Happy Fall Y'all!

As much as I love summertime and all that it means, I really do enjoy the changing of the seasons here in Kentucky. There is just something spiritual and refreshing as the pretty summer leaves turn to shades of red and gold and orange. For the past several mornings I have been watching the sun come into patch of trees across the street from our house and I decided that I would try and get some fall pictures of the boys this weekend. The leaves haven't all changed over, but when opportunity strikes then you take it. (as in: the weather isn't terribly miserable, 43 degrees this morning, and we had no where we had to be) So I warned the boys last night that I wanted to take pictures and was immediately met with resistance from Finn. But this morning when I woke up I asked if we could take pictures and he started taking his jammies off. I took that as a positive sign. I took a bunch and couldn't quite get my lighting right...early morning, fall colors, and not making the boys look washed out was a challenge. Add to that incredibly busy little boys who were given open space and just wanted to run. But I will say that I am happy with a few of them...and for the first photo session ever, I didn't feel like throwing my camera! And I hadn't even had my coffee yet. (don't judge me. you must have the patience of Job to photograph kids...and patience is a trait that I was just not blessed with)

Keagan: age 5 years, 4 months old. Sweet, sensitive, smart, and silly. He loves to make people laugh and his laugh is infectious. We have called him our "Sweet Keagan" since he was first born, and he is just that. My little people-pleaser, he is keenly aware of how others are feeling and is very emotional.

Finley: age 3 years, 3 months. Passionate, loud, strong-willed, intelligent. Finn is the child that is very decisive, knows what he wants and stops at nothing to get it. He loves hard and cries hard, and you never have to guess the kind of mood he is in. Finley marches to the beat of his own drum and doesn't apologize for it.

As different as daylight and dark, these two brothers are the best of friends. Yes, they fight over toys and argue and antagonize, but when they are not together their world is not complete. They love each other to the deepest parts of their little hearts, and I couldn't thank God enough for that. I call them built-in best friends.

 
I just love these two little pumpkin heads!

Happy Fall Y'all!!

Girl's Night Out with Patrick Swayze (kinda..)

Sometimes girls just wanna have fun. That includes girls that are over the age of 30. :)  So when our travel and party planner Stacey informed us that Dirty Dancing musical was coming to Nashville, it didn't take any arm twisting. So the weekend after we returned from our beach vacation, it was Dirty Dancing time!!

We all arrived into Nashville at different times. I started my fun weekend by dropping the boys off with their Poppy and then spending Friday night at Jessica's apartment downtown and enjoyed a little girl time with her. Then Devon picked me up the next morning and she and I caught up over brunch. We hadn't seen each other in over three years and had lots of chatting and catching up to do. We then headed over to Opry Mills to meet the others and do some shopping and fulfill the goal of finding something to wear that night (this was nearly everyone's goal!) and after buying everything but a new outfit, we headed downtown to the hotel to get ready. Our room was free (!!!) courtesy of Chasity's husband's points...bonus!!!  After getting ready, helping each other decide what to wear, drinking a couple hotel-paper-glasses of wine, and dancing/singing/pantomiming to songs from the Dirty Dancing soundtrack, we headed out to dinner. We decided to walk to the restaurant because it was "not that far" and I felt lofty and smart and decided to navigate. Welll....I got us super lost. (sorry girls!) And got us into a not-so-great part of town on the other side of the train tracks (no, really.)...and by the time we got to the restaurant we were sweaty and stinky. Annnnd I was banned from navigating again. But, before all that happened we snapped this super fun picture!  (for reference, in a circle starting with me and going clockwise: Me, Devon, Tracey, Chasity, Natalie, and Stacey)

Once we FINALLY made it to the restaurant and freshened up the best we could, we were met with this super hilarious, slightly feminine, waiter. His name was Devin...so we said Devin, meet Devon! Ha! He was a trip, and got us all set up with drinks, food, fun, and a taxi when it was time to head to the show. He really made our evening with such phrases like, "Oh no she de-ent!" (de-ent is didn't) and, "Girls, you makin' my eye twitch. See my eye twitchin'?" and "Mhmm. Yesh girl."  Stacey stealthily snuck a picture of him as she was handing him her phone to take a picture of us. Isn't she great?! So fun!!

We were missing one person...Jessica showed up a little later into supper...but I think she got a taste of our waiter Devin's silliness! And our silliness.

In the lobby of the TPAC where the play was, they had this awesome photo area...so we took advantage! And we were so glad we did because it was beyond crowded after the play!

While we were waiting for the show to begin we took a bunch of pictures...with our phones. They aren't the best quality but we couldn't not document such a fun night! And the night just got better when Dirty Dancing started. It was a fantastic play! We sang, we danced, we laughed, we swooned! And at first I felt a little bad for the people who had to sit around us until someone in front of us turned around and said that we were a lot of fun! (well, duh!!)

At intermission we parted ways to use the bathroom and then get in lines at separate bars. I had my phone so I texted Stacey to see how her line was moving...because they were blinking the lights or whatever they do to alert us that the show was about to start and they might not let us back in once the doors were shut. And let's be honest, that would be a travesty...Johnny and Baby were just getting hot and heavy! Anyways, Stacey was in one line and I was in another, and we were texting each other to see who was getting closer to the bar. And the exchange of text messages had me and those around rolling with laughter. Have you ever seen some of the crazy texts that happen due to auto-correct? Well...here's our personal funny one. :) Maybe you just had to be there...but this was so funny that I had to include it. I'm in the blue...Stacey is in the yellow. Her phone might hate her!! (I get the most awesome auto-corrected texts from her on the daily!)

I know the suspense must be killing you, but I ended up leaving my bar line, joining Stacey, and we got all the drinks and made it back just in time to continue to swoon over Johnny ("Patrick Swayze" look alike) and sing and laugh to the end!

After the show it was absolutely pouring and so we hailed a cab-van and jumped in. Our (poor) cab driver had to deal with seven very happy, loud, silly women (girls!) who were looking to have some more fun. We found out his name was Tito, and so we addressed him by name and questioned him by name as he drove us downtown and continuously wiped the fog from the inside windows so he could see! He was pretty quiet but I am pretty sure he made some comment that if we would stop singing the windows wouldn't fog up so bad! Haha! That didn't happen. :)

Unfortunately Jessica had to head home so we dropped her off before heading downtown, but we hated to see her go. The remaining six of us went to a dueling piano bar called the Big Bang and pretty much danced the night away!! We then headed to our hotel, but first had a quick stop at a taco bar for chips and dip. It was a good snack before we piled into two queen beds at 3am! (Well, Devon headed back to her house after chips and queso and so there were just five of us in the beds.)

The next morning we showered and went down to breakfast and reminisced about what a fantastic time we had the night before. The fun thing about this get together is not everyone knew everyone! We were a random group of women, with different connections to each other and some having met for the first time that night, and we had such a fantastic time and meshed really well together. So much laughter throughout the night. This GNO was good for the soul and I cannot wait for another! What say you, girls?! 

(oh and you should re-watch Dirty Dancing the first chance you get. it's on Netflix. and then go to the musical!)

An Oreo Adendum

I was just saying a few weeks ago that "to date, I have tried all the Oreos that have come out, except Caramel Apple..."  Well, I guess I should say that I have tried all the ones that I have been made aware of. Apparently there are Spam Oreos in Hawaii (my mom told me this the other day. sounds disgusting. I must try.) and there are also some toasted coconut and cinnamon bun Oreos. But those last two I just found out about the other day from Devon and Stacey (my friends know me so well)...so other than the caramel apple ones, I was caught up.

But then I went to Target. In case you don't know, there is not a Target in my town, or any town close. We have a Wal-Mart and a Dollar General. And that's about it. So, I went to Target while on a girls weekend and stumbled upon the caramel apple Oreos. I had (keyword: had) been looking for those last year when they first made their appearance. I couldn't find them, and I actually gave up. Yep, I gave up. (gasp!) So when I stumbled upon them I immediately scooped them up as if they would be going fast (there was no one else around them) and gently placed them in the cart. Stacey was with me, and she nodded sweetly at me...I really think it might be the same way we nod at our preschooler's when they come up with a "bright" idea that isn't really that awesome. I would do the same thing to me, too. So I tried to play it cool...but I was dying inside! I found the elusive caramel apple Oreos!!! I am "caught up" on my Oreo tasting!! And I only bought one package. YAY!

So let's talk about them briefly. They are yummy...they taste like a caramel apple. And they have a lovely green and caramel creme in the middle. It screams Autumn, and though I love summer I really do like the fall flavors. I was hoping that the caramel cream would actually be a little more caramel-y...and less creamy? Though I don't think that's the purpose of the Oreo.  And it hasn't stopped me from liking them!

So, I thought I was caught up, but then I learned about those new flavors I mentioned above. So I guess I am on the hunt again for these new flavors...  BUT I will pat myself on the back, because I no longer have a 3-feet high pile of Oreos in my pantry (they are in my freezer now) and my blogging is current.

Aren't you glad you read this very important content?! Wow...

Sunset Beach Pictures (last post!!!)

I love to see family beach pictures, but I am kinda cheap so I don't hire a photographer. I am sure it would be disastrous anyways and I would end up frustrated. Josh and the boys would groan and groan if I hired someone...because they groan collectively when I lay out clothes and say Tonight's The Night for pics! And besides, I like a good challenge and want to hone in on my photography skills.  So I might as well do them myself.

I did a lot of lighting checks and got a bunch of outtakes, but I love my outtakes even if they aren't wall worthy. And, I did very little to no Photoshopping of these, case in point is Finley's red eye...except for a crop here and there. I do need to figure out how to get rid of harsh shadows...but all in all I am pretty happy with the results...  You'll be able to pick out the good ones versus the crazies from my kids without much help at all...  

The above several pictures were infuriating to me to take. I mean, check out the faces. What the heck?!!!?? I was just begging for a smile. The lighting was great, I enjoyed the setting...but the boys would not cooperate. But when I went back to look at these and pick them out for a blog, I died laughing. My kids are crazy. And this is our life!


A beautiful sunset as we left the beach from our crazy photo shoot. What a beautiful painting God provides for us on a daily basis!!! 

Dolphins! Dolphins Everywhere! (beach post 5)

Another highlight of our vacation was a dolphin/sunset cruise on the Sea Quest. We've done this on several other occasions, but on a different boat, and have always had a great time. And now that the boys are a little older and can enjoy it more we were excited to do it again! We set out hoping we'd see some dolphins, and additionally hoped that they would be close enough that the boys would be able to catch a glimpse. This was the dolphin and sunset cruise of a life time. I could not even count how many dolphins we saw, but they were everywhere!! The crew were loving it and made remarks that this was one of the best cruises they had! The sunset was also gorgeous...and it seemed to linger on longer than normal just so we could get the perfect pictures. And the crew got the kids involved and had fun music, encouraged dancing, and just made the entire trip a party. It was loads of fun and the boys loved it!!

While we were waiting to board the boat, Josh bought some fish food to let the boys feed the fish off the dock.

Getting excited to get going! Sometimes it is hard to contain excited little boys, but they did a pretty good job of hanging out and being patient. While we were waiting we saw a pirate ship pass by, and the kids decided that was the next boat we would go on...  And Finn did a little pre-party dancing in the aisle while the boat remained docked.

Once we got going and drinks were passed out, we toodled around the harbor and looked at celebrity homes before heading out to sea.

Vanna White's house...

Garth Brooks' house (I think!) and maybe Bette Midler's next/near to it (?)

Faith Hill and Tim McGraw's house

 

A super cool group of condos and restaurants and shops...and this is where we ate with Wesley where we saw such a pretty sunset!

 

At some point the captain brought out a box of saltine crackers and told everyone to put one in their mouths because we were going to feed the seagulls. I don't know if anyone did, but then he told us he was joking...and that if we just held the crackers up in the air the gulls would take them. It was the craziest thing I have ever seen...those seagulls swarmed the boat and got their fill of saltine crackers! And to my surprise, no one was pooped on!

As we were killing time before we made our way to dolphins and the sunset, going as fast as the boat could go, I loved watching my boys. They were so content and happy. And they were so good. They took in all the sights, enjoyed walking about the boat when we slowed, drank their sodas like big boys. We passed by our condo and the kids thought it was so cool to see our "home away from home" from a different view. We also passed by the the Sea Blaster, which is another boat that we have been on several times. It is also very fun, but we really did enjoy this booze-cruise the best of all of them!

While we were out in the ocean cruising along, the kids all got a chance to captain the Sea Quest. My boys jumped at this opportunity and took their short-term responsibility very seriously.

And then suddenly it was dolphin time. And we were surrounded. The dolphins were everywhere! They were so playful and gave us an amazing show that lasted for quite a while. They surfed in the wake of the boat, they flipped and dove, swam around and under the boat. They were so close. There was even a baby dolphin that was super playful...but I couldn't pick it out when I went back to look at my pictures. The best part: the boys got quite a show!! It was  more than I could have ever hoped in a dolphin cruise!

After the dolphins we got a showing from one of the prettiest sunsets. It was stunning. And unlike most sunsets that seem to give a beautiful showing for a split second before the sun melts into the water, this sunset really did seem to last. We got a bunch of gorgeous pictures. And tried to take some nice pictures with the boys...Finley is anti-picture though and refuses to smile and fights to get down/away.

As the sun began its descent into the water the crew turned up the music and encouraged everyone to dance. It didn't take much for me or Keagan...and we had a blast! Finn was a bit more bashful...like his daddy? There were some young singles (read: no kids, out to have a good time, etc) and they were so sweet to the boys. One of the gals taught Keagan (and me!) how to do the Nae Nae. I had never heard the song...but it was catchy and we had a lot of fun dancing!!

 So much fun and great memories!!!!