My mom's in town right now! Today is her last day, and we're going to head to the pool in an hour or so. We've had a great time. The girls are both healthy and happy, and have been fun to play with. The 4th was a bit of a wash - literally. We got to the Koka Booth Amphiteater for Cary's annual spectacular fireworks display - along with around a million other Wake County residents. 30 minutes before the fireworks were scheduled to begin, a big ole' storm swept through. It was actually really fun running through the rain and lightning, pushing a double stroller, weaving through the mass exodus of people fleeing to their cars.

Joel planned a really fun surprise on my birthday. I got home from grocery shopping on Thursday to find him home from work (he had taken a half day), with a surprise date planned. My mom was a co-conspirator. We went to the YMCA and exercised, then played a couple of sets of tennis (Maggie 6-3, Joel 4-1), then swam in the pool and went down the waterslide, and then went to Streets at Southpoint (an outdoor dining/shopping center in Durham) and had a nice dinner and saw a movie. We stayed overnight in Durham and got to sleep in the next day. Really fun and not a little romantic. Thanks J!


A FEW TAKEN LAST WEEK BEFORE MY MOM'S VISIT:

I thought the look on Renee's face here was pretty funny.




Marie testing out the jumperoo.

She looks so sharp in Grammy's glasses.

The kids' dedication

A TRIP TO THE MUSEUM OF NATURAL SCIENCES on JULY 5:

Joel showing Marie the humongous bees at the insect exhibit.
Marie directing Joel away from the bees. Let's go somewhere else Daddy!

They were kinda freaky.