Girls Trip!

 

These are my dear friends, Sheryl and Stacey.  We were roomates in college as well as sorority sisters.  Sheryl lives in Minnesota with her family and Stacey lives in Michigan with her family, so it is not often we get to see each other.  

I have been lucky to spend time over the years with each of them and their families separately but the last time the three of us were together, was when we all had just had our first babies.  And those "babies" are now all 15 years old!

So we decided we were due for a girls trip!

We ended up picking Savannah, Georgia and it was the perfect spot for us.

We shopped, and ate, and laughed and shopped and ate.

 

The much anticipated Wilkes House was definitely worth the wait (almost two hours in the heat and humidity).  The restaurant has been serving family style true southern food forever.  It was delicious, over 22 sides!  We practically rolled out of there.  It was hands down the best fried chicken I have ever eaten.  

  

Being in Savannah, we had to do a ghost tour.  It was fun to walk around and hear all the creepy stories about certain mansions and town squares and cemeteries.   I was not scared the whole time except for when a drunk guy jumped out and grabbed me in the middle of a ghost story about "someone screaming."  The person screaming was me.  The drunk guy had no idea how spot on his timing was. 

 

Stacey and I got up early and walked three or four miles every morning and we loved all the beautiful architecture of the houses in the historic district as well as their gardens.   This is the fountain in Forsythe Park.

 

This restaurant was called Gryphon and the atmosphere was awesome.  It was a pharmacy in 1926 and still had all of the original mahogany shelves and drawers along with all the original stained glass windows and lamps.  And the food was delicious too :)

 

Probably one of the most famous restaurants in Savannah and  it did not disappoint.  We again loved the atmosphere and the cuisine.  It was a lovely dinner with girlfriends.

Love these girls and the time we got to spend together.

 

  

We spent some time on River Street as well.

 

Here we are at a dueling piano bar called Savannah Smiles which also happens to be my favorite movie of all time.  

The bar was SO fun and everyone sang along to every single song.

 

Our last day in Savannah.  

We ate and shopped more.  Ha!

What a fabulous weekend catching up with fabulous friends.

Luke's 13th Birthday Party!

 

Luke turned 13 years old and he is back to inviting girls to his birthday party! Ha!

That has not happened since he was about 6 years old.  

He has a great group of friends and Stephen and I enjoyed watching them all interact.  What a fun age!

 

We set up a selfie scavenger hunt for teams of three kids.  They had a list of about 50 tasks they had to complete as a team, while taking a selfie!

I highly recommend this for a party, the kids all really enjoyed it and were running as fast as they could all over our property to complete their lists.  

It was so entertaining to watch them.

 

And go!!!

 

Luke took the pictures for his team so I got to scroll through them all...

his team doing the leapfrog.

 

Selfie with a fire hydrant. 

 

Selfie while all jumping.

Other tasks included, pose like a tree, under a tree.  Team all perform your favorite dance, selfie with the birthday boy, selfie with a dog, etc.

 

Time to cool down inside with some food and drinks!

 

This group is super active though and they ended up right back outside to play volleyball, kickball and football.

 

Happy Birthday Luke Michael!!

We love you so much!

Ready for some football!!!

 

Luke LOVES all sports, he particularly loves football!  

And he REALLY loves watching sports live.

He has been one lucky kid because his best friend Michael has season tickets for LSU and The Saints!

For Luke's birthday, Michael's family took Luke to Baton Rouge for the LSU game and then to New Orleans for the Saints game!  Luke was so very happy.

 

Go Saints!!

 

All of his gear he racked up from the weekend, Saints socks, jersey and towel and LSU socks and hat!

Homecoming Dance

 

Amelia recently had her High School Homecoming dance-

Sophomore year and all the girls decided to go in a big group together.

 

 

Amelia looked stunning and I loved the dress she ended up choosing.

After three weeks of alterations...it fit like a glove, ha!

What I would give to have to take in a size double zero!

 

She took my breath away.  

And I kept laughing/crying while I was taking her pictures.

I told her I couldn't help it, it was like she was literally growing up before my eyes.

 

I love when I catch her laughing. 

 Which is easy because she was laughing at all the poses I made her do before her friend's arrived at our house for pictures.

 

I love the back of her dress and her hair this year was awesome!

 

Lots of pictures of Amelia and all her besties :)

Sweet Amelia and Emma, gorgeous inside and out.

 

Amelia and Ashleigh are tennis buddies!

 

The same group of girls were here last year for pictures so it was fun to have them all together again.

The girls all came to our house for pictures, then they all headed to dinner, followed by the dance and then an after party for desserts and cookies! 

What a fun night!!

 

Amelia and Georgia have been friends since the 2nd grade!

 

Amelia and Madaline- future engineers! 

 

Mckenzie and Amelia have been friends since they were 4 years old!

So wonderful seeing the beautiful young ladies they have grown into.

 

Happy Homecoming ladies!

Happy 13th Birthday to Luke!

 

Luke turned 13 years old!

A teenager!

 

Gifts and hugs from his sisters.

 

Luke got new fishing and tennis gear as well as Fortnite gear and apparel which is his (and every other teenage boys newest obsession).  

 

Happy Birthday Luke!

We love you SO much and you bring so much happiness into our lives!