First and foremost, this dog…..he may be the death of me. It’s funny how you forget that having a puppy is the same (if not harder) than having a newborn. Minus the breastfeeding. I take some solace in the knowledge that those Legos are going to hurt coming out the other end….
But, onto more important matters….our month of travel. We had two trips planned for the month and I had resigned myself to a life of laundry and packing suitcases. Also, I was laughing a little to myself because I knew that John’s family had offered been bribed to take care of the dogs while we were away on the second trip. God help them…see above puppy. They must really love us. For now.
First up though, a trip to Nashville for the long-awaited nuptials of Uncle Lee and soon-to-be Aunt Sarah. We had never been to Nashville and were looking forward to exploring a new city. For us, that typically means eating and drinking our way around, and Nashville didn’t disappoint. It’s known for it’s BBQ and Hot Chicken, so fresh off the airplane we jumped right in.
One thing that you should know about going out to eat with John is that he orders all the food. Now, before you say “how sweet” thinking he orders for me like a true gentleman, I mean he orders ALL THE FOOD. Like, everything there is on the menu. Everywhere we go. Might help explain last month’s discussion about the ill fitting pants.
Evidence: The platters of food in front of him in this picture are just for him and I. Plus a plate of hushpuppies and some fried fish that we’d already passed down to the other end of the table. Then the waiter showed up with round two. I am not kidding. It’s a sight to see.
Sadly, I don’t have pictures of our sightseeing around Nashville. Because, well with 5 little kids, exploring the honky tonks and bars is just not in the cards. We spent a lot of time in the hotel, just lounging around the suite and playing at the pool. I did make several mental notes of the seediest looking bars as we walked by, and filed them into the “places to go” part of my mind.
We did have several wedding related duties, as every single one of us was a part of the ceremony. Malory and her cousins were flower girls, Reese was a junior bridesmaid, and John and Jackson were both groomsmen. And, well I think I eluded to the fact last month that I was officiating the ceremony….which I was still writing the day before the wedding. Eeeek!!!
Saturday night was rehearsal dinner at a great spot, so naturally we arrived by carriage like the princesses we are. Before you say it….John IS wearing pink pants. I love the looks on the kids’ faces in this picture.
The next morning we were up bright and early to get ready for the big day. The bride was kind enough to arrange for us to have our hair and makeup done by a team of professionals, and we were thrilled to be pampered.
I wish I could tell you that these fancy contraptions helped to reduce puffiness and dark circles. That’s what the makeup artists are for….
Let me tell you, the makeup artists and hair stylists did a fantastic job and turned every single person into a vision. Look at these 3 cuties. Seriously though….my photography sucks.
The boys cleaned up pretty nicely too. Here’s Jackson and the groom, chilling about 15 minutes before the ceremony.
And, the young and the old man looking sharp. Note: I am sad that I don’t have any pictures of Reese. She looked beautiful and was the cutest junior bridesmaid there ever was.
At that point, it was time to stop messing around and get ready for the big event. I have no pictures of the ceremony or anything leading up to it…for 2 reasons. First, I was performing the ceremony and didn’t think it’d be cool to pull out my phone for a few pics while they were saying their vows. Secondly, although there are professional pictures of the day, I don’t feel like they are my pictures to share. Rest assured, the ceremony was as beautiful as any I’ve ever been to. The bride and groom were both stunning, and the backdrop of the location was simply perfect. It was a breathtaking scene.
There was one photo taken by the bride’s uncle that shows the exact moment that Malory is walking down the aisle while the family looks on. She is a character at all times, and this moment was no exception.
The wedding weekend was a success. And this photo of me and my munchkin, taken back at the hotel after the reception, is proof that a good time was had by all. Our smiles and our smeared fake eyelashes can’t be beat.
We flew home from Nashville, sent the kids to a couple of days of school, and prepared for our next trip. Thankfully, the one million loads of laundry I had to do from Nashville were NOT what we needed to pack, as we were going somewhere warm and tropical. Tank tops and flip flops if you got ’em….
Off we went to the Bahamas. 10 glorious days at the Atlantis resort was exactly what this family needed. Following a whirlwind summer of packing and moving, starting new schools, and settling into a new house and new neighborhood, we needed a chance to get away and vacation as a family. John and I had visited Atlantis as a quick stop on a cruise, and hoped it would be a great place to take kids. It was everything we’d hoped for in a family destination. The pools and water park were awesome, the beach is that beautiful turquoise that you see on postcards. Our 2 bedroom suite had all of the “home away from home” amenities. And, our checkbook was empty!
I have so many pictures of the trip and am not going to bore everyone (including myself) with stories about each and every one. Most of them speak for themselves anyway….
However, there are a few that must be explained. My little animal lover does not discriminate against those species that are not furry and cuddly. She loves them all, including this family of snails. She asked to take them back to our room to “live with us” but settled for going back each and every afternoon to check on their whereabouts and well-being.
This is one of my favorite pictures from the whole trip. This girl loves her daddy. But, I am super sorry that John’s toe is there on display. I promise it’s worse in person.
Every day was pretty much a lot of doing this….
Throughout the day, we would alternate between the beach and the pool. We found a perfect spot where it was easy to do both, and yet be right next to the hot dogs for Malory (she ate 50 at least) and the cocktails for Mom (I beat Malory for sure).
We spent a lot of time walking the beach in search of shells. I’ve learned in the past that it’s a top-secret covert operation to try and get those things back home. I’ve never quite figured out why, but they do NOT like you to take them with you. On other trips, I’ve had to dump them out of my purse before they’d let me back on my cruise ship or on the airplane. Secret: this time I got very crafty and hid them in a bag with my dirty underwear. I dare TSA to take those out.
One shell that I did not attempt to take home was this little guy. Meet Dave.
Dave lived with us in the suite and each day a few more of his friends came to stay too. It’s hard to see from my superb photography, but those are all hermit crabs. In my bathtub. Because where else would you put them?
Note: Do not have too many of those cocktails at the pool and then try to rinse off in the bath.
Towards the end of our trip, we had one very special occasion to celebrate. My young man turned 11. That’s some kind of birthday party right? Your dad takes you deep sea fishing, you spend the afternoon at the beach and then go out for your favorite meal…steak. If only your mom didn’t make you pose while getting kissed by your sisters.
Two peas in a pod, racing toy cars around a track. Look how nice John is to hold Jackson’s beer while he drives;)
One of our favorite things about Atlantis was the kids club. We had no expectations for what sort of activities it would provide for our kids, or whether they’d rather hang with us. Atlantis has many 4 and 5-star restaurants and we’d made reservations for our family of 5 at several of them. Our kids are great, adventurous eaters and love to get dressed up and go to a fancy dinner. But, on the flip side, my kids also LOVE group games, activities and crafts. So, we had the best of both worlds. Most nights, they preferred to go to the kids’ club, while John and I got to enjoy date night, great food and more (!) cocktails. On this particular night, it was Pirate night and after several of those cocktails I mentioned, I couldn’t resist a selfie. Yarrrr!!!
Lastly, a few pics that showed just how much fun we had💗
Once we were back home and experiencing severe post-vacation letdown, we had one final event to wrap up the month, and thank goodness it was a fun one. Because it was a mad dash of packing, unpacking, laundry and stuff earlier in the month, I had failed to get a jump on the Halloween costumes and so had to scramble to get things done.
I ended up with one spectacular Monarch butterfly…
One red-carpet worthy movie star….
And one super-frightening devil kidnapping my child. Truth be told, Jackson had picked a similar ensemble out of a catalog, but it was sold out before his mother managed to order it. I felt so bad about dashing his hopes and dreams, that I spent an entire afternoon trying to recreate it with parts from Wal Mart, Amazon, and Halloween City. And, after that we had to sew, stuff, and basically MacGyver our way to this frightening contraption. In the end, although he is all smiles in these pictures, I’m afraid the costume didn’t turn out quite as he wanted, and trick or treating was rough. The one bright spot is that we ventured back to our old neighborhood full of our old friends, which made up for Mom’s failure. Lesson learned….next year order costumes in September.
Before I sign off, I thought I’d share this funny picture of my little lady and I at her preschool Halloween party. We had made this spooky beverage out of lime sherbet and 7-up, and I asked her to pose for a picture with her “potion.” She requested a selfie instead and asked me to make my most surprised face. This girl cracks me up each and every day.
