. 

With another rainy morning our third day, we decided to enjoy a yummy pancake breakfast...

then check out a nearby aquarium. Maelee didn't mind a bit.  She loved both the real and not-so-real animals...

Then enjoyed another fun meal and the sweet company after the aquarium at the Sugar Creek restaurant.

We were also able to meet up with Mee-Maw and Grandpa one morning at a quaint little river town, Plymouth, midway between us!  It was a quick visit but with a 2 year old who doesn't nap in the car (e.v.e.r.) and a car ride smack in the middle of said "naptime," it's probably a good thing we didn't try to stretch our time much longer.  Not a very happy trip back for any of us...  But, we are so glad it worked and Maelee loved seeing her Mee-Maw & Grandpa! 

Being the first day with sunshine, and the fact that a little Miss Someone was just not interested in napping by this point, we decided to head to the beach after our trip back from Plymouth...

After getting all the fussies out with mommy & daddy in the car, Maelee was ready for some fun with Nana & Pop-Pop!

And some sweet fun with daddy

Watching daddy build some sand castles...

and building some "sandcakes" of her own.

Not sure where she came up with that, but according to Maelee, that's what she was making :)

More fun and more sunshine (yay!) on our next to last day.

And more sandcake making :)

Enjoying an early celebration of Nana's big 6-0 birthday on the beautiful sound in Duck.

Happy Birthday, Nana!

And really enjoying the special treat after our special dinner.

Some more fun on our last day...

And mommy & daddy enjoying the water!

The ominous clouds that (praise the Lord!) stayed out to sea

Such a fun time.  July was a big month and we are so grateful for this relaxing break right in the middle.  Lots of sweet memories were made and we still can't believe what a summer it has been.  August has been off to a sweet & sour note with some excitement with Steve's job (more to come on that one of these days...) but some sadness as we say goodbye to one of our dearest friends in this city.  They have taught us an awful lot about friendship and brotherly love and will be dearly missed.  Hopefully before the month ends, I'll have more pics up with some of those sweet memories made.

But for now, enjoy some more beach time shots in a slideshow: