Happy Birthday Eden!

Eden is 2! So hard to believe that she's growing up so quickly! Eden had the best time on Sunday at her birthday party with her friends Luke, Wesley, Kate and Ryn. We ate pizza, did an art project, swam in the baby pool and opened presents.
























































Round 2 for the cake


The next day Eden got to open her presents from her grandparents and us and had an absolutely fantastic time. Mamma and Grandpa went in with us on an art easel and supplies and all she has wanted to do the past couple of days is paint. Thus, we have taken a lot of baths.

Our little collector

NC Mountains

After returning to Jacksonville for just two days from our house hunting trip we went to the mountains in North Carolina with some of Jeremy's work colleagues. It was absolutely beautiful! I think the highlight for everyone was the hike along the Appalachian Trail and the amazing view of the mountains. Eden LOVED being in the backpack; she kept shouting "Double Time Daddy!"























Matt, Meredith and Double Time Daddy

Househunting

A lot has been going on in the Dresner house. On the first of August we started our drive, yes drive, from Jacksonville to DC to look for a new house. Smartly, we decided to stop off in Durham where we were lucky enough to see Heather and Matt and their new baby Meridian and Lauren and her son Nathan.






















Heather and Meridian, Me and Eden, Lauren and Nathan



We arrived in DC on the second and gratefully unloaded at our friends the Klingele's house. Cecelia and Jeremy clerked together in Jacksonville and now Cecelia is clerking for the Supreme Court. We love that we get to spend another year with them. In fact, there are another 2 Jacksonville clerks who are moving to DC as well, so we get to continue these great friendships.

We started our house search on Sunday and probably saw about 15 houses a day until Wednesday. We are so lucky to have great friends in the Klingeles and Brooke and David Thomas because without them taking care of Eden our marathon house hunting trip would have been impossible.


Brooke with the kids at the splash park

The craziness started on Wednesday morning when we decided to put in an offer on a house that already had one offer to review. It was a long, long day that ended up in a bidding war, but by 9pm we had a ratified contract and our inspection scheduled for 9am on Thursday.

WhooHoo! We're soon-to-be homeowners of a 3 bedroom 1 and 2 half-baths colonial house with a great yard that is only a 15 minute commute via metro for Jeremy! We close on the 4th of Sept and will probably move at the end of Sept.

We thought we could head home, but there's a lot to take care of when you are an out of town buyer! The plus side of this is we got to spend Thursday evening in Annapolis meeting Justin and Farracy's new baby Jackson and catching up with my cousins Barbie and Bill.










Eden did not cooperate for picture time


Finally, Friday evening we headed back to Durham for some pool fun with the Kings and a wonderful dinner with our friends Andrew and Carla and their new baby Noah.

Slumber party

Leah is in Orlando for work so we drove down to have an old fashioned slumber party. Decker was too cool to come too. Claimed she had to work the next morning :)

Tina made an amazing dinner and Eden loved Tina's pool. Jake has gotten huge and looks just like Manuel, and of course, Eden wouldn't let me hold him for long. Thanks Tina and Manuel for a fun visit and the mangos!

Breakfast!

Eden spotted the Nutella and had to have it. yummy!

Weekend at the beach

Jeff and Allyn went out of town and kindly let us use their beach house. Sadly, I didn't bring the camera so you could see the three foot hole Cooper dug in about 30 seconds or Eden's army of sand turtles.

We spent Saturday at the beach, ate yummy Yogaberry (we'll support anyone who opens a DC franchise), and went to dinner at Sliders with our friends Anndrea, Dan and their son Wesley. Eden does a happy dance while shouting Wesley anytime she sees him - I'll try to catch it on video next time.

Sunday was more beach and then lunch at TPC Sawgrass. We then made the flawed decision to drive home instead of giving Eden her nap at Jeff and Allyn's and listened to her scream for the entire 30 minute drive. Never again!