Photo A Day JULY

I recently joined Instagram, a fun place to share photos. 

Well, looking around I found out people add Photo A Day challenges each month. 

Since I had never done it, I thought it would be pretty fun! 

I actually made it through the month, with only being one day late on one I think...maybe two? 

Anyway, it was super fun keeping up with the challenge, 

and trying to be creative with what to take a picture of each day.

I have a feeling I'll be doing these again in the future, every now and then. :)

Down By The River

Mom and Dad asked Amy and I if we wanted to get together for lunch down at Halls on the River, and we quickly agreed! 

(Wish Matt & Tim could have come this trip, we'll have to go back on a weekend sometime!)

Halls on the River is one of my favorites. 

Not only because, hello, it's Halls Beer Cheese...

(Which by the way is no longer sold at Kroger...talk about breaking a girls heart.)

...but also because it takes a beautiful country road to get there. 

I'm a huge fan of beautiful country drives. 

So Monday morning, we all met at my house. 

We piled into my car, and Mommom & Grand-dad's car and were off. 

We met around 12:30, and were on the road by 1. 

1 o'clock is Rhett's nap time. 

I was very curious to see how this turned out. 

Thankfully, we sat on the patio, looking right over the river. 

Being outside, and having so much to look at out there, helped SO very much to keep little man entertained. 

At least for a little while...

I ordered a salad and after about two bites, Rhett was d.o.n.e. 

So Mama, got creative, and just slid his high chair closer to the water so he could watch the lone duck and fish coming up every now and then. He was attempting to feed them his cheerios, but they didn't quite make it all the way down. 

I love that every time I say, "Case stand by your brother, so I can take a picture."

Case puts his hand on Rhett's back. 

Well, the high chair trick lasted about 7 minutes, then I had to throw in the reinforcements. 

The cousins. 

:)

(Love this picture of Bug!)

Besides the fact that I had about 10 total bites of my salad and banana pepper rings, 

I had a wonderful time. 

Love that place. 

When we were wrapping up lunch, Cy, Griffin and Avery walked down around the side of the restaurant to the river, and took my little ones with them. 

It felt really good to sit down, after standing up through 80% of my lunch. ;)

After the bill came and went, (Thanks, Mom & Dad!) Dad mentioned that Boonesboro State Park had a play ground, and a walk way down to the river. 

I was definitely hesitant with Rhett, already way past his nap time. 

I knew though, that if he saw a playground, and water he would surely get his second wind. 

Second wind happened. 

Walking down to the river...

Beautiful girl. 

Mimi getting Rhett's toes wet! 

Case had so much fun!

The big boys had fun skipping rocks, Avery and Case tried a few too. 

After trying to literally swim across the river, and trying to take my hand away from his while walking down the river, Rhett decided it was time to go. 

He kept walking up the beach and waving "Bye!"

We all had such a fun day, a wonderful little trip. 

Far enough to feel like we did something special, and close enough for a relaxing drive back. 

Soaking up these memories. 

Anniversary Date With My Love

I was so very excited about a date night with my hubby. 

Celebrating six entire years of marriage. 

It has absolutely flown by! 

We decided to hire our first babysitter. Someone that wasn't either family or close to family. 

We called a friend of ours, little sister. A sweet young lady that goes to our church. 

She said she was up to watching our crazy boys! 

We were excited to have another option for a babysitter, and figured this would be the perfect time to introduce a new somebody to our little men. 

After probably over explaining everything, and writing down the bedtime routine, we kissed our tear stained boys Good-bye. They didn't take it so well at first, and guess who forgot their phone on the charger?

 This Mommy. 

Thankfully, Matt had her brother's cell phone number, and between facebook and that we let her know to call Matt if she needed anything, and in the process found out that the Case and Rhetters were just fine and watching Lion King. :) 

Shew. 

Now Mommy could actually relax and enjoy her date with her handsome hubs. 

It was pouring down rain when we left, 

but thankfully the sun started shining as soon as we got to the restaurant. 

We ate dinner at one our favorite places, Saul Good. 

Actually, I think it's safe to say that Saul Good is absolutely my favorite restaurant - like, ever. 

We ordered a couple of beers, and beer cheese steak nachos for our appetizer. 

BEER CHEESE STEAK NACHOS. 

Does it get any better than that?! 

Oh it's yummy. 

Ridiculously yummy. 

So as if we didn't get enough yumminess, we also ordered the Argentinian Steak Pizza for dinner. 

SO GOOD. 

We kept going back and forth between going to a movie, or possibly going to the local comedy club. 

There wasn't anything we REALLY wanted to see playing, 

we have a gift card from my sweet friend Clair for a movie theater, and decided that we didn't want to waste it on an "okay" movie. 

So we headed on down to Comedy Off Broadway, I can't remember the comedian's name but he was a goof ball. Seriously crazy, like watching a train wreck. 

We laughed a LOT though, and he wasn't too vulgar or annoying. It was well worth it. 

THEN, 

we headed over to the little Fro Yo spot, and listened to a live band that seemed full of middle aged Dads. Even had their mini vans parked behind them. Bet those come in handy to carry equipment. ;)

They were actually pretty good, and we had an awesome time. 

 LOVE my amazing husband so much it hurts. 

Happy 6 years love.

Feeding The Ducks

Every now and then, when I've had a long day, and I need to get out of the house, 

I try and think of something that we could all do as a family on a week night. 

One random Monday, we decided to go

to a little pond in another neighborhood to feed some ducks.

We had a lot of fun, a fun, simple, and cheap little activity for our family! 

Rhett was stealing all the ducks crackers. :)

Love a random little outing with my sweet boys.

Birthday Get Away

As July approaches every year, Matt and I always talk about our plans for my birthday and our anniversary since they are only a week apart. 

Last year, we took off to Gatlinburg for our 5 year anniversary - best trip ever! 

This year, we talked about doing something similar, just a quicker, cheaper trip. 

We talked about Louisville, Gatlinburg, Nashville, and finally settled on Cincinnati. 

The Red's were playing, and Matt found a great deal 

for a one night stay at the Hilton right downtown, only blocks away from the stadium. 

Sally and Roger (aka Nanny & Poppy) sent us a text earlier in the week, offering to watch the boys and stay the night, so we could go out for my birthday. 

What an amazing offer, we are so thankful! It all fell into place very quickly! 

We said Good-bye to our babies, and after lots of thank you's

 to Nanny & Poppy, we headed out early Friday afternoon! 

I realized on our way that I brought my camera, but forgot my memory card in the laptop. 

I almost cried! So, all we have are a few iPhone pictures, and I definitely didn't think to take as many pictures without my actual camera! Boo! 

Oh, and I forgot to mention, and as you can probably see from our first picture, the forecast for the weekend looked like a whole lot of yuck. Cloudy and Rainy. Yay. 

We checked into our old, pretty hotel, quickly changed and freshened up and headed out to get our tickets. 

 Thankfully, the sun was shining through the clouds, and looked like me MIGHT get lucky with the weather!

Well...maybe!

We found our seats, and this was our initial view. 

Seriously?

I looked over and Matt was quickly trying to find out the rules for umbrellas in the stadium. 

Thankfully, though, the sun started shining and that huge black umbrella was folded up, and suddenly we could actually see the field! ;)

The Red's had a great game, and we had a wonderful time! 

 

 (Matt had his rally hat on...and it totally worked!)

After the game, we headed to Toby Keith's Bar and Grill and had dinner and a few beers. 

They had a live band, it was a pretty neat little place. 

After that, we headed down to the Piano Bar, that was right next to our hotel. 

Just have to say, us Kentuckians are way more fun, and a lot friendlier. :) 

 We had a fun little get away, thankful for spending alone time with my awesome, fun, hubby.

Looking forward to spending many many more birthdays with him. 

Love you hubby, thank you for our little trip away from home. 

:)

(p.s. I'm 26 this year! A lot easier for me to swallow then 25 for some reason! ;)

What Are Big Brother's For?

The boys recently discovered our window sill, and Rhett couldn't quite make it up on his own. 

I heard the grunts of Rhett trying, and when I turned my head to see what was going on, I see Case, helping Rhett climb up so he could play with him. 

My heart was just melting away!