June highlights

June was a month for staying put.  After a spring full of traveling and a summer of anticipated travels, it was nice to have a stretch of time to stay in Durham.  I taught a summer session class at the community college two days a week, and we had plenty of other activities to fill our time.  Here are some of the highlights:

Mother of three:

 A friend of a friend was in town for a conference and needed someone to watch her two children.  Having three kids under three years was busy, but manageable.  We even managed some impressive feats such as fitting three car seats in the back seat of my car, taking the kiddos out to the park and to the museum (with Clark's assistance), and out to a play date at the Stay & Play Café (I managed that outing solo, thank you very much!).  They were cute little kids, and Emmett enjoyed having constant playmates.

 The Museum of Life and Science

 The darling Stay & Play Café

Durham Discoveries and Date Night:

 Clark and I got tickets to see Nicki Bluhm & the Gramblers.  It was in a part of Durham that somehow we had never explored.  I'm still not sure how we missed this little area just outside of downtown.  It's home to some fun looking restaurants, a hot chocolate shop, a concert venue and various food trucks.  We both really enjoyed the concert.  Clark got a little star struck when he spotted Tim Bluhm outside of the venue before the concert.  Too bad he didn't go and strike up a conversation...

Tim Bluhm is in the blue tee

King's was one of the restaurants we spotted and one I'd remembered reading an article about.  The Preece's accompanied us to check it out.  It was a neat location with great service and the food was okay.  We probably won't eat there again, but it was a fun outing. We'll especially remember Matthew's little incident at the end that left him bare-bummed all the way home.  :)

 Love these people!

My handsome boys:

 Father's Day was a relaxed and happy one.  Grandpa Schmutz sent Clark and Emmett matching ties for the occasion, and Emmett was just thrilled to wear his first tie ever.  They are a pretty adorable pair.

Beat the heat:

June tricked us with lots of rain and lots of heat.  We fit in one quick day trip down to Wrightsville Beach.   It was a beautiful day with lots of sun.  Emmett rolled in the sand and played in the waves, and I successfully body surfed for the first time.  We were happy to have Jake along for the trip. 

 The youth were eager to beat the heat with our pool party which happened to be interrupted by quite a thunderstorm.  That didn't stop us from swimming!  We did try to get out of the pool at least for a little while when we saw lightning...  It was a really great activity with our young men and women.  I sure do like hanging out with them.

 Speaking of rain, a couple of times Emmett and I got caught in a rain storm during a morning walk.  Looking at it in a positive light, I was forced to run rather than walk and Emmett got a shower.  :)

Other:

 We had a second play date with cute little Josie.  Hoping for more of those in our future!

 The last weekend in June, Clark and I hosted a sweet potato pancake and video game party for all the ward youth.  We were pleasantly surprised to have such a great turn out.  I made a triple batch of pancakes and Clark pulled out the modified xbox.  We managed to eat almost all of the pancakes and everyone seemed to have a good time.  We might have to do it again sometime...