Ashley's Birthday Cruise

Mom surprised Ash by having a cake delivered at dinner the last night

our lively British table buddies

"Elegant Night"

lunch at blue lagoon

yes, it truly was a perfect place to spend the day!

Isabelle made this great poster for Ash's cabin door

Ah! Love my sisters :)

Miami in background

That's our ship "Imagination" in the background

me & ash in Nassau where we did some fun shopping after playing at blue lagoon

jules & ash with their coconut juice in the beautiful bahamas

this is supposed to be us with the famous "Atlantis" resort in the background, but we blocked it in the photo, LOL!

Jules looking like a babe

Eddie!

Edward surprised Ash by greeting her in her cabin & staying with her all week!

Gooooood times! The Lovelace girls like to celebrate in a BIG way when one of us turns the big 30. When Jules & I hit the milestone, the girls went to Vegas. Mom decided a cruise would be a great way to celebrate Ash turning 30. We agreed :) Mom, Jules, Ash & I flew into Miami and stayed one night before we took off on a 3 night cruise to the Bahamas on Carnival Imagination. We had a WONDERFUL time: staying up late talking, lounging in a private tropical lagoon in the Bahamas, shopping in Nassau, having an excuse to get dressed up, participating in games on the cruise ship, watching cheesy, glitzy shows and eating LOTS of great food. Ash was surprised to be greeted by Edward Cullen who stayed with her all cruise (what happens on the cruise-stays on the cruise). The trip was TONS of fun and over before we knew it.

Summer in the Triad!

Mel, Me & Jaime- Beat the Heat 5k
Yah, that glow is post race sweat!

Jaime's son Max handing out water to runners

Arielle's mouse had 10 babies! (Finding homes was quite a challenge)

Parent Night Picnic at Raven Knob Scout Camp

Toby, Colin, Chris & Ben dancing at camp

Raven Knob Scout Camp

Toby's Scout Troop

Raven Knob bridge to chapel (loved this pretty spot on the lake)

Waterfalls at Hanging Rock

Arielle helping a beginner during the horse camp parent show

Arielle jumping Miss Scarlett at horse camp

Arielle's camp trophy

Arielle & Ann Marie

Picnic lunch last day of horse camp

Stables at Hidden K

Dash Baseball Game

Dash Mascot

Athena, Lyna & Arielle at end of year party
(that is the 'hamster ball' in the background- I was the lucky party volunteer who got to push kids around in it)

Going to see Wicked in Charlotte with some church friends!

It has been a fun, busy summer in North Carolina. Highlights: Carowinds Amusement Park with the cousins (Sloans & Bryants), Toby enjoyed earning most improved player at Wake Forest Univ. Soccer Camp. He also went to Forsyth Country Day Sports Camp and enjoyed airsoft gun wars, a day at Celebration Station & Wet n' Wild with his friend Uly. Scout Camp was great and Jim & I enjoyed going up to Parent's Night at Raven's Knob Boy Scout Camp. What a pretty camp they have for the boys! Arielle loved Horse Camp (and being a big helper to Michelle for the week) and Camp Merriwood overnight camp with her three girlfriends from school (Athena, Haley & Jessica). Phew! The kids have done alot in June & July. It helps break up the summer for them to go to some fun camps, esp. while I'm at work M-F for half the day. We have also been enjoying lots of pool time at our community pool. I ran the Beat the Heat 5k with Jaime & Melissa and some other gals from Anesthesia school. It was good to know I can still run despite spending much more time Jazzercising than running lately :) Another summer highlight has been going to the Winston-Salem Minor League baseball games "The Dash". A fun benefit to my good job at LRB Real Estate has been to be able to go VIP style to the games with great seats and dinner included. It's been a fun, busy summer! My mom & dad are coming to visit next week and we can't wait to show them around. All the scheduled camps are over for the summer so it should be some lazy days of summer up ahead.

My Parents Are The Bomb!

In their 60's (sorry guys, it's true), married over 40 wonderful years and these guys still know how to live life to the fullest! This picture was just taken this past Feb. I'm so lucky to have them as my parents. Bill & Dotti, YOU ROCK! Love you!

Lovelace Family Reunion!

Harlan, Shirley, Gail, Nancy
Jessica, Fern (2 mommies to be :), Ashley, Nancy, baby Anna, Ann, Christi

Ashley, Christi, Ann w/ baby Anna

Ashley, Megan, Kathy

Scott, Ryan, Bahnson, Cortney, Paul (aka..the storytellers..lol)

Skot & Ryan, look at the resembelance in these cuzs!

Nancy opening baby gifts with lots of help :)

Joyce & Fern

Harlan playing around with the kiddos

Kathy & Paul- married over 20 years, awesome!

Ann & Megan

Ashley & baby Anna

Mylie eating some fried seafood

busy little Maddy loves her electronics

Arielle & Gracie

Sarah, Mylie & Erin

Skot & Bahnson

Ashley & Joyce

Fern, Ann & Jessica

Crystal & Nancy

Skot, Crystal & girls

When I was a kid my dad's side of the family would have really fun family reunions. We would usually camp in North Carolina or Florida and I would have a blast with all my cousins. It's hard to believe that I am the next generation of reunion planners! My cousin Nancy just had an adorable baby girl (Anna Claire) and us girl cousins decided this was a great opportunity to get everyone together to celebrate. I got to see some family I hadn't seen in 15 years! Jessica flew in from Virginia, Fern, Cortney, Gail & Harlan came from GA, Ryan came from LA, Aunt Shirley & Uncle Bahnson came from FL, my brother Skot & fam came from UT and my sister Ashley came from CA. Then the NC gang was all there as well (Ann's family, Paul's family, Aunt Nancy). Bahnson & Joyce were awesome hosts. We all met up in Asheville at Bahnson & Joyce's and enjoyed the beautiful weather, sitting on the patio, eating bbq pork and tofu. Arielle loved running around with her cousins, especially Gracie who is so close to her in age. We made plans to camp as a group next summer and hope to make this a more regular occurrence.

rAnDoM sTuFf

Toby & his friend were a bit bored on the bus ride home and decorated Toby's face. Seriously, this kid is so funny. On another note, Arielle had the 4th grade "Animal Safari" where the whole grade decorated their rooms with stuffed animals and presented info on animals for the parents. Arielle chose to report on elephants. She had a "button" sitting in front of her on her desk and parents walked around pushing it, she repeated her little report over & over again!

Spring Soccer Wrap Up- GO MOB!

Toby joined a new soccer club this spring, Optimist. He had a really fun time playing left wing and forward. He scored almost every game, this was his highest scoring season every played. Jim & I appreciated that this league more laid back than the competitive teams he was on the last few years, but a step up from county/city league. The pace was perfect for him (and us!). 1 weekly practice, 1 weekly game (no Sundays) and no traveling! Love it. Toby had a couple friends from school on his team & played against some other friends within the league. They were a brand new team , "The Mob", just formed this spring and came out with only 1 loss. They celebrated with a big pool party. Great season!

The Running 'Fro

Toby just wrapped up his first middle school track season, 7th & 8th grade track. The girls team practiced at the same time as the boys and they had all their meets together. I think that was a perk as far as Tobes was concerned. He had weekly meets where he ran the 250 yd dash and 4x100 relay. The competition was fierce, and he gave it great effort. I love this pic of him running with his huge fro (that I have been begging him to cut). I almost didn't recognize him coming down the track :)