Trip to the East

My dad, Robert, Sarah, and I drove to Pennsylvania in 2015 when Sarah was two months old, and this spring it was time to do it again!  We went over spring break and had a great time!  Sarah really did do well in the car.

3.5 years ago and this time as well, we stayed in Ohio next to another church called South Gate, so Robert needed to document it!

It was so great to see everyone!  Sarah loved seeing her family and didn't want to leave.  Such a special time!

We spent some of our time at my grandparents' house and got to go to a bouncy house and the park and had lots of yummy food!

Then we spent a couple of days in Philadelphia, or as Sarah calls it, Phillyadelphia.  She was so excited to swim in the pool!  We were there for 48 hours, and she swam three times. 

I think we did all that can be done in 48 hours.  We had tickets for a Hop on Hop off bus, and it took us everywhere we wanted to go.  We got to see plenty of things from it like Betsy Ross' house and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.  We got off there so Robert and Dad could run up the stairs from Rocky!  We ate a few meals at Reading Terminal Market which was right next to our hotel.  We got to see the Liberty Bell and toured Independence Hall.

We all had a blast at Please Touch Museum.  The carousel was Sarah's favorite part!

The Franklin Institute was probably my favorite!  Sarah got to walk through a huge heart exhibit and crawl through a brain exhibit!

It wore out Sarah!

Such a great trip, and we're thankful we got to go!

Alabama 2017

The three of us made our annual trip to Alabama at the start of July.  Sarah was such a good traveler!  She enjoyed the beach so much.  She liked swimming, collecting shells, and watching the birds and boats.  She slept very well while we were there.  All the sun and swimming wore her out!  We got to celebrate Robert's belated birthday and 4th of July.  We got to see several of Robert's relatives and Ray and Terri's friends.  It was hot as all get out, but we enjoyed our time!  I just wanted to jot down some of the highlights for the sake of memory preservation.

Ready to hit the road!

I am so thankful that Sarah loves wearing her life jacket!

The estuarium was a big hit!

My dinner date while Sarah collected shells with Papa and Babi

The birthday party crew

Mammoth Springs was the perfect Arkansas pit stop on our drive home.

Fifth Anniversary Trip

Robert's and my fifth wedding anniversary was on May 20, and we'd been planning for months to go on a trip.  I honestly think we started thinking about our fifth anniversary about a year and a half ago. haha We knew it would take a lot of planning as Robert would need to save up vacation time, we'd have to pick a week before his summer craziness with work, and we'd have to find a week where we'd have family to watch Sarah, so we booked my parents and Robert's mom to watch Sarah months ago.  We picked the week even before we knew where we'd go.  Robert really wanted to fly somewhere, but I really wanted to be within driving distance just on the off chance that something weird happened to Sarah.  Do my mommy friends understand?  This was my first time to be gone from Sarah for more than a night or two.  We just couldn't pick a place, and then one day Robert mentioned Louisville.  It's about a seven hour drive for us, and our friends Forrest and Anna had just moved there from Wake Forest.  We hadn't seen them in two and a half years, but we had loved our time with them in North Carolina.  They just bought a house so they had space for us, and they were up for hosting.  We were so happy!

We left our house Sunday afternoon once my parents got there to start watching Sarah.  I was a little nervous.  It wasn't because I didn't think Sarah would have a good time.  I knew she'd have a blast!  It's just hard to leave your baby.  We drove to St. Louis and stayed at a Holiday Inn Express.  We enjoyed Mexican and some dessert and then just watched Netflix in our hotel room.  I know that isn't luxurious, but when you have a little one this is a big deal!  The next morning we went to the St. Louis Zoo.  Robert had never been, and I hadn't been in over a decade.  It was a lot of fun, and we couldn't have asked for better weather. 

St. Louis is pretty much exactly halfway between our house and Forrest and Anna's, so after lunch we got back on the road so we could get to their house by dinner (time change from central to eastern).  We enjoyed getting pictures from my parents.  On Monday Sarah watered my flowers and took a little trip to Bolivar to see Memaw and Pepaw and go to the park.

It was so wonderful to see Anna and Forrest, get to see their new house, and meet their dog, Bruce.  Anna had a delicious dinner ready for us, and we enjoyed catching up and playing games.

On Tuesday the four of us went to the Louisville Slugger Museum.  Robert is the biggest baseball fan of the group, but it really was interesting for all of us.  We got to take a little tour of the manufacturing plant and walked around a small museum.

We went to the oldest candy shop in Indiana which was very adorable.  And then we went home for a bit.

Sarah got to do lots of coloring and painting with my parents.

Colonel Sanders and Muhammad Ali are buried in the same cemetary, and apparently this is a popular thing to visit in Louisville, so we had to do it!

We got some delicious ice cream at Comfy Cow!

We went to Churchill Downs and got a tour and looked around the museum.  I basically don't know anything about horses or racing, but it was still very impressive and interesting.

Robert and I sneaked off for a little anniversary date and went out for BBQ and walked across a huge pedestrian bridge that goes over the Ohio River.  It was beautiful!

There was some rain throughout the week, but we also had some very pleasant days which allowed for a little hike one morning.

Halfway through the trip Serina took over watching Sarah, and they had a ton of fun together!  My parents had taken Sarah to Discovery Center, and Serina took Sarah to the Zoo.  She also did finger painting, baked cookies, and tie dyed t-shirts.  So fun!

We got to play so many games with Anna and Forrest which was a lot of fun!  We watched a movie, Robert helped Forrest with a couple of little house projects, I got to nap and rest, and we just enjoyed each other's company.  We couldn't have asked for a better time!  The drive home was made in a day, and the time change back to central time helped us out.  We rain into a couple of pretty heavy rain storms with hail which slowed us down a bit.  Shortly after we got home we actually lost power for an hour.  Sarah had a great time with our parents, but she was definitely ready for us to be home.  She and Serina were out in the driveway when we pulled in and Sarah started bawling.  She just couldn't compose herself.  It was very sweet and very sad.  We had a great break, but it was also very nice to be back together.  It was the perfect way to get energized for our busy summer with student activities.  Thank you for hosting us, Anna and Forrest, and thank you to my parents and Serina for watching Sarah!

Fifth Annual Girls Weekend

Every year I go on a girls getaway with Robert's mom, grandma, and sister.  Last year I brought Sarah along, and she really did do a good job, but after that trip I gave Robert a one year notice that Mommy was going on the next trip alone! :)  Bethany was able to leave her daughter, Sadie, with her husband, too, so it was a baby free weekend.  Robert did a great job with Sarah, and he was able to get quite a bit of help from my parents which I know he appreciated.  Highlights of their weekend included Sarah riding a tricycle for the first time, Andy's Frozen Custard, Itty Bitty City, and scaring each other a lot.  Sarah is very in to growling and watching people be terrified.  It's a fun age!

This year we went to Fayetteville, Arkansas.  The other three ladies drove down together to pick me up, and we had lunch with Robert and Sarah at Black Sheep, and everybody agreed that it was a great way to kick off our weekend of fun and food!  On our way to Fayetteville we stopped at Crystal Bridges, and it had some neat stuff including string art and a very lifelike sculpture. 

When we got to Fayetteville we got settled in our hotel and put on our tattoos that Bethany had made for us. :)

Our first night we ate dinner at Noodles and watched Beauty and the Beast.  Grandma June had never seen the cartoon version, so it was all new to her.  We all really enjoyed it!

The weekend was full of rain the whole time.  Thankfully we had a good amount of indoor activities planned.  Saturday morning we had breakfast at Rick's Bakery, and then we headed out to get our nails done.  The first place lost power right after we got there so we found another location.  I got very sparkly pink nails which I love because it makes me feel like Elle Woods in Legally Blonde!  Sarah also loved them once I explained to her that they weren't a boo-boo.

I can't remember the order of our little shopping trips throughout the weekend, but during our time in Fayetteville I know we ventured into an Old Navy, Bed Bath & Beyond, Walmart, Target, and the mall.  I managed to come away from it all with a new toothbrush for Sarah. haha

For lunch on Saturday we just ate at Sonic, but dinner was a culinary treat at Hammontree's Grilled Cheese.  We all agreed that this was the best meal of the weekend.  I picked it. ;)  I had a ham and cheese with avocado and herb mayo on sourdough and tomato soup.  Yum!  After dinner we went to Painting with a Twist.  Serina and Bethany had done this before, but June and I hadn't.  We really enjoyed ourselves and got in plenty of laughs along the way.  I think our paintings turned out well!  Bethany and I got to hit up the pool and enjoyed chatting about mom life on Saturday afternoon as well.

On Sunday we went to the Rolling Pin for breakfast, and it was good!  We ate lunch at El Matador, had dessert at Kream - Ice cream doughnut sandwiches! - and dinner was pizza that we had delivered to the hotel.  We got to play several games in our hotel room, which honestly was a treat because it's definitely something you can't do with a one year old around. We had hoped to visit a cathedral in town, but it was closed due to flooding from all the rain.  The rain was just ridiculous, but we stayed safe and enjoyed some relaxation in the hotel.

On Monday morning we hit the road after stopping for breakfast at Starbucks.  Sarah was very happy to have me back, and so was Robert.  Sarah had me hold her a lot on Monday and Tuesday.  It's nice to be needed.  Thank you to Serina, Bethany, and June for such a fun weekend, and thank you to Robert and my parents for helping me be able to leave for the weekend!