On Saturday afternoon, Aaron and I drove to Greensboro to go out with Jonathan and Joy that night. It was an awesome double date opportunity and we wouldn't have missed it! It was Jonathan's birthday and we went to eat at the O'Henry Hotel's restaurant for dinner, then to Ganache in downtown for dessert. Before we went out for dinner, we dropped Seth (their 2 year old) off at her sister's house for the night. Her sister has 3 boys, and Joy is having another boy (Joel) in October...lots of boys around! And this is what they do...wrestle and climb :)

We got to sit under the party tent outside for dinner. I thought it was romantic, and Aaron was glad that the waiter brought a fan to blow air directly on him.

Inside the hotel

You can't even see Joy's baby belly! She's so small...you can only see it if she turns sideways :)

We walked around downtown for a few minutes after dessert. It was very crowded...lots of people out having a good time.

Aaron and Jonathan have been best friends since childhood and we love how we are growing together as families now.

(Seth's car seat was in the back, so that's why they are so smooshed together)

Happy birthday, Jonathan! Thanks for inviting us out, and thanks to Papa and Gramme for letting the girls spend the night!

Today we went over to Avery's house to play. These girls met at preschool and they both have sisters the same age (Kate and Rachel). Avery is a very animated little girl and we always have fun with her!

Vivian is doing pretty well with the alphabet. She recognizes almost all of the letters. She can sing the ABCs clearly except for the "LMNO" part...it all kind of runs together for her :)
Here is a video of her playing with a puzzle. You might have to watch it a couple of times to get what she's saying (I'm sure only the grandparents will be that interested). I tried to repeat the things she said for clarity.

On Friday night we spent the night at the lake and then spent half of the day there on Saturday. It wasn't the most successful lake trip because as soon as we got the boat out, it started storming. Aaron was helping Debbie S. move on Saturday, too, so we missed him. Maybe we will try again this summer! The girls enoyed it for the most part. When we stopped the boat, Kate got too hot, and the sweat running down her face made the sunscreen get in her eyes and she freaked out. So she didn't stay out too long.

Stephen was our chaffeur. Dad was back on the dock trying to fix the jetski.

Vivian got frustrated with her hair blowing in her face with the wind.

We really need to work on Vivian's camera smile.

Today we had lunch out with Uncle Joey and Aunt Sierra. It was a HUGE treat!!

Last night the girls spent the night at Papa and Gramme's house, so this morning they were able to play with Papa when he came back from work to give Gramme her Starbucks. They love Papa!

"No, don't pick your boogers. Only Mommy does that for you."

Every other Friday night, we get together with the same group of friends to talk about the sermons from the previous two Sundays. We started this several months ago and it has been a tremendous encouragement us. Last night I got a picture of the kids playing upstairs...they have a lot of fun together, too! Hayden, Jax, Tyson, Lilah, Grayson, and Vivian. We were missing Cohen, Ansley, Julia, and Mason last night, and Kate was sleeping.

And here are our trusted babysitters for the kids...Elise and Destiny (mom and daughter). They are so faithful to come help every time. They have been extremely committed to serving us in this way so that we can meet without the kids around and actually concentrate on the discussions :) Baby Loren is in this picture, too.

Sweet face, but she was actually whining for me to pick her up which is not so sweet.

Yesterday afternoon Uncle Stephen and I took the girls to the Salem Fair. Gramme decided to come along too and we were very grateful because the trip was a pretty big job! They had a great time doing something unique. It is such a privilege to be around when kids do something for the first time.
The biggest issue was that it was so HOT...maybe even close to 100 degrees?! They drank a lot of water but the heat didn't seem to bother them. Kate rode a few things but was very patient to hang out in the stoller and watch everything. Vivian had her classic "I'm thinking, observing, confused" look on her face most of the time, but it was obvious that she was excited. She asked to do everything one more time.
I'm so glad we made the effort!

On Thursday, July 1st, Mason James Carroll was born to our friends Nathan and Erin. We are very excited for them! He was 8 lbs, 13.5 oz and 21" long at birth. Their little girl Julia is friends with Vivian and Kate. We were sad to be at the beach when he arrived, but we stopped by to meet him today. He is so cute and healthy!

I can't remember posting the following pictures that I took from Erin's baby shower back in May. We had a great time celebrating her little boy and God's goodness...she got lots of diapers and cute clothes! Crystal, Jill, Piper, Abriana, Mary Lynn

Erin made her own shower cake...crazy, I know! It was beautiful, though. It went with the theme of Mason's nursery.

The mommy with her mom and mother-in-law.

It was a rainy day, but we made the best of it and had fun anyway! Shannon Maggi threw the shower and did a great job. And now we are so glad that Mason is actually here!

Kate is growing fast! Yesterday she was 11 months old, and so of course next month she will be a year! She is changing, but a lot of things are the same as last month, so this update might be shorter. She has the same schedule pretty much, except she's down to two bottles: when she first wakes up, and before bed. I've been giving her cow's milk for a couple of weeks but she hasn't fallen in love yet. She's doing better with it than her sister, though, so there's hope for a milk drinker in our family.
She's extending her afternoon nap until 3:30 or 4. She is going to bed between 7 and 7:30. I cannot get this girl to sleep any later than 6:30 am, though! Ahh! Usually it's about 6 or 6:15. Sometimes she plays patiently until I get her at 7, and other times she's starving and cries until I give in and go get her. I think this early waketime is going to mean that she'll keep her morning nap longer than Vivian did (V gave it up around 13 months old).
She is a good eater except when it comes to vegetables.
She loves to climb stairs and will use all her strength to get out of your arms when she sees them so she can climb.
She is making a little progress towards taking steps on her own, but it still seems like it will be a while. My only interest in having her walk is silly: I want her to be able to start wearing dresses to church :)

Aaron, Vivian, and I call her "Kate Kate" because that's what Vivian used to call her when she was trying to get her attention.
Her feet are much smaller than Vivian's were at this age...she is not even close to being able to fit into V's shoes from last summer.
She smiles A LOT (my mom's nicknames for Kate include "sunshine" and "grinbox"), but she can also be pretty fussy. She will fuss until she gets what she wants (which sometimes could just be attention or to be held).
Peekaboo is a favorite game for her. She laughs easily when we play it.
She hates to have her diaper or clothes changed.
She is a stubborn little girl...doesn't listen very well to "no" but I know for sure that she understands what it means.
She loves to go into Vivian's room to help me wake her up in the morning. Her face lights up when she sees her sister.

Happy 11 months, Kate Kate! You look so grown up!

I know I've been missing in action from the blogging world for a LONG time! We took a break for a trip to NC. We had no internet access while gone :( I've made three posts below that document our travels. Enjoy!
I have many other posts to do to catch up with what's going on in the Fernandez family and I'll try to get to those this week! Hope everyone is doing well and had a fun July 4th.

Our first stop in NC was at Papi and Grandma's house (Aaron's parents). They had not seen the girls since they came up to our house back in January! It was a joy to see them and spend time with them. Vivian attached herself very quickly to Peggy, following her all over the house saying, "Grandma! Grandma! Hold you!" She was comfortable with everyone. We arrived late on Friday night (we didn't leave home until after VBS that night!), then relaxed and played at their house all day Saturday. Peggy waited on us hand and foot...it was a wonderful start to our vacation :) On Sunday we went to church with them, out to eat at Pizza Inn, and after their naps we headed to the beach to begin another adventure.

(Judah's parents are Gray and Pam Bailey...lifelong friends of Aaron's)

We got to the beach on Sunday evening, in time for dinner and bed. We were there all week...our longest vacation yet! I had so much fun watching Vivian and Kate play in the sand, be mesmerized by the waves, squeal with excitement at all the new things we did, and love on their Gramme. Aaron came down on Thursday and we spent a lot of time at the water with the girls. We stayed busy the whole week! I took a lot of pictures but here are some favorites.

On Saturday morning, we left the beach and headed to Hope Mills, which is near Fayetteville. We were invited to Aunt Julie's house for the Fernandez annual 4th of July party. There was food, catching up in conversations (we hadn't seen them since Thanksgiving), boating, swimming, running around, and fireworks. We got there just in time for the girls to take really long naps, which gave me a good chance to eat and catch up with everyone. They played hard for several hours and loved every second. Fun party!