Back to Reality - Vacation Recap

The husband and I spent last week in Dauphin Island, Alabama.  What a gorgeous place!

We had nothing on our agenda besides relaxing.  It was a much needed break.

Sammy and Bauer made the trip with us and they loved being beach bums.

Bauer and Sammy being bums.

This was Bauer's first road trip with us and he did great!  On the way to the beach he did a little whining in the car, I think he wasn't sure why we were in the car so long.  As long as I reached out and pet him he'd settle right back down and sleep.  On the way home he was quiet and cozy the whole way.  He's a good boy.

He and Sammy did some good car snuggling.

While we were on vacation the husband and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary (and the 7th anniversary of the day the he proposed on an Alabama beach).  Romantical!

I got a little blue box containing a beautiful necklace with a W on it...love.

Good work husband.  You are too good to me.

In the middle of the week my sister, brother-in-law, and nieces joined us for beach fun.

 

Look how gorgeous my girls are!  My sister had the great idea to hire a photographer to get some pictures of all of us on the beach.  Obviously I took some pictures while this was happening too.

And a few selfies.

Sisters!

Bauer loved all the snuggles from his cousins who adore him.

Our boy is definitely living the good life now.

View from the deck of our house.

This was our first time to stay on Dauphin Island and it was wonderful.  The town is a very lazy beach town and the beach was not at all crowded.  We rented a house from Boardwalk Realty and they are fantastic! They really take care of their renters and make it super easy to check in and out. Our house was right on the water and it was very reasonably priced for a week at the beach in the middle of summer.  We will definitely go back!  In fact, can I go now?

Pelicans!

We made many trips to Skinner's Seafood to pick up fresh seafood to cook.  They had wonderful freshly caught seafood and it was all delicious!  If you are ever on the island and want to cook some fresh seafood you didn't catch yourself, go see them and they will hook you up.  Lol...hook you up.

I hope your week was half as fun and relaxing as mine!

Weekend (and more) Recap

Wow!  Life has been a little crazy here so I have been letting the dogs blog for me for almost 6 weeks.  That's a long time.  Here's what I have been up to...

The husband and I road tripped to Hattiesburg, MS.

As you might know, we have family that lives there.  This trip was special because this beautiful girl was taking her first communion.

 

That's our niece/God daughter Chelsie, isn't she a cutie?

 Trixie helped her dad barbecue for Memorial Day weekend.

We had friends over to enjoy all the delicious food.

It was a great time.

The next weekend Dave and Rachel got married.

You might remember them from David and Aerin's wedding post, that's where I got this great picture of the happy couple.

My sister and nieces came to visit.  I love seeing them as often as possible, so I always love when they come visit.  We had lots of fun that included a trip to the Downtown Aquarium.

I hadn't been to the aquarium in a long time and I had never been on the train that takes you through the shark tank.

Definitely a very cool perspective.

I also didn't know there was a white tiger at the aquarium.  Seemed a little out of place to me, but what a gorgeous animal.

I was happy to see her, but at the same time I felt a little sad for her.  The more I work with animal rescue the more I think about animal rights and welfare.  I thought she looked a little sad and lonely hanging out with everyone looking at her.  I am sure she is well taken care of, I just can't get over the feeling that a wild animal in captivity isn't happy.

This fiber glass version of her seemed just fine.

Chelsie was the only one on board with acting scared.  I love her scared face.

Around the house there has been lots of snuggling,

a little photo-bombing,

and lots of playing.

Sammy and Bauer are completely in love.  We couldn't be happier with having Bauer home with us.  I can't imagine not having him here.  He's dear.

I have been busy at home as well.  I have some new chairs and this awesome print from Sammy and Bauer's session with Mary Pasicatan Photography. 

I have some little projects to share...

...and some big ones.

I am looking forward to sharing it all with you soon!

Weekend Recap

I hope you had a wonderful and blessed Easter weekend!  I got this picture from my sister in Mississippi and it made my day.

I can't wait to see my nieces in two weeks!  Love those pretty girls.

We had a quiet Easter around the house.  I made dish pan pasta for our Easter dinner.

Dish pan pasta is so easy to make.  Typically it is made using leftover pasta, but I like it so much I made the pasta specifically for it.  You spray your baking dish with nonstick cooking spray, layer your pasta and sauce in the bottom, add a layer of cheese, another of pasta and sauce and repeat until your dish is full.  The cheeses I had on hand and used yesterday were cottage and mozzarella.  Then bake until warm and bubbling (I did 350 degrees for about an hour); melt a little more cheese on top.  Done.

Dish pan pasta is a delicious lasagna style concoction that is typically made from whatever is in your fridge.  Hence the name dish pan pasta, it's like you threw in everything, but the kitchen sink.  My grandma used to make it a lot.  Brings back memories, so a perfect Easter dinner dish.

A new development over the weekend my bed got a lot smaller.

Double Trouble

The are conspiring to take over my side of the bed; I can feel it. 

I hope your weekend was wonderful!

A Very Belated Thanksgiving

In phone pictures...

I hope you had a wonderful holiday.

Weekend Recap

I had a fantastic weekend!!  The husband and I road tripped to Hattiesburg so he could cook in a BBQ competition and I could have girl time with my sister and nieces.  We pulled in around 2:00 am on Friday morning while everyone was sleeping, but we still got a warm welcome.

Our nieces rock.

Girl time on Friday started with a field trip.  Who doesn't love a good field trip?

My sister and I went with Chelsie and all the second graders to the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art in Laurel, MS.  We looked at their collection of pastels and the kids got to create their own.  Afterward we picnicked at a very cool park.

The weather was fantastic!  It was a great day for a picnic.  I adore the pine trees in Mississippi; it could be the reason they call it the pine belt.  Hmmm.  :)

Saturday morning we spent a rainy day at the soccer field and then went shopping!  I picked up a bunch of cute fall and Halloween items on sale at Trees and Trends.  Have you ever been to Trees and Trends?  I love that store and wish we had one in Houston. 

Little shopping score preview.

Tomorrow I will give you more details on all my shopping finds.  We also made stops at Dillard's, Target, and Hobby Lobby.  My sister and I can always have fun shopping.

The girls never find us embarrassing.

I love love love these girls!

Lindsey, Courtney, Chelsie...I poofy heart you three.

Sammy does too.

I love spending time in Hattiesburg.  It is really nice to take a break from Houston and spend time in a smaller city.  It is so relaxing.  Plus, fall is one of my favorite seasons and that just makes it even better.

The bonus?  The husband's brisket placed 5th out of 25 in the Downtown BBQ Showdown.  Way to go Daniel!  Not bad for a first time competing in a BBQ competition.

I hope your weekend was just as wonderful!  Enjoy your Tuesday.