Since the family party, we have been busy looking for a house and trying to stay cool. July summers in America are truly hot summer weather, and after being in such a mild climate as Germany for 2 years, I knew it'd be a hard adjustment. I now enjoy air conditioning much more than I used to, and I am hard pressed to get the kids to go outside and play at all- even in the mornings before it's too hot. But they think that 80 degrees with high humidity at 8 am is too hot and uncomfortable to be out and about in, even with a kiddie pool to play in. Luckily, they love to swim and Aunt Lori lets us come over whenever we want to go swim in her big pool. So, we've been going 2-3 times a week.



This morning I got them into the car and we went to Boiling Springs to the Children's Lake to feed the ducks a loaf of bread. It was a lovely morning and we had fun, but soon Ariel's grown up attitude marred the morning so we went home, and she was sent to her room for an hour by herself. Afterwards she seemed to think that she could be nicer, and did so. But I'll have to get back down to the lake both this summer and in the fall for some great photo opportunities with historical places around the small lake.



The kids have been using the camera as of late, and these pics show how much fun they've been having. Ariel has also been making a habit of calling Grandma everyday since she fully committed her number to memory.