We survived Lake Gaston!

So the title may be a little severe, but with the rest death of a young Richmond guy in early July and a drowning of a Virginia Beach man the weekend that we were there, it seems a bit triumph that we all made it back to Virginia safely (and for that I am super grateful)!

Well at Emily's baby shower, I may have just attempted to invite us down to the lake!  Gail and John are ever so hospitality so I think they were happy to oblige and off we went two weekends ago to Lake Gaston!  

No car ride is complete without a Google awesome compilation of selfies, right?

But in case you are interested in the still version, here you go:

We successfully made it to the state line and stopped to snap a quick picture as well:

Well the weather was not July-ish at all, but we still got some fun time of fellowship, hammock swinging, boat ride (albeit wrapped under multiple towels) and golf carting!  What we did not do was any swimming--it was chilly in the morning and by the afternoon, we were partying with the whole family to celebrate the coming arrival of Emily and Kevin's baby!

Here are the best 3 "aunties" in the making:

Kevin & Emily

 We ended the evening with a fireworks display and sparklers!  Here we are attempting to make the word LOVE with a heart at the end!  I was hoping that if we took enough shots it would kinda just appear, but 487 shots later and nothing, but we had fun anyway!

After waking up Sunday morning and taking it easy, we got on the road relatively early and made it back to good old VA with plenty of time for Sunday happenings around Richmond!

Where have your travels taken you recently?  Have you survived Lake Gaston as well?

Take me back to 1772 (but not really)

Since Sara was already in town, we decided to get Amanda in on the fun too and we made a day of it in Charlottesville, VA!  We met up about 11:30 at Mitchie Tavern for an old style lunch and a little shopping around there before heading over to Monticello for a tour.  

While shopping, I stumbled upon these balloon animals that were partially inflated and the little doggie just looked so sad

We then popped over to the General Store complete with a corn picking machine (in the background) and some wine tasting, so of course we waited in line for that!

While at the general store, we also found some authentic clothing, this creepy doll with red eyes was modeling some...

Then it was off to Monticello for an educational experience!

On the bus ride to Monticello

The gardens were beautiful there and I completely agree the view is breathtaking (despite UVA being in the distance--hehe)

After our house tour, we decided to stop off at his grave on the way back down the mountain!

After leaving Monticello, we hit up some wine at Trump Vineyards for a little wine tasting and then finished the day at Carter Mountain to grab some peaches and a great view!  Overall, it was a great time to catch up and learn a little while doing that!  In case I don't say it enough, I am so happy that Ms. Amanda has finally made it back to good ole Virginia! :)

Just a little wine!

First time at the track!

So for the past number of years, I have been hyping up Southside Speedway to my friends and I think Sara finally felt she needed to check it out for herself, so down to Richmond she traveled for what would hopefully be a night to remember under the lights at SSS!  

We snapped a few pictures before even going into the race, here Sara, Anna, and I are!

Sitting in our favorite spot, under Eddie Crouse!   We are so excited about the night ahead!

Another newbie--Kathryn made her debut appearance that night as well!  And CJ and Anna just keep coming back!

Sara was lucky enough to be at a race where Mr. Andy King himself decided to grace us with his presence!  I am telling you, its not easy to get this boy to cross the river, but apparently a combination of racin' and Sara will do the trick!

Emily and I have been coming to races for the past 3-4 years, so it is nice that our fan club has grown over the years!

Front Row: Kevin, Emily, Anna & CJ
Back Row: Jeff, Me, & Kathryn

Since, I know everyone is going to be dying to go to Southside Speeway now, feel free to check out their website and race schedule here.

Friday Favorites!

Look who is getting fancy?  So I have seen a number of other blogs highlight the things they are crushing on and I wanted to get on the bandwagon with fun finds around the internets!  You know I love a good deal and also I love cool companies that support awesome things, plus I always love Target, so I will try to be creative about my picks--keeping in mind some will be freebies, some may be for good causes and some are just fun!  Full disclosure, I do not own each thing (we all know I am into clutter free living), but that does not mean I do not love on some pretty things!  So hopefully you will find something you love too!  I am going to try to do this twice monthly to start, so let's see how it goes!  Let me know what you think!

1. Threshold Globe at Target ($15)

2. Threshold Accent Cabinet ($150)--I actual do own this in green and LOVE it!

3. Kitchen Printable set (FREE)--there are four on the site, but I really love this one 

4. Ivy Lane Fabric Earrings ($5) , so this lady works out of her home in Utah and often has instagram giveaways or supports various causes, just last week she was giving 100% of all money made for the week to go toward the lone survivor of Stay murders, Cassidy.

5. Room Essentials Bird Pillow ($17), I do not have this, but just think the little birdies are cute and would be adorable for a nursery or dorm room!

6. Three Wishes Personalized Print (starting at $24), Minted.com has many personalized prints and this cutie is par for the course!  I have not yet gotten prints from them, but have ordered cards and labels in the past and am super impressed with their quality and customer service, so I expect no less than awesomeness!  They are a bit on the pricey side of things though!

(wo) Man's best friend!

Let's be honest, most of you that know me know that I have a love/dislike relationship with Brutus from time to time, but we have lasted 9 long years together, so there is something to be said for that!  And honestly, isn't he super cute (this is probably why he has not ended up with some other family some where along the way--well that and the fact that I doubt the Bons would allow it).  So today, little Brutus, my blog is all about you!

I feel like this next picture is almost like Brutus is saying, "Who me?"

Sunday Funday

After I got back from Norfolk, I met up with Kathryn for a little thrifting!  Well it turns out, most thrift stores are actually closed on Sunday, so we were trying to think of something else fun to do, right as we drove past the Melting Pot.  I was asking Kathryn if she had every been and she suggested we make fondue for dinner that night.  Well as you can imagine, I was excited about trying something new and so off we went to the grocery store!

Kathryn trying on a sweet 80's prom dress!

We did make cheese fondue too, but I did not get any pictures, so onward to the meal....

Chicken marinading

Kathryn marinated the chicken in some great sauce for about an hour while we prepared the cheese fondue and cubed bread and fruit for later!   It was so fun to see everything work and to sit there and watch our little chicken cubes sizzle!

Chicken getting cooked!

A quick video of said Chicken!

And for dessert, we made chocolate dipped strawberries, which were absolutely amazing!  It was a fantastic time and a great day of fun and fellowship!

Trip to Norfolk -- Part 2!

Well let's pick up where we left off and that is Saturday morning, the day of the yard sale!  I helped to get the babies ready and that meant picking out clothes for the day, you might be able to tell from the below picture that I would have a hand in selecting their outfits:

Why thank you, Garrett!

When the initial rush of people had come through, Tiffany was handling the hard sale on her own, so Josh and I took all the kiddos to the playground, where we did some swinging and playing for about an hour before heading back home!

Just a little Saturday Selfie action!

On Sunday, I had to be back at church in Richmond at 8:45, so I was up early to be able to leave about 6:30.  But we did the 11 month photo op before I headed out of town!

G is getting good at jumping!

Holden was mostly all smiles!

It seems my phone wanted to get in on all the fun too, since it decided to do a little google awesome action on some of my pictures:

Love this face!

and this one too!

and this one too!!!

G does not seem too sure about Auntie Lala leaving....

It does not take the kiddos very long before they realize they can peal the stickers off....

Corbin did not want to get in too many pictures, but he finally let me snap one just before I was headed out the door....

I miss them already, I cannot wait until the next trip (whenever that may be)....