Memorial Day Round Up

I can't report about our weekend without recognizing the Veterans that lost their life for our freedom. Jeremie and I were talking yesterday and we both feel like Memorial Day tends to come across as a well-timed 3 day weekend that is used to mark the kick-off for Summer. And while safely and freely enjoying our friends and family around the grill is precisely what our Veterans FOUGHT FOR, I think that we (me included) tend to overlook the real meaning of the day. I realize that for many families, Memorial Day is an incredibly painful day. For you, I am praying. And THANK YOU, to all Veterans who have made the ultimate sacrifice. You were certainly in my thoughts as we were going about our weekend. 

Looking back at our pictures from this weekend, we squeezed in quite a bit! 

We kicked off Saturday morning with a birthday party at Bahama Bucks, which will certainly get you in the Summer spirit! This place makes the BEST shaved ice/sno-cones, which Greyson had yet to experience. 

This picture looks quite enchanting, but this is really more what I was dealing with for an hour and a half......

I can still SEE YOU, Greyson, and you need to leave the palm tree ALONE......

Thanks to my sweet neighbor for taking this...I feel like I'm never actually IN the picture...

Greyson enjoyed picking out his flavor and watching them make his sno-cone!

After an ATTEMPTED nap (must have been all the sugar), we finally rescued Greyson from his crib and hit the road. We had made a last minute reservation at The Adolphus Hotel (our favorite downtown spot) and everyone was ready to hit the pool!

We stopped at The Dollar Tree to pick up some pool toys and Greyson wore these goggles the entire ride to the hotel. 

I LOOOVED the newly remodeled lobby! Still some of the old touches, but just more fresh! (The only thing that made us go hmmm....is the "artwork" above the fireplaces. Seriously, we thought it was covering something special to come, but that BLACK RECTANGLE IS the art. Ok. )

The rooftop pool CERTAINLY did not disappoint! How awesome is this little oasis tucked inside all the skyscrapers!? We had only planned to stay one night and after being at the pool about 30 minutes, we were like...did we bring enough clothes?...ok...let's stay another night!

Greyson was obsessed with the pool, which was perfect because the long white part running across is about 6 inches deep...so he loved playing in that area!

We enjoyed some French fries and watermelon.

Afterwards, we headed to one of our new favorites areas, Trinity Groves, which is where we went for our anniversary. I LOVE this area! It's so charming!

This time, we hit up Souk, which was the MOST amazing Mediterranian restaurant. Lil' G enjoyed a chicken kabob while we chowed down on a delicious appetizer platter. Sadly, Mr. No Nap started to melt down so we didn't have time to order entrees. 

He DID seem to make a miraculous comeback when we passed by The Cake Bar. So of course we had to go inside and get a piece of chocolate cake.  Listen y'all. This place is like heaven on earth. SO MANY cakes just right there in front of you waiting to be devoured!!! We will most certainly be back.

Greyson and Dad had some pillow talk when we got back to the hotel.....

ALL THE FEELS....this makes my heart explode...

The next morning we had donuts in the room. 

Unfortunately, the weather was a little yucky, so the pool was closed for the morning.  So we changed things up and headed to Klyde Warren Park for some splash pad and food truck fun.

After nap time, the pool was open again! It was still cloudy and the water was freezing, so I let the boys have it to themselves.  If I were really playing the social media envy game...I'd just post this....

"Current view"

But if I were really honest...I read about a page and a half the entire time.  A larger portion of our afternoon was spent in the pool bathroom trying to get G to potty. Just for him to do it in his pants right after we got out. So clearly I do not have a picture to honestly reflect our real experience. #reallife #pottytraining #swimdiapers 

We headed to Dallas famous "The Rustic" for dinner which was a great atmosphere but slightly disappointing because of the limited menu. (Unless you want to eat a fried chicken buffet....DON'T go on Sunday.) It was still fun to see it and the enclosed kid-friendly backyard was pretty awesome! G is still a little too young for us to just let him loose though, so it's good and bad. Our eyes are on constant scan mode. He was a pretty cute little i" for the Big D sign! ; ) 

More hotel shenanigans when we returned. This child stayed up later than he EVER has...but he also slept later than he ever has too!!! Praise the Lawd.

He didn't sleep in the bed with us....but did attempt to...it was pretty sweet.  G sort of has an addictive personality though....so if you let him do something ONCE, it's a THING. And his sleeping habits are too good too mess with....so we just settled for some good snuggles. 

The weekend was had to say goodbye to! We had a great time and can't wait for our next staycation!

Friday Favorites!

HAPPY FRIDAY MY FRIENDS!!! I'm doin' my usual link-up with Narci for Friday Favorites! Join in!

1) Outdoor dining! I think that Plano/DFW in general is finally catching on to the idea of creating a space for the kiddos to play while the parents take a little break......I shared Chips Hamburgers with y'all a couple weeks ago, which we have frequented almost every week since! We went with some friends last Friday, and excuse me, but doesn't this look like a little Plano magazine add???

Anyway, we found another outdoor dining/play area gem this week, called Hub Streat in Downtown Plano. It is adorable and so relaxing! They have an outdoor area, pool tables, food trucks, and "watering hole" if you will... ; ) Also a stage for live music, but on the day we went, it was just a stage for the kiddos to dance on!  

2) This week, Jeremie's grandparents celebrated 65 years of marriage. Y'all. Rest on that a minute. SIXTY-FIVE YEARS. We are rounding year 8 and we're like "WOW...marriage is hard." Ha! Child's play to them. 

J's grandparents' love, friendship, bond, and dedication to the Lord is incredible. We flooded their Facebook page this week with tributes of what they have passed down to ALL the generations of "fruit"....And of course, Jeremie had to reflect this in a costume. 

I'm pretty sure he NAILED IT. 

P.S. The suspenders and newsboy hat makes me want to dress Greyson up like a 1920's child every day. He was super into the suspenders the rest of the week. 

3) Speaking of dress-up, G has gotten super "vocal" about his wardrobe choices this week.  On this particular day, we were going to the splash pad....so we started with that. Then he found a cowbell, which made him think of Mississippi State...which made him think of his Dak Prescott jersey. I told him that Dak actually now plays for the Cowboys, which led to the cowboy boots....and then we got to packing our beach bag, and he found the floatie. So there you go. If Dak Prescott were a Caucasian Cowboy toddler going to the splash pad, this is exactly what he would look like! 

But I think that this would make Dak happy, because he is always smiling and happy and we love him!

4) Speaking of the SPLASH PAD! We took advantage of no schedule and joined a couple super fun playdates with the Dallas and Collin County Moms Blogs! (If you're local, you definitely need to check out their pages for summer events!) 

We made our FIRST splash pad trip of 2017....

 

And went to The Playdate Co. in Richardson, which was adorable and so fun!

This is sweet little Ford. He and Greyson were born on the same day, at the same hospital, and funny enough, his Mom's name is Kate. We knew "of" them when they were born (Jeremie was in a bible study Kate's dad was doing).  But we officially met as we were being rolled in wheelchairs into the elevators to take these little guys home! Now the boys go to the same preschool! And listen-they were two peas in a pod with all their tools at The Playdate Co! They followed each other around everywhere! 

5) And SPEAKING OF PLAYDATES! If you missed this post on Tuesday, be informed that you are invited to a SUMMER O' FUN playdate on Wednesday! This is a "come one come all" playdate! If you're local, feel free to join us as we swap summer ideas and let the kids play! Can't wait!

SUMMER O' FUN Launch Party and Playdate: 

Jack Carter Playground on Wednesday, May 31st @ 10:00 a.m.

(Address for playground is 2800 Maumelle Dr. Plano, TX)

You can download and print your own SUMMER O' FUN Bucket List here!

HOPE EVERYONE HAS A WONDERFUL Memorial Day weekend!

Let the SUMMER O' FUN BEGIN!

Well, it's here Mamas. We have almost made it through the chaos of May and on the border of the school year finish line!

I'm still unpacking the book bag and all the 4,328 pieces of art work they sent home on the last day of Mother's Day Out. I'll admit, I was sad to have my routine slowly slip through my fingers as bible study and school ended. BUT, I am super excited to have the freedom from schedule and to start creating and executing the things on the 2017 "Summer O' Fun" List!

If you'll recall, last summer, I had the same "breathe into a paper bag moment" the day after school ended, but then I went all Operation Summertime, and with a quick mental switch, a free printable, and a banner (YES A BANNER), I quickly turned into the most excited summertime Mama you ever did see. (You can read all about that here.) I declared it the SUMMER O' FUN, and LISTEN. IT WAS SO FUN. We did parks, zoos, splash pads, service projects, aquariums, ice cream dates, indoor play places, backyard parties, cupcake baking, and everything in between! (I wish I knew how to link all my Summer O'Fun posts together, but if you just click on 2016 to the right, you can find all 13 weeks of recap under June, July and August!)

Don't get me wrong. There were still "admin" days at home. And there were certainly some days that the Summer-Magic Fairy forgot to sprinkle her dust on us. And yes, by August, I was over it and if smelled any more sunscreen I thought I might go off the deep end. BUT ultimately, it was the best summer I've had in a long time! And the Summer O' Fun list just gave me something to look forward to and by creating a variety of options (at home or outing type activities), I was never left sitting and wondering what we were gonna do that day! To give you an idea...here was last year's Bucket List:

I'm gonna do my best to recreate it this year! I noticed last year that several of my gals started joining in on the party, creating their own list, and sharing their GREAT ideas! This area is SO BIG that someone is CONSTANTLY telling me something/somewhere I don't know about! 

SOOOO.....that brought me to an idea! Let's put our heads and lists together and have a SUMMER O' FUN LAUNCH PARTY/PLAYDATE! You bring YOUR ideas, and I'll bring mine! We'll all leave with more fun things than we can squeeze into 13 weeks of SUMMER! 

The SUMMER O' FUN Launch Party and Playdate will take place at my new favorite: 

Jack Carter Playground on Wednesday, May 31st @ 10:00 a.m.

(Address for playground is 2800 Maumelle Dr. Plano, TX)

This is nothing fancy-just a chance for our kiddos to play while we load our arsenal with great ideas! This is also an OPEN invitation to anyone who is local! So if you're reading this, you're welcome to join us! 

Get your printable Summer O' Fun Bucket list here! After the playdate, I'll combine all the ideas and report back here! 

I can't wait! Hope to see y'all there!

Friday Favorites

Top O' the morning to ya and HAPPY FRIDAY! This week has gone by in lightning speed and here we are at the end of the school year and beginning of summer!  I'm linking up with Momfessionals today for Friday Favorites! You MUST GO to the bottom of her post and watch the "reasonable bathing suit" video.  If G weren't still asleep I WOULD HAVE laughed loud. But you KNOW WE DON'T LOL or anything "OL"when the cherub is asleep!!!

Join in and share your Friday Favorites!

1) My little tribe is my favorite! So are last minute trips to the park. We usually have to go 20 rounds when we are trying to schedule something, but thankfully, everyone randomly just showed up with one hour notice and it was fabulous!

Our little ones are really starting to "know" each other and it was so sweet watching them play together!

I did experience my first little "emergency" with G at the park that day though. I can't explain how without you seeing the apparatus, but he got his leg SO STUCK between a couple bars on one of the play pieces and y'all....IT. WAS. STUCK. We slathered lotion on it for a couple minutes and he started to freak out, and I started to freak out, and was about 2 seconds from calling the fire department. Luckily, one of my friend's hubby was at the park and he started wiggling G's leg up  the bars and set it free! His name is Chase so OF COURSE we had to take FULL advantage of singing the Paw Patrol theme song and shouting "Chase is on the case!" I'm so glad I didn't have to get the fire fighters to saw apart the brand new playground.

2) I had the most fabulous hot date to celebrate our 8 years of marriage! We had a sitter from 5:00 to 10:00!!! That is an entire day to a parent. We pretty much walked the sitter straight through the door, into the sandbox with G and said PEACE. We headed down to Trinity Groves and enjoyed the most amazing rooftop views from Saint Rocco's and then headed to Amberjax for the BEST seafood dinner I think I've ever had. The views and food were spectacular but the company was the best. It was so nice to get all gussied up and have some uninterrupted time together!

3) I got an amazing perk through Collin County Moms Blog for a 45 minute facial at Kate Somerville in Neiman Marcus and it was AMAZING.  I went away with some cream that's supposed to reduce wrinkles, moisturize, "plump up" my skin, and essentially save the planet. Hopefully I'll be looking 20 again by next week.

4) Speaking of the Moms Blog, I've had the best time working with them and my new little gig as their Community Manager! It's no huge position, but just being involved with this team has already been so fun! Working their Bloom event in Dallas last week and Downtown McKinney last night was so fun! Dallas and Collin County both have some fun events coming up, you should check it out!

                          

                          

5) Yesterday was the last day of Mother's Day Out. Half of me wants to breath into a paper bag, and the other half is SUPER EXITED about summertime with no schedule!!! Greyson looked like such a big boy yesterday. It blows my mind that my tiny baby is already done with his second year of MDO!

6) SPEAKING OF Summertime... Last year, we had the best time coming up with our Summer O' Fun Bucket List and can't wait to do it again this summer! So I'll have some fun stuff coming up about this soon! Start getting YOUR list together!

HAPPY FRIDAY and have a great weekend!