Is the distance between Earth and the...

Yes. Because Earth spins slower every day (that’s just what spinning objects do), the Moon moves not quite two inches away from it each year. The rate decreases by 1-1/2 thousandths of a second every 100 years — not enough so that you’d notice, but enough for the Moon’s gravitational pull to lessen. This allows its orbit to increase, which results in a greater distance from Earth. Got that?