Charleston Weekend!

I've gotten a little behind with blogging lately, so let's just pretend like it's last Monday and I'm writing about the weekend we JUST had, not the one we had a week ago, k?!

Matt, Ryan and I got to drive up to Charleston to visit two of my best friends and roommates from college and catch up with their sweet families. We were only there for one full day, but life with little ones has a way of making days seem longer in the best way, so we really feel like we maximized our short time there!

The start of our trip and Ryan's first time facing forward in the carseat. And if you look closely, you'll notice I have blueberries in my teeth from my breakfast smoothie. :)

Friday night, we got in with enough time to let Ryan crawl around for a few minutes before putting him to bed. And then Matt and I enjoyed an adults-only pizza dinner with Meagan and Chris. Goodness I wish we lived next to them! They are just some of our favorite people in the world. Time with them is never long enough!

Saturday morning, my friend Brittany and her family came over. She and her family have three precious kiddos. Being around her and Meagan and their larger-than-ours families made Matt and I excited to add to ours in the future. Kids are just fun! Not to mention watching Brittany and Caleb and Meagan and Chris parent so well had Matt and I on the verge on whipping out a notebook and jotting down tips for what to do in the future. They are just great.

Gotta love group pictures at this age- so great

The rest of Saturday was spend walking through Meagan's neighborhood, relaxing around the house while the kids napped, and eating out at a restaurant called Red's- right on the water- that night. If one day in a different city could make you want to move there, this was the day. Oh to drive 15 minutes and eat outside right along the water while the kids run and play in the grass. When a dinner out feels like vacationing, that's a pretty great thing.

Ryan's face- nap time?!

Geese!

Getting ready for dinner looks so different these days :)

If I could arrange their marriage, I would. ;)

Love this girl!

Saturday night, we introduced Meagan and Chris to the amazingness that is Friday Night Lights. If you've watched it, you know. That and Parenthood are my all-time favorite series ever. (I'll go on record and say that they were neck-and-neck until the last episode of Parenthood bumped it into the first-place position.) Needless to say, we got them hooked after the first episode and Matt and I left thinking we might need to re-watch the entire series. So if you haven't watched it, do yourself a favor and start it. You will not be disappointed!

Sunday morning we enjoyed coffee and breakfast and played for a few hours and were still on the road to home by 9:30. See, life with kids really does maximize your days. ;)

Other highlights from the trip include:

• turning Ryan around to face forward in his carseat. I wish I had recorded his sweet face when we put him in for the first time. His eyebrows were lifted high and he had this little smirk on his face that showed how excited he was and how cool he felt. Gooooodness what a difference that forward facing thing makes. We have a little man who enjoys the car now. Like doesn't even need a toy kind of enjoyment. He'll just chill and look straight out the window like life is good. And I'll tell you, having a little one who enjoys the car does make life good. :)

• watching Ryan interact with the Emerson and Riley. A lot of the time he would just stare at them like he really wanted to be a part of the action but wasn't sure how.

• Ryan seeing the ducks at the lake in Meagan and Chris's neighborhood and crying when we turned the stroller around to head back home. Sweet buddy. He loves wildlife like his mama.

• Spending time with Emerson and Riley. Emerson is at such a fun age where she loves to play with you and read books together. Matt got some quality time crafting with her with the gift we got her for her birthday while I got to snuggle up and read her the books we brought her. Bless Matt for being great about doing crafts- that will be much appreciated when our kids are older. Mama doesn't love crafts. Maybe that will change?!

Hope you all had a great 4th of July weekend! I'll be back tomorrow to share pictures from our 4th. 

Oh, and one last side-note... I'm changing my reading goal for this month. I've already started  Bread and Wine and am really enjoying it, but I decided I'm just not in the mood for the Elin Hilderbrand book I wrote about. I read more reviews and there were very mixed feelings about the book. Since my last month's read was such a fail, I can't afford to spend my time potentially reading another one- ha. SO, I'm going to finish Bread and Wine and may or may not read another after it.


Have a great week!