Bobsledding

We had a fun night celebrating Halloween with friends!

friendsgiving roadtrip!!

Yesterday we decided to take a road trip to Chattanooga.  I was bummed because we'd have to take two cars and I thought maybe we could rent a van.  Everyone thought it was a wonderful idea. Yay!  Our day began with the guys getting the van and us hitting the road for our Tennessee adventure!

We stopped in at Ruby Falls.

And the we decided to visit the downtown area.

The waterfall steps were my favorite!

All selfies today compliments of Layla's selfie stick!

We ate a yummy lunch at Big River.

Then we visited the local cupcake place and I got my favorite classic vanilla cupcake. Layla also got a classic vanilla also, while Hayden got a peanut butter chocolate and Gary indulged in a mint chocolate chip flavor. Mmmmm!  So delicious!

On our way back to Georgia we visited Chickamauga National Battlefield Park.

We went 136 steep and circling steps to the top of Wilder monument.  It was so fun because we didn't realize how high it was and as we swiftly walked up the stairs we could feel the top was near, but we kept going and going and going.  We laughed and giggled through the thigh burn.  The laughter echoed through the cement monument and it's a memory I'll never ever forget.

I was a little freaked out at the top.  I'm not a fan of heights. I was worried one of the kids would fall all the way down the steep stairs, and I barely looked over the sides, yuck!  

I love the little side holes the soldiers shot guns out of.  I'm not a history lover, but it was really cool to tour the battlefields!

We made it back down and took picture looking back up at the top. It was pretty cool!

On the drive back to Georgia I was feeling sentimental.  I'm thankful for a fun day with friends and the ability for all of us to celebrate this holiday together!

weekend with friends

We are happy to have friends here for the weekend. 

 They are our second visitors since moving to GA! 

We found a fun new Mexican restaurant and they came to sing Happy Birthday to our friend Jarred.  It isn't even his birthday.  We couldn't stop laughing!!!  They must have gotten the wrong table, but it was good for a few laughs and a delicious dessert! 

We got a babysitter for the first time and had an adult only night out.  We went to several different places and had a fun time exploring our new area here in Georgia.  Gary and I are so happy to have so many fun restaurants nearby to show our friends!

A fun visit!

The kids had fun showing their Texas buddies around town!

I'm so glad we have had visitors this summer.  First my parents and now our best buds from Waco.  Jarred and Gary have been friends since childhood.  I've known Shelby since before Jarred and Shelby were married.  I didn't get invited to their wedding and we still laugh about that story to this day.  Gary and I were friends and he was all weird about inviting me to a wedding.  He thought I'd think he wanted to get serious or something.  Anyway....

All these years and four kids all together we are all still buddies.

We explored and ate ice cream and enjoyed watching all the boats on the river! 

 Us adults also had a fun night on the town too.

We are thankful for great friends and fun memories!

***If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram this is all a bit repetitive. I love my blog and I do have readers that aren't into social media, this is for me and them! Our family blog is our scrap- book. We love looking back over the years at our adventures!***

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a day on the lake

We spent the weekend with friends in Waco.  

The kids didn't mind the hour ride down to Waco.  They are loving our fun road trips this summer!

Layla and Mia always have a fun time together.

Jarred and Shelby live on a golf course and Hayden thinks it is the coolest thing ever.  He loves sitting on the patio watching the golfers play.

Saturday we went on the boat.  Hayden got to drive!!  He was so so happy!

He did pretty good on the boat, it was his first time.  He was nervous most of the time, and didn't want to get in the water.  He held onto a handle the entire time we were cruising the lake.

We had lunch on a restaurant on the lake.

The cheeseburgers were so delicious!  We were starving after swimming all morning.

Layla Kate loved the water.  She loved every second of the lake and had a BIG time tubing.

I was nervous, but she was not scared AT all.

I was so proud of her!

See Hayden holding onto the cushion handle.  Mr. Cautious like his momma!

After we finished our lake adventure the adults enjoyed a dinner out at my favorite Mexican food restaurant in Waco.  We ate at Ninfa's because I love their green sauce.  The adult evening was so fun.  I am thankful for great friends!

This last picture makes me smile.  Hayden loves Moose the (great dane) dog.  Moose is so big and gentle!  It was cute to see Daisy with Moose too, he's huge and she's tiny. 

I hope you had a wonderful weekend!

Birthday weekend update

Our whole weekend was spent celebrating Gary!

I have always made a big deal about birthdays and I always will!  I think it is very important to celebrate birthdays.  So that is what we did all weekend long.

The weather was amazing on Friday so Gary wanted to grill steaks.  Steaks are always a hit in our house. Gary commented that his weekend was perfect the second he saw the kids dipping their steak into the steak drippings on our serving dish. 

See that juice.  The kids loved it. Oh me oh my.  

Saturday morning started with a dance party in the living room.  The kids have really enjoyed Layla's playlist on her iPod touch.  They love dancing and jumping around like crazy!

Then the kids wanted dad to open his gifts.  The kids got him golf balls and socks.

My parents kept the kids Saturday night so we could have an adult birthday dinner.

My parents have a few new puppies and so Layla was in hog heaven.  She is such a dog lover, just like her Momma!  Daisy went with us too and she played so well with the new puppies!

The kids had a great time.  My parents have a great big backyard and the weather was great!

How cute is this puppy and her sweater?

And this little pumpkin....she is a little sweetie!

Oh!  So many pups.  Daisy loved meeting her new friends!

This is a terrible picture, but I had the best bowl of lobster bisque at Daddy Jack's in downtown Fort Worth.  I love Daddy Jack's so I was thrilled when Gary picked it for his birthday dinner.

I had pecan crusted rainbow trout, veggies and a baked potato. Gary had stuffed shrimp.  It was stuffed with a ritz cracker stuffing. Oh it was oh so good and so rich. We all shared appetizers ... blue crab legs, crab cakes and mussels.  I didn't partake in the mussels, but I heard they were good.   For Gary's birthday dessert we had Key lime pie. 

It was a delicious evening!

We went to dinner with 2 other couples and we laughed the entire time.  I had the best time....I think we all did.  We all ate entirely too much food.  It was a great splurge night and we are so thankful for fun friends.

We met my parents on Sunday for lunch and I was thrilled to see my little loves. They had the best time with their grandparents! 

We all took naps and then we had birthday cake!

Mmmmm! Thanks Netsie for the delicious birthday cake!

We had hopes of playing outside Sunday afternoon, but we were all enjoying just being lazy.  That AND there was a dust storm.  It was so hazy and nasty outside.  The wind blew all day long.  You can't even see the sunshine through all the dust.  Yuck!

I love these three people so much!  I know I say it all the time.

We had a super fun weekend and I am hoping to spend a million more years with Gary so we can celebrate many many more fun birthdays!!