5 years together!

We visited Lake Lure for the 3rd time. We love it each time we go. After taking an extra hour and a half to get there (I blame the GPS), we settled in and went to eat. I got a wonderful calzone at one of the restaurants in the resort. I could only eat 1/4, but Joey finished it off later that night. :) Since we're both use to getting up relatively early, 8 was as late as we slept. Joey wanted to go mountain bike riding, but couldn't find a trail that was close enough. So we got ready and rode around stopping for lunch on the lake. Then we headed back and took a nap! Oh how sweet! Our weekend package included a lake tour, so we ate dinner beforehand at one of the nicer restaurants and these are the only pictures I took all weekend.

Compliments of the chef.

Our view from our table.

Free appetizer.

Fancy salt and pepper shakers.

Fancy butter.

My entree: maple glazed salmon!

Joey's: some sort of chicken and pasta.

Since we had to eat early enough to get to our cruise, we were the only people in the restaurant.

Yes, I'm only 25 weeks pregnant and I am HUGE.

 We learned a lot about the history of lake lure and got to see some amazing houses!

 

We saw the stairs that Baby carried a watermelon up in the movie Dirty Dancing, but I failed to get a picture...

Oh, and we ate ice cream!

Beautiful sunset.

Another couple had gotten married at the resort on our day!

Special thanks to my parents for letting Lydia stay with them for the entire weekend. This was the longest I had ever been away from her and I was excited to receive this picture and know she was having a blast with Grammy and Papa!

I don't think she missed us at all...

Labor Day Weekend

Since Memorial Day Weekend, we had been planning another dual family trip with the Parliers. This time we decided on Pigeon Forge for our getaway. We rented a 2 bedroom villa in Sevierville with pool access. Holly, David, and the boys got there first then we arrived two hours later. We were all hungry and, not wanting to cook, we looked for a place to eat. Not far away was Damon's. It was good and we were secluded from the rest of the guests (thankfully) since our crew is usually pretty rambunctious. The highlight of the evening was the horses in a nearby field and the beautiful sunset.

The next day we headed to Gatlinburg to visit the aquarium. This was Lydia's first ever trip and it was clearly the best money we have every spent: 4 rolls of quarters, 3 rolls of dimes, 2 rolls of nickels, and several rolls of pennies. (We had been saving for a while.)

 

This is where my camera proceeded to die and I had forgotten the battery charger. The following pictures are from my phone. Not as good of quality, but it preserves the moments.

Crawling through the penguin tunnel.

Looks of awe...

Wyatt woke Lydia up from her extensive nap.

After a lengthy family nap,we tried to swim, but the pool was very cold. There was a smaller pool that was built like a hot tub that was warmer, but not really big enough to enjoy. That evening we attempted to go mini golfing. The 'men' really wanted to keep score and be competitive...they learned real quick their efforts were lost. We had a good time watching the kids swing their putters and toss their balls into the holes. It was especially interesting at hole 13 when Lydia decided she needed to "Go poopy, Mommy." Needless to say, we zig-zagged through that whole course trying to make our way back to the beginning the quickest way possible.

Afterwards, we wanted Marble Slab so we proceeded to get in the thickest traffic I have ever seen. (The Parliers were not as accommodating as were and headed back to the rental.) It took us at least fifteen minutes to go 2 miles, but we made it. Then we waited another 20 minutes inside. It was worth it, but we had a tired girl on our hands. OH, and our key card wouldn't work when we got back to the resort so we had to wait fffoooorrrreeeevvvveeerrrr to get back in and then wait some more to get in our villa since Holly and David were already there putting their kids to sleep. Note: do not put those in the same pocket as cell phones or keyless entries.

Sunday morning, Holly and I got to shop for a quick minute at the outlets while the rest of the crew went swimming again. After lunch and another nap, we rode around trying to find something to do in the drizzling rain. We ended up at the Shoe Dept. Lydia was in heaven! She loved trying on all the shoes, no matter the size. It was extremely cute. Then we headed to Olive Garden for dinner (and a lengthy wait which we passed in the car watching Ice Age). Dinner was excellent as expected then we headed back relax for our last evening. On the way home we stopped at IHOP where we all stuffed ourselves heavily with omelets and pancakes galore. A fun time was had by all!

July Miscleaneous

We've had a very busy and fun summer. Here are some pictures to recap:

Lydia all dressed in white for church.

Watching the fireworks with great friends from a great location. Thanks David!

Wyatt, Lydia, and Jack

Popcorn is a must if your toddler is not very interested in the fireworks. Thanks Holly!

Joey, David, and Jack

Holly's parents

Nude swimming at the Parlier house has been a summer highlight.

She's usually very happy when she wakes from a nap, crazy hair and all.

I made laundry detergent. The directions are here and this is the only picture she was missing. If you need any detergent, let me know. I will be using it FOREVER, but it was cheap and it works just as good.  If I ever use it all, I will probably leave the next batch in powder form since I still have an old top-load washer and I don't like a 5 gallon bucket sitting in my hall bathroom shower that never gets used: directions. My Aunt Bev made it this way with Dove soap and it seems fine too. I will be making dishwasher detergent when I run out of my store bought (directions are also on the same blog).

Kim, my mom, and I went to Commerce and shopped at the outlet mall. We bought the girls matching dresses. Aren't they too cute?

My mom bought Lydia a very special present - Ladybug Boots!

Sand and water is the back bone of summer vacation.

Good Morning!

Breakfast in bed.

Lunch at Gazebo with Grammy.

Family reunion at the Otto Community Building.

Lydia and Manuel

Such a cutie!

I said, "Lydia stay inside." I guess she is, mostly...

Manuel thought it was very clever, too.

Eventually, she had weaseled her way out the door.

Ma Rea and 3 week old Aubrey

Riding 4 wheelers at my cousin's grandparents house just up the road. Thanks Nan and Pap! Liz was also watching Santiago, 3.5, and Chloe, 2.

Lydia kept going in the grass and Santiago would come to her rescue and push her out.

This picture could have a million captions. Hehe :)

It has been extremely hot this summer and we go to the park on a regular basis. Lydia has a great time in the water feature.

One day she spotted a turtle.

Hope wasn't too sure about the water.

Going through the tunnel and sliding and swinging has never been so much fun.

On our trip to Commerce, we ventured further south to Athens where there was a Target. I love Target. I wish we had one in Franklin. (sigh) Anyway, I finally found Lydia some bedding. Isn't it just too cute?!?

The curtains were too long, so my awesome mother, cut them off and made two throw pillows (not pictured).

The hair bow holder was once a sea green color with my name on it. My co-worker and awesome friend volunteered to take it home and re-paint it for Lydia. She finished it the same day I bought her bedding and had no idea what it looked like. I just told her to make it 'girly' since her room would probably change 5 times before she went to college. Amazingly, it matches GREAT! Thanks Brooke King for the very cute addition to my child's first girly bedroom.

Going to the local pool is always an adventure.

Kisses for Daddy

I got these super cute magnets for Lydia for Christmas. Most of the time she just rakes them into the floor and I have to put them back on the fridge on a daily basis. She now knows all of her colors and only takes off one color at a time and she usually helps put them back. I am a proud mama.

I can't believe I have to go back to school Monday. (Lydia would say, "Why?" over and over.) It has been a great summer and I'm sad that it was so short. We made some great memories and the fun times will keep coming!