What a busy summer it's turned out to be!  It was wonderful to spend some time in New York at Brian's, then in PA with Linda and Ted for a few days.  The cool weather was a welcome relief from North Carolina's summer heat.  We have a wonderful neighbor who mowed our lawn and watered our flowerswhile we were in New York, and Jeff checked on the house and garden every week.  It's so nice to be able to leave our place in such good hands!

We returned home on August 8th just in time to unpack and be ready for a visit from our niece, Cathy, her husband Roy and their two girls who came up from their beach rental with Bill's sister, Marie, for a dinner and a visit.  On the 15th, Brian, Jackie and Alex arrived to spend a few days with us and get in some beach time.  They were here the best time!  The ocean was calm with water temperatures in the 80's, the beaches were just lovely.  We enjoyed going to the beach with the kids (Jeff included) a couple of times, and also enjoyed being home to get the flower beds weeded and the lawn mowed.

As soon as Brian and family headed home, we started getting ready for our 6 week stay in South Carolina at Huntington Beach State Park near Myrtle Beach.  We're really looking forward to volunteering there, and getting to stay at the beautiful park for 6 weeks as a bonus.  Huntington Beach has a beautiful 3 mile long beach and lots of places for relaxation and fishing (for Bill).  By Wednesday, Aug. 26th, the rig was washed, packed and we were on our way to our new "job".