A few days in Johnson City

The week before school started back up for Brad, we made a trip to Johnson City for one last summer fun spree. 

We spent time playing and being brave on the playground:

Walking the plank with no fear!

Being silly with Gran

Some of us play differently than others...

We found out that our museum membership to the Museum of Life and Science here in Durham has reciprocity at the children's Hands-On Museum in Johnson City, which was such a fun surprise! A fabulous two hours were spent playing and exploring:

Reporting the news with Gran

A solid half-hour at this bubble center.

Claire had the best time "helping" Gran and Grandpa on the tractor and at the fruit trees. Apples and Pears for days.

Her very first self-picked apple. She was so proud! And very excited to eat it.

She would spend every waking moment on the tractor if she could.

We spent time enjoying the backyard views and acreage:

Playing with Aunt Sue and Elle

Mom and Son

I'm pretty sure she's saying "cheese" here.

Claire and Elle. Having a blast.

She discovered the joys of the weeping willow...

...and the neighbors' donkeys.

And then she found a "fishing pole" just like the one in her Berenstain Bears book!

There were lots of snuggles and hugs and kisses:

Goodnight, Aunt Sue!

Bye-bye, Papaw!

And we also got to spend several hours hearing stories from Mamaw's and Papaw's younger days! Claire and Papaw performed a very special rendition of "Moon River" for everyone. One of us got a video of it, but I'm not sure where it is currently.

Mamaw telling Brad about her hometown.

We had a really fun time visiting family and getting out of town for a few days. It's nice living close(r) to the Boswell side of our family so that little trips like this are possible. And, east Tennessee is absolutely gorgeous. Who wouldn't want to visit?

Snapshots from our summer

As summer is wrapping up, I thought I'd corral a few pictures from our summer that never made it onto the blog. Some made it onto Instagram, and some haven't debuted at all. There's no real rhyme or reason to the pictures; just some glimpses into our life. These things probably actually fit in an "Around here lately" kind of post, but I forgot to include them. Enjoy!

Earlier in the summer, my aunt gave Claire an incredible set of cars from Cars 2, her favorite movie (behind Cars). She will play with them for hours (no hyperbole). This particular shot captures the first time she parked them in a row and was quite proud of herself.

And this is when she stacked Lightening McQueen on top of a Thomas train car on top of Mac. Ta-da!

And sometimes she balances a throw pillow on her head for fun.

Playing with our friend, KB, at the museum! Y'all, if you come visit, we'll take you to the museum. Because it is cool.

KB loves to imitate Claire. It is the sweetest.

Sitting on a dinosaur. No big thing.

Close up!

Then they all held hands, and it was too cute. Photo cred to Katie.

So sweet!

Watching videos with Ray Ray.

And it's the BEST when Ray Ray lets you hold her phone.

So much smirking.

Claire tends to put her sunglasses on upside down and wanted Ray Ray to follow suit.

Say cheese!

"Look, Mommy Daddy! Mr. Squeaky look so cute in my shirt!"

We saw this beautiful rainbow when we stopped at Chick-fil-a on our way to Johnson City...

..."Mommy! See that RAINBOW??"

Durham has a minor league baseball team, the Durham Bulls (they feed into the Rays). Brad got us $2 tickets a few weeks ago!

Claire enjoyed watching the UNC marching band play the national anthem.

Our $2 tickets had us in the outfield, staring directly into the sun for a few innings, so Claire fashioned herself some shade.

There's an awesome playground in the ballpark that Claire thoroughly enjoyed.

"Go Bulls!"

Sunset shot.

We've had a great summer. Lots of fun and family and friends...but make no mistake: I am beyond ready for fall, y'all!