Chelsea Salomone

What a wild and crazy weekend it was!! This past Thursday- Sunday I was lucky enough to travel with seven other neighborhood friends for a girls' weekend. We had the BEST time!

I rode with Lindsay and Kylee. Our first stop was to Shreveport late Thursday afternoon. What an experience that was... I had never been there and there are some interesting characters roaming around that town for sure. 

Larissa and Erika couldn't come until Friday, but once everyone else arrived (following "snow cone" drinks Holly batched up for us in their room next door), we headed to Superior for dinner. Kylee and Ginger knew all about it- it's basically like a small Joe T's. The food was good and the margaritas were strong.

Where's Ginger?

Where's Ginger again?

Finally, we made her front and center. At some point someone was saying it was her bachelorette party, but that story never really stuck. After dinner we went back to the casino. Kylee and I played Black Jack and everyone else played the slots. By 2:00 Kylee, Lindsay and I were done. We were all ahead (Kylee won $400!) and ready to call it a night. The other crew- Ginger, Stephanie and Holly decided to keep the train rolling and ended up staying out until 5 a.m.!!! I couldn't believe it!!! Well, I could because they came banging on our door and "prank calling" us when they came back to their room. So funny!!

The next morning our room was up relatively bright and early. We checked out and made our way to a seafood restaurant for lunch. Meanwhile Holly, Ginger and Stephanie had gotten a late check out and were still sleeping off the night before. Kylee was so sweet to treat us to lunch with her winnings.

We decided we would just meet up in Henderson, which was our next stop. We drove about an hour and a half back into Texas to Kylee's parents house. What a treat!! They live on 14 acres and are just the most warm, friendly, wonderful people ever. 

Kylee's dad cleared the land and built their house and bunk house where all the kids and grandkids stay a few years back when they sold Kylee's childhood home. Her dad reminds me so much of my dad in that way. 

Then they pulled out this fancy dish, which I'm not kidding- was one of the most delicious things I've ever put in my mouth. I even took a picture of the recipe. I'm secretly hoping my dad will make it for us in Colorado in a few weeks. It was soooooo good!!!!

The gang's all here! What a wonderful visit with Kylee's family. This was one of my favorite parts of the trip. I hope my kids bring their friends home, and we make them feel that loved and welcome.

The final stop on our getaway was to Rex's parents ranch house 20 minutes outside of Henderson. WOW!!! Quite an expansive second home. 

We enjoyed the most gorgeous views and sunsets on their huge patio. We all brought various meals, which made it fun and relaxing. We spent hours sitting around that table on the patio talking, laughing and playing cards late into the night, and then did the same thing the next morning. 

So gorgeous and peaceful!

We brought chicken salad sandwiches for lunch and margaritas and wine popsicles and who knows what else. All I will say is, six hours in a pool drinking is a lot. Ginger and I were determined to find a way back to Shreveport to win some more money when it was over, but we never could quite make that happen. 

Rally Stephanie, rally!!

I didn't take any more pictures on the trip, but we went back to the ranch that night (Kylee had prearranged some high school girls to drive us thankfully) and ate lasagna. We had cake and sang HBD to Stephanie, and did another really fun thing- sat around and looked at each others' wedding albums. Such a neat idea Kylee had since none of us knew each other back then. It was a great way to know one another better. We intended to go to bed early, but naturally, Kylee and I were about to fall asleep when we heard debauchery and shenanigans in the big room where the 5 a.m. crew was sleeping. They were all laughing and being rowdy, so the rest of us went back in there and ended up staying up another two hours laughing and talking. I learned, for example, that our neighborhood ice cream man in slowly poisoning us all and we should probably all stop buying from him. Too bad it's the Mayor's ice cream business. HAHAHA!

Last year most of this same crew went to Fredericksburg, but I have to say I enjoyed this trip a lot more. It was certainly a lot more rowdy with the addition of Ginger, Holly and Stephanie. We wouldn't have laughed near as much without them.

Although I missed the boys and it took help from Bailee, my mom and extra work on Nick's part, girl time is so very important. I treasure my friends and setting aside time for those relationships. In East Texas I was reminded of the fact that proximity doesn't always equal closeness. Meaning, small talk as our kids load the school bus in the mornings or a quick hello at the mailbox can never take the place of trips like this. Late night driveway gatherings and long stories told on a porch over a weekend let you know and love people in a way that every day life simply doesn't leave space for. I'm thankful for this weekend and the place it warmed in my heart.

The majority of the time summer is so much fun! I feel like every week seems to be my favorite, until the next one comes along. But just to keep it real- there are a lot of days (or moments) peppered in there like this one ^^ Mostly, it's when we have back to back days with not a lot going on. It sounds great in theory, but even swimming can't tire them out enough to stop fighting, arguing, whining and needing YET another meal/snack/you name it.

But here are some highlights from July.

Salata after church- second time?? all summer the boys have had on something other than a baseball jersey. Obviously, they came home and changed immediately.

Another super fun night out with Rex and Kylee! This time we went to Town Hearth in Dallas which was soooo good. Naturally, it ended with the usual Cannon Homestead debauchery. Ginger and Jason were out of town so we all went and took a picture in their pool and sent it to them. 

Emulating that look like brothers

Friday after The Fourth (so the fifth if you will) Nick didn't have to work and we had a fun family day. We went to workout and play basketball at the Rec, swam at home and just had a relaxing day together. 

Beck has since gotten a big bed (and is potty trained!!) Craziest thing- like we waved a wand and blinked and both things happened without a single bump... but he is really starting to phase out of naps, which is crazy!! He's at the point where when he naps it takes him a long time to fall asleep at night. Before he got his big bed we would find his room like this more than once. The good thing is, he'll sit in there for an hour or more and read and sing. That works too.

Face of an angel

We had a really, really fun afternoon swimming and doing all the summer things with the Vestals. It's awful we don't get together more than we do. I love them like family, and every time we're together it's the best. The kids picked right up where they left off on the ski trip. It's fun seeing how well they play together. 

Naturally, water balloons turned into the water hose and dumping buckets of water on one another. Everyone was completely soaked and happy when they left.

That night was our turn to host Flamingo Friday- which has morphed into pool parties in the summer. We kept it simple and ordered pizza. Somehow the kids all ended up inside before the night was over, and even though it was a lot of work- I wouldn't trade nights like this with our awesome neighbors and the Vestals (who I wish were our neighbors) for anything. 

One thing we did that I felt really good about was hire a lifeguard. There have been too many things happen lately to people we know. It was the best decision we made. I won't host another large pool party with kids without one. The peace of mind is worth every dollar. 

It was Malley's actual birthday, so Kylee brought a cookie cake and we sang to her.

Logan and Rydge went to a second grade movie and donuts party at church. They really enjoyed it!

The next day I took the boys, plus Charlie and Evan to Hawaiian Falls. We met up with Rydge's family, and had such a fun day! The nice thing about Hawaiian Falls is that it's small enough where the older boys can do slides and you can stand at the bottom and watch. Beck has no interest in any sort of rides- he only wants to do the lazy river and watch brothers. 

I took the boys to "Mommy and Me" yoga. It was great!! I hope we have the opportunity to do this again before school starts. Afterwards we went over to Central Market to get some groceries and lunch. It was just a really fun day!

Had to share these pictures of how BIG and ADORABLE Cameron is getting! She is so, so, so precious! I love her and my two nephews so much. 

And also this one!

Watching Logan and Everett's friendship develop this summer has definitely been a highlight. They play together almost non-stop and sleep together at night. I was sitting on the porch drinking coffee listening to them talk and enjoying it so much. I hope the three of them are always close. 

And I cut my hair!!! Six inches. Yay!! Enjoyed having longer hair for a while but feels like myself again.

Everett got to do an abbreviated version of Camp Double S and will finish it out in August once Mimi's house renovations are complete. He enjoyed lots of spoiling and special one-on-one time. He got a slurp, made pancakes, went to the movies, Peter Piper Pizza, the video game museum... whew! I don't know how they cram all that in! Everett is soooo sweet and lovable. He and Mimi enjoyed their special time together. 

These two banded together and missed E too! It was nice to get some alone time with Logan while Beck napped and have special time with my big and little.