Pre-4th-of-July Cousins Photo Shoot

While we were in Black Mountain a couple weeks ago on our early June road-trip, Amy and I staged a brief photo shoot of the three cousins wearing matching 4th-of-July dresses provided by Grammie.  These are the highlights:

Catching Up--Our June Roadtrip

Friends, can you believe it is June 19 already?  The summer is flying by, and we are loving every minute here at the Berry casa.  Evelyn is taking her first swim lessons this week from the very same lady (Miss Carolyn) who taught me and my sisters to swim; although Ev was decidedly NOT pleased about having to follow directions in the pool yesterday, she calmed down a little bit today, and is floating on her back and blowing bubbles to beat the band (in between letting out screeches of protest, obviously).

Dave watched his little ducklings graduate on June 2 and head out into the great beyond; although he dearly loves spending most moments of his days with the children during the school year, he is in sore need of a break by May, so hallelujah for summer vacation.  Speaking of summer vacation, we officially kicked off our summer with a 9-day road-trip to visit family in Virginia, North Carolina, and Kentucky.  Phew!  Lots of driving, which Evelyn did not always love, but we had a good time, nonetheless.

First stop:  Lynchburg, VA, for a visit with our beloved G.G.  Evelyn and G.G. were thick as thieves, whether strolling around the neighborhood, inspecting a train at the park, splashing in the tub, or snacking on the porch.  The pictures below are from a park we visited twice with G.G.; it had a fun playground, a train to inspect, a spray-ground, and all sorts of great paths and green-space to wander:

We (sadly) waved good-bye to G.G. after a few days, and headed down 29-South toward Black Mountain, N.C.  Dave's brother, Phil, and his family graciously hosted us for a couple days, and we had some great cousin time!  Evelyn loved hanging out at Camp Ridgecrest (where Phil works), eating ice cream at the Dairy King, and playing around the house with Piper and Lily:

This shot is at the chapel service after supper one night at camp.  Note that Evelyn's cousins, aunt, and father are sitting still and listening attentively.  

Finally, we headed west and spent time in Frankfort, KY, with Evelyn's great-grandfather B, Grammie, Grandaddy, Dan (great-uncle), and Patsy (great-aunt), and then swung through Louisville on the way home to eat a meal with Honey, D, Aunt El, and baby cousin Joseph:

And though our girl sometimes looked like this in the car...

...it was not all fun and games.  So when we needed a break, we just found the closest Chick-Fil-A, parked, and visited their lovely Play-Place for a brief respite:

Happy summer to you all!