Camping in August?

Doug setting up the tent
View of the lake from our site
Beautiful sunset Friday night
Our new favorite campfire recipe, Ziplock Omelettes

We played keep away from Willie for hours on Saturday. He never got tired of swimming back and forth between the two people played catch. I think he swam for 3 hours straight.

Considering how hot it can be in August, it was literally a breath of fresh air to have cooler temperatures last week. Doug was able to switch his call schedule and have the entire weekend off to go Camping!

Camping is one of our favorite things to do together and we don't get to go nearly enough. I had Friday off (my last Green Friday), so I went early in the morning to claim our campsite on the Jordan Lake. We were able to get the best spot- so beautiful!

Our friend Chad and his dog joined us for most of the weekend festivities- there was plenty of campfires, food, dog playing and lake swimming. We had such a nice relaxing weekend.

Jamie & Katie's High School Reunion

This weekend, my good friend Jamie and I traveled back home to Platte City to attend our 10 year high school reunion. Jamie and I grew up together - we met when we were 4 years old. I can still remember the day that Jamie and her younger sister Jenni moved up the street. She moved to North Carolina when we were in high school and it has been so great to reconnect with her when Doug and I moved here two years ago.

Did you guys see the movie, Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (pictured above)? It's a story about two friends going back to their 10 year high school reunion. Thankfully, our story was a lot different - and we had a great trip together.

Thursday

Since our flight was delayed we got into Kansas City really late, almost 2:00 am. We did have a lot to catch up on, so the airport time was put to good use.

Friday We had a slow start to our day, with our lack of sleep the night before. Our good friend Carrie met up with us and we headed down to Kansas City. We stopped for lunch at Gates BBQ (screaming HOW MAY I HELP YOU?) We also took a quick look at the new Power & Light District. We continued down to Brookside where we walked around the cute downtown, did a little shopping, drank coffee and enjoyed the beautiful Kansas City weather (a rarity in August). On Friday evening we went to our first reunion event - an event at a local bar in Kansas City. It was great to see everyone and catch up.

Saturday
On Saturday, Jamie and I showed up at the end of the second event -a school tour. Even though we only got to see the entryway and library, it's amazing to see how different the school is from 10 years ago. When we were in school, they didn't even have air conditioning. We also met up with some girls from our class for a lunch at a local favorite - The Pizza Shoppe. Jamie & I then walked around Zona Rosa, doing a little shopping. We then headed over for the T-Bones minor league baseball game. The tailgate was a family friendly event, so we got to meet lots of kids. Jamie & I stayed for the tailgate, but passed on the game. We ended our last night in Kansas City with a drink at the Power Plant Brewery- outside on the patio with the trains rushing by.

It was so much fun to hang out with Jamie & Carrie in Kansas City and see so many old friends. I'm so glad we made the trip.

Summertime, Updates

We had a great summer weekend complete with pool time, parties, Cardinals Baseball and lots of Olympics. What more can you ask for?

Friday:

Since Doug & I finished Season 3 of lost on Thursday, we were finally able to venture back out into the land of the living. We went to the pool after work and then to the new grocery store near our house. We BBQ'd steaks on the grill and enjoyed a great dinner while watching the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. If you missed them, do yourself a favor and watch the amazing $300 million production. It won't disappoint.

Seriously, stop washing the car and throw my tennis ball!

Willie cooling off

Saturday:
It was a beautiful day in Durham. I started it out by going to Jazzercise (YES!) and Doug took Willie to the dog park. We watched more Olympics and then took advantage of the nice weather and washed Doug's truck. Willie took the opportunity of being outside all afternoon to chase geese. I can't tell you how funny it is to hear the commotion when he goes after them. I found him swimming around in the pond behind our house, with lots of feathers floating through the air around him. They evidently didn't want to share their pond with a Labrador Retriever. We topped the afternoon off with a Cardinals win. Perfect!

Me & Staci

Matt, Doug, Chad & Brandon

We surprised ourselves by going to two parties on Saturday evening. First was the Party at Jeff's new house. It was great to spend time with friends and see Jeff's new pad.

We then headed over to City Beverage to celebrate our friend Victoria's birthday. She had a great group of people and we enjoyed the company.

Sunday:

It was kind of a rainy Sunday, so we were happy when it cleared up in time for our impromptu pool party Sunday afternoon. Great food, great friends and overall a great party. Thanks for coming everyone!

Our updated view of the woods - sans fort.

Updates:
Ding dong the fort is dead. Our neighbors mysteriously decided to tear down their fort last weekend. We actually decided not to say anything and just live with the view, but our wish was nonetheless granted. Doug even helped load up the boards and loaned our SUV to haul everything away. He is so thoughtful!

Many of you have asked about my big bro who is currently deployed overseas on the USS Peleliu. He is doing well, but misses his family a lot. We look forward to having him back in the US by Thanksgiving. We received an email from him this weekend that contained a blog post about his ship. Long story short, Aaron's ship helped a boat off the coast of Somalia who was being attacked by Pirates. Can you believe it? He is the coolest.

I have started adding tags to all my posts. That (along with Google Reader) are my two favorite things. I even went back to add tags to all my old posts. I know what you are thinking (she's a huge dork), but it's really cool to see what you blog about and be able to sort by topics. Not surprisingly, Willie is my most popular tag.

Coming up this weekend - High School Reunion.

Olympics Bound

We had the opportunity to see the USA 2008 Olympic baseball team take on Canada, here in our very own backyard. The training complex for the team is here in the triangle - so they played several games at the Durham Bulls Stadium. It was so cool to see the team that will be representing our country in the summer Olympic games - in a just a few weeks. USA beat Canada and more importantly we had a great night with friends Staci & Matt.