Funny things...

Okay, so I saw that the high temp for Monday is supposed to be in the high 60's, so to us right now...we should be getting out the turtlenecks! LOL Well, I had Ian try on all of his jeans from last year. He was wearing size 7X slim. He couldn't get them over his thighs (all that running and biking I guess he has been doing) with 5 of them and the last 2 they were a bit tight around his tiny waist. So, I don't send Ian to school wearing sweatpants. No reason...just don't. He has always worn jeans. I think Monday will be an exception. I don't get paid until Friday, so no shopping until then. It is supposed to be back up to the 80's after Monday, so no need to hurry to the store!

Gavin put his sweatpants on the other day to go out back to play. He said, "These are my long shorts." I said, "They are called pants." He replies, "Oh." LOL LOL LOL Long shorts! LOL LOL

Saturday we were out of the house to let Cailean sleep a few hours since he worked the night shift. We met a family at North Cary Park for a few hours, then went to mom's and then home. After playing in the back, Gavin went to mom's to take Pop-pop for his haircut while Ian and I went to soccer practice. Home for dinner and then off to bed!

After church and Sunday School this morning we went to Bob Evans. After lunch, Gavin is pulling down part of his bottom eye and telling me to look at his tissues. I kept asking, "What? What are you talking about?" He continues to pull down his eye part telling me about his tissues and that's his tissue and it doesn't come from his nose, but from his eyes. So, completely clueless on this I said, "Mom, will you show Gavin what a tissue looks like?" She says, "Christi, cells and tissues?" OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!!!! LOL LOL I said, "Where did you hear that from?" From Cailean!!! I guess Cailean was telling Ian about it and Gavin was listening, but Gavin only picked up "tissues"...and not "cells and tissues." Way too funny!!! So then he goes to Leslie, the manager, and tells her that she has tissues, too! LOL LOL

Our New Play Structure!

Here it is!

Gavin prefers the swing

Ian really takes to the monkey bars

Showing those nice teeth!

Cailean has been wanting to get the boys their own play structure to put in the backyard. Every now and then he would search Craigslist and see what was available. He found one that was just $100 and actually emailed the guy. A day or two later he drove down to the guy's house to take a look at it and the next thing I know, Cailean has it on the back of his truck. He scored big time and paid next to nothing for it! Cailean made a comment that he received a Vermonter's discount because the owner of it was from Middlebury. Cailean just put it together a few nights ago, did some touch up painting on it with the boys and then tonight made some adjustments to it. I guess we'll be going through a lot of bugspray because the kids are loving their new play structure, but the mosquitos are awful!!!!

Heading into the weekend...

A few days seemed to have gone right past me and didn't realize I hadn't blogged to all of you in a few days. Whoops! I worked 5 days this week and this is definitely not my usual schedule, but made some adjustments to accommodate Cailean's OT work schedule. I was able to leave work early today since I worked Wednesday, so Gavin and I did the grocery shopping and then picked up Ian from school. Cailean is sleeping now and will work tonight.

Ian is adjusting to 1st grade. He received a great behavior report card today from Mrs. Harris! He is completely eating us out of the house and I don't know what to do about that. He is eating fiber foods, too. I just keep thinking how much my brother consumed growing up. We tell Ian that he must have a hole in his foot because we don't know where the food goes. He commented that he is excited to go back to school on Monday!

Gavin will meet his classmates and teachers next Wednesday and Friday. Wish us luck on this! He is our little homebody!

As we head into the weekend we'll have soccer practice Saturday afternoon and our typical Sunday activities.

Ian's first day in 1st grade...

So, Cailean woke up at his normal time to head into work today. I woke up earlier than normal (guess it will be my new time for the academic year) and took care of some NCSU work before the boys woke up. Ian was up first shortly after 7am. He knew what today was...he was headed back to school. He wasn't at all thrilled, but did manage to eat breakfast. He continued to tell me since the second he woke up that he didn't feel well and he didn't want to go to first grade. I'm sure y'all remember our mornings LAST year when he was in Kindergarten. I took out the schedule that Mrs. Harris had given us last night and I went over it with him, so he knew what to expect. Then, Gavin woke up. Gavin didn't eat much breakfast and I think he was too into watching Ian and how sad he was talking about school. UGH! At around 8am I took the boys outside to ride bikes and take the scooters out and about. I was hoping Ian would smile and forget about his tummy ache. That worked! When it was time to gather up the backpack and school supplies...all I can say is UGH!!!!! We piled into the car and called Cailean to say hello. Ian couldn't talk long because he was getting nervous that he couldn't remember where Mrs. Harris' room was...what time I was going to pick him up, etc. So, poor Cailean...we had to hang up rather quickly on him to cover this information! I pulled into the Kingswood parking lot area carpool line and by this time...Ian was doubled over with his hands on his stomach on the verge of tears. OH...this poor kid!!!!!! He didn't cry, but he was soooooooo not happy!!! I had already emailed the teacher to give her a heads up that if he asked to go home because he was sick...that really it was just nerves. I figured she would know that since she deals with this stuff each year...but I still wanted to do that. She did email me in the afternoon to tell me that Ian was having a great day! So, that was good.

Gavin went to Pekai's while I was at my meeting and then we went to pick up some classroom supplies off the wish list for Mrs. Harris and then off to Kingswood to meet Ian. He was sooo excited to see us and I couldn't get too much out of him. "How was school?" "Fine." "What did you do?" "Stuff." LOL LOL We get in the car and he starts talking about different things and then says, "Mrs. Harris is a great teacher!" Woohoo!!!

We took the boys out to The Loop to celebrate the first day! We asked Ian what his favorite part of the day was at school. He replies, "Recess." We said, "What about your second favorite?" He answers, "Going home." Oh boy...seems like the same answers as last year!!!!!

Here's a photo of Ian on his first day of school. I found that shirt at Target and was able to get one for Gavin in his size. Vermont...cool!

I uploaded the pics from last night and wanted to share this photo with you. It's a pretty special photo, if I do say so myself. The proud great grandparents who have been attending events for the boys since they moved to NC last summer!

The Start of FIRST Grade and the End of T-Ball

Ian's 1st grade teacher is...

Mrs. Harris!!!!!!!!!

We went to Meet the Teacher at Ian's school this afternoon when Cailean got home from work. We found Ian's name by Mrs. Harris' door, so we didn't have to walk very far! She seems wonderful and I've heard great things about her last year, so we are very excited. You can't really go wrong with any of the 1st grade teachers because they are outstanding! There are a few kids from his Kindergarten class in with him, so he does know a few...but also he recognized a few more names from the other K classes. He is a bit bummed that his best friend, Luke, isn't with him. But, the teachers told him that he'll get to see Luke at recess (I guess the teachers told Luke the same thing!!!). He found his seat and cubby while we were filling out paperwork. Then, we walked on down to his old room and visited with Mrs. Geiger and the other teachers. Ian was wearing his t-ball uniform since we had the game right after. All the teachers and staff who saw him were telling him good luck tonight and all that. It was cute!

So yes...today seemed to be the last summer day! For Ian anway. The boys went to play with Ben and Luke while I went to my meeting at work in the morning. They had a GREAT time, of course. We came home, had lunch and then met them at Monkey Joe's for an afternoon of fun. We waited for Cailean to get home around 4pm or so and then headed over to Kingswood. Then, his last t-ball game ever!!!!! He played well and had some great hits! At the end, the kids received their trophies! Great work Cailean on choosing the trophy! He took care of all that for the team.

Cross your fingers that Ian does fine in the morning as we get ready for school!!!! :)

I am terrible at titles

If you know me well enough, then you know I cannot stand the Red Sox. I think I can't stand them so much because of my brother. Matt and I didn't get along all that well growing up and in the '86 World Series there was NO way I was going to cheer on the same team as my brother. So, it just so happened they were playing the Mets! So, maybe that is why I became a Mets fan?! Anyway, two years ago my brother bought Ian an Ortiz #34 jersey. He can sorta wear the jersey now (I feel guilty...they cost a lot of money and I know Matt spent that amount, so Ian probably should wear it a few times...hahahahaha). So, last night we were watching the Sox play the Yankees (that would really be mom vs Matt) and Ian ran to his closet to get his jersey! He had just missed Ortiz up to the plate, but that's okay. I managed to snap this picture with a Sox guy on tv.

We had a great weekend! Let's see...Cailean worked overtime dayshift on Saturday. The boys and I woke up and realized that he had taken the truck and the t-ball gear was all in the truck. So, what was going to be a relaxing morning turned into a crazy morning. We quick had breakfast and got ready, then jumped into the car (mind you...Gavin doesn't like to hurry in the mornings and prefers to be at home...just imagine this...yea, not fun!!!). I called mom to see if she was up and we had woken her up. But, she seems to never let us down and told us to pick her up. So, off to Morrisville to get mom and then head down the road to the airport to find the truck. Mom really didn't know what was happening since I told her when she was half asleep! LOL It was good to have mom there because she drove around while I was in the parking lot looking for the truck. Cailean couldn't really help us out because there was a broken plane and he had to be there. But, found the truck...got the gloves and team hat and then headed back to mom's (she lives near the airport). Dropped off mom and Gavin and then Ian and I headed to soccer practice at 9:30am. He practiced in his t-ball gear plus his soccer shinguards! LOL We could only stay at practice for 30 minutes (we were soaked from sweat because of the weather) and then we rushed to the car, took off Ian's shinguards and then drove over to Bond Park for his t-ball game at 10:30am. Ian transitions very well, so that helped! We arrived to the field with 15 minutes to spare and he was 3rd to arrive, so he was 3rd in the batting order. Phew! Met mom, my grandparents and Gavin who arrived shortly after us.

The game...Ian had his best game, I think. For one inning he got to play pitcher. He caught the first pop fly for the team this season! He caught the ball and then ran to homeplate to get the kid running from third to home for another out, but coach told him to tag the batter. Go Ian! A very smart play! Always on it. Well...most times...the first time we took the field...lol...I yelled out to Ian, "Get your glove! Where is your glove?" He looks at his hand...yup, he ran back to the dugout to get that glove that we had to go get in Cailean's truck that morning!!!!!! Too funny!!! He was just on fire at every position he played and hit a few singles while at the plate.

Y'all might wonder what Gavin does during these t-ball games. Well...he and his buddy, Stone play baseball. Very rarely will he sit and watch the game, but that's okay. He brings his glove and a wiffle ball to each game. Stone prefers to hit and Gavin prefers to play outfield! He told Ian after the game, "Ian, that was a great catch!"

We drove all over creation later in the day looking for sneakers. Ian needs a new pair and we have not had much luck. Definitely NO luck on Saturday. Sunday morning we went to church and then Sunday School. Today was the first day of the new Sunday School season. Gavin had NO problems going into the 3 year old classroom. He is with all of his buddies, so he was loving it! Ian moved up to Faith Quest. He has been part of Faith Walk for 3 years, so now we're big time and in the first grade group. I'll be splitting my time between the 3 year olds and the 1st graders. After we met the fam at Bob Evans and then we headed to another Dick's Sporting Goods and had luck with sneakers. Ian is wearing a size 2 1/2!!!!!!

Monday morning the kids will play with Ben and Luke while I'm at work for a meeting. Thanks Jessica! When Cailean gets home in the afternoon we are off to Kingswood to find out Ian's teacher and meet her (not too many males work at the school, so we do know his teacher is a female!). Then, off to Ian's final t-ball game!

Here's a picture I took of Gavin with Cody. Gavin put the hats on and thought it was the funniest thing ever that Cody was keeping a fire hat on! LOL What a goof ball!

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The End of Summer is Near...*sigh*

Today was Gavin's last day of summer swim lessons! I took quite a few video clips of him diving into the deep end, sitting on a "boat" with his classmates, swimming backstroke and freestyle. BUT...someone deleted those pictures after they were viewed up close on our tv. ARGH!!!! Anyway, Gavin has come sooooo far in swimming this summer I can't even believe it. We spent a few hours after his lesson with Lori and Lily and Gavin was all about me throwing a dive stick and him finding it at the bottom of the pool. We had lunch at the pool and Gavin looks forward to this opportunity. There he is...sitting on a lounge chair on a towel...covered up with another towel...wearing a hat and eating his fluffernutter sandwich. No worries in the world, right?!

Ian is spending this week in Camp Rising Sun at the Y. It's an all day camp and he did this same camp for a week already. We signed him up at the start of the summer for this one particular week hoping he would see some Kingswood kids and get excited about going back to school. Well, mornings have been "okay"...not great, but just okay. So, rather than listening to all the negatives, I've given him some homework. This started yesterday. On the way to the Y I told him he needs to meet one new friend and tell me about the kid when I pick him up. Then, he has to tell me 5 fun things he did at camp. So, that was interesting yesterday. He made sure I knew to pick him up at 4pm. He reminded me plenty of times. So...yesterday I was there at 4pm. He gets into the car and starts telling me that I picked him up at the start of Assembly. Basically, "What were you thinking mom???? You don't do that!!!" I said, "You told me 4pm. It's 4pm." He says, "Pick me up after the Assembly, but at 4pm!" LOL LOL Today I picked him up at 4:15pm and it was the end of Assembly and they hadn't gotten to the Bead Ceremony yet. OH MY!!! It's basically a NO-WIN situation here!!!!!

Cailean and I are both working tomorrow, so Ian is off to camp and Gavin is off to Pekai's house to play with Bareen and Omaid. Should be a fun day for both! Then, off to a t-ball game at 6pm!!!

The One Word Challenge

Okay, so Heather linked me to some blog award thing and I thought I copied it and I didn't, but this is all that got copied. LOL LOL So, here I go with the One Word Challenge.

And now the trick with the award - The One Word Challenge!
1. Where is your cell phone? hmmmm
2. Your hair? curly
3. Your mother? loving
4. Your father? funny
5. Your favorite food? sweet
6. Your dream last night? work
7. Your favorite drink? cold
8. Your dream/goal? best
9. What room are you in? family
10. Your hobby? sports
11. Your fear? death
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? here
13. Where were you last night? dinner
14. Something that you aren’t? quiet
15. Muffins? sure
16. Wish list item? raise
17. Where did you grow up? Vermont
18. Last thing you did? soccer
19. What are you wearing? pjs
20. Your TV? on
21. Your pets? Cody
22. Friends? supportive
23. Your life? exciting
24. Your mood? anxious
25. Missing someone? family
26. Vehicle? Honda
27. Something you’re not wearing? shoes
28. Your favorite store? Target
29. Your favorite color? black
30. When was the last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried? silly
32. Your best friend? Bennington
33. One place that I go to over and over? work
34. One person who emails me regularly? dad
35. Favorite place to eat? free

August 17th...a wonderful day!

Yup...SEVEN years ago at 3pm this afternoon (I believe we were right on time with the start of a wedding!!!!) was our wedding at The Williams Inn in Williamstown, MA! Lots and lots of fun!!!!! Last night mom and my grandparents watched Ian and Gavin and fed them dinner while Cailean and I found ourselves at Bonefish Grill. That food was sooooooo good!!!!!

So, we had quite a weekend and a very fun one, too! We were able to see Uncle Mickey who stopped over for the night on his way to see Jessica in SC. Then, that night the Nelsons came over for dinner and to make s'mores. The boys were excited to see each other and they did a great job eating "breakfast for dinner" as Ian called it...pancakes! Ian and Luke did a few puzzles together and Ben and Gavin found some toys and puzzles to play with that night. It was a lot of fun! We all enjoyed the outdoors with the delicious s'more making.

Today will be a fun one! Ian will see some friends at the Y camp today. We have the Kingswood Teacher Breakfast. Gavin has swim lessons this morning and then we'll probably stay at the pool. We kick off soccer season with the CYCLONES tonight at 6:30pm for our first practice. This is his...hmmmm...how many seasons...I think this is our 6th season! Wow!

Anniversary Weekend!!!

I probably mentioned this earlier...I don't work that many weekends at NCSU and you could probably count on one hand how many I work. I'm very fortunate to have that type of schedule. But, I always work the weekend before the first day of classes at NC State. We run a tutor orientation and our first one was this morning. We were awesome! In the afternoon we cranked out a few more assignments and I left at 3pm. Cailean took care of everything on the homefront with camp and the boys. He had to take care of some stuff, so the boys and I ran up to some stores asking for donations for Kingswood. We came through with two places and spent one of the gift cards already. I enjoy doing Teacher Appreciation for the school, but this is my first August where I sorta take the lead. I didn't know until 2 weeks ago that there is a Teacher Breakfast on the first day teachers report to work. LOL I really thought this one company was going to sponsor the breakfast since the owner told me yes. Well, today at 2pm they backed out. GREAT! Panera Bread came through with a donation, grocery stores came through as well as some wonderful parents on the PTA. So, I'm sure it'll be a hit this Monday morning.

So yea...back to the craziness weekend...I'm at work in the morning...Cailean has to go to take care of some business...so thank goodness my mom comes through once again. Uncle Mickey and mom are taking the kids at 7:30am! PHEW!!! Ian has t-ball practice at 12:30, so we should all be able to meet up then. The Nelsons are coming over for dinner and toasting marshmallows at night and then Sunday Cailean heads to work and we have our typical Sunday ordeal with a Sunday School meeting thrown into there, so no Bob Evans for me.

Lots happening on Monday...not sure if you all remember...but SEVEN years ago this weekend Cailean and I got married!!!! I called Becky on the way home from work together reminding her (although she doesn't need to be reminded!!!) and she was at her dad's pool and that is where I had my pictures taken!!!!!

Back to Monday...Ian has full day camp at the Y...Kingswood breakfast...Gavin's swim lessons...and...OUR FIRST SOCCER PRACTICE OF THE SEASON!!! So yea...our anniversary and those are our plans! :)

We'll probably head out to dinner Sunday night while the kids are eating at mom's. It's a toss up between two places right now.

OH...and it's Alissa's birthday tomorrow...HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALISSA!!!!

Wednesday

We're in the process of trying to get the boys excited for school since they start in the next few weeks. Ian will find out his teacher on August 24 and then his first day is August 25. Gavin goes September 2 to meet his teachers and meet 1/2 the class for 30 minutes and then that Friday he'll go for a little bit without parents and just with his classmates and teachers. He'll go full swing on September 9. Mom took care of getting Ian his school supplies off the list, but we still need to get him a white t-shirt. We'll probably head to the shoe store this weekend to get his new sneakers, too. Ian seems to be excited to go back to Kingswood...Gavin on the other hand...LOL...we shall see!

Ian likes camp this week, but sometimes wishes camp only lasted "20 seconds." hahaha He made a birdfeeder out of a pine cone, I think. I'm pretty sure that is what is hanging from our tree in the front yard. He told me about it, but I think I forgot! Gavin had his swim lesson this morning and also spent some time in childcare with the Cricket Club. When I got home from work he said his friends didn't want him to leave the Cricket Club, but he told them he had to get home to see his family. LOL

Cailean took today off from work, which was very helpful. I felt bad because I had a presentation at work this afternoon and we didn't have any luck for childcare. This is a busy week for me at NCSU with classes starting up next week, so we have quite a few orientations and paperwork to complete along with getting things lined up. I don't work too many Saturdays, but this Saturday is one of them. I think he enjoyed watching Gavin in his swim lesson and taking Ian to camp today. He even took them to get haircuts!

What We've Been Up To The Last Few Days

We spent last Thursday night through this morning staying with my grandparents while mom could visit Matt and Alissa in Atlanta. I was soooooo glad that Maddy was in town and could help us out! While she was here she caught two of Ian's t-ball games and two of Gavin's swim lessons. We kept pretty busy and enjoyed some time together shopping (Maddy took advantage of tax free weekend), swimming at the Y and mom's pool, rollerskating, bowling, going to church with us, meeting the staff at Bob Evan's on Sunday after church, escorting Mimi and Pop-pop to Cracker Barrel for their Friday night dinner, attending Luke's birthday party with us, teaching the boys how to play some card games and just spending quality time together! She flew back to California tonight and we all miss her sooooooooo much! Thanks Maddy for helping us out this week!!!!

Madeleine is my youngest cousin and we sometimes tend to be more like big sister/little sister. We shared a room together when I lived with the Blumgarts and when we talked about those times it seemed like they were just yesterday! I cannot believe she is 20 and will be a senior in college!!!!!

Maddy with our grandparents as we're about to head off to the airport. After we dropped off Maddy, Gavin said she will be back in two days and Ian kept asking when she'll come back.

It seems like Ian's team has game after game after game with no more practices! But, here's a picture of him doing a practice swing on Saturday at his game. Notice the 1st base ump!

Gavin climbed up on his Grammie's lap to tell her goodnight each night we stayed with them!


A quick dip in the pool after dinner last week before going to sleep for their first night at their Mimi's house.



Maddy trying to teach the boys how to play the piano!



Two video clips of his t-ball game. Ian is really into sports, which we think is great. He has so much fun out there and looks forward to each event. Of course I missed the actual hit in the second video because I wasn't thinking! So that is why you only see him running from 1st base to 3rd base!!! That was the triple when he hit the ball to the left field. In the last game, Ian had a single, double, triple and had two outs as second baseman.

Ian started Camp Blazing Trails today and he'll go for the mornings this week. He was given a Camper of the Day award today, too! Ian is pretty excited to go back tomorrow because he gets to do archery and boating. Seems like he is enjoying himself there. Gavin continues to do swim lessons Mondays/Wednesdays. He ends next Wednesday. But today...I thought the big news would be that he learned how to dive!!!!!! But, he tells everyone that he picked up 2 diving sticks at the bottom of the pool! I guess he thinks that is more important than sharing the news that he learned how to dive! hahahaha

Having a GREAT Time with Maddy!

It has been awhile since I posted anything. Primarily because we're not really at home for a few days, so I can't upload any pictures. We're staying at my mom's house for a few nights, so that mom could fly down to spend a few days with Matt and Alissa and to help them with their new home and clean out the apartment!

Madeleine arrived Tues night and she seems to be enjoying her time. She reads to the boys each night, has taught them to play Go Fish, watched swim lessons, t-ball, gone swimming with us, shopped and relaxed. Pop-pop is slowly figuring out that he has two grandchildren with him right now. I don't think he has ever been with Maddy alone, so that has been an adjustment with us!

Maddy and I have been playing a few card games that we used to play a LONG time ago! Speed and Spit! It definitely brought back lots of memories. I used to drive Maddy to school when I lived out there and there were a few days where I was late in dropping her off at school because we got too into our card games! LOL We get along very well until we play these games! hahahaha Mimi and Pop-pop kept laughing at us last night. Oh and Maddy said I taught her the skills to play those games and she wanted to know where my skills went!!!!!!!!! Well, I certainly found my skills again and showed her! :)

Today we're off to an early t-ball game, then rollerskating and then later on we're going to Luke's 6th birthday party!

Enjoy the weekend!

Where has the summer gone?

I'm serious!!!! I had a soccer meeting tonight at 6pm, then a PTA meeting at 7pm to talk about all the fun stuff we're going to be doing this year. I was in a little bit of a daze for a few minutes and then all of a sudden I realized we've got a lot of work ahead of us!!!!! I am still going to lead Teacher Appreciation, but I have some ideas and I want to run with them. At the same time we need to start asking businesses now (hoping we're one step ahead of other schools...hehe) for donations. Believe it or not...even with the economy...businesses are still donating!

Anyway...the boys had a great day. They spent the morning with Bareen and Omaid since their mom watched Ian and Gavin. Then, my 60 year old mom as of today, picked them up and spent the afternoon with them. When I picked them up at 4pm, they had just gotten out of the pool with mom. They were wiped!!!!

We've got Ian's soccer schedule and there will be some overlapping of seasons with t-ball and soccer, but they don't fall on the same days!!!! Wow! Our first practice is Monday, August 17 at 6:30pm...so there goes our anniversary dinner that night! hahahaha So, this month we have swim lessons for Gavin, end of t-ball for Ian and the start of soccer for Ian as well as SCHOOL!!!!We had to get Ian new cleats because he seemed to have another growth spurt!! I think he is just 3 sizes away of fitting into his Nana's shoes. LOL Is that right, Joyce? :)

Madeleine is en route to Raleigh right now! Her flights gets in at around midnight! YIKES! I'll be up bright and early to take the truck to get the tires rotated and heck...I'm going to ask that place for money to give to Kingswood Elem! :)

A Gift For Mom...

My mom turns 60 this Tuesday, August 4th so...

On Saturday, a good friend Leslie, myself and mom enjoyed an afternoon at the Umstead Spa thanks to my family, my brother and Aunt Cindy! A few of us chipped in and decided that mom need to be pampered and we just went ahead and put this afternoon together! When mom and I waited in the lobby for Leslie, the spa staff all told mom Happy Birthday (it was in their notes that she was turning 60!) and she felt like a queen with all the treatment we received. After the three of us checked in, they took us into the women's lounge. We had a locker, a white robe that was ridiculously comfortable and sandals. We ordered wine, lunch and dessert with the concierge and then headed into a lounge. We decided to go with the luxury pedicures, so the three of us could talk and wine was complimentary! There were only three chairs, so it was great that we had the place to ourselves. After that there weren't anymore lounge chairs in the first lounge we went to, so they put us in a private suite!!!! Perfect! We had lunch and dessert and then got into our suits to enjoy the hot tub. The aroma in the spa smelled soooooooooo good! It was mom's and my first spa experience and we were loving it!!!! The three of us decided that we'll need to do this in December to celebrate my 35th birthday and then in May for Leslie's birthday! :)

We're making a cake today and taking it over to her place tonight for dinner. I have a soccer meeting on Tuesday, so we just decided to have the cake tonight and my grandparents can do what they want to do with mom Tuesday night!

Oh, while we were wining and dining at the Umstead...Cailean and the boys went to the park to play some baseball and went to the movies to see the new G-Force 3D movie! So, they got some good quality time together.

I guess the Umstead Spa and Hotel has a partnership with Walnut Creek in Raleigh where a lot of concerts happen. Alan Jackson, mom's FAVORITE country singer, comes to Raleigh at the end of the month. We sooooo need to go to the bar around the concert day because we could possibly run into him there!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Leslie saw Jimmy Buffet there and Dave Matthews Band. I would have flipped!!!!!