NC TRIP: DATE NIGHT & ATLANTA + MORE EATING

(This is the last of the NC Trip Post - here are Part One and Part Two if you missed them.)

On our last night in Charlotte, Jessee's mom and aunt and friend took on babysitting our whole crew plus cousin Shane.  Bless their hearts.  It was so nice to get a night out with just Jessee and Becka and get to talk and see more of their life in their new home town.  We ate at The Peculiar Rabbit, which was delicious and had a great view of downtown.  I had Shrimp and Grits with goat cheese, and you all know how I feel about goat cheese.

After dinner, we hit up Amelie's bakery, which was whimsical, kitsch French fun with tons of tasty treats.  What's not to love?




We loved our time in the Queen's City with the Eppleys!  We are looking forward to our first niece joining the family later in the summer.



Tuesday morning we got up and headed to Atlanta.  John and I have both spent a fair amount of time in Atlanta, because the CFA corporate office is there.  It's the kind of city that is a destination all it's own, but we didn't do any of the touristy stuff.  We saw friends - John's best friend from elementary school in particular.  They have amazingly kept in touch.  The Marvels have three girls about a year behind the ages of our kiddos, so it was great fun to spend the day with them.

We picnicked at a park and fed the ducks, which is always a crowd favorite.



We swam at the pool at our hotel.

We ate dinner out with all of our children, and they actually did pretty well.  We managed to get a pic of all the children in age order with an ice cream bribe on the line.



I failed to get a pic of John and Bryan together, which is a shame - next time!  We woke up on Wednesday morning ready to drive home.  If we need to stay in a hotel and have the option, we usually try to stay in a Residence Inn suite with extra bedrooms.  It makes hotel stays with little ones much more comfortable.

Our drive back to the Rock was pretty uneventful, which is one of the best things you can say on a road trip.  We ate lunch at the Original Pancake House in Birmingham - this pic cracks me up.  Lily loves carrying Violet.

As we drove through Tupelo, we stopped to see more friends, which was a great break in the afternoon.  Plus, we got more ice cream.  We love the Flowers!

Seeing so many dear friends and family made this a special trip.  We are so thankful and blessed to have the friends that we do and to have gotten to see so many of them as we traversed the country.  But, we were also glad to be heading home!

NC TRIP: MORE EATING IN CHARLOTTE WITH FAMILY

(This is my second NC Trip post - to see the first one, click here!)

I tried to come up with a better title, but the reality is that we did a ton of eating this trip.  Seriously - so much good food.  There were pancakes waiting for us when we wandered downstairs the first morning of our stay.  Here's a little tip for you - go to the Eastern time zone at the beginning of the summer.  Your kiddos will sleep later by default, and then when you bring them home, they just keep doing it.  It's amazing.  You're welcome.

We made our way into Charlotte and had our first Trader Joe's experience.  After hearing everyone rave about it for the last several forevers, it was nice to see it with my own eyes.  I now understand Trader Joe's envy and will join all of the lobbying groups to have one come here.  So many fun treats to be had.  We made short work of Sea Salt Brownie bites that I will not soon forget.



We had lunch at a tasty pizza place in midtown.  I was a little put-off when the guy told me there was no kid's menu and that they had no tap water.  This was eventually assuaged by the fact that the pizza was good, they did have things for children - including a kid's club, and the bottles of water for our table came at no charge.   I do believe restaurants that market themselves as "Saving the Earth, One Pizza at a Time," should take the time to train their employees to be a little more informative and helpful.  That would help to save experiences, one person at a time.

Bella ate this hole into her pizza and then said it looked a little like a heart.  Well-spotted, dear one.  She then got to take a ride on Uncle Jessee's shoulders.  Cute Bella for the win.




For dinner that night, we headed to Jessee's parents home in a small town not far from them.  Their house is straight out of a Southern Living magazine from the outside - so beautiful.

(I have a thing for giant, aged trees.)

Even more beautiful than the house were the people waiting inside with our dinner.  Everyone doted on us and our children and treated us a welcomed guests and family.  My children all made themselves quite at home, which is easy when every adult is trying to cater to your every fancy.  Thank you, Lila, Steve, Judy and Marsha for making us feel at home in your home.  What a treat it was!

After our delicious dinner and playtime, ice cream time had arrived.  You better believe the girls had not one, but two ice cream cones each.

This is the series of pictures during ice cream time when everyone in my family wanted to close their eyes.  Except Violet and I, because sometimes we like to be different.

I even got to get in on the riding toys action with a spin on this super fun bike!

On Monday, actual Memorial Day, we enjoyed a trip to Freedom Park, which seemed appropriate given the day we were celebrating.  We took a picnic lunch and spread out in the shade.  The weather was so nice, meaning the shade felt glorious and not a bit chilly, and the breeze was a nice touch.  Everyone was mostly happy while picnicking.



We fed the ducks at a nearby pond and were fortunate enough to spot a Mommy and her ducklings.  So very cute.



We tried for a cousin pic of all of our ducklings.  This is the best I could get, with no one looking their absolute best.  But, they are all mostly looking, and of course, they are all really cute.  We love cousin Shane!

NC TRIP: DAYS 1 & 2, NASHVILLE & MEAT EXTRAVAGANZA

We kicked off summer with a driving trip across the country towards the East Coast.  John's oldest sister, Becka, her husband Jessee, and their son, Shane, live in Charlotte, North Carolina as of last summer.  Since we hadn't yet made the trip, we decided it was time.  We broke up our trip to make the 12 hours of driving a little more palatable to our crew.  Amazingly enough, we have much less stuff to take than we did last summer, which was a breath of travel fresh air.



Because we have had many a stressful take-off morning, John and I wisely packed up almost everything on Thursday night before we left.  We didn't even let the kids eat breakfast at our house, because we didn't want to have to clean up the breakfast.  Panera to the rescue - this was our first stop.  As such, it took us quite a while to get out of town.  Worth it to not have to sweep.  Or wipe down the table.  Again.




We drove to Nashville and stayed with dear friends who left Little Rock a year ago.  It was great to see them, and the kiddos were all thrilled to be reunited.


(I know the girls don't look thrilled here.  This is the "No Picture" treatment I sometimes get.)

(Who doesn't love friends who set up a bounce house in the living room?)

(William loved Mr. Matt.)

After staying up late talking, we were sorry to say goodbye to the Kosses.  Thanks for letting us crash your place with our circus.  This is what the girls looked like in the car after partying the night before.



Also, in that last picture, you may notice that there are TV screens for each child.  That is our own little road trip special that John rigged up for us.  The babies spent some of their awake time taking in Praise Baby DVDs with no sound.  What a great life.  And the girls took in movie after movie.  It makes for happy little travelers.  I also kept passing back snack traps full of treats like it was my full time job.

As we headed for North Carolina on Saturday morning, we texted with Becka to let her know our ETA.  Great - she says, you'll be mostly in time for the party.

Uh Oh ...  We thought that party was on Monday.  Though we had had plenty of communication and had even RSVPed to the Evite, we thought the Meat Extravaganza was happening on Monday.  Thankfully, we had left in enough time and made it before the meal started.  There was time for playing in the sand with our cousin, getting our sweet cousin to push our car and swinging with aunts and dads.

Their home is old and charming, and the evening light was perfection.

My brother-in-law, Jessee, loves meat.  He loves grilling.  He loves going over the top a bit.  He and his dad decided to grill an entire pig, which they spent the day doing.  By the time we got there, all 123 lbs of the pig was cooked through and ready to go.  The head was a part of the line of food to remind us all that he had been wholly roasted.  They named him "Dinner."

Dinner was good.  It was delightfully capped off with cupcakes to celebrate Jessee's upcoming birthday and adult drinks.  Cheers to the great start of a vacation!