4th Fun

We had a super fun 4th!  The day before our neighborhood had a cute little 4th of July parade and then we met up with the Burrous family in downtown Duluth for firework fun.  Luke was afraid of the fireworks again this year (he doesn't like loud noises), but I still think he had fun!  On the 4th we hung around the house, grilled out in the backyard, and enjoyed daddy's driveway firework show...well, Cade enjoyed Daddy's driveway firework show...Luke and I went for a walk because he was afraid...poor little guy!

Amelia Island

A week after we moved in to our new house we packed our bags and headed to Amelia Island!  This was our first family beach trip on our own (without friends or family) which made it an extra special vacation.  The drive down started off with a minor fender bender in the middle of 85 during a serious traffic jam, followed by the phone call from Cassius's doctor that unfortunately ended in us having to make the decision to put him down; but we decided not to let it ruin our trip and had the sweetest family beach trip I could have asked for.  We spent our days on the beach and in the pool (a little) and our evenings exploring the island.  Both boys loved playing in the ocean (especially Cade), collecting sea shells and building sand castles.  We can hardly wait for our next beach trip!

sea shell sort

Goodbye Cassius

Our sweet Cassius passed away this summer.  A couple of months ago, Cassius appeared to have what we thought was a seizure and never fully recovered from it.  He became quite lethargic and we knew something serious was going on when he spent a lot of his time downstairs - away from us, which, was highly unusual.  He fiercely loved us and followed us around every day, all day.  He had to be one of the most gentle, loyal, loving dogs that has ever lived.  We all miss him very much, but we are happy that he is now at peace. 

The Big Move

We've been so busy this summer that I've had trouble finding time to write about all the things that have been keeping us busy!  A couple of weeks into the summer we moved!  Initially we hadn't planned to begin our house hunt until next spring, but an unfortunate series of events (water leak, garage ceiling cave-in, etc.) actually turned out to be quite fortunate!  Once we had all the repairs made our house looked better than ever and we decided to move forward with the big move.  In all honesty, house hunting was more stressful than I had expected it to be and Todd literally took on a second job making sure everything on the purchasing and negotiating side was taken care of.  But, all the hard work and effort was well worth it.  Since Cade and Luke were born, we wanted so many things in a home that...as much as we loved it...the townhouse just didn't offer.  We have always wanted a great neighborhood full of kids for them to grow up with, a big yard for them to run around in, a play room just for them (and their toys!), and a pool to enjoy in the summer.  We were blessed enough to find a home that had everything we were looking for and moving during the summer allowed us extra time to get settled and enjoy it! 

Moving was overwhelming, to say the least.  And somewhat emotional to leave the home where Todd and I were engaged, started our life together, and brought two babies home to.  So far, Cade and Luke have taken the big move in stride (although neither are sleeping well - almost a throw-back to newborn nights - yeah, it's that bad and we're exhausted), so I'm sure they are dealing with a little stress in their own way. 

We are super happy with the move we couldn't be more excited to begin this new chapter in our lives.