Busy!

We've been pretty busy lately with multiple visitors to our home, which I LOVE. My youngest sister was here last week and took these amazing pictures...

Sunset in our neighborhood:

In my backyard:At Lido Beach:

Chase swimming (doesn't it look like he's in the pool? It's the ocean!):

Next week we're headed to the Outer Banks with both of our families, but that will be our last major event for the summer. Yesterday we had lots of fun hanging out with the neighbors for the 4th of July, despite the fact that it rained all day long. I'm really missing my camera right about now, but we brought out the video camera and got some footage of Chase in his red, white and blue! We were trying to capture him rolling over, which he does constantly now if you place him on his back... but of course, the moment we hit the record button, he wouldn't do it!

Other than spending time with our visitors, Chase and I have found plenty of other things to keep us busy. We're still going to Stroller Strides class every Monday and Wednesday morning and Chase has made lots of fun baby friends there. The Stroller Strides group is great because they also organize other activities like playgroups during the week and Moms Night Out. Last week we all met at the pool and let the babies play at the "spray ground", which is like a little water park in our neighborhood with fountains and waterfalls for the kids. I feel so lucky that we have something like that to go to whenever we want... because when I was younger I remember going to water parks just once or twice a year because they are just so expensive! Another pool in our neighborhood has a big water slide, which I'm sure Chase will enjoy when he gets older. Anyways, on Tuesdays we go to an infant playgroup called "Wee Play." It's actually sponsored by our county so it's completely free and so much fun! We sing songs and play with a big parachute and bubbles. Chase absolutely loves it! When we're at home we spend time reading books (he's actually more interested in chewing them at the moment but that's okay!), dancing in front of the mirror, or just sitting in our chairs or the hammock out by the pond. As a bit of a neat freak, I'm really enjoying being able to keep the house clean. Instead of spending all day Saturday or Sunday cleaning like I used to, I split up the chores for different days of the week. For example today is kitchen day and tomorrow I'll do the bathrooms. I like being able to just focus on a certain room and clean things that I never used to... like the tops of the ceiling fan blades or the baseboards. Life is good.