Solid orange-Juner.

We closed on the house on Tuesday and the movers came on Wednesday (again, thank you Clemson University for paying moving expenses so we could stay in a hotel until our furniture came!). We don't have any pictures of the house yet, though it is mostly unpacked, thanks to the most wonderful Miss Susan, who drove down from Greensboro on probably the only two days off from work that she had this summer. She was a great help with unpacking and helping keep us kids happy.

We do have a shot of the best part of our house- our new playground! The extra bonus? Grass doesn't grow well in SC, so we're filthy when we're done playing! We really appreciate the luxury of a big back yard and a driveway. We head outside so much now (despite the blazing heat) and play with our toys in the shade of the garage and the many trees that surround our house. And despite the fact that the driveway takes a dangerous slant down into the street (seriously), we've only managed to lose a ball in the woods across the street once (mama did fish it out eventually). Looks like we're going to need to rig up some kind of gate before we lose more things to the hill. Just hope it never frosts down here, or we'll never make it out of our impossibly hilly neighborhood alive.

Grams Cracker and PawPaw made the trip down this weekend so PawPaw could see our house before he is put on full time active duty next week. They also conveniently managed to load their truck up with a great deal of stuff that was placed in the garage with little more than: "We've been storing this stuff for years. Now you have a house and you can take it back." We did manage to score a freezer (bring on that side of beef!), two dressers, a twin bed and an early Christmas present- a wooden play kitchen. It's a very cool kitchen and comes with the greatest accessory- a potholder that I insisted on carrying around all day.

Papa took us on to campus to show us his new office. Oh, sorry Professor, didn't mean to interrupt your work!

We also hit up Fan Appreciation Day at Death Valley- the ridiculously large Clemson football stadium that hold 85,000 fans.

Note what we're wearing. Do you think we stuck out?Here's what everyone else is wearing. This is what you need to know- little girls must wear cheerleading uniforms. Little boys wear football jerseys. Everyone else wears bright orange. If, for some crazy reason, you don't wear official team apparel, you are still obligated to color-coordinate your outfit to match the rest of your family's orange. We have a lot to learn.

We walked around the stadium once and picked up our free water bottles from the Bi-Lo, but didn't bother with standing in line to have our memorabilia signed by every member of the team.

We took off pretty soon because it was hot and poor Henry picked up a bug from his old school and was down all weekend with a fever. It was so bad that when we went out to eat for Sunday lunch, Henry fell asleep on mama's lap. Poor guy.

While Henry recuperated, I tried to show mama what it takes to be a southern belle. These hair bows aren't quite big enough yet, but they're a good start. Next up, pierced ears and a silver chain necklace and bracelet set like we saw on a 1 year old at the store. Maybe mama will get me a monogrammed purse too.

Stay tuned and we'll try to get some pictures of the house up soon.

Goodbye to our little house-Juner.

Bright and early Monday morning, we were back at our little house to wait for the movers to come. WE had this whole truck to ourselves. Luckily, we didn't fill it up.

If you remember our move from Wisconsin last year, our previous experience with movers was less than rosy. We are so happy to say that the movers from Smith Dray Lines of South Carolina was the best, most efficient group of guys we've ever met. Two guys had our house packed up in 4 hours (it took 3 guys 13 hours last year). Henry was very excited to see the truck, but as usual, too shy to stand beside it for a picture.

When they drove off, Henry yelled "There goes all our stuff!"

Papa had already left for Clemson at this point so it was just the three of us left to finish cleaning up the house. Good thing mama and papa spent most of Saturday cleaning, so all mama had to do on Monday was vacuum and mop. But even that took a long time. It's gross to see what lurks under furniture after only a year. (Including a big stain under the couch. If anyone knows the source of this stain, you better speak up now.)

We got one last shot of our little house and loaded in the van for a hotter, more humid climate. We hope our new neighbors are half as nice as our old ones.

Music in Reynolda Gardens- Henry.

We finally have internet in our house! Mama is glad she doesn't have to sneak outside at night to mooch wireless internet off our unsuspecting neighbors anymore.

We've got a lot of updating to do, so lets start from the beginning.

We said goodbye to CookOut, our favorite restaurant in North Carolina. We'll miss your barbeque, enormous hamburgers, milk shakes (with chunks of peanut butter) and the ability to order chicken nuggets as a side. Our cholesterol will not miss you at all. On our last trip, June contemplated the impact of the moment. Luckily, there's no shortage of fried food in Clemson.

On Saturday, the packers came to pack up all of our stuff into boxes. If you are ever fortunate enough to have someone pay for packers, it is truly the best job perk you can receive. Three ladies came in and packed the whole house in 6 hours. Mama was able to work behind them and clean as they packed. It was a long day and by the time they left, Juner had fallen asleep on my bed while she waited her turn to be put down for a nap.

We wanted to celebrate, so we called our friends the Paytons to meet us at Reynolda Gardens for their Saturday night music in the park. It was a cool evening (or we've finally adjusted to the south) and there was plenty of room to dance.

Mama loves this picture. If only my face was in focus. Look at how much fun Gracie is having.

Audrey joined in the dancing fun.

Look at the air under those two.

Juner and Audge (as we call her) liked that the band customized lyrics for us. "Running around a tree" was sung many times.

Pretty Audrey.

June sat on the sidewalk and clapped to the music.

All the kids had happy meals, but were too excited to focus on eating, so supper became and eat-and-run event. Grab a chicky nug and go. Audrey never let her mama have a chance to wipe her face.

McDonalds has an awesome happy meal prize right now--Lego cars. Gracie and I pushed ours everywhere. (Plus, we ate out so much during the move, I now have three!)
We pushed them so much that we both ended up with holes in our clothes from the sidewalk.

We tried to get a group shot of the four best buds, but no one really cooperated.

Soon after, June impressed a crowd by eating fresh figs whole (including the stems). Just you wait, world of competitive eating.

June tried parking my car in the gutter, and mama got this shot seconds before I yank June out by her necklace.

That got me a long time out and a sentence of a bath before bed.

We can't say enough about the amount of gratitude we owe the Paytons. What started out as a agreement to swap babysitting turned into a great friendship for both families. Henry and Grace spent every day at summer school together, carpooling and memorizing the words to "Ring of Fire," "Yellow Submarine," and "Babara Ann." June and Audrey spent most mornings together while our moms worked out at their gym together. It was rare that we went more than a day without being together.

Then to top it all off, they opened up their home to us during the process of moving out and even allowed Grace and I to sleep in the same room. Mama threatened us within an inch of our life if she heard us. We managed to keep it quiet, but still stayed up until well after 11pm. On the second night, we eventually had to be separated so we could get some sleep.

Finally, here's some dancing videos.

We never said it was a good band.

We made it- mama.

I don't have any pictures to upload right now, but we made it to South Carolina and are now the proud owners of a house. The move couldn't have been easier (so far). The movers come tomorrow to unload our stuff and the new washer and dryer and guest bed are delivered Thursday. That's right, a guest bed. Book your vacations now.

To tide you over until we update again, here's a glimpse of what you'd see if you came to visit us in Clemson- Solid Orange Tiger Pride. Everything in this town is named after the Tigers.

Check out the Yahoo Yellow Pages listing here.

And if they are not officially named "Tiger," there's usually Tiger written on the side of the building. For example, the car wash was christened the "Tiger Bubble Bath." Some of my other favorites are "Tiger Nails," the "Bronze Tiger," (a tanning salon), and "Tigers Go!" (I don't know what they do). But the very best Tiger business went right after my heart when I saw their sign:
Now this is a tiger after my heart. Sure, on the weekends, he's out there rooting for the home team, but come Monday, it's back to work on the old tape machine. Mama vows that when she goes back to work, it will be for this business.

Big update- June.

We've been spending this week getting ready for the big move, so here's a big post to make up for the lost time.

I'm starting to feel better, although I'm still trying to milk it for all it's worth. I'm playing with the Word Whammer, which is my favorite toy, now that I figured out which way the magnets go.
Mama snapped this shot about 2 seconds too late. I had lined up my stuffed animals in a row then sat down next to them. It was cute.

I like playing with the magnets on the front door now that I know it's magnetic. But I only play with the Car movie cars. But not any other magnets.

Sorry we didn't warn you about this shot. It's graphic.

Mama got bored and spent 10 minutes trying to get my hair in a ponytail.

Mama can't figure out how little kids can crouch like this all the time.

Talk about cute.

Things are getting lax around the house now that mama is busy getting ready for the move. Shoes on the carpet, peaches, grapes, and chitos for supper (that really happened tonight- we have no more food in the house), and now crackers on the couch-while we watch tv. We are living the life. Hopefully our new house doesn't have any rules either.

Artwork- Henry.

Here's some artwork that I've been working on at school.

I tried to capture the details on this Dora picture.

This one is from fire week.
Ants.

Ladies bugs like my guggybug.

This is a stocking from when we read one of my favorite books- How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Mama and papa were surprised to see I could do connect the dots. I explained to them how you draw a line from 1 to 2 to 3 to 4 and all the way to 16.

Most of my artwork comes home labeled to Mom Love Henry. I often tell people about my mom and my dad because they might not understand what I mean when I say mama and papa.

The whole house is down sick- Henry.

Mama's got her hands full this week- everyone's got a cold. I'm not so bad. I've got a cough and am more tired than usual. It's not so bad except tonight my friend TJ came over to swim and I wiped out when we were racing home. I needed three band aids. I got so worked up because it was past my bedtime, I sobbed until mama came to "put me to bed- now."

Back to the sick ones. June didn't sleep well last night and was in a lowly state today. She took two bad naps today and spent the rest of the afternoon laying in mama's arms watching Curious George.

This is how she looked when she woke up from her second nap. Poor little gugger. Papa's not feeling well either. But we didn't get any pictures of him. He just went straight to bed. Luckily mama is okay and taking care of all of us.

On a funny note, I just woke up and started yelling for mama. When she got in there, I told her I wanted the spaceship to leave, rolled over and went back to sleep.

Sunday at the park- Juner.

Yesterday, we decided to head to the park before lunch.

It turned out to be a terrible idea as it was easilt the hottest day yet this year.

We swung for a while until the seats got too hot. Normally I throw a fit when papa tries to get me out, but today I didn't mind.

Henry demonstrated how babies swing, even though I don't swing that way anymore.

We tried to cool off with the mist fountain, but it was so hot, not much of the mist made it down to us. Normally it makes a big mud puddle on the ground that I like to play in, but today there were no puddles.

I wore a mini skirt to try and keep my legs cool.

And my shirt had some ready made ventilation too. Mama thinks maybe it's time to retire this outfit.

We gave up when mama crawled under the playground to lay in the shade and refused to play with us. Those are some sweaty kids.

We holed ourselves up in the house for the rest of the day. I did some investigating with the magnifying glass. Cool weather was no where to be found.

While Henry and Papa were out shopping, I played with some of the toys he usually keeps from me. Mama tried to get a good video of me making choo choo sounds.