July Favorite Things

Can you believe it is the LAST day of July?

Where did the summer go?

Tomorrow is AUGUST!

School starts in 27 days.  I am totally not counting down.

Being that today is the last day of the month, I will share a few of my favorite things.

Big thanks to Ashley for hosting this each month.

Join in if you want!  It is very fun!




- I am really loving that I JUST found out Sweet Melissa is what Dave Matthews calls "one of my favorite songs that was ever written in the world."  Dave Matthews + Greg Allman = Ahhhh-mazing



- My favorite drink right now is Pepsi Next Paradise Mango.  Delicious!

- We went out Saturday night for a quick dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings in Morehead.  I know this is every unlike us but Bug had been sick all day and we weren't trying to be gone all night.  When it comes to wing joints, this is our favorite.  Spicy Garlic is to die for!  Anyway, my sister got an awesome meal!  It is possibly one of my new favorite things at BW3s.  It was a four cheese flatbread pizza with pepperoni.  Anna does not like pizza sauce and this was perfect for her.  Instead of pizza sauce, it has queso on it.  OMG!  Heavenly!

- Speaking of food, I have found a favorite recipe for meatloaf.
It is the Pioneer Woman's Meatloaf.  I think Ryan even liked it.  I made these mini meatloaves when we first got married.  That was over 6 years ago and I still remember that was the night I found out Ryan is not a big fan of meatloaf.  I was devastated.  I haven't cook one since.  So anyway, as far as meatloaf goes we will stick with this recipe or my Mama's.

- Thank you notes are my favorite.  I made Caroline sit down today and write thank you notes to the people that were not able to see her open her gifts from them.  I just love a hand written note.  It is so thoughtful.  I have been longing for note cards by Ashley Brooke at Ashley Brooke Designs.  Her stuff is so cute.  I love it!

- And last but not least, my favorite month is ahead.  August.  August means a few things... last minute vacays (we even have a girls overnight beach trip planned... yayyyy!) and school starts!  Yayyyy!

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May Favorite Things

June Favorite Things

Tetanus

I vacuumed out the minivan this morning.

We had sand everywhere.

I don't do this very often so I decided to make the best of it and take the girls carseats out, take them apart, and wash them.

I rarely wash carseat covers for many reasons.

For one, it takes a freaking rocket scientist to figure out how to get the carseat covers on and off.

Seriously.  It is ridiculous.

Let me just tell you, Bug's carseat was disgusting.

I am pretty sure DSS would take my children away from me if they saw what was in Emma's carseat.

I am surprised an animal wasn't living in there.

It was so gross, I was too embarrassed to even take pictures for "the dot com".

There were chips and candy in there that I had NEVER seen.

I am pretty sure I need a new tetanus shot after dealing with that this morning.

Help me mamas...  I hope your kids have digusting carseats too.

Please tell me that they do.

AND if you have any secrets or tricks about taking factory carseat covers on and off please let me know.

Bible School

Today the girls are sitting on the bed pretending to fly to China.

China.

I wonder where they think China is.  I wonder what they think they would see in China.

Their imaginations are amazing.

Midflight to China, they heard me turn on the bathtub. Their flight was cut short and they were both following me to the bathroom, not letting me get too far out of their sight.

They were both on edge.

We have been preparing them all weekend for tonight.

I let them know that I would be leaving them at Bible school at our church.

There were tears.

There were screams.

There were meltdowns.

China?  That would NEVER happen.  They can't even let me shave my legs without sitting right beside the bathtub.

China?  Psh!  They are having a meltdown about BIBLE SCHOOL!!

The time came.

Emma immediately started crying because I was walking too fast for her to catch up to me.

Caroline cried because I left her in the sanctuary with MG (our 11 year old cousin).  I made a quick exit just before clawing my eyeballs out.

Emma was clinging to me for dear life... literally.

I pried her off of me and ran out the door leaving her with my aunt to deal with.

These sort of situations go much more smoothly if I am not involved.

I felt like such a crappy mom but it was the perfect opportunity to leave them and possibly kick this separation anxiety in the ass.

I was back at church a whole hour early to pick them up.

I was armed with their new American Girl dolls.  Peace offerings, if you will.

I slowly crept around the church watching them.

Then they saw me.

I stopped dead in my tracks.

Oh man.

It's over, I thought to myself.  They have seen me and they are going to want to crawl up inside of me and never let me leave again!

They didn't.

Did you hear me?

THEY DIDN'T!

They stayed in their line and followed their class to music.

I had to literally pick my mouth off of the floor.

I couldn't believe it.

I was so proud.

They started the day off going to China, a feat I felt they would never accomplish.

They ended the day going to Bible school all by themselves.

That is as big as going to China in my eyes.

Way to go girls!  We are so very proud of you!

Another birthday celebration

Caroline had her whole birthday planned out.

Cajun Filet biscuit and a large tea with extra lemon from Bojangles for breakfast.

Then we were off to get toes and fingers painted...

Emma laid back like this the whole time she was getting her pedicure.  Ha!

The birthday girl...

Big's toes...

Excuse the dirty rainbows.  Gross.

Big's fingers.

Bug's toes.

I never got a picture of her fingers but they were silver glitter until she ate it all off in less than 24 hours.

After their spa treatments, Big wanted Pizza Villa for lunch.

Mini pizzas, salads, pizza crackers, & 5 gallons of ranch were involved.

We tried to go to the pool after lunch but the weather was yucky.

We went to Walmart instead.

Big picked out her birthday gift from us.

She picked out a DS puppy and game.

We went to dinner with Grandmom, Papa, Jason, Mindy, Hayley & Sarah.

Big chose El Norteno (a local Mexican joint).

Cheese enchiladas, tacos, quesadillas, salsa, cheese dip, chips, steak, rice and beans were included.

We all went back to Grandmom and Papa's to eat Oreo ice cream cake (that Big picked out) and open gifts.

Big was showered with lots of fun stuff and love.

One more celebration and I think we are done with Caroline's 6th birthday celebrations.

We like to celebrate birthdays for weeks around here ;-)

Tennis went great!

Ryan woke Caroline up this morning.

It is his favorite thing to do.

He kisses the girls 100 times before actually walks out the door.

He was so excited about Caroline starting tennis today.

To say Caroline was not excited would be an understatement.

She wouldn't eat her breakfast because sausage and eggs would "hurt her stomach".

She settled for a big glass of orange juice and toast with grape jelly.

We all got dressed, brushed our teeth and hair.

I went to grab her racquet.  It was nowhere to be seen.

"Where is your tennis racquet?  It was right here last night."

"I don't know."

"Well, you better find it or you are just going to have to use one they have there."

She magically found it in 2 seconds flat.

We headed out the door.

Of course we had to stop so I could snap her picture before we left.

She didn't cry, she just moved really slow the whole morning.

When we got there, she hopped right out of the minivan (which I am still driving.  that's another blog post.  ugh!).

We filled out her paperwork.

She almost tuned up when lessons started and I tried to leave her.

One of her awesome coaches quickly took charge and started introducing her to everyone.

All in all, she had an awesome time.

She did really well.  She and her Dad have been practicing.

She is looking forward to Monday... as long as I stay in the minivan and watch her.

I can do that for a few more lessons right?

Water Break... 

Do you see her little ponytail over there?

So cute!

I am already googling tennis skirts ;-)

Say a little prayer. . .

I signed Caroline up for a tennis clinic that she will start tomorrow.


She will go every Monday and Wednesday morning until the end of August when school starts.

I am sure many tears will ensue when I wake her tomorrow morning.

She is scared to death I am going to leave her.

She is scared to death to do anything without me.

We have everything prepared.

Her racquet is ready.

We have dusted off her tennis shoes that have been stuffed in the back of the closest during the summer months.

Now, if you could just say a quick prayer that she enjoys it and has a fun time.

She needs this.

WE need this.

I want Caroline to do fun things and not worry.  We will try anything to ease her separation anxiety.  She has got to let go and do fun things!

So, here's to tomorrow. . .

Great Wolf Lodge

Even though Ryan couldn't take vacation, we had a fabulous girls trip.

No trip is complete without lots of coffee and kid hot chocolates...

After a while of driving we saw the sign...

The girls got along for the most part...

with only minor disputes.

We saw our first Williamsburg sign.

We are probably the only people that still take the ferry to Williamsburg.

We love it.

I mean, who doesn't love a ferry ride?

Big loved the ride most of all.

She stood at the very front, in the exact same spot for the entire ride.

We made it to Great Wolf Lodge.

Check-in isn't until 4pm but you can start using the waterpark at 1pm.

You need to totally take advantage of that time.

It was perfect.  We changed into our bathing suits (yes, I wore my mom suit) and didn't have to worry with our luggage just yet.  We were able to immediately begin our vacation!

Bug love the kiddie area.
I threw a life vest on her after about an hour and she went down the kiddie waterslides by herself.
Of course, I didn't get very many pictures.  We were too busy!

I got ONE picture of Big playing.

One!

She and Anna were too busy riding waterslides that we barely saw them.

Note to parents: You will definitely need one adult per child.

2 children... you will need 2 adults.

4 children... you will need 4 adults.

It is serious.  There is no way you would be able to keep up with all of your children.

We did not eat at Great Wolf Lodge.

From my research I found that the food was super expensive and not very tasty.

I don't do bad food.

We had Uno Chicago Grill for dinner.

The girls loved it.  They got to make their own pizzas right at the table.

They even got an apron to wear!

After dinner, we rushed back to the Lodge to get our PJs on and head to story time.

I loved the antler chandeliers.  They were amazing!

Wolves everywhere...

I spy a Caroline...

I spy a Bug... 

I spy a Big and Bug together...

I forgot to take pictures of our room... of course.

Caroline got a few on her new camera but I haven't uploaded those pictures yet.

We chose the KidKamp Suite.

It was super nice.  There was a queen bed, a sleeper sofa, and bunk beds in the "KidKamp" for the children.

My kids LOVE bunk beds.

I decided on the KidKamp Suite versus the Wolf Den Suite for one reason.

KidKamp has a TV in the little room for the kids.

The Wolf Den does not.

If you want a TV for the kids, get the KidKamp Suite.

Your kids will totally love it.

Big was dying to get these hair extensions.

She got two and Bug got two.

They are super cute but are such a pain when you are brushing hair and using the flat iron.

Shopping was next on our agenda.
Williamsburg Premium Outlets are the bomb dot com.
And....
No trip to Williamsburg would be complete without walking around colonial Williamsburg.

West Duke of Gloucester Street is amazing, right?

Look at these canvas awnings.

Beautiful.

You know our love for The Cheese Shop.

Hands down, The Cheese Shop is the best place for lunch in Williamsburg.

Anna had a Usinger salami & cheese of French bread with spicy mustard.

She also got a peanut butter sandwich to go that I didn't get a picture of.

Caroline also had a Usinger salami & cheese of French.

Bug had a peanut butter sandwich.

We all shared this little dip from the Heavens.

This is The Cheese Shop's House Dressing.

You can never have too much of this on your sandwich.

You buy a little bag of bread ends to go with it and you are set.

Eat your little heart out.

It is to die for.

This is Mom's grilled cheese that she didn't even want.

She told me she wanted a peanut butter (my family obviously likes peanut butter, huh) and I thought she told me a grilled cheese.

Even though it wasn't what she wanted, it did not disappoint.

They used all types of cheeses and it was on Rye.

I had the Combo Sandwich which consisted of turkey and Virginia Ham.

When in Virginia, do as the Virginians do... right?

I got the combo on french bread with extra house dressing.

It was so wonderful.

The Cheese Shop is also full of crazy drinks.

Everyone else got water, Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, etc.

I got this awesome glass bottled Organic Black Tea and Lemonade.

Very yummy!

The Wythe Candy Shop is right beside The Cheese Shop.

Look at all these yummies...

We brought home 6 of these...

You read that right... a chocolate covered twinkie!

The girls chowing down on strawberries.

We made a quick stop by the William and Mary bookstore for Anna to get a tshirt (it is a ritual).

We got in the car and headed back home.

Via the ferry of course... per the girls request.

Thanks to my wonderful Mom and Sister for a fabulous vacation.
Caroline had an awesome time celebrating her birthday.
Emma had an awesome time just being with the girls.
We are already planning our next trip!