whoa

now that's what i call a disappearance.  complete and total silence on my end.  it wasn't intentional ... really it wasn't ... i just somehow got caught in the undertow of the summer pace and the days went by faster than i could keep up with.  in fact, i still find it unbelievable that summer vacation has come and gone.  it all happened so fast - was i even there?  my blog sure wasn't ...

with three whole months to catch up on, i'm not even sure where to begin?  and do i even have readers anymore?!  i see that my last real post was on father's day - followed by the blooming of our gorgeous roses that always mark the arrival of summer vacation.  and then i was trampled by a pace i just never saw coming!

*****

Our summer vacation started off with a visit from one of my most treasured girlfriends.  She and I met when we were just starting to date our husbands (former college roommates) back in our mid-20's - the 4 of us seemed to do everything together ... weddings, first homes, first babies (due dates were 3 days apart!), even the second babies (8 weeks apart!) ... our timing was always hand in hand.  Having them right here in town for those special years was great - from bachelorettes to new moms, through it all we forged a bond we'll never break.  We were heartbroken when they moved away 11 years ago, jobs have forced a couple of moves on them, so face to face visits only come every couple of years or so.  And this was one of those special times!  It was the very end of June - she flew up from Atlanta with her 2 boys and spent the week reconnecting in her old hometown ... and the kids picked up like no time at all had passed ...

and my girlfriend and i got to spend lots of time catching up like old girlfriends do ... what a fabulous way to start our summer break ...

They pulled out of town on Friday July 2nd, so from there we jumped right into the 4th of July weekend ... the little ladybug was sure to accessorize as only she can do ...

Her star spangled mani/pedi was done 100% on her own - the kid amazes me - what 10 year old has that level of patience?!  And the strawberries?  Got that idea on pinterest ... dipped in white chocolate, then rolled in blue sugar ... delicious does not even begin to cover it - so so good!

So are you starting to see how i was already being pulled down by summer's undertow and it was only the 4th of July?!  I knew I had fallen a few weeks behind in blogland, both as a reader and a writer, but there just wasn't a moment to spare - the computer was collecting dust inside the house while we did our thing.  And I had to be ok with that.  Because by the time the 4th of July had passed, sailing camps were in full swing (different half-day schedules for both girls - a real knife in our schedules), big ladybug's BIG birthday was getting closer, our annual summer visit from our Charlotte NC "cousins" was 2 days after that, and Race Week (the biggest busiest craziest week of all) was starting 2 days after that ... it exhausts me to think of how many things we packed into the 31 days of July ... but I wouldn't trade a single one.

 As for the remainder of my summer, I'll try to do a couple of weekending-style posts to get caught up ... or maybe a 10-on-10 type of thing ... because in spite of the whirlwind pace, I still managed to have my camera in my hands.  Phew.  Proof that it was all real!  Hope you'll stick with me to see ...