And then 8 days after that, Juliette had her 3rd birthday...
And then we boarded a plane headed for the good old USA! We landed in North Carolina, Greg's sister, Juju, picked us up at our hotel, and then we drove to meet my dad who took us home. I certainly was glad to be in one spot, for at least a few days. The kids entertained themselves by peeling paint, enjoying my parents, and hanging out at the park...
We then ventured to Greg's brother, Chris and his wife Michele's house where we practically lived in the pool. Greg was probably the biggest attraction...
Brady, Mary, Morgan, Jay, and Juliette
Heading back down towards my parent's house, we needed to make a side trip to Virginia Beach because Juliette had a doctor's appointment at Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters. We are fortunate enough to have friends living close to the hospital and enjoyed spending time with them and eating at Doumar's... a total necessity when in the area!
Ok, so then it was back to my parent's for another couple of days and then we were Louisiana bound. Are you keeping up so far?
We stopped off in Tennessee. We went on a bit of a goose chase, but found a replica of Davy Crockett's childhood home, spent the night at the Chattanooga Choo-Choo (the hotel lobby is the old train station. Very cool!), and then took a drive up Lookout Mountain to visit Ruby Falls...
We finally made our way into Louisiana and the first stop was a Safari park where we took a tour through the park feeding the animals...
Making our way to Greg's parent's house, and we were so happy to see the rest of the family! We enjoyed a night in the pool and a nice meal together. The very next day, Monica, Greg's mom was admitted to the hospital and was there for the duration of our visit. The highlight for the kids was of course the pool and also a pinata...
This is the only one I have of Laurel and Fen. Shameful, I know!
Our sweet Caroline!
That's Juju in the background. We really should have been better about getting pictures of each other! So when the big stick didn't break the pinata, the kids tried a couple different stick options, but in the end it was necessary to call in the cavalry...
Greg and his war cry and me and my 3 month pregnant belly
Moving on to our next location, we went to Natchitoches (I love that the spell-check word for Natchitoches is Scratchiness!), Louisiana. We met up with Greg's friend, Brian and his daughter, Harper. The guys went to college together here and it was great fun walking the campus, eating meat pies, and walking downtown. There was also great fun to be had at the Alligator Park!
Who knew an ATM was so entertaining!
Brian and Harper
Brady's favorite part was getting the goats to eat his shirt!
Ok, so finally we drive back up to my parent's house for my sister's wedding. A couple days after the wedding, we get back on a plane, land in Naples, Italy, rent a car, then drive to Calabria to catch a ferry, ride the ferry to Messina, drive to base to pick up our car, then rush to the airport, navigate the craziness that is the Catania airport, return the rental car, and FINALLY make it HOME!
What a wild and wonderful summer we had! So many places, so many memories we made, and even more importantly was so much time together as a family! And we still love each other!
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