Vickie's Visit

A couple of weeks ago my good friend Vickie came and stayed with us for nine days. Lucky for Vickie she is a teacher and has the summer off so she can take extended vacations like that. I can't say I am not jealous of that. Having summers off? Heck yeah, that would be awesome! Anyways, we had a lovely time together and it was so nice to catch up with each other other than over the phone.

Vickie, you are such a good friend to me and I truly thank God for our friendship. I am so glad that no matter how many miles come between us, we still call, text and visit each other. We hope you had a great time in Indiana and come back soon!! :)

Okay, so one day we drove to Michigan (St. Joe) and spent some time popping in and out of antique shops and exploring the beautiful  Michigan coast line. Lake Michigan is BEAUTIFUL!

Coming home we stopped in Amish country and did a little more exploring. Oh, and stopping at random garage sales that were still going on late in the afternoon. What fun! Vickie was very into take pictures of the Amish as we passed them on the road. Thankfully, no one was injured in the taking of these photos!

One night after dinner we stopped at The Sunken Garden Park (I had never been there). It was so beautiful! Flowers were covering walkways and fountains were flowing, I really loved it and would like to go back there and take photos one day. For now, this lovely black eyed Susan will have to do. Why oh why can't mine at home look this full and pretty?!

Louie was pretty good while Vickie was visiting. At first I think he wasn't fond of having another person in the house, but then when he realized that he didn't have to stay in his room all day since she was there, he warmed up to her. He jumped up and sat on her lap during a thunderstorm once! That's awesome for him, he is pretty selective about who he likes and doesn't like!

For some reason (I can't remember why) we thought it would be cute to out Stephen's ball cap on Louie. Well, it sure was cute but he was not a fan:

Oh, and today is my birthday-the big 2-6. You know what? I don't feel old at all. I feel blessed and very loved! Hope you have a great Friday and weekend, friends!

Vacation [Part Three]

Our last night in Florida was delicious. Literally! We cleaned up from a day at the pool, picked Gram up and headed to Carraba's for dinner. Can I just say that I love Carraba's? Well, I do!

After filling our bellies we headed to the mall to stop at a few stores. While Dad was shopping at Dick's Stephen and I headed to Cami Cakes so pick up my much anticipated cupcake. Oh how I love these! They were beautiful and delicious! Sad to say that I did not get to take a photo before they were devoured because the box they were in fell over and they got all messed up. BUT, it wasn't a total loss because they still tasted the same!

Once home we thought we would pack up and get to bed since we had to leave at 4am for the airport. That did not happen. We ate cupcakes and packed everything up but for some reason we decided to stay up and watch Tangled with Mom & Hunter...though Mom went to bed half way through and Hunter fell asleep on the floor in the living room, so really only Stephen and I stayed up to watch it, ha. It was cute and I had been wanting to see it so I'd say it was worth it!

Here are some pictures from that evening:

We were up early to head to the airport-I had not seen that time on a clock in a long time! Thankfully, things went really smooth at the airport and we even had time to grab something to eat-Starbucks oatmeal was just the thing! We arrived in Nashville early and ate again, ha-we were on vacation, and on vacation you eat! :) The next stop on the journey home was Chicago where Stephen's parents were waiting for us.

I was so ready and excited to get home and see Louie! After stopping for lunch we headed straight home. Louie was excited to see us, but at first he wasn't too sure. He sniffed me for a good minute before accepting that it was me, jumping on my lap and licking my face off. I loved it!

We spent the afternoon unpacking, doing laundry and cleaning the house before going to Stephen's sisters house for a 4th of July dinner. We took Louie with us of course because we had been away from him for so long! It was a nice, relaxing evening with family!

Louie was super cuddly and laid on my lap for over an hour, just snuggling.

I LOVED it!

I am happy to report that Louie was fantastic while we were away. He ate his food, drank his water, and pottied outside on the leash without any major problems. The girl that watched him really eased my nerves by texting and sending me pictures a couple of times. We were so happy that he was okay and being himself, and that really made our vacation that much more enjoyable.  Thank you to the Baxter family for watching and loving our Louie for us!

Vacation [Part Two]

Welcome back! :) Continuing the vacation recap...

On Monday we headed back to the St. Augustine area for a much needed beach day. This was probably the day that I was most excited about and looking forward to about this vacation. I knew we would have a beach day and I was so ready to feel the sand between my toes and taste the salt water...not that I drink it or anything (that would be gross), but you can't help getting splashed or licking your lips at some point of the day!

We arrived a little later in the day than planned (sorry Dad!) but the beach was not packed at all, thankfully we still beat the rush so we had a good selection of spots to chose from. My cousin Beth, her husband and girls joined us and it was so nice spending time with them!

And because you can't go to the beach and not take pictures, here goes:

Above: A little burring going on there. I tickled Hannah's feet once she was covered and it was so funny! I think the buried Haley later in the day too!

Below: Last time the girls went to the beach they took a picture similar to this but with a sand castle bucket. Hannah really wanted to do the foot picture and make it look like they would get stepped on. It was fun and it turned out cute!

After a day at the beach we came back to Mom & Dad's for some swimming. Jumping in the cool pool after a long day at the beach is one of my favorite things, what can I say? After swimming a bit we showered and got ready to go babysit (or not since they aren't babies anymore) Hannah and Haley. We had a fun evening with them that included BBQ (MoJo's), a visit with Grandma, playing with their guinea pigs and Wii Dance Off. Oh it was fun and I may or may not have a wonderfully hilarious video of Stephen & Hunter doing a duet to "Jump, Jump"....so funny, let me tell 'ya!

Above: LOVE Haley's face in this one!!

Tuesday was our last full day in Florida, as we were flying back to Chicago verrrrrry early on the 4th of July. We spent the day relaxing and soaking up some more sun at the pool. I spent quite a bit of time in my perfect little nook reading the latest Karen Kingsbury novel, that was fantastic! We enjoyed some pina colodas that were shared with Chance too-funny puppy!

That evening we went to dinner and took quite a few pictures...that will be shared tomorrow! :)

Have a great Friday!