It was great of Jimmy’s sister to plan this family reunion around our visit. We really enjoyed getting to spend time with her, his two step-brothers, his parents and all the cousins. We have a new appreciation for professional portrait photographers after trying to get all those little midgets to smile or at least stand still.
Jimmy was thrilled that his dad and Susan were able to make it to the Seahorse for two of the nights we were in Jacksonville.
We also spent time time with Jimmy’s grandmother, who turned 90 a few weeks earlier. Her short-term memory might be gone (she seems to think we live in Germany), but she’s sweet as ever.
Each morning, Jimmy and the girls went swimming or boogie boarding in the Atlantic, while I searched the beach for shark teeth (which was a futile effort compared to previous years). Afterwards, we hit the pool, which was the perfect temperature. We were lucky this summer wasn’t brutally hot, but we still had to spend the middle of the day inside to escape the dangerous UV rays. We were fortunate to have a lot of restaurants within walking distance for lunch and dinner. We’d go in the pool again later in the afternoon and sometimes in the evening as well. Jimmy and I enjoyed being able to take long walks on the beach in the moonlight.
After 5 nights in North Carolina, it was time to catch a flight to Jacksonville to visit with Jimmy’s family. As we were heading out to the 1950’s motor lodge at the beach, we saw a wall of menacing clouds coming straight at us. Luckily we managed to make it to the motel just in time to unload the car before the storm let loose. Silly Ashlynn thought it was fun to sing and run in the deluge.
We’re so thrilled that distance hasn’t gotten in the way of the closeness that we feel with Erika, Michael, Rachel and Ben. While we only got to have one of Michael’s amazing meals, we still had plenty of time to spend together over the 5 days. Erika took a day off of work and took us to the North Carolina Art Museum, and also arranged for the girls to have lunch with Rachel at the middle school. I still marvel that Veronica had such good taste in friends when she was in kindergarten!
I must admit that I failed to take good photos of the time spent with friends this summer. There’s some nice group shots, but few candids of just hanging out. Luckily, Erika has really embraced her new hobby of photography and got a few great shots of the kids. I still prefer our real children over the Photoshopped ones, but thought it worth sharing.
We had a great time spending 5 nights hanging with old friends in Raleigh. We didn’t manage to hash, but Anna threw a summer party where we got to see many of our hash buddies. Erika and Michael threw a Sunday brunch; Ashlynn was especially thrilled that Holly joined us. Carolyn and Steve made us a delicious gourmet dinner. Lisa and Randy hosted a small pizza party; we loved seeing how their house renovation turned out and meeting their son. And the Harriettes went out for sushi, which was a great ending to a fun visit.
