We had a very busy, yet fun, memorial day weekend.  On Saturday, we went to our friend Tamara's house for a cookout to help her celebrate her birthday with friends and family.  The highlight of the evening occurred when Ruth and Sophie, the daughters of fellow teacher Cameron, performed a song that they wrote for Tamara called Hello Kitty Girl.  I wish we had a video of their performance to share, but take it from me, they are very talented young ladies.

On Sunday, we went to our friend's--Vera and Johannes--new house for dinner.  Their new house--just inside Cabarrus County--is amazing and spacious.  They got a really great deal in this buyers market.  As usual, they had prepared a huge feast including two different types of pork, hot dogs for the kids, yellow rice, four or five different salads, watermelon, chips, cookies...and more.  We also enjoyed meeting some of their new neighbors, who have invited us to experience their neighborhood Halloween party in October--they say it is unmatched in the Charlotte area.

On Memorial Day, we went to Hickory to have lunch at Aunt Beth and Uncle John's house and swim in the lake.  It was a perfect day to just float around in the water, take the kayak out, or just lounge on the dock.  Even Andrea's grandma, Meme, tried out the kayak for the first time.

Then, this past Saturday, Michelle and I went with Camden and Will to the Extreme Ice Center in Indian Trail for their friend Tyler's birthday.  I absolutely loved it because it was so cool inside the rink while it was in the nineties and muggy outside.  Camden and Will both improved their skating skills immensely by the time the session was over.

Yesterday, we went to Troop 1088's end of year ceremony and cookout.  It was very hot, but we soon found some shade in the backyard and let the girls cool of with a slip-and-slide, pool, sprinkler, and water balloons.