Future Blackmail Shots...

I'm telling you, this kid will play with balls ANY chance he gets...

Southern Belles

This last weekend two of my closest college girlfriends, Amy, Christine and I all flew to Richmond, VA to stay with another one of my closest girlfriends, Tracy.  For those of you who know me (and them), you will know that we are all probably the furthest thing from a Southern Belle that you can imagine.   I mean, it figures given that none of us is from the true south and none of us except for Tracy has ever even lived in the true south.  In fact, Amy flew in from Oregon.  I flew in from RI and Christine wins the prize - she flew in from Amsterdam.  Which, I'll be honest - I mean, I obviously know how long the trip was and was thoroughly impressed that she did it just for the weekend, but I didn't REALLY realize it until I woke up this morning at 6 am and realized that I had in fact made it through 2 one hour flights, 1 hour and a half drive and then 8 hours of sleep and yet, at that point?  Christine was JUST LANDING in AMS.  Damn.  Anyway - although none of us are the Southern Belle type, we did a pretty damn good job of fitting into the Richmond scene over the course of 2 1/2 days.  Well, except for the time that....

We pissed off our waiter at the restaurant that we stopped at to have a glass of wine.  We got the "are you ladies going to order any food?" question approximately 10 times until we finally ordered a thing of fries to share.  And, then we got the, "When the hell are you going to leave so that another party who will actually eat and allow for me to earn a living can sit in your seat?" question approximately 5 times.  So, in order to answer his question, we ordered yet a second bottle of wine.  Sorry buddy.  We had some catching up to do.

Then, we went to an outdoor festival that was going on in Richmond, as Tracy had never been, but EVERYONE we saw asked if we were going there, so we figured we'd check it out.  From what I can gather, it consisted of a contest to see how far a dog will jump in the water after a ball (which actually resulted in a poor display of the owners' athleticism, as most of them couldn't throw the bar far enough to allow for the dog to jump far enough to impress anyone) and it also consisted of a mud pit for everyone who just got done with running a 5K to run and slide through so that they were then covered in mud.  Oh - and, really bad wine and really greasy (but great) food.  So, basically, your typical festival.  And, of course, after the 2 bottles of wine discussed above and the one glass of really bad wine, Tracy decided that this family who owned this puppy was neglecting the puppy because the puppy was panting and according to Tracy, he needed water.  I tried to explain that it was pretty hot and even if he had just had water, he would still be panting.  She didn't buy it and insisted on giving the puppy water in her old wine glass - not before asking in a "your abusing your dog" kind of tone - "Don't you think that your puppy may be thirsty?  I think that he really needs some water..." 

That night, we decided to really take the Southern Belle thing to an extreme and dance around in hats.  We thought we were pretty funny...

The next day, we went to brunch at a local breakfast place, which I have to say was DELICIOUS.  Granted, not sure we were welcome guests there either as 1) Amy had a bug fly into her ear and reacted, well....not so Southern Belle'ish which led to the table next to us making a comment that they thought we were drunk (at 11 AM), 2) Christine wasn't feeling well, so just ordered eggs and toast and then got the "why are you so prissy?" look from the waitress - don't you worry.  I stuck up for her and explained the illness to the waitress (who clearly didn't believe me) and 3) Amy apparently "insulted the chef" by ordering biscuits and gravy but with no gravy.  But, whatever.  The food and ambiance was great.  And, everyone appeared to get over the little mishaps along the way.

And, yes - before you say anything - I now know that going out in public with no makeup results in not so great pictures of myself.  Lesson learned.

That day, we spent nearly the ENTIRE afternoon sitting on Tracy's porch talking.  I mean, I should have known that we were capable of talking for 8 hours straight, but damn!  Even I was impressed. 

We did get up for a walk at some point that afternoon and Tracy took us to the place where she and Ryan got married.  Well, there is a running joke that Christine and Tracy are a couple, so in order to continue the joke, they got married to each other in the same spot.  I only include this part because we noticed that the pictures taken really do resemble a groom waiting for his bride who is clearly elated.

 And, here's Amy - clearly thrilled to be the bridesmaid...

After coming back from the walk, we decided to spice things up a bit and move to the front porch to talk for another couple of hours  - this was the classic southern experience - sitting in our rocking chairs, drinking champagne - it was lovely.  This was clearly our chance to fulfill the Southern Belle thing...if only we had showered and had put on makeup on at that point...

 And, Christine decided to swoop in for the picture.  Seriously?  Doesn't it look like she's flying?

That night, we went out on the town.  We first went to a great bar/restaurant with 3 levels of decks over looking the water - it was gorgeous.  Afterwards, we went to a great restaurant that serves fancy southern food.  I had shrimp and grits and they were amazing!  And, THEN - Christine wanted to buy a bottle of champagne, so ordered one and then requested that she receive the bill for it.  Well, when we ask for the bill, the waiter explains to us that apparently one of us ran into a girl in the bathroom and she paid for the $100 bottle for us!  HEH?   Yep.  Amy apparently was talking to a girl in the bathroom and told her that we had all come together for a girls' weekend and she thought that was really cool that 4 friends would do that, so she just bought the wine.  Only in the south - I swear.

Later, we went to a club where they were playing "house music," which I just assumed no one really liked given there were NO LYRICS.  Just the un-tuh-un-tuh beat.  Of course, upon asking the 3 ppl standing in the line for the restroom whether they really liked this music, I got the, "You totally just offended us" look as they explained to me that they love the music and how could I not?  yet again - clearly not the polite Southern Belle move.

The next day, Tracy took us for a drive to see U. of Richmond and drove us by a really cool trail area.  And, after that, we did a little more sitting around and talking and then Christine and I took off for the airport. 

On either side of the visit, we did get to meet Tracy's husband, Ryan, and their adorable son, Weston, for the first time.  I'm so happy that I finally got to meet both of them.  Ryan couldn't be a nicer/funnier guy and Weston couldn't be a cuter child.  I mean, look at those cheeks!!!  A man after my own heart...

Overall, it was a great weekend.  A perfect mix of relaxation, going out, and LOTS of laughing.  I mean, not to toot my own horn here, but damn!  I pick some pretty good friends.  First, there was my weekend with Sara and now yet another weekend where we haven't seen each other in years, yet it feels like just yesterday.  Love you guys and can't wait for the next Girls' Weekend.  Sui Generis...

Party Animals

Well, guys - it is that time of year again.  May. The month of many celebrations.  Five to be exact.  One for Mother's Day, one for my birthday and guess who the other THREE are for?  Yep - you guessed it. Our oldest pride and joy....

It started with the first weekend in May.  We had Avery's "kid party" on Saturday and her "family party" on Sunday.  We typically would have done these both the following weekend in order to combine 4 of the 5 celebrations in one weekend (and nearly kill myself in the process of entertaining so much in a matter of 2 days), but this year, Josh's 20th high school reunion was the same weekend as Mother's Day, so the weekend before it was.  Well, shortly after sending out the invites, I received an email from one of the mom's of a boy in Avery's class saying that her son's (who was invited to Avery's party) was on the day of the party, so would be want to do a combined party at our house?  It worked out great!  Man - I'm telling you - splitting up responsibilities makes for a MUCH less stressful party - even if you do end up with 52 people at your house.  The weather was touch and go all week -including the morning of.  But, thankfully, by the time the party rolled around, it had stopped raining.  It was chilly, but no rain, so I was happy.  No rain, a bouncy house for the kids and booze and food for the parents = a great party!

 

 We were lucky enough to have Lindsey make the cakes again this year.  Wyatt requested a Scooby Doo cake and Lindsey found an idea for a rainbow cake, so she made that for Avery.  Aren't they incredible?  Scooby Doo  is actually all fondant.  So totally edible...And, the rainbow cake?  Rainbow all throughout!  Pretty impressive.

 

 

 So, Sunday was her party with Josh's family.  This is the party where I make her cake.  Why don't I make it for the kids party you ask?  A) I have way too many other things to prep for and I don't have time to spend on the cake, B) I don't feel like making one that is big enough for all of those people and C) I am not skilled in cake making like Lindsey is and I am not willing to risk the possibility of having to use things like coffee mugs to prevent the cake from falling in front of anyone else other than family....

 Yeah...as it turns out, when they say and 8 inch pain, they really mean that.  I however used a 9 inch pan and yet still cut off the same proportions on the top and on the bottom.  This clearly led to a purse that was too tall and too skinny.  But, cute nonetheless, right???  I also tend to keep the themed parties to the family, which is somewhat ridiculous given that clearly kids would get a bigger kick out of a Fancy Nancy party than adults, but seriously?  Do you know how expensive plates, napkins, balloons, etc. are for themed parties like that?  Not only that, but this gives me an excuse to use paper plates with the family so that A) they don't see the chips in my real plates and B) I don't have to wash them when we are done.  It also gives me an excuse to make adults wear ridiculous things on their heads, which I just find comical...clearly, as you can see in the picture, my brother in law doesn't find it quite as funny...

Grammy and Grampy got Avery a see saw, which as you can see was put to use immediately upon receiving it.  When I told someone about it, their first question?  Did Earle put it together?  HA!  They know us all too well.  But, no - this one, Grammy and Grampy actually put it together themselves. 

Onto the following week...Opa and Grandma came into town for Avery's actual birthday!  And, of course, you can't just do nothing on her actual birthday just because you have already had TWO parties at that point.  So? We had another party!  Grammy and Grampy came over that night again for dinner (ribs per Avery's request) and we let her open our present - her first (and most likely only given the cost of the thing) American Girl Doll - and my parent's present - a princess microphone which attaches to a CD player (or iPod) so that she can sing her favorite songs (really, really ,really loudly and really frequently).  Thanks, Opa and Grandma! 

Oh - and, just in case we forgot about Al during all of these Avery celebrations, he made sure we knew he was still around by taking EVERY single ball that he owns and throwing them around the yard.  It's amazing  how quickly he can distribute, yet how slowly he can pick them up...

And, the celebration continued on Friday...I took the day off of work and we all went to the zoo! Of course, first, we had to stop at Five Guys for a burger...

When we got to the zoo, one of the first things we saw was this crazy bird.  I've never seen anything like it - he saw the kids and immediately came over to the window and started pecking at their hands.  It was pretty cute.  The added bonus was that Avery actually remembered the bird later on when she saw a woman with really spiked, strange looking hair and commented that she looked exactly like the bird that we saw!  I have to admit - I was thinking the exact same thing...

 And, of course, the classic "Opa holding the kids up to see the animals" picture...

 And, the classic "kids sitting on the elephant statue" picture...

Now...onto a celebration for ME!  Well,not really.  As I mentioned earlier, it was Josh's 20th high school reunion on Saturday night, so I guess it was really more about him, but whatever.  I partook in the fun as well.  Given that we had 2 babysitters staying with us, we were able to take off and stay in Providence for the night!  Just to give you an indication of the fun that was had, these are the only two pictures of Josh and I that we have from the evening.  And, yes - that was a pitcher of margaritas, which I should not have even been looking at after the wine consumed earlier that evening - much less drinking.  Bad, bad decision on my part...

Needless to say, Mother's Day was a bit "low-key."  It involved a lot of relaxing on the deck, napping, walking on the beach and then finally a nice dinner, which Alex clearly enjoyed...

If you've actually made it this far and are not exhausted (or on the contrary - bored out of your mind), just imagine how it was actually living this week.  I'm spent.  However, not spent enough to be flying to Richmond, VA tomorrow morning at 7 am out of Logan (aka - waking up at 3 AM to leave at 4 AM to get to Logan by 6 AM - UGH!) to spend a weekend with 3 good college girlfriends. Stay posted my friends.  Stay posted...