Weekend wrap up

Whew, it is Sunday evening and I can barely keep my eyes open but that is thanks to a fun wedding and weekend away. Here is a little background on the weekend. Mike's cousin Jenny and her finance were set to get married this weekend in Connecticut. We were so excited to have a weekend away from the kids since we haven't been away just the two of us since the 2 nights we went to Vegas in September. We were set to drive to Atlanta Thursday afternoon, drop the girls off with my parents and then fly out to Connecticut from there. However, things went a little different when my Mom unexpectably flew to Houston to help my uncle and aunt who were both dealing with some health issues. My Uncle has been in the hospital for a couple weeks after major heart issues but last week, things got very scary and my Mom needed to be there to help my aunt and uncle and therefore was unable to watch our girls. We scrambled last minute and we are so lucky to have amazing friends here in Charlotte that stepped up without a moments hesitation and agreed to watch the girls. Not to mention, they already have 3 girls themselves that are ages 7, 4 and 2, they are saints! So, we switched flights at the last minute and flew out Friday morning from Charlotte. I was a little nervous how the girls would do at drop off and us leaving them since they have stayed with family but never friends before. They did awesome at drop off and all weekend! Tracey and Adam kept texting us pictures of the girls having a blast all weekend which made us feel so much better about going away.

Now, onto the wedding weekend (once we finally arrived, after a long delay on the connection flight and tons of traffic.) We went to the rehearsal dinner Friday night and it was so great to see so many of Mike's family and meet new friends from Andrew's side.

Side note: Ella picked out this outfit for me before we left, she really wanted me to wear the sparkly dress and shoes. I think she did a pretty good job!

 Steph (my sis in law from Seattle) and I trying to perfect the selfie at dinner.

 Then Annie (Mike's cousin and sister of the bride) came over and gave us some tips on how to take a proper selfie!

 Wedding day! It was sunny and gorgeous all day long and then we went into the church at 3pm for the ceremony and came out at 4 and the clouds had moved in. It stayed mostly cloudy the rest of the afternoon but didn't hinder any activities. The reception was at Mike's aunt and uncle's country club in Easton, CT and it was so beautiful. 

 The bride and groom on their first dance

 One more of me and my hot date! Weddings always make me sentimental and I just love them. I can't believe that Mike and I will be celebrating our 10 year anniversary in a couple weeks!

 With the happy newlyweds

 The wedding band was absolutely amazing! One of the best wedding bands we have ever seen and they had everyone on the floor dancing all night! We had an absolutely blast at the reception but the 5am wake up call the next morning for our flight home was brutal. But it was worth it!

It was a fun weekend and we had a great time celebrating with everyone but we were happy to get back to Charlotte today to see our girls. They were having so much fun that MG just kind of looked at us and said hi and went back to playing when we came to get them. Ella also had a blast and loved spending the weekend with her best buddy Wesley. We are so incredibly lucky to have made such amazing friends here in Charlotte who would agree to watch our girls all weekend 2 days before we left. Now, we owe them big time! And we are all feeling very relieved that my uncle is doing much better now than last week and they are hopeful for him to continue to improve. Now, off to bed to try and catch up on the sleep we didn't get this weekend.

Wild Dunes Fun

About 25 years ago, we would vacation at my aunt and uncles place in Wild Dunes, an island just north of Charleston. I distinctly remember playing in the pool and ocean with all my cousins, singing along to the guitar player during happy hour and that is the place all the cousins were given nicknames that still hold today. Flying Ryan, Josh B'gosh, Court the Snort, Ash Badash, Bad Brad and since nothing rhymes with Kristin, they said what do you want your nickname to be and apparently I liked ducks at the time and said Kristin the duck and it all these years later my cousins and aunts and uncles still refer to me as kristin the duck!

Those were happy memories but my aunt and uncle sold their place a long time ago and moved to Houston and we haven't been back, that is until last weekend when we went back with our neighbors for 4 days. We were looking for somewhere close for a couple days that had a pool and beach and this was the perfect place. We had a 3 bedroom condo on the beach with a small community pool.

As I have mentioned before, Ella likes to do things on her own time when she is ready and that was no exception when it came to the pool and beach. She usually loves the pool and loves playing in the blow up ones but it has been since Christmas when she was in a real one and that one was heated and indoors so almost a year since she has been in an outdoor one and she wasn't too sure in the beginning. She was very happy sitting on the steps playing with her toys.
And then getting a little more brave trying the next step, with a secure hand on Tracey of course.

And once she decided she was ready, she was off. She would climb to the second step and leap off into Mike's arms. (I have it on video and will post that later.)

She learned this pool thing can be fun. We tried using the arm floaties but she decided she is not ready for those yet and quickly pulled them off. She stills prefers to swim with mom and dads safe arms around her. We start swim lessons again at the Y in a couple weeks so I am hoping after that maybe she will try swimming on her own with the swimmies.

When there are 5 little girls all under the age of 4, there is some loud craziness going on for sure and some girly girl time. Ella had her first experience with wearing princess heels this weekend. Wesley is a pro at wearing with big sister Addie loving all things princess and they even had a stage perform on with the fancy shoes.

We did have some beach time as well but just like the pool, Ella had to ease into it. Ella and Wesley were very content just shoveling sand into the bucket.

She actually did better than I thought about keeping her hat on. She can take it off herself but she kept it on a pretty long time. But I wish she would keep some sunglasses but she is fine with just squinting.

She never loved going into the water herself but she did love it when Mike or I would take her in and "bounce" in the waves and splash it. The water was perfect temperature, not too cold and not too hot.

Who needs to play in the ocean when you have Froot Loops??

After some naps for the little ones, we decided to have an early birthday celebration for Wesley. She doesn't turn 2 until July 3rd but they will be away visiting family on her birthday so we decided to celebrate at the beach.

It is always a safe bet when it comes to chocolate frosting to just eat it in a diaper and not ruin any clothes. I don't even know why we have the cake for the kids, we should just scoop some frosting on a plate and they would be happy.

Happy early Birthday to our Best Buddy! Can't believe this little ones are going to be 2 already.

I think this is the only time all weekend we could get them all sitting and eating quietly at the table. The power of sugar.

Check out the nice view from the balcony. Ella and Allie are giving each other a hug. Ella loves giving everyone lots of hugs.

Family pic. Ella and Daddy both sporting their Vineyard Vines!

After dinner and dessert, the girls would all have movie night. Ella loved it and now every night, she ask for movie movie???

Like I said, she loves to give hugs. Before each nap time and bedtime, she would have to go around and give each of the girls and Jaime and Tracey a big hug. She gives some good hugs.

Trying to get all the girls still still and pose for a picture is no small feat. Here are four of them minus Wesley. They look like they could all be sisters or cousins.

Our attempt to get all of them, not sure what Ella is doing but I think she is trying to pick up her monkey.

Our final night, we all went out to dinner at an amazing seafood restaurant. I enjoyed some of the best shrimp and grits and Mike got some lobster. Earlier in the week, all of the girls had gotten together to make the Dads a special short for Father's Day. We gave them the shirts at dinner.

They had a great deck that was perfect for the kids to run around once they got antsy sitting at the table.

It was pretty hot and humid and check out Ella's curls! I have never seen her hair curl so much and it was the cutest thing. I love seeing her sweet curls. Last summer she was still pretty bald so this is the first time we have seen her beach hair!

Adam and Mike sporting their new shirts. It is an outline of the Dad's shoes and then Ella's footprint inside and says "Hope to fill your shoes one day." On the back, we just let them paint freely. Ella had the best time painting, using all the different colors.

On this hot night, a popsicle sounds good to me.

Ella and Wesley learned a new trick on this trip, how to cheers with their drinks. They liked to cheers their sippy cups and juice boxes and even their popsicles.

And then we even give our best buddy a taste of our own popsicle.

Whenever you have 5 kiddos in a house, it is a loud and there is not a lot of sleep happening but it was definitely a trip with lots of fun and lasting memories. We are so lucky to have such great friends where all the kids and adults get along so well. And Wild Dunes was just a special as I remembered from all those years ago.

Birthday Parties and Best Friends

Ella has been busy on the birthday party circuit lately. In fact, she had 3 parties in a week and this girl likes a party. Or make that the cake at a birthday party! Our first party was for her friend Hadley who was turning 2! I actually had a baby shower that started at the same time so I went for a little bit but then Mike stayed longer with Ella and captured this quick pic of her in her new blue glasses! I wish we had gotten one with Ella and Hadley together but trying to get a 2 year old and an 18 month old at the same time isn't easy. Then last week, we had a 3 year old party for Allie, our next door neighbor. Allie moved in next door when she was 4 months old so she has grown up right before our eyes. She is so sweet and loves Ella so much. Both Kayla and Allie act like Ella's older sisters. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera so I don't have any pictures but Ella loved the purple elephant birthday cake!! Then, the next morning, off to another party. This time for another 3 year old buddy of Ella's and this one was held at the Nature Museum. We haven't been to the museum before and it was so much fun! They bring out special animals for birthday parties. Here is Ella getting to pet a bunny. I think by the picture, the bunny was more scared of Ella.

She also got to see 2 different types of turtles, a cockroach and even got to pet a snake! I actually didn't know she did that since I was hiding in the corner when the snake came out but she stayed with her Dad and was brave. The museum also had a butterfly farm, large water table and lots more displays with animals. It was very cool despite the whole snake thing!

Then, all the kids had lunch and cake. Ella wasn't so into the sandwich but loved the pretzels and cake of course. I can't believe what a big girl she looks like sitting at the table.

Ella and Wesley digging into their cake. Of course, Ella had to get the piece with green frosting, not messy at all! Who cares, it washes out and she was having a great time.

We had a gorgeous weekend, temps in the high 60's and lots of sunshine. It was such a treat and we are all so ready for spring to come and stay. Kayla brought out her car and Ella actually rode in it for the first time. Kayla was so sweet and drove really slow and Ella loved it! She was belly laughing and her favorite part was stopping and starting.

The best buddy came over today for a play date and these two are so funny to watch these days. They definitely have their own language and follow each other all over. A rare moment below when they both sat still. Ella was enjoying the cartoon but not sure based on Wesley's face??!!

You can tell that Wesley has an older sister and fights for her toys. Her new favorite word is "mine." This is foreign to Ella since she doesn't have to share any of her toys so when Wesley grabs something away, she isn't sure what is happening. Wesley jumped on the ricking horse and of course, Ella wanted to get on. I think she is saying, "wait, I only have to share with my furry sister Dakota and she can't ride this." Side note: notice that furry sister in the background, always around!

So, Ella had to wait her turn and then she could ride. It is pretty funny and hard to just sit back and let them figure out the concept of sharing and mine. After this morning though, Ella has been walking around pushing her baby stroller or playing with other toys saying mine, mine. I hope that word doesn't stick for too long though.

So, that is what we have been up to, lots of birthday parties and lots of hanging with some of our best buddies. Unfortunately the cold rainy weather has returned but it was nice to have the warm weather even if it was just for a short amount of time.

Friends

There are so many different kinds of friends. Friends you have had since elementary school like these girls. Who have seen you through puberty, high school graduations, college, etc. And then friends you meet in college and instantly bond with and that bond stays strong long after you have left Blacksburg and Virginia Tech.

Both sets of friends are special and unique and unfortunately most live far away from us. We try and get together when we can, for weddings, baby showers, new babies and girls weekends.

And then there are friends that you meet just by chance. You just happen to all live in the same neighborhood, have kids around the same age and even though we have only known each other for a much shorter amount of time than my other friends, they still become like your family away from your family. This group of friends did a really cool for me for my 30th birthday. When we returned from Puerto Rico, we arrived to this sign!

And I laughed and thought it ended there but no, not these girls, they took it to a whole new level! They decorated the entire house with black streamers and balloons.

From the banister and fireplace and really any open space. They placed 30 mints all over the house, in cabinets, drawers, on top of picture frames, you name it, there is probably a mint there.

And they even put these quotes all over the house to make me feel oh so much better about being thirty. My favorite one is "Thirty is the new twenty, unless you are twenty and then it's the new forty." They even thought I needed to add a new beverage to my diet since I am older now.

And finally, a little "bling" to complete my birthday!

And I had the perfect place to wear that bling to on Saturday night when Mike organized a small get together at a wine bar for my birthday with some of our closest friends in Charlotte. Most of the group is below.

It turned out to be such a fun night with everyone gathering without kids which is rare for all of us. Just hang out, drink some great wine and toast to our 20's.

And if you are really lucky, some of your best college friends will even move close to you in Charlotte so you can see them more often. The Virginia Tech crew below.

And let's just say, I think for a fleeting moment we all thought we were back in college and could party like it was 1999 again. Tracey even thought it would be a good idea to have some Irish Car Bomb drinks and I think this is where the night took a turn for the worst!

We quickly learned that we are a little bit older now and don't party like we used to but you know, I happen to love where I am in my life right now. A lot less nights downtown and partying but more time spent with our little munchkin and fires out back with our neighbors and Charlotte family. So, I successfully gave my twenties a proper send off and now I can't wait to see what this next decade has in store. Cheers!