The Carlocks in GA!!

Our best buds, Teal, Laren and Tripp Carlock made the trek to Georgia two weeks before Christmas.  It was so awesome to see Teal and Laren, which we hadn't seen since last December in NYC, and Tripper-man, which I hadn't seen since October 2011.  We can't wait make a trip out to Texas soon to see them again!  Love you guys!!

If you can believe it, this is the only time I got my camera out.  We were having too much fun!

Chicago with the SAHPs!

Last weekend I flew up to Chicago to meet some of my very best girlfriends, who I met when we lived in Boston.  I love spending time with these ladies, and I am so sad that we don't get to see each other more often.  Just in case you're wondering, or I haven't mentioned it before, the name SAHPs stands for Stay-at-Home-Partners.  While in Boston, we were in the Partners Club and we all regularly daydreamed about being stay-at-home partners and not having to support our in-school husbands.  I think the plan was to have regular morning dates for coffee and morning talk shows along with afternoon naps, you know, just like my toddler, lol!  Girls can dream, right?!?!

We all arrived in Chicago on Friday afternoon at Erin's place in Lincoln Park.  We dined at a yummy restaurant where Erin and Michael had their rehearsal dinner, then we stayed up way later than I am used to.  On Saturday, we went on a chocolate tour around Chicago.  We tasted some yummy treats!  It was so awesome.  After devouring tons of chocolate, we did a little bit of shopping before heading back to Erin's to grab takeout and spend another night lounging on the couch chatting.  Unfortunately, the fun had to end on Sunday.  Boo!  I can't wait for our next gathering.  I miss and love you guys!!

Me, Laren, Abbey and Erin.  Unfortunately, Ginny and Alisha couldn't join us.  We missed them so much!

Windy city, indeed!

Fun times in Sephora!

Weekend Recap

We had ourselves a four day weekend this past weekend.  Chris's company had a retreat on Thursday and Friday and Reed and I got to join him.  Reed and I headed up to Barnsley Gardens after Reed finished his last day of school.  Once we made it to Barnsley it was so hot out that Reed and I decided to take a dip in the pool.  Unfortunately for me, because Reed didn't seem to mind, the sun had yet to warm up the water.  It took me at least 15 minutes to get the nerve up to get in.  Once I did, Reed and I had a blast splishing and splashing.

First day at the pool!

 Chris and I spent the evening at a dinner at the ruins, which is an awesome location, by the way, while Reed stayed with a sitter.  The next morning, Reed and I enjoyed breakfast on the veranda overlooking the golf course.  After breakfast, Reed and I drove to meet Kath, so that he could play at her house for the day.  We felt bad that he would have to be with a sitter all day,  considering I was getting a massage in the morning, woohoo, and Chris was playing golf in the afternoon.  This worked out so much better for Reed and I am sure he had a blast at Mike Mike and Kath's house, especially swimming in the pool and watching Griffin's and Gavin's baseball games.

Yummy, yummy blueberry pancakes!

 On Saturday we had our friends Jen and Josh out for cookout.  We hadn't seen them in quite some time, boo, so we were excited to see them.  And they brought their precious pup, Maggie.  Reed liked playing with her but was still a little unsure if she got too close.  Towards the end of the evening, both of the kiddos were pooped.

Don't worry, Reed is just posing here, however, had he stayed there much longer he would have been asleep.

Lunch with Jessica and Matteson

Reed and I met up with my good friend Jessica and her adorable little girl Matteson for lunch yesterday.  Reed wasted no time holding hands with Matteson.  It was so cute to see the two of them together.  And it was super great to catch up with Jess.  We definitely have to make this a more regular thing!

Let's hold hands, Matteson.

I probably shouldn't.  My dad might not like it.

Okay, just this once, I'll make an exception.

Texas/Oklahoma Trip

We were super excited to take a trip to Texas to see our good friends, the Carlocks.  They even gave us a tour of their hometown of Ardmore, OK.  This was the first time any of us have ever stepped foot in Oklahoma.  It was a great trip but way too short.  How lucky we are to have such wonderful friends.  We are already looking for a date a few short months away that we can see them again!

We got in on Thursday evening and stayed up way too late chatting with Teal and Laren only to be kept up most of the night by a toddler uncomfortable in his surroundings.  (At least that's what I think it was.)  Each night got better, thankfully.

Baby Tripp....what a cutie!

Reed loved playing with Tripp!

On Friday, we took our time getting ready before we hopped in the car and headed for Oklahoma.  In Oklahoma, we stopped at their favorite local hamburger joint, Hamburger Inn, which was incredible.  We also toured a warehouse that was a funhouse for our animal-loving child.  We also got to see the homes that Teal and Laren grew up in.  So fun!  They returned the favor of taking us to their hometown after we took them to the big city of Summerville when they came to GA two years ago.

A little scary to me but Reed loved checking out all the animals.

Reed and Chris with the big bad wolf.  Kind of looks like The Nothing from Neverending Story to me.

On Saturday, we hit up the State Fair of Texas and tried pretty much every fried food they had.  We tasted fried oreos, fried snickers, fried cheesecake, fried twinkies, fried butter and a corndog.  Needless to say, none of us should eat for the next week or so to make up for everything we ate that day.

Laren enjoying her corndog!

Fried oreos, yumm!!!

Reed trying his first fried oreo.

Our Fam with Big Tex.

Teal and Laren

The fried food that sounded the least appetizing.  We didn't try it.

Reed enjoying my favorite thing that I had at the fair, fresh squeezed lemonade.  Love it!

Reed riding Pepper.

He was not too pleased about getting off the carousel but then he was happy to watch Pepper go round and round.

Saturday evening was a lazy night at the Carlocks home watching football followed by a lazy Sunday morning.  It was a perfect weekend.....including the crazy driving required to get us to the airport to check our bag in just in time (about 2 minutes to spare, lol).  We love you guys!!

A Visit from the Fuszards!

Our good friends Abbey and Luke drove over from Birmingham this weekend with their precious baby girl Aidan to hang out with us before they head home to Wisconsin in less than two weeks.  We are super excited that they are getting to move home, but we are also super sad they won't be so close anymore.  : (  We have an excuse to check out Wisconsin now!  It was a great time having them around.  We were lazy, hanging around the house, eating and watching sports, but it was the perfect way to catch up with them!  We're going to miss you guys!  Have a safe trip home!

Reed had so much fun playing with Aidan.  The first time they met they just kind of stared at each other.  When Reed walked away to find Aidan a toy she had the most pitiful face and then started to cry a very sad cry.  Abbey and I were literally almost in tears because she was so sad.  I think they liked each other!  Reed might have hugged a little too tight a few times and almost knocked her over while sitting a few times, but other than that, he did great!

Just a little squeeze.

And lounging on the pillow.

The next morning Reed and Aidan had on the same pj's, in a different color, so we had to get a few pics of them together.  Reed wasn't his normal 2 year old self, so we actually got some great pics of the two of them.  So precious!

Can you even handle how cute this is?!?!?

Aidan was a pro too and gave us some really good smiles!

"Hi friend!"

Little Miss Aidan!

Splash Parkin' It!

Since we weren't around this summer, we were unable to take part in one of my favorite summer activites, the Splash Park in Roswell.  I'd have to say it's my favorite summer activity, over going to the pool, because the kids can run and play without fear of falling in the pool.  A parent's dream!!  And, I think Reed kind of likes it too!  We were happy that Kelly and Brick wanted to meet us out there to play!!

Reed was a little unsure about the water to begin with, but once he got in it he did not want to get out.

Reed and his buddy Brick!  They are actually playing together now, which is so cute!

"It got me!"

Brick!

In the middle of it all!

Whoopsie!

Fun with the Crowells!!

Thankfully we do know someone in the London area and they only live about 2 hours outside of the city.  The Crowells who were also at HBS when we were moved to the UK shortly after graduation.  They had their first child, Elsie, while at HBS and welcomed a little boy to their brood, Spencer, about 8 months ago.  We decided to rent a car to make the trip to see them so that Reed could do his most favorite thing “ride in da car”.

It was so nice to see familiar faces!!  They showed us around their area of the country by taking us to Aldeburgh for fish ‘n chips (remind me of the name of the place, Alisa), which Chris said is the best he has had, followed by a tour of a nearby castle.  We had a very yummy dinner at a Moroccan restaurant in their town, Woodbridge, and then headed home.  We had such a wonderful time hanging out with the Crowells.  We have to get together with them again before we move home!!

Yummo!

Elsie and Reed playing on the "beach". 

Tried to get Chris to touch the North Sea to see how cold it was.

He kept running away, lol!

Family Pic with the North Sea

Orford Castle

View from the top.

One of the many rooms off the center of the castle.

The Chapel

Another view from the top.

And another.

You can tell where the moat was in this picture.

Elsie and Reed

Alisa had the great idea to buy these little sailboats for the kids to sail on a pond in Woodbridge.  They loved it!!

Watching as their boats sail away!

Peaking over the edge!!

Thanks again to Alisa and Corey for having us out and showing us around!  We enjoyed it so much!