Betsy's beach

You know, Betsy was one of my best friends in high school. We lost touch after high school but have gone full force into making up for lost time. Hurray! She invited us to come to her in-laws beach house at Nags Head last week and we had the best time. Betsy has two boys (as of right now) that are 8 months and 2 years. Yes, she has TWO babies! BUT, her babies are the most well manored children ever. Thank goodness all of the kiddos got along because it was a wonderful trip.
I think Scott thought this was the best part of the week! The Jones have a putting green in front of their house. It was as if the angels sang when we drove up. Scott was mesmerized but this awesome concept! He would wake up first thing in the morning and go putt around. It was super cute.

This was the view off of their Dune Deck. I have to say, we all made sure to be on our best behavior so we would be invited back.

Scott had a fun time playing with Nates GO GOs as Nate likes to say. What a great week we had. We hope to be able to come back again!

Nannie and Grandad

We are so excited that Nannie and Grandad are moving to Chapel Hill. They are going to live exactly 2 miles from our house. Scott and Anna are beside themselves in anticipation for the big move! They will be moving this September and have no idea what they are getting themselves into. I have not lived near Mom and Dad since I was in high school. The future is bright and full of watching Carolina basketball together, walking to football games, taking on Franklin St or just stopping by for a quick hello. We could not be more excited!
Since Nannie will be so close to me soon..maybe my gardens can look as lush as hers. It is hard to learn the tricks of the trade when you don't see each other very often. Having her 2 miles from our house brings a decorator and yard woman!

3 cousins of the 4th!

Is there anything better then family? How about family in the mountains filled with candy, jumpy houses, sleep overs and grandparents? I am not sure anything could top the fun that Sallie, Scott and Anna had over the 4th of July. The mountains is a super fun place to be over the 4th. The weather is perfect, Blowing Rock has super fun slides and bouncey houses and THEN we all get to go to the Blowing Rock Country Club for even more fun! There are endless amounts of cotton candy, pop corn, ice cream, burgers, dogs etc! It is one of our faevorite weekends now. It could not get any better then this.

We wish it were Tar Heel day every day!

Nothing could be better then to live 3 miles (if that) to the Carolina campus. We are lucky enough to be members of the Kid's Club at Carolina. One of the perks of being a member of the Kid's Club is that you are able to meet actual Tar Heel cheerleaders. Is there anything cooler then that? I don't think so! Especially when Ramsey is there WITH the actual cheerleaders. Even Scott thought it was cool. It was a super fun fun day for the Gilliam kiddos!

$20 ... I am in!

Since Scooter was born he has not been a huge fan of water. We would always have to protect his face when washing his hair. It has pretty much been a running theme throughout his life. This year, we had had enough. We would him that he could not go to 1st grade if he did not know how to swim. Over the past 5 years, Scott has walked around in water and watched other children play but was not comfortable enough to put his own body under water. We have done countless swimming lessons and bribes and nothing has worked! We were going to make this summer different. After a few swimming lessons with Ms. Faith, Scott FINALLY went under water! It was as if the whole world opened up for him! I looked at Scott and said "now do you see why swimming is so much fun? Isn't it fun being a kid?" Scott gave a resounding YES! After he dunked his head under water for the first time, Dave decided to up the anty. He told Scott that if he jumped off of the diving board then he would give Scott a nice crisp $20 bill. Scott scoffed at this at first. Then one day we were at the pool and his friends were all jumping off of the board. Scott turned to me and said "I am going to do that." He walked over to the board, climbed on top of the board. At this point, I thought he was just going to stand up there and then turn around and get off. He totally proved me wrong. He walked right to the end of the board and stepped off. Wooooosh, Scott was in the water! He did this so fast that I could barely get in place to help him! I was in shock! I ran and got my camera as he did it again because Dave would not have believed me! Below is the paly-by-play! I know that this is not a big deal to some, but to Dave and me..this is a HUGE break through with our little (now big) Scooter.

Cousin Sallie

This was the best summer for Anna! Her cousins were here for 5 weeks and they were able to play non stop. Sallie and Anna had the opportunity to take Ballet camp together. They had so much fun and loved being able to do this together. Sallie has been wonderful to Anna eve though Anna is younger. We love having them around. I wish they would move closer so that the cousins could hang around each other more. The absolutely love each other. I think that have Nannie and Grandad closer will help us all get together more. I look forward to those times!