Happies & Crappies!

I have been wanting to link up for Happies & Crappies for a while now. I'm off today and happened to see it on Amber's blog so here we are!

HAPPIES:

1. I'm heading to Virginia Beach in 3 hours!!! I'm so excited. Madi is going with me too and we are meeting Paul & Addison on the way up so we can all ride together. I love anytime we can get the girls together and taking them to VA is even better. Can't wait!!

2. I was in a funk last weekend. A pretty bad funk. I have since snapped out of it and I have had a great week. I'm really giving work everything I have and putting aside time to spend with Madi as well. I'm feeling pretty good lately - minus a crappy (see below).

3. The Band Perry. I've been listening to them all morning and it just makes me smile. Love Kimberly's voice!

4. This makes me happy because it makes me laugh…and when you laugh that means you're happy…

CRAPPIES:

1. Okay here's the "see below" one - I think I've mentioned it on here before but I'm gaining weight rapidly since I quit drinking diet coke. I drink water and sweet tea now, BUT I always do half water, half sweet tea. I don't see how that could be that many calories?! Idk. I just ordered the Zumba for Wii game because my cousin said that's how she lost a bunch of weight. Hopefully it works!

2. I have been going to bed super late this week and last night was no exception. I think I got 6 hours of it. I stayed up until 12:30am working so that I wouldn't have to get online this morning.

It's good when I have more happies than crappies!

Weekend Snapshots

This past weekend was really great. I'm sad it's over but glad it's already almost Wednesday!

Friday night Madi and I picked up a pizza, made a pallet on the floor, and watched The Wizard of Oz. This was the first time Madi's ever seen it. She said she liked it but I don't really think she paid much attention to it after the first few minutes. I personally, cannot believe I ever used to love that movie. I find it very boring now! It was fun having a girl's night with my mini-me. We definitely need to do it more often! 

Saturday morning we stopped by my friend's house to visit for a bit. Madi, Baker, and Preston had a great time playing and it was nice to catch up with Jessica!

That afternoon I took Madi to her good friend Rylee's birthday party at the YMCA. She had a really good time at the party and didn't want to leave! Saturday evening we went to dinner with Pop. We were majorly overdue for some Pop time! 

These pictures just warm my heart. I love seeing them together.

We ended our very busy Saturday by Paul coming in to town! Paul took off a few days from work so he could spend some time with us. So sweet!

We did a lot of eating at great restaurants (Zoe's Kitchen, Lizard's Thicket, BWW, Cook Out, and of course, Zaxby's). Yes, those are our definitions of great restaurants. Leave the small portions, high prices, and fru-fru names for someone else. 

We took some naps and played some board games (Clifford & Candy Land, of course), watched some football and did some shopping too! Paul left this morning so he could get back to work tomorrow. Super sad! And I just realized we didn't take any pictures this weekend at all. What the heck! Not acceptable! I'll make up for that next week. :) 

Happy weekend. 8 days until Madi turns FIVE and 8 days until I get to see BPC again! :) 

Road Warriors

Whewwww. Aren't weekends supposed to refresh you, not wear you out? I'm beat. 

Friday, I unexpectedly got off work early, so Madi and I decided to head to VA for the weekend. {if you haven't learned anything about me yet, you must know I'm the most spontaneous person. Ever.} 

Something I hadn't considered was that a 6.5 hour trip can easily become a 8+ hour trip with a kid. We ended up getting a hotel in NC Friday night so we didn't get to VA until 11am Saturday. 

Saturday Madi, Paul, & I grabbed some lunch at Tropical Smoothie and then played at the playground for a bit. 

That afternoon we got ready for Paul's staff cookout. Well, Paul prepped the food, while M & I played with the dogs and played on the iPad, and took goofy pictures. :) 

Paul made beer in the butt chicken. Ha! Sounds weird but it was soooo good. Everyone brought appetizers and snacks. We played corn hole in the backyard and watched the NASCAR race, redneck style. That is - we put a tv in the window, like an AC unit - only it was a tv. I can't believe I didn't take a picture of it! 

Sunday, Pam took Madi and me to Hunt Club Farm. It's a petting zoo complete with goats, chickens, bunnies, ducks, geese, turkeys, ponies, donkeys, llamas, alpacas, pigs, etc! Pretty much every farm animal you can think of is there! Pam "forgot" ;) about my intense fear of birds, but I handled myself well. I even fed goats and I don't do animals. I was proud of myself! Had to be a good example for Madi. Madi really enjoyed it. She said the pony ride was her favorite! 

I highly recommend this family friendly event if you're ever in the VA Beach area! Go early though! We went right when they opened and had the place pretty much to ourselves. Later that afternoon the line was about 25 people long, not to mention it was hot!!

Lastly - the brunch Paul made for us on Sunday was amazing!!! He is a wonderful cook and has a real passion for it. He made Eggs Benedict for the first time. So so good! 

Madi & I had a wonderful weekend. I'm exhausted from the drive but so glad we went. My motto has always been that I can sleep when I'm dead! 

Link up and tell me about your weekend shenanigans! 

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EdVenture Excitement!

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500!!!

Wow! This is my 500th blog post! What on earth did I write about 499 times?? 

Seriously though, I am sure 498 of those posts were silliness. This one will be no different. 

It's Wednesday and I am just now getting around to recapping my weekend. Shameful. 

via

Paul & his sweet daughter Addison came to town. I was able to get Madi on Saturday (it was Justin's weekend) so we could take the girls to EdVenture. It was a rainy day so an indoor activity was a must! 

I posted about the children's museum before, when I wasn't very pleased with it. [I tried to find the post, but searching through 499 posts is not something I can do. I didn't label it so it's not being found.] Anyway, I wasn't pleased with EdVenture last time we went but they have really revamped the place and I approve now! 

So, Paul, the girls, Paul's mom, sister & her husband, and me all went to EdVenture. It was a blast! The girls had so much fun playing with all the different set-ups. They had a veterinary hospital, a grocery store, a restaurant, a construction site, a fire truck, and so many other exhibits. I think the vet & the grocery store were the favorite! 

The girls playing dentist

Madi grocery shopping

Cooking some lunch

There is also a really huge "kid" with a playground inside of him. Madi is always too scared to climb up to the brain but always wishes she did when we leave! I thought for sure the girls wouldn't want to leave the playground/kid so we saved that for last. Addison didn't really enjoy it and Madi only did after I convinced her to go down the slide. I think the kid being so big was just a bit intimidating!

After EdVenture we all went to Mellow Mushroom for lunch. They have such good pizza!! Addison & Madison (tongue twister!) had fun drawing and being silly. 

At Mellow Mushroom

The day was a big hit! I can't wait to get the girls together again! 

What's your favorite rainy day activity to do with kids?

Birthday Weekend - 29!

My birthday weekend was pretty amazing. For real. I spent it with my favorite adult (I have a favorite kid and a favorite adult). We will call this person A because, well, I just watched some PLL and that's what's on my mind.

Anywho, A had many surprises planned for me this past weekend. Friday night A gave me my birthday present. I LOVE it and will actually do a separate post on it soon. I got a super shiny & pretty SodaStream!!

A cooked me a fabulous dinner of salad, chicken alfredo, & garlic knots. Do y'all know what garlic knots are?? It was the first time I'd ever even heard of them but they were really good! 

Saturday was the day of surprises. That morning A surprised me with a jet ski rental! It was a BEAUTIFUL day on Lake Murray. We had the jet ski for two hours which was the perfect amount of time. We had so so so much fun! Can't really describe it with another word. It was just lots of FUN! I wasn't going to drive it but A convinced me to try driving and let me tell you, I liked having that power! I didn't want to go back to just riding! I'm definitely going to have to get a jet ski one day. I've lived 10 minutes from the lake all my life. It's ridiculous that I don't have one, really. Unfortunately I don't have pictures of this. I didn't take my phone for obvious reasons! 

After fun on the lake I treated myself to a much needed pedicure. There is just something about having someone else massage and clean your feet that is so soothing. Am I right? If you've never had a pedicure, this makes me sad. Go get one. I got my toenails painted a color I saw on Pinterest recently and I LOVE it.

That evening A took me to one of my favorite restaurants, Copper River Grille in Irmo. To my surprise, my best friend & her family along with my cousin Morgan joined us! They all live in Greenville so I wasn't expecting to see them on my birthday. I was very excited and loved that A coordinated it so they could be a part of my birthday! We had a great time at dinner! Seeing Carrie's sweet baby was a huge plus too! I just love me some Weston!!

Love his cheeks!!!

  

Ignore my wrinkled dress. I promise it was ironed!

Morgan gave me this shirt & the earrings! Standard southern girl requirements! 

Sunday morning A & I watched church online (I heart my church! - NewSpring) and A made me a DELICIOUS breakfast of grits & bacon. Those grits were to.die.for. Sunday evening my sweet girl came home and we had some fun playing the Wii together!

Best. Birthday Celebration. EVER. 

29 is going to be a good age! 

Trip to Lake Gaston

In my last post I mentioned Justin & Madi weren't feeling well. Luckily they just needed a good night's sleep. Friday morning they woke up feeling much better so we packed up the car and headed to Virginia to stay at Lake Gaston for the weekend with The Smiths!

Lindsey invited us to come stay with them at their family lake house. I am so glad we went. We had the best time!!! Friday afternoon/evening when we got there the girls played in the sprinkler, we had pizza for dinner, and then all went on the boat. The girls, Justin, and Michael swam in the lake and Linds and I laughed at how cold they all were. :)

Madison's first boat ride. Love McK's smile!

After the girls went to bed, the adults played Apples to Apples. It was my first time playing and I absolutely love that game! We had lots of laughs with it that's for sure!

Saturday we woke up bright and early. The girls and Justin went swimming off the dock for a bit and then we went back out on the boat to go tubing! Big Bertha (the tube) was a hit! Madi really wanted to go. I, of course, was a nervous wreck so just took her the first time. She absolutely loved it. I went with her once after that because she really wanted to go again! McKayla completely mastered the tube. It was so fun watching her bounce around. I can't believe she didn't fly out! 

Madi, Justin, & McKayla

Madi "swimming" for the first time. She was trying really hard! 

Justin & Madi on Big Bertha

Saturday afternoon we lounged around, ate a bunch of junk, and played some games. That evening we celebrated Michael's birthday with some amazing local cupcakes that Lindsey bought for him. YUM. Lindsey also made us a delicious dinner and we all just enjoyed the beautiful view! 

Madi crashed early that evening. Someone played too hard!

Sunday morning we had to leave early so we could get home in time to rest for the work day on Monday. We were SO sad to leave. Justin & Michael hit it off great, Lindsey and I needed more time to chat, and McK and Madi were just so so so sad it was cute!! We can't wait to hang out with them again!

Sad to say good bye.

But they are so happy to have each other!

It was one of the best weekends we've ever had! So so thankful for good friends!