Mother/Daughter Day in Charleston

Ya'll one of the things Mere and I were looking forward to on vacation was our Girl's day . We did this a couple years ago while in Charleston and it really was the best day. It is the perfect place for a day of fun!!!

Our hotel was in Mt. Pleasant and to save Nick a trip across the bridge into Charleston we used Uber. We had them drop us off on King Street since we would be spending the majority of the time here. The first stop was per Mere's request... the cupcake store. Cupcake Down South  is our favorite. Get the Key lime Pie cupcake. You won't be disappointed. Promise! We then just shopped our way through King Street. They have the best boutiques and your typical shops (Gap, Lilly Pulitzer, Forever 21, Victoria's Secret, and so much more).

Mere got to pick any where she wanted for lunch. Guess where she picked? Chipotle!! Haha. It's what she wanted to why not lol. After lunch we window shopped some more and walked through the Charleston City Market. I love checking out all the sweetgrass baskets, ornaments, art, and food. If you go here you must get a pimento cheese biscuit from Callie's Biscuit. OMG amazing! Especially if you are like me and love pimento cheese!

We then met Nick and Max (they had a boy's day at the Aquarium. If you are visiting Charleston with little ones and have a rainy day or just need something to do. Go. The South Carolina Aquarium literally blows all other aquariums out of the water. It is so much fun. Also, they have a sea turtle hospital that is so cool! They have rescued these sea turtles, rehabilitate, and then set free ) and the Pineapple Fountain.

Mere and I both agreed this was one of our favorite days on vacation. I could spend allll day long on King Street. We didn't have enough time or money haha!!

Shopping at Skinny Dip Charleston

Loved these bags at Skinny Dip....but way too expensive

how cute is this wall of Rainbow Row

Oh and they have frozen Rose'

lunch time at Chipotle

I love, love Moon and Lola. They have the cutest personalized items. Even better it is all available on line! I bought this necklace last year with birthday/Christmas money.

cutest little charm bar

This antique store reminds me of my dad!

Sweetgrass Baskets. I get one each time we go to Charleston.

Charleston was showing off her beautiful window boxes!

Best Day Ever!

A little blog hiatus + post vacay wrapup

Ya'll may or may not have (who knows who really reads here lol. might just be me haha) I took a small hiatus from the blog. This last few months I have been feeling burnt out on life and stressed to the max. I love have the blog has an outlet to let it all out and share things that I love but it was started to be just another stress. I compare myself too much to others (it really drives Nick insane) and it has been killing the joy in my life. I have so many ideas on blog posts and I am ready to get back in the swing of posting!! Vacation could not have come at a better time. I now feel refreshed and ready to take on the summer, enjoy the kids, let the stress go, let the idea of being perfect go , and oh yea continue my carb cycle. I am down 13 lbs. since April 1st! My goal is to lose 13-18 more by end of July. I know I can do it with this program. Today I am right back in the saddle. I let myself enjoy all the food and sweets while in Charleston. I was worried that when I stepped on the scale when we got home that I would have gained. But I am happy to report that I stayed the same. I did fit in 4 days of workouts! Plus lots of walking. Low carb for the next 2 days!

I am always so sad when vacation ends and it is back to real life. Sad to the point that the night before I am almost in tears. Yes it is whiney and babyish of me, I can't help it. Adulting is exhausting. lol. But I had a few more days off before returning to work with the kids and I wanted to make it a point to enjoy it to the fullest. One of those stresses lately for me is being a working mom. I feel like I miss out on so much, that I am letting the kids down by not being home, that I am letting Mere down by not being able to devote 100% on homework, studying, etc , and my moods are horrendous. I have a type A personality and want to be perfect at it ALL. But it is impossible. I know this, but it doesn't stop me from feeling like I am letting them down. Oh and the constant comparison to those stay at home moms and there "perfect" lives and kids. So back to my point before I got sidetracked....soaking up the last bit of fun with kids. I think we did a good job with just a few typical meltdowns in between! That's a win in my book!

On Friday I woke up at 6:30 and did our grocery shopping since we were out of everything. I wanted to get it done before Nick left for his mowing jobs and while kids were still asleep. I was able to get the groceries, get home, and put it all away before they even woke up! We had a few errands to run before I took them to Smale Park in Cincinnati. I love taking them there. We park in Covington and walk across the bridge (bonus points for a little workout). Mere wanted Subway so we picked that up before hand and found a spot in the shade for a little picnic. They then changed into their swimsuits (they need a bigger restroom or changing area for kids. There was so many mommas wanting to change their kiddos and hardly any room). It was the perfect day to splash around in the water and play on the playground. We spent a couple hours there before we left. We came home and fixed dinner before deciding we needed ice cream to make the day complete!

Saturday we were up bright and early to go to Augusta. My momma dog sat Sophie for us. The kids missed the animals something fierce while we were gone and could not wait to see their Sophie girl. We also attended Brady, Will, and Nick's graduation party that evening. We took a walk by the river and went swimming first though. The kids love the pool. It brings back sooo many memories for me watching them play and swim there. I spent every summer as a child swimming and then as a teenager /college student lifeguarding. Best carefree days of my life right there. We had some great times working there right Leann, Amy, Susan, Kristi, and Renee?! Oh the stories we could all sit around and tell. Two aunts that live out of town came home for the triplet's party. It was so good to see them. The kids were excited to see their cousin Peyton and are counting down until we are in North Carolina visiting them next week!!

Sunday I knew we needed to find our way back to church. I woke up nice an early to get a workout in and some things knocked off my to do list. We decided to get a pool from the dollar store after church. It was a hot one. But it ended up being a nice, relaxing day before the start of the work week. The kids wanted ice cream after dinner. Hey, it's summer, so why not. They burn so much energy playing outside all day that a little ice cream won't hurt lol.

Gonna pray work is a good day as I ease myself back into the routine of being a working momma!!

Life Lately {May addition}

I have been MIA lately. It would be an understatement to say I have been a little stressed lately. Trying to figure out what we are going to do next school year for both kids has sent me in a panic and that is all I can focus my attention on between working and playing mom and wife. Throw in the fact we passed another anniversary of my dad's passing. On April 30th it was 8 years. The week leading up to this date always sends me in to a depression that is hard to swim out of. Then the light at the end of the tunnel is Meredith's birthday the next day. But I made it through and I think have some what figured out what Meredith will do when school starts in August. Now we have to decide what we are doing for sure with little Max. I have to start work at 7. It is hard for this working momma if I can't drop my kiddos off until 7. It just doesn't work. So we are looking for a preschool for Max that allows me to take him at 6:30. I have an appointment to tour one daycare/preschool and then have 2 more I am going to talk to. While I hate taking him from St. Cecilia it doesn't work right now. I want to be the one to take the kids to school in the mornings. I feel like it is my responsibility as their mom. The 2nd thing, honestly, the big thing, is I am exhausted from each day being a different schedule on who takes who to school. Our mornings are complete chaos when I have to take each kiddo to somewhere different on mornings Nick is still at the firehouse. So I have a few ideas for how to make this work . I am praying that it will work out. I feel a little more sense of calm as well having a game plan in mind for both Mere and Max.

Meredith turned 9 on May 1st. I am in complete denial that she is this old. I have a hard time with my babies growing older. It makes me so sad. I want them to stay little and innocent forever. Now Meredith was so excited for her birthday. In fact, she has been counting down for the last 2 months. On her birthday I sent her to school with some cupcakes to celebrate with her class. Then as soon as she got home from school she opened her gifts from us. We let the kids pick where they want to eat on their birthday. Skyline it was. Which worked out perfect since there is one 5 minutes from our house.

Last night as an 8 yr old.

Birthday donut before school

We celebrated with family and close friends on Friday evening. We were having it at Larosas Pizza. No mess for this momma to clean up and what I thought would be less stress. Haha. Why would I think that? Friday was a crappy day outside and rained all day. Which must have made everyone want to eat out Friday evening. We got to Larosas an hour before family would arrive and the place was PACKED! We didn't get seated until 7:20. We were also supposed to have their party room all to ourselves but since they were so busy they couldn't accommodate that request. Ugh. So we made it work and fit all 25 of us in a tight space. But I am so bummed because I didn't get to set up a cake and cookie table and use all my birthday décor. No one else probably noticed but that is my favorite thing about parties and planning them . I guess there is always next year. I told Mere we would celebrate her 10th birthday on Derby day and have a huge party. Everyone will have to dress up and wear a hat!! Other than having to wait forever for our seats and not being able to decorate, it was a great night spent celebrating Mere. We all went home and crashed afterwards.

Absolutely LOVE how her cake turned out.

How cute is the little soccer girl

Always daddy's little girl

Max and Bensyn

and these cookies!! All the heart eyes!

Saturday we got up bright and early and met our friend Holly and her little boy Mason at Home Depot for their Kid's workshop. The kiddos had an absolute blast building a flower pot and cannot wait to do it again. That is all they talked about the whole day. If you have not done this you should. Your kids will love it. They have something different each month. We will definitely be back.

Why do the weekends fly by and the week just drags? It is Monday and I am already wishing away my whole week. Story of my life folks. One day I will learn to love each day to its fullest and not wish time away. But until then, is it Friday yet?!? or is it Vacay time yet?! Not much longer friends and we will be in my favorite place on earth, Charleston!!


Have a great week friends!!


xoxo