No Boys Allowed!

Little lady and I are about to leave for a WEEK without "Dada". In fact, unless you are a boy under the age of 9, it's a ladies only (plus 6 kids) BEACH TRIP. I am so excited. Especially since the Mobile news reported last night that the beach flags flying in SeaCrest Beach are GREEN! Whoo hoo... no oil for us and water to cool us off!

So, I will be playing in the pool with these boogers~




Cooking with, reading with, chatting with, and loving on these wonderful sisters~




Getting some good, old fashioned Mom-time with this beauty~



And, LOTS of pool/beach time with this cutie~




I will have much fun (and photos) to report and share when I return!

Happy weekend to all!

An impromtu Memphis reunion...

Last weekend, I took the long drive from Mobile to Memphis to see my cute friends from Graduate School. Ryan was wonderful to give me a much needed Girls' Weekend with these amazing women, some of whom I haven't seen in SIX YEARS!

If you don't know the nature of my profession (and chances are you do not), there were 15 people to start with in my Graduate program. After the first Semester (and the mean professors who "weeded people out"), there were 11 of us left. Needless to say, the next 2 years brought us VERY close. Together, we all endured horrible breakups, deaths of close family members, stress of classes/professors/Doctors/etc, stress of living together, and eventually (and Praise the Lord) putting to practice all that we had learned as we found jobs and moved away. Well, in the six years since all of that, we have all gotten married, most of us have had children and most are "trying" once again to grow their individual families.

We all arrived to stay in a nice suite in downtown Memphis. We enjoyed nice dinners on Main Street, downtown and Mud Island, strolls on Beale and in Midtown, and great conversation all weekend. These wonderful women are each amazing and so special to me in different ways. I only hope that it's not another six years before we see each other again!!

Thank you, Elizabeth for putting together such a fun reunion! You are a wonderful, little travel agent. Below is a "before and after" picture. The first is of our "Beale Street Shuffle"-- please ignore the TEST TUBE SHOTS in our hands!! Haha.

2 for 1...

First off, big shout out to my IT guy, Jake. I don't know your last name, but you are my hero (next to my sweet hubby and my Dad)! My computer is healed;)

Ok... the 2 for 1 is a combo of Father's Day and July 4th. For Father's Day we headed up to ATL. It was a wonderful celebration of all the "dads" in my life (my Dad, my husband, my bros-in-law), complete with an amazing dinner made by my sister and plenty of pool time. I know that it's been over a month now, but let me just take a sec to brag on my husband (Ryan)'s skills as a Dad.

He is a FANTASTIC Dad to Campbell! He has really shown me the value of teamwork in parenting, as he jumps in right when I need him to change a dirty diaper, entertain while I make dinner or just rescue me when I need a breather. He is always able to make Campbell laugh and also to make her feel protected. I love watching him with her, as they watch golf on the couch or share a bite (or 2 or 3 or...) of cereal. I love watching his 6'5" frame hold her little body as he puts her to bed. I love hearing the nursery rhymes he sings to her. I am amazed at his wisdom and insight as we figure this parenting-thing out. I am just in awe of how awesome he is as a Dad. Campbell is a lucky and blessed little girl! All that to say, enjoy this sweet picture of my sweet baby and my sweet Ryan.



Onto July 4th... we headed up to Hiawassee, GA for a loooonnggg weekend. Hiawassee is where my parents built their mountain house, and it is wonderful for some instantaneous relaxation. We had a wonderful time, as both my sisters and their families were up there too. With the exception of some sleep disturbances caused by about 6 teeth coming in at once, Campbell was a trooper for the 7 hours there and back down to Daphne. Ryan enjoyed some golf with my Dad and brothers-in-law, I enjoyed a little wine with my Mom and sisters, and Campbell enjoyed getting her toes painted by her cousins. We are always sad to return after such great food and fellowship in such a gorgeous setting.








Thank you for enduring my long re-cap. I hope that you each were able to enjoy such wonderful celebrations with your families this summer!!

stay tuned (all 6 readers of you...)

Am having some Desktop computer issues (which holds all my pics!!) I still want to recap July 4th, a fun girls' weekend I took, etc. Will be back after I call Jake, the computer guy. Hopefully with a healed (not crashed) computer.

Stay Tuned....