Carillon Beach 2015

Our crazy crew was lucky enough to make a return trip to Carillon Beach for our Sauder Family Vacay 2015!
Carillon Beach is the perfect little beach neighborhood where your toughest decision is whether to hit up the beach or one of the three heated pools.  Our family loved it last year so we all decided, heck, what if we did this every year?!  No objections here.  Especially as it became a Roberts Reunion with everyone on my mom's side of the family making the trip.  The more the merrier!

We had perfect weather and a wonderful time with everyone.  The worst part was that it had to end.  Some pics of our fun in the sun.

Reese is still a little tentative about all that sand sticking to her toes...I keep thinking she'll grow out of it and love the waves like Cade.  She thought about it...

She did warm up to it a bit when it came to making a castle with Dad.  Anything for her daddy.

But usually Reese was content to hang with the crew up at the beach chairs under the umbrella.  Why not when you can cuddle with Grandmama?

This guy gives a thumbs up to the beach, waves, sand and sun in every possible way.

The pools are very kid-friendly, except for the one neighborhood pool that is for 18 years and older.  I've never been to that pool actually...

Plenty of crab-hunting and frog-catching again this year.

Last year we walked all over the neighborhood but this year we were happy to ride in style with this guy.  I think Big Papa kinda liked being the chauffeur and getting to zip around Carillon.  The security guard sure kept an eye on him.

Everyone's favorite CPA celebrated a milestone birthday this year so it was fitting to celebrate while we were all together.


That's an awful lot of candles...Happy Birthday, Papa!


More celebrations, Father's Day!

I always made fun of Gentry's beach hats, but after three or four days in the sun, it started to feel like the right thing to do.

Cade and Reese loved getting to hang out with all the cousins.  Andy, Aaron, and Maci live in North Carolina so we don't get to see them as often as we'd like.  They were such troopers to entertain their tag-alongs all week!

Reese said she wished she was a teenager so she could be Maci's best friend.  

The front porch was great for socializing and story-telling.

We took a little day trip to some of the other nearby beach towns, Seaside and Rosemary.

We had some expensive ice cream and decided Carillon had everything we needed and no traffic.

Who wants to leave this perfect little place?  Not us!  We stayed in the same house, Casa del Sol, that we had last year.  It was nice to be familiar with it all.  The Horner's stayed up the street at Liberte' and the Roberts stayed at the Carillon Beach Resort Inn.

Sauder Family Fun

The whole Roberts gang!

Until next year, Sweet Carillon!

Sold!!

I usually make a running list of little home projects and improvements I'd like to accomplish during the summer.  This summer our list looks a little different as we are settling into a new home!  Just unpacking and getting settled has provided enough projects to keep us plenty busy.

The Scoop:

Matt and I had been stalking the real estate websites (we prefer Reece and Nichols site) and dropping in on open houses for a few months--it was kind of just a hobby to see what was out there.  We wanted to be informed about real estate in different neighborhoods and didn't want to miss out on a good deal where we could gain more room for a good price.  The kids actually enjoyed house shopping with us and loved getting to hang out with "Realtor Bob" in the evenings.  (Sidenote: They were disappointed to find out that Realtor Bob wouldn't be living with us in our new home.  They assumed he would since he was with us at all the houses we looked at!)  As real estate heated up in the KC area this spring and the walls seemed to be closing in on our current home we started praying for clarity and God's timing as we got more serious about actually selling our home and moving.

The market was moving so quickly it seemed whenever we looked at a house we needed to decide right at that moment if we wanted to make an offer.  That made me nervous.  There were several homes I wanted to like but just wasn't sure they were worth a bidding war.  We were looking for more room and were willing to make renovations along the way if the price was right.  Clearly, we've been watching far too much Fixer Upper--'cause Chip and Jojo we are not.  And God knows that.  

Thankfully, we ended up with the perfect home for us!  One that does not need any major updating, 'cause let's be real, that would have been a nightmare.  We also were able to stay in south Olathe, gain quite a bit of square-footage, and decrease our mammoth-sized yard!  I knew when this house popped up on the realtor website that it would go quick and we needed to act fast.  We knew this was the one!  Our offer was accepted and it was time to (quickly) get ours ready to sell. 

Our parents (as always) were a huge help in sprucing up our home.  We cleaned out closets and de-cluttered by putting things in a storage unit.  We hauled all of the baby things (TWO cribs, a changing table, baby swing, bouncy seat, bumbo seat, high chair, TWO rockers, and 14 tubs of clothes, toys, and who knows what else) as well as off-season clothes, seasonal decorations, etc. to the storage unit.  (That was a very helpful step in making our current home look bigger...yet it was AWFUL to unpack all the stuff we had quickly thrown into tubs and shoved in the storage unit at the new house.  Moving is hard work!)

We put the house on the market on May 4th for about $3,000 over what we hoped to get for it.  We camped out at Chuck E. Cheese one evening and the Hepker's the next.  After over 20 showings in about 2 days, we accepted one of six offers for $10,000 over our asking price and much more than we ever thought we'd get for it.  A major answer to prayer!  We clearly saw God's perfect timing and provision as things fell into place for our move.

Our first home worked great for us for the last six years but it was time for new owners with fresh ideas and a renewed enthusiasm for it.  (Someone ready to finish that basement ceiling!)  We are so thankful that God provided a nice couple who are expecting their first child soon and are excited to make our house their home!

Here are the realtor pictures of our first house.  (So I can remember it as clean and clutter-free as it ever was, ha!)   

 
 


 
Once the house sold, we started letting the kids swim in the hot tub.  They would have begged to swim in it 24/7 and that wasn't a can of worms we wanted to open before there was an end in sight!




 

Last pic with the end of the flowering phase for the lilac tree.  It always bloomed around Cade's birthday and smelled so nice!
 

All cleaned out and ready to pass on to the new owners.

We moved on June 7th and while it has taken some convincing (they didn't sleep well for awhile), they've decided the new place isn't half bad!  We are enjoying making this new place our home and are so thankful for God's provision and blessings.

Cade the Baller

Cade participated in the Rookie Basketball League for 4-5 year olds through the Olathe Parks and Rec this Spring.  They worked on drills and "scrimmaged" each other for an hour every Friday night for 8 weeks.

Look at that shot!

Cade was on the orange team that was named the Jayhawks.  Cade was disappointed about having to be on the Jayhawks...but that's what happens when you are taking a bathroom break while the rest of your team is coming up with the team name.  Lesson learned.  LESS hydration is necessary.

The Jayhawks did not win many games, but since no official score is kept, Cade was certain they won every game.  

He enjoyed the chance to play and has now changed his future vocation of choice to be a basketball player.  

He was very proud of his medal.  We all enjoyed getting to watch him play.  Here's to many more years of 'ballin!!