End of Summer 2015

To be honest I am not really a summer person. Yes, I enjoy a beach trip but I would equally enjoy a trip to the mountains. I enjoy spending some Sunday afternoons at the pool but we are not an everyday pool family. I do not really like hot weather and the boys are in school full time no matter what season so maybe those are factors. All that said, I am thrilled to be headed into fall and winter!!
The last couple of months though we did do a few fun things!
A major moment was when Whit learned to ride his bike!! I do not have a picture (only a video) but it was actually find of funny. One afternoon he just told us he wanted the training wheels off. Nate and I were prepared for tears, scrapes and falls. The first time Nate let go Whit just went! Nate and i just looked at each other and laughed. We should have known Whit would just get on and go. He has not looked back since and LOVES to ride his bike.
I had a couple of fun outings by myself that were great! Nat's birthday was in July but for a gift she got tickets to Counting Crows in Atlanta. So Meg, Nat and I headed over to ATL for a night of fun without kids.We met Nancy Jane and ate at JCT Kitchen then headed to the concert. I must admit that I was not super pumped about the concert but it turned out to be wonderful.It was at Chastain Park and none of us had been to a concert there. Thankfully i had heard you could BYOB so we ran by the store and grabbed a cooler. It was a great venue and super laid back. We enjoyed sleeping in and then headed to Ikea before heading back home. It was a fun trip with my best friends.

The next weekend I went to the lake with my "cooking girls". This group of women has been so wonderful to me. There are 9 women ranging in age from 30 to 67. I love them so much. It is so refreshing to be with women who have been through trials i hope I never face but by the grace of God are better for those trials. I do not have to talk about my children the whole time and I am always thankful for my time spent with them. We went to Mary's lake house and enjoyed every bit of it!

Nate and my dad headed up to NC for the annual golf trip later in August. Mom and I decided it would be a great time to visit Mae Mae and JD. We headed to Memphis on Friday afternoon. We went to Belly Acre for dinner and it was so great! the boys loved the atmosphere there. Saturday morning we of course had to go get donuts at Gibson's. We were hoping to make it to the splash pad but the weather did not cooperate so instead we headed to Bass Pro :) The Bass Pro in Memphis is not your typical store. It is inside the pyramid where the Grizzly's used to play. There are 2 restaurants inside and a hotel. There is an elevator all the way to the top and you can go outside and see Memphis. Needless to say it was a great activity for the boys on a rainy day. We have so much fun with MM and JD and I am so thankful for them and their love for my boys.

To close out the summer we headed to the farm for Labor Day and Deedee's birthday. It is usually unbearably hot but thankfully it was not too bad. I am not kidding when I say that my boys love this place more than any other place on earth. Charlie is obsessed with the cows and thinks they are his. He wakes up and heads to the fence to call them up. This time Whit was so excited bc he got to ride his bike. I am not kidding when i say that he rode probably 7 miles in a day. He rode and I ran along side for 3 miles and then Deedee went on a bike ride with him for another few miles. he loved it so much!! We filled up all the deer feeders, checked out the cotton and went fishing. Whit caught his first fish on his own. Unfortunately I did not have my phone but it was exciting.  We celebrated Deedee's birthday with a delicious chocolate cake all weekend. It was a good long weekend!

Now bring on cooler weather!!!!

Johnson Beach Trip

Every year we embark on a week long beach trip with my family. It is always a fun week! With 14 in our immediate family it is hard to get everyone together and happy but we do our best. We missed JD again this year but hopefully he will be able to join us soon. Katherine and Alex came for part of the week and then the rest of us enjoyed the whole week together. We were in Seagrove this year. I love being on 30 A but getting to the beach every day with our load was quite an ordeal!
The boys loved the ocean. They wanted to be in the water the whole time. Thankfully I could just put Charlie's puddle jumper on and let him wander. Whit's swimming has gotten so much better so i felt ok with them playing by themselves. Thankfully the water was pretty most of the time. Whit was sick halfway through the week but he enjoyed sitting on the beach watching everyone. It was a fun week with family and we enjoyed our beach time this year!
On Friday of the week we headed to the farm to join Nate's extended family from TN. We had a weekend of fun with them at the farm. We had some tired boys by Sunday afternoon!

PICTURE OVERLOAD

Spring turned into Summer

So I can catch up really quickly....
 The end of April came and went rather quickly! I think the biggest milestone was Charlie being moved to a big boy bed. Charlie has never really been the best sleeper so I figured it wouldn't hurt to put him in a new bed. He has done great... except he fell out the first 2 nights but never again!
I still have not "decorated" his room but that is ok. I found a great deal on his bed and I love it. He looks so tiny in it!

The first weekend of May I got to go to the lake with my girl friends. It was just great! So nice to be with girls you can be who you are and not be judged. I slept so good and enjoyed just being on the dock with my girls! The one picture I got from Nate at home was the one below of the boys COVERED in marker. They have NEVER done this so I am not sure what got into them. Nate said he was outside at the time :)
When I got home Sunday morning we decided to go to the Barons game. The boys loved it and Nate and I actually just got to sit for a while and enjoy each other

For Mother's Day we did not do a whole lot. Whit had a precious program at school. He did so well and I was very proud of him. He loves to sing and sang all the songs for Nate later that night since it was "just for mommies"
On Mother's Day we had my parents and Nate's parents over for a cookout. It was perfect!

Sweet boy after his program. I loved the corsage he made

The past two weeks we have had swimming lessons. It is A LOT. After the first day Charlie was so whiney and i just thought he was tired but the next morning he woke up with a low fever and i knew he had strep. He did :) so we missed Tuesday of swim then he made it back on Wednesday. The second week both boys did so well. I was very proud of them. They loved it and they actually listened and there were no tears. HUGE! By last Friday they were both swimming to the edge and Whit went all the way across the pool. We have got to get them in the pool this weekend!
Nate and I were lucky enough to head to the beach by ourselves for Memorial Day. It was very relaxing. I got up and ran every day and walked to Charlie's Donut truck by myself a couple times ;)
I read a whole book and just enjoyed the beach. Thank you to the Cardwells for letting us join yall!
I am excited about taking the boys in a few weeks though! They are going to love it this year.

Charlie and Billy racing

They did it!

Friday the water was amazing!

Dinner at George's

Quick trip to Canada

Nate and his dad had a business meeting to attend in Canada so Debbie and I decided to join in and take advantage of a little quick trip. Debbie and I flew in to Toronto on Thursday and headed straight to the city. We wandered around the area for a few hours. It was so nice to have no plan and just wander around. Toronto is a big city! New buildings are built attached to really old ones and its like one big building. We found ourselves a perfect little italian restaurant for dinner and enjoyed ourselves so much! We kept saying that we were glad the men were still at their conference bc we just wandered!
Friday morning we headed to Niagara Falls, ON. We did not have a planned tour and thankfully it was a gorgeous day so we took our time and walked around. It is beautiful! The US side is very wimpy compared to the Canadian side so I am glad that is where we were. The city of Niagara Falls itself is very touristy. I cannot imagine being there for more than one day. It was one of those checkmark places but I am happy to have seen it! That evening we had the best dinner at a restaurant I found on Trip Advisor called Weinkeller. It was fantastic. It was a 5 course set price meal. 2 of those courses were wine from their own winery on tap. The food was absolutely delicious. It was one of the best meals I have had.
Saturday we headed to a town called Niagara on the Lake. Our waiter from the night before recommended it. It was great. Again, we had awesome weather so that made it that much better. It was an old town on Lake Ontario that was built in the 1700's. The War of 1812 was fought there. The houses were beautiful and the little main street was so charming. We enjoyed the weather and walked around. After that we toured some wineries in the area. I never knew that Niagara was famous for wine but they have a ton of orchards up there. After a few wine tastings we headed back to Toronto.
It was a short but fun trip. I enjoyed spending time with Debbie and Jim without the boys.

View of the falls from our hotel room

Niagara on the Lake