Our weekend -- to the coast and back!

We had a wonderful, yet busy (and lots of driving), weekend on our Kelly's Kids tour. My mom, Reed and I headed down Friday after work and Reed couldn't WAIT to get to "the coast." It's been so fun seeing friends and family AND seeing all the precious clothes they have picked out for their children!

First stop -- OCEAN SPRINGS, MS and the Mississippi Gulf Coast for a Kelly's Kids party hosted by my good friend Vicki. Our boys are two weeks apart and could be brothers (twins if you are looking at them from the back!). They were quite the models too! They had so much fun playing together -- too bad we live so far apart! Reed LOVED the ocean and we ate lunch at the harbor in Ocean Springs and got to see LOTS of boats going out to sea! The waters of the Mississippi Gulf Coast just reopened over the weekend so there was LOTS of activity while we were eating. We braved the 100+ degree but enjoyed the ocean breeze and especially the visit!

Reed and Will

Boats at the dock -- I think they are so pretty!

...and look what we found a -- Taylor Machine works (based in our little home town) fork lift they used to (and our eyes were glued to) get the boats out of the boat storage warehouse located right behind us! Wonder if this is a Charles Bond design?! Reed LOVED it...of course he loved anything that has wheels, lifts, moves, pushes, pulls, digs, etc.

 

 

 

 

Me and Vicki -- I sure do miss you!! It's always like just yesterday in the DG house -- some things never change and I LOVE THAT!

After lunch, Reed was dying to go to the beach and "put his feet in the ocean" -- and why shouldn't we since we were so so close! SO we did! And boy was it hot, but the boys LOVED IT!

 

 Below is the AWESOME playground that is across the street from the beach. It's a giant pirate ship. It is such a lovely area with an amphitheater and little pavilion right next door that was rebuilt after Katrina. There is also a little "splash pad" that the boys enjoyed after our jaunt to the beach!

Reed (and Will) loved playing together!

And I think Reed was a little sad to leave! He loved "the coast!"

My sweet mama was SO SO excited to see her best friend Bebe who lives in Gautier and welcomed us into her home Friday night. We lived on the coast until I was 8 (mama for 17 years) and it still feels like home to her! Bebe was/is her bestie and they always have so much fun together!!

Our last stop was Shearwater Pottery, Peter Anderson's pottery place. He is the brother to Walter Anderson -- one of my favorite Southern artists. Their little "compound" is directly across a little inlet from where we ate lunch!

Mama bought me a little "souvenir"to commemorate our little trip and I love it! 

Next, on to Hickory Hills Hunting Preserve and our little cousins Will, Ben, and Charlie! Reed couldn't wait to see some deer and boy did we! I couldn't get a great picture, but there were whitetail EVERYWHERE! Reed told Shannon that he was going to hunt this year with a bow and arrow (Rob are you hearing this? Better be getting that lined up)!  

Here we all are in Shannon's truck -- a fun (and funny) ride!!!!

We had so much fun visiting with them and hated to leave right as my Aunt Laura (my mom's sister) was getting there, but we had to get home to Rob and the little BB! AND, all the Kelly's Kids parties went great! Orders are already shipping! Till next season!!

LC's shower!!

Well, I have taken a little "blogging" hiatus becuase "The Fair" is in two days!!!!! But before we head down (with two excited boys...one who has bronchitis, so we may be enjoying our nights in our own beds), I wanted to share about our amazing weekend in Birmingham for BABY SHOWER'S. Our good friends Ryan and Laura Catherine Mason are expecting their 1st baby girl in a few weeks. Laura's best friend Amy is also expecting her 1st baby boy in September. Somehow, L and I didn't realize we were going to Birmingham the same weekend until last minute so we rearranged our plans to ride together on Friday which was wonderful "girl time" that we don't get very often without 4 (about to be 5) kids interrupting us!

Here we are just getting to Birmingham (note to self -- apply make-up pre-photo op)

After living in Birmingham for almost 5 years, I have lots of friends who still live there and LC and I go way back, so it was so so so much fun catching up with everyone. I dropped Laura off with her BFFs from h.s. (little re-cap of her weekend: they ate here, and here, and stayed here -- pretty swank, huh!)

Anyway, I stayed with my good friend (college roomate) Blair, and her sweet family and her house (which is adorable) is where we had the shower! I picked zinnias from our yard and was bound and determined to find "Mason" jars to put them in (we ran all over Birmingham Friday night looking for them -- they HAD to say Mason!) This is how our centerpiece turned out (I wish the pictures weren't so blurry):
 

We used ribbon and little key limes down in the jars

Sweet LC and her mom, Patti

Me and the "mama" to be

All the gifts (and the fabric flags I made for another event)!

ha, ha, ha...

I think all new grandmothers are overwhelmed with joy at the thought of a grandbaby and I KNOW this one is!

LC got some of the most precious things for Bailey Catherine!

LC and the hostesses from the shower!

What a wonderful, fun, exciting weekend -- celebrating the birth of Bailey Catherine Mason and her sweet, sweet family and catching up with old friends (the kind that it's just like you talked to them yesterday...love it)!!!

4th of July weekend = F.U.N.

(WARNING -- LONG POST and even more PICS!)

Well, we have had a WONDERFUL 4th of July weekend. Most of the weekend involved friends, lots of good food, and water (slides, pools, and lakes). 

The above picture was taken at the Annual 4th of July parade in Louisville, where all the children bring their bikes, scooters, etc., and parade around town. This was the only picture where Luke wasn't crying and Reed wasn't complaining about not wanting to ride his bike {after Rob pushed it all the way to Main Street from our house}. We are contantly wondering WHY we continue to take our children to events in the public eye...ugh! 
 The weekend got better from here though...

The weekend started off by going to our lovely little town's Saturday morning Farmer's Market and I must say it would rival any market in the state. Laura and I were up bright and early to find the best looking peaches, blueberries, watermelons, tomatoes, corn ("kurn"), peas, peppers, okra, squash, cucumbers, and that was just the vegetables. Let's just say (I guess since we have our own garden) that the only veggies I left the farmer's market with were tomatoes (and they were goo-ood!), even though everything else looked wonderful. Our good friend Spring Woods and her mom Beverly have re-opened their family store as a restaurant and they were there with probably the best cinnamon rolls I have ever put in my mouth. I also bought some of Ms. Beverly's de-lish homemade bread (on which they serve their sandwiches at lunch). I was soooooo excited about the bread and ready to eat the whole loaf by myself, BUT I only got to enjoy 2 slices of it and our B.A.D. beagle enjoyed the rest of it for me. Needless to say I was M.A.D!!!! Anyway, Laura bought 2 huge jars of sweet pickles and we both bought homemade strawberry and blueberry jelly. When I got home with the cinnamon rolls, the boys ate them up. Of course, Reed wanted a pop-tart and Rob and I informed him he was missing out BIG TIME!

Here are the boys enjoying Ms. Beverly's cinnamon rolls (except Reed who had a pop-tart).

As Rob finished up mowing our almost 2 acre yard, we made a quick trip down to the Harris pool so I could see the brand spanking new swimming skills Reed learned at swimming lessons this week. And let me just say, WOW! He is a jumping and swimming MACHINE -- and NO FLOATIES!!!! YAY!!!

Luke, about to test the water

Reed...SWIMMING!!!

1...2...3...

JUMP!!!

Hiiii-yaaaa! 
It was only about a week before this that Reed wouldn't dare be thrown up in the pool and look at him now!

 We then headed over to our friend Amanda's, where we enjoyed a delicious lunch and the children tumbled down their blow-up water slide. Amanda has been making a delicious vegetable tart and you can find the recipe here. Reed and Luke were worn out, but once we got home, our good friends and neighbors, The Hills, also had a giant blow-up slide so we had to give that a whirl before naps (which began at about 4 p.m. and ended around 7 p.m -- tired boys!). And a little side note: if you live in our area, Will is now in the jumper business. Rent this slide and/or a castle jumper from "Party Hoppin" jumpers!!! 

Loves!!!

Such a sweet pic of Sally Ann

Brother Mike preached the most wonderful sermon Sunday morning on how extraordinary our country is because it was founded on the principles of Christianity. We don't need to forget that or we would lose the freedoms we take for granted. We enjoyed having Mimi and Charles up for lunch after church!

Sunday night we were privileged to be invited to "Lake Louise" for a 4th of July gathering at the Caperton's cabin. It was so so so much fun! A great time was had by all (children and adults) with some fabulous food (pot luck which is my favorite meal). The finale of the night was just about the best amateur fireworks display I have ever seen. It was wonderful. We sat on our blanket on the levee of the lake and took in the beauty of the night, the fireworks, and the sounds of children laughing (or crying, in Luke's case). It made me very thankful for our country, our little town, our wonderful families, and our great friends! 

Isn't this just beautiful -- and only minutes from our little town! 
Rob's goal in life is to have a little place just like this!! The catfish were huge and jumping up out of the water.

Now, all he needs is a boat -- more on his (and Reed's) obsession with boats in a future post)!

Watergun, what?

A gator ride before the show started!

Luke, pre-fireworks!!

Just waitin...

Oh -- and this is the dish I took to the 4th of July gathering at the Caperton's cabin!!! 
Light and refreshing...I've been craving it ever since! I told y'all I would share and here it is!!

Fruit Salsa and Cinnamon Tortilla Chips

Ingredients:

2 kiwis, peeled and diced 2 Golden Delicious apples - peeled, cored and diced 8 ounces raspberries (I excluded these) 1 pound strawberries 2 tablespoons white sugar

1 tablespoon brown sugar 3 tablespoons fruit preserves, any flavor 10 (10 inch) flour tortillas butter flavored cooking spray 2 cups cinnamon sugar

Directions:

1.	In a large bowl, thoroughly mix kiwis, Golden Delicious apples, raspberries , strawberries, white sugar, brown sugar and fruit preserves . Cover and chill in the refrigerator at least 15 minutes.
2.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
3.	Coat one side of each flour tortilla with butter flavored cooking spray. Cut into wedges and arrange in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Sprinkle wedges with desired amount of cinnamon sugar. Spray again with cooking spray.
4.	Bake in the preheated oven 8 to 10 minutes. Repeat with any remaining tortilla wedges. Allow to cool approximately 15 minutes. Serve with chilled fruit mixture.

Girls Trip...10 years and counting...

Every year since our Senior year in college, my BFFs from college and I have taken a beach trip. We haven't missed a year and I am leaving today (YAY!) for our 11th "girls weekend!" It is always tons of fun catching up with each wonderful woman (weird calling us women b/c we all feel like we're 20 year old girls again when we're together). Between us, we have been through lots of boyfriends, engagements, weddings, pregnancies, and birthed around fifteen children!! We've laughed together, cried together, shared secrets, big accomplishments, and heartbreaks. We reminisce about our college years and how much fun we had and how we'd all do it over again without changing a thing! We know just about every detail about each other and after all these years, we pick up just like we're walking into one another's dorm room in McKee Hall. I am so blessed to call these ladies my friends. 

Love you girls and looking forward to a wonderful weekend together with y'all! 

Okay -- all sappiness aside, we've been e-mailing back and forth all week and the e-mail subject line has been "Beach Week" -- have laughed OUT LOUD a lot!!

I've been trying to gather pics from every year of our trips and realized that years 2000 - 2004 I was not in the "digital" age, so I will have to scan those in later. Of course, with everything else going on I have not had the extra 10 hours it would take to scan those in -- here is 2005-2009:

Girls Trip -- Destin 2005

I got a little toasty -- can we say sunscreen please!!

Girls Trips -- Destin 2006

The year of the Preg Nancy
Me {pregnant with Reed}, Nikki, and Vikki were due within weeks of each other

Girls Trip -- Destin 2007

What was I thinking with the short hair?

Girls Trip 2008 --  Oktibbeha County Hospital, Baby Boy, Luke!

(this is, however, the only one I've ever missed -- don't know how y'all got anywhere without me!)

Girls Trip -- Destin 2009

Love you girls! Looking forward to a wonderful weekend with you all!

...will give all the details (well maybe just SOME of them when we return) -- can't wait!