Labor Day Weekend

Last Saturday, the kiddos and I headed up to the mountain house for the final summer weekend at the colony.  (Stephen stayed back to watch his beloved Yellow Jackets play football)  We had an easy trip up, made it there around lunchtime, and we hit up the lake!

Parker and DeeDad went on a golf cart ride, and Parker said he was cold and wet.  He put on his 11-year-old cousin's shorts (and underwear!) and told DeeDad they were his.  This was how he came back down to the lake!  

That afternoon, we hung out at the house, and then headed down for the picnic and square dance that evening.

Square dance!

We all stayed up waaaaaaay too late, having fun.  Several friends were over, and we were hanging out, listening to music, etc.

Chilling before bedtime.  And watching a bunch of teenagers (and 40-somethings) sing and dance.

A big source of entertainment... a rotary phone!

Oh... and this happened!  Front tooth number 2!

After going to bed after midnight, we all slept in a little bit!  Grace had spent the night with Sydney and Taylor and it was cute listening to them whispering and laughing until late.

My morning walk.  Cloudy, but beautiful!

Sumo-wrestling competition.

After church, they set up the big slide!  They put soap and water on it so you go super fast.  It was fun... and slippery!

The highlight- the big slide!

Sweet girls!

Sunday was Stephen's birthday, so we headed back to town around 7 PM.  It was enough time to give him his presents and a little cake and spend some time with him!  I told him we might've given him the best birthday present ever- a silent night!

It was a fun weekend and I'm glad I made the trip this year with the kiddos.

Updates

We've been pretty busy lately, with school, HOMEWORK, soccer, church, doctor appointments, more homework, friends, and more.  So... since I'm pretty much d-o-n-e after the kids' bedtimes, you're going to get one long post showing what we've been up to in the last few weeks!

Enjoy!

From Parker's school's Facebook page!

Our new Lego table.

Oh boy... the neighbor with the John Deere came out to race Parker.  He was in heaven!

Twinning.

Date night!

Hanging with the cousins.

Stephen super-glued his finger to the wooden boat he and the kids were making.  I promise I didn't laugh... much.

PJ and Pancake day... why not?

A visit with Taylor and her buddies at lunch!

Parker and Liam.

A bike ride through the 'hood.

Surprise baby "sprinkle" for our neighbor!

Being the lookout.

The guys are anxiously awaiting...

Surprise!

Soccer is back in session.

Parker picking up Meredith (or "Mer-wif") from the bus stop!

He even has a place for her backpack and lunch box!

Now they're racing.

A morning walk with my Taylor.

Army Retirement

I headed up to South Carolina last Thursday to see my cousin retire from the Army!  My cousin is Major General Brock and he was retiring after 36 years in the Army.  That's more than my whole lifetime, so it's hard to imagine.  He had several deployments and had recently moved back from a couple of years having to live in Hawaii.  (Ahem... "having" to live... ;)

My mom and I rode up together and got to see the ceremony, hear about his accomplishments, hear my cousin speak his appreciation, and then hang out for lunch afterwards, before racing back to get the girls from school!

I'm so very proud of him!

My cousin's mentor is on the left, then his daughter, his son, his granddaughter, and then my cousin, Wayne. 

His whole family, including his wife.

A Night Away

Stephen surprised me last weekend with a night away!  He spilled the beans on Thursday (he knows me too well- I'd need a couple days notice), and said he'd been planning a night away at the Ritz Carlton at Lake Oconee!  He had my parents scheduled to come down to watch the kiddos, and that they did. (thanks, Mom and Dad!)

We headed to Lake Oconee around lunch time on Saturday.  The weather was just beautiful... but HOT!  We weren't going to let it slow us down.

We arrived, dropped our stuff off, and then rented some bikes.  The people kept warning us how hilly the bike paths were, and we were like- ok, that's fine, no big deal... we got this.  HOLY COW.  Those paths were SO hilly.  And it was so hot that Stephen and I were literally soaked in sweat from head to toe.  We might as well have been swimming, that's how sweaty we were.  We rode for 2 hours, about 7-8 miles.  It was so fun, so freeing.  Riding bikes is one of my favorite things to do, and I definitely don't do it very often.

After that, since we were already sweaty, why not add to it?  We went and played tennis.  On the bike paths, we were in the shade a lot.  On the courts, it was wide open sun.  We played for about an hour before we were tired and sunburnt, and we decided to walk back.

Walking back- the view was gorgeous!

We got our bathing suits on and went to the pool.  At first, we sat in lounge chairs enjoying the nice breeze off of the lake and people watching.  The pool was pretty packed out.  It was also nice to just enjoy sitting by a pool without worrying about where the kids are!  We went in the pool to cool off, and it was just perfect.  It was an infinity pool, so it was very cool looking straight from the pool to the lake.

We went back to the room and got ready for dinner.  We went to this super-fancy steakhouse for dinner.  All of you who know me know that I am definitely not fancy.  Give me Chili's or Chick-fil-a any day of the week and I'm game.  This steakhouse was the kind where, if you got up to use the restroom, the waiter would come over and refold your napkin.  It was the kind of place that made me question my etiquette skills, like what exactly you do with your fork after you've finished your salad or which kind of water do I want- sparkling, spring, or natural? (How about- whatever's free??)  Anyways, our meal was DELICIOUS- definitely worth the money- and they even comped us a dessert for the celebration of being kid-free for the night.  :)

We rode a golf cart back to the hotel and went and sat on the back deck, overlooking a fire pit where they were roasting s'mores.  Live music was playing in the background, people were hanging out... it was a really cool atmosphere.

The next morning, we had planned on running together, but seeing that we could hardly walk, thanks to the bikes, we nixed that idea.  We went and ate breakfast on the back patio looking out to the lake.  We packed up and headed back to be at church at 10:30 because Stephen had to talk on stage.

The view from the room.

The view from breakfast.

My breakfast- I was so full from the night before, but this was delish!

It was a wonderful night away!  It was fun to be able to play and be active and enjoy our time together, uninterrupted.

Meanwhile, at the funny farm... I think they had fun :)