Mother’s Day 2013

For the past several years, the day before Mother’s Day, Adam and I spend at The Players. This year was no exception and Jenny and Jason joined us. It was a nice day but it ended up raining at the very end, so we had to leave early. Normally, we would have waited it out, we have in the past, but this year Adam checked and it was going to be a good 2-hour delay, so we opted to leave. It’s a nice day for Adam and I to spend together and I tried my hardest to avoid seeing Tiger, but you know we had Jason and Adam with us, so I’m pretty sure you all know how that ended….

Mother’s Day is notorious for long waits at overcrowded restaurants and last year was absolutely miserable for me. When you have a little one, no matter how good she is, it takes a lot of the fun out of it, plus, I’d rather go out to eat when I can really enjoy it, so Mom and I racked our brains trying to come up with something to do and I finally just said for everyone to come over to our house. The number kept growing and we ended up with 12 people, but I tried to keep it as simple as possible, and if you know me, it was a struggle! I didn’t even get matching plates and napkins- we used leftover Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Birthday plates and napkins! What?! You don’t even know me anymore?



I woke up at 5 that morning to put some pork in the crockpot and finish 2 desserts- needless to say by the time we got home from church, I was ready for a nap! We tried to keep it really simple so the moms wouldn’t have to fix anything much. Mom brought some side she had picked up from the chicken house and Mrs. Karen brought chips- quick and easy. The pulled pork turned out good (of course I wouldn’t know since I don’t eat it, but that’s what I was told) and we had more desserts than we had regular food, which is always a sign of a good party, am I right?!

Nana surprised me and brought me a carrot cake. I tried to hide it from everyone, but I ended up feeling a tad guilty and allowed others to have some She had promised me some for my birthday and completely forgot, of course, Adam should have reminded her, but I’ll take it anytime she offers it!



We had a nice time with everyone, Adam’s parents, my parents, Nana, Stacey, Maxx, Aunt Roro, and Meggie who flew in for the weekend. After everyone left and I finished cleaning up I took a nap, something that hasn’t happened in a long time, and hey, it was Mother’s day- so I felt like I deserved it, right?!

Then I talked Adam into taking his truck through the mud, I told him we had to try out the 4-wheel drive, right?! Oh my word, that boy doesn’t have any country in him! haha! He hated it! I told him I wouldn’t ask him to do it again, as soon as we made it back up town he went straight to wash it- haha! At least we know the 4-wheel drive works, I just doubt we will ever use it again!



Adam and Ava bought me a new camera bag that I had ever so casually suggested to Adam via email a week or so before :) They hadn't even started selling them yet, but you could preorder- so that's exactly what he did! Yay! I've since gotten it in and I love it. I wanted something a little smaller than my other one, its more of the size of a normal purse and its perfect to carry when I didn't want to carry all my stuff. I love my other bag by the same company, so I knew this one wouldn't disappoint, its just big enough! Adam and Ava both helped make it a perfect Mother's Day- I'm so thankful to be her mom!

Random Cell Phone Pics

One Sunday evening while Dad, Adam and Jason played ping pong we took the kids for a ride on the golf cart- we rode all through the woods and then we took a trip down the hard road.



At one point, we stopped and they went to pet the miniature ponies- I'm actually really surprised Ava was up for this- but you know with her buddies around she is a little braver than usual ;)



Back at Mom's they also discovered some gifts she had put away for Ava...haha! I guess they have figured out her secret stash she will have to find a new hiding place!



Ummm.... I think the picture speaks for itself- Oreo Mega Stuf?! Its life (and waist) changing!



I'm not lying when I say it is 100% princess at our house- you can always expect to see Ava in a princess outfit or part of one and just recently she has started wearing make-up everywhere we go. We can't leave the house with out the 'appropriate' amount of eye shadow and lip-gloss. What's even funnier is that she was using her lipstick for eye shadow and she carried a small mirror and her lipstick/eye shadow everywhere! She was constantly checking herself out! (I should also not that she didn't use that particular lipstick for her lips as well, we had real lip-gloss for that!)



We went fishing at Littlefield again and Ava was the designated shrimp de-header! Can you believe it? She'd grab that shrimp out of the bag, peel the head off and hand us the shrimp!



By the end of the day Adam and I were in a heated competition, I think we ended up catching about 14 fish total, tied....7-7!

This is also the day Ava learned how to pee on the ground- ha! My child has serious issues going to the bathroom anywhere but a proper bathroom, the drama that unfolds when I tell her to go in the ocean? Don't even get me started! I didn't have a key to the house at Littlefield and didn't know what the combination was (I later texted my dad) she had to go, so I told her to pull her shorts down and squat. Can't I just say, guys have such an advantage of us girls in this department... She wouldn't do it- I mean flat out wouldn't do it, she finally got up enough courage to pull them down and squat but she just couldn't let herself go. I finally told her we weren't go back to the dock until she did it! And she did it, finally, after all the tears and crying she realized it wasn't so bad. Listen, I'm not planning to make this a habit, but you just never know when an emergency might arise and now she knows how to do it. It was just such an ordeal I knew I would want to document it- of course she probably will not thank me :)



We went to lunch at Daddy's favorite restaurant, without Daddy...gasp! But we did send him this picture to let him know we were rubbing it in at least thinking about him.



And we had a moment of silence as Adam's truck rolled over 1000 miles....

A Rainy Saturday

Jenny asked if Trevor could come spend the afternoon with us one Saturday while she and Jason were out of town for the weekend with their Seniors from their Sunday School class. The boys would be staying with her parents, but they had a wedding Saturday so the boys would need somewhere to go and of course, she knew Trevor is always welcome at our house! Little did he know he was in for a  lot of girl play :) Ava wanted to have a tea party, so he graciously obliged, but they did have it in a tent, does that make it cooler? haha! Albeit a princess tent, but a tent nonetheless!



They also spent time playing hairstylist- Trevor gave Ava a new 'do first and then Ava took her turn with Trevor, by the way, this was like outfit number 5 for my child since T had been there!

This post wouldn't be complete if I didn't tell the story of what happened during this play date. If you know my child, you know she loves to dress up and play princess or wedding and she has this super long veil that I made for her that she will wear, well, next thing I know she is dressed for a 'wedding' and they come walking out and head towards the front room when I heard Trevor say, (oh my I can't even type it without laughing!) 'Let's do the kiss part again'

Listen, J & J, I don't know what you are teaching your boy- but hands off the girl :)

I jumped up and quietly walked to where I could spy on them and sure enough, they stood facing each other holding hands and Trevor reached up and kissed Ava- hahahahahahahahahaha! I liketa have died from trying to stifle my laugh! My only regret isn't getting it on video or even a picture of it- my phone and camera were both in the other room!!

They had so much fun together and only ruffled each other's feathers a couple of times, but the weather had not been on our side, it had been raining for about 4 days straight and if any of you have littles  you know what being cooped up inside does! So I promised them a trip to Chick-fil-a to play on the playground once Adam made it back home.

Adam, leaving me to fight in the trenches alone..., had been out shopping for a new truck. He had already been to Georgia and come back by and then headed straight into Jacksonville, apparently he was on a mission. 6 hours at one dealership later and he brought home a surprise.



Needless to say, we didn't leave for Chick-fil-a until like 7:30 and Ava and Trevor were even more anxious to get there by this point. We all rode in Adam's new truck and poor Trevor, I don't know if he like Adam very much when he threatened both of them within an inch of their life if they did anything to mess up his truck! Haha! Not really, we just told them they couldn't bring any food or drinks in the vehicle! Once we made it to Chick-fil-a, I managed to figured out what they wanted and then they both took off to the play area! We let them play and then called them to come eat after we had given them some time to play- I knew food wasn't really high on their list of priorities at the moment! After eating, we dropped Trevor off and I knew, since neither had taken a nap that day, they would both crash pretty hard once they crawled into bed!

Beach Days

This time of year we spend a lot of Fridays at the beach. The pool isn't quite warm enough for my taste, Adam is still working Fridays, and the beaches aren't over crowded. I'm not a real big beach lover- don't get me wrong, I'm sure I would miss it if we didn't live so close, but once my pool warms up, I'm all about the pool. Ava has really enjoyed the beach this year. She isn't nearly afraid of the water like she was last year, but of course we still don't let her go out very far.

 



Since Adam is in Fernandina, we usually meet him for lunch and then head to the beach- its nice to see him during the day since I've been used to seeing him at lunch a few times a week and now it isn't possible!



One Friday, I texted Jenny and asked if she and Trevor were up for a trip- so Ava had her buddy with her and they had so much fun. I'm actually surprised they stopped long enough to eat, they were all over the place- playing in the sand, playing in the water, playing in the sand, back to the water- Jenny and I weren't sure which direction to turn our chairs, every time we turned them, they would head back the other direction!

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One Friday, Mom was with us and we had an eventful day. First we saw them release sea turtles. They were ones that had been in rehab since the previous year and they were big and strong enough to make it on their own, so that was neat. We also saw a wedding, which might have been one of the least prepared weddings we have ever seen- it was actually quite comical. The bride even started walking 'down the isle' before the bridesmaids and then realized it and stopped, then her dad practically dragged her down  he was walking so fast- it was our entertainment for a little while!

This is also the day Ava discovered a sand dollar! How cool is that? It was still alive too!



We called Raeleigh and asked if she could come to the beach with us and those girls had so much fun. Raeleigh is scared of the water (can you believe that?!) and Ava eventually coaxed her into getting a little wet, and then a bigger wave came and splashed her and got a little in her face, you would have thought a shark had bitten her, she screamed so loud and didn't stop until I made it to her with a towel to wipe her face- haha!  Mom and I had a good laugh about it- she even went right back to playing it- so thankfully it didn't scar her for life :)  They were so good and had so much fun. These two little girls are nearly inseparable whenever they get together- its so sweet!

Birthday Festivities

On April 26th, 2013 I turned ahem-28-ahem… I’m seriously flipping out about turning 30 in 2 years… This year my license was up for renewal, and I waited until the absolute last moment to renew it. I couldn’t find my birth certificate so I spent the day before my birthday running around like crazy trying to gather up the necessary documents to renew. Its crazy how much proof you have to show in order to renew- ugh! I couldn’t keep my old one either… which I only wanted for the picture- something I thought was horrible, but after 10 years pass, you realize it didn’t look that bad, so here’s hoping I like this picture in 10 years- ha!

The weekend before my birthday, Adam’s mom graciously had us over to celebrate me. Yes! Everyone had to celebrate me!



That night (April 25th) was also the NFL draft. Which let me just say I am going to pick a day and declare it ‘Stephanie Day’ and it will be a national holiday for my family- I always get the short end of the stick on my birthday and Mother’s Day… my birthday falls right around the draft (it was actually on the first night of draft last year) and Mother’s Day is the weekend of The Players- I’m an afterthought will both those events…

** I should note that I had a tiny celebration of my own when Adam informed me they moved the dates of the Draft- they must have gotten that letter I sent letting them know they needed to move it.

Anyways, so this year, we headed over to Jason and Jenny’s, right after we finished with bootcamp (another post for another time), so I literally had time to run home, shower, wash and dry my hair, which I contemplated coming with it wet, but my hair just doesn’t do well with the whole air dry thing, so I thought better of it. You see its got just enough body in it to curl, but not in the tight pretty curls, more like the I’m not sure what we want to do and I’m going to fight with each strand over being curly or straight so no one wins kind of body…its just not pretty. I do feel I should mention I didn’t straighten it to help excuse the mess it still is… and now that you just read to many lines on why my hair looks like it does I should get back to the story. So we were over at their house and we even filled out our own draft sheets, which I think Adam ended up guessing the most correctly, but lets be honest, I didn’t even know most of the names, because, who cares?! I only remember Jaguar players names?



We had pizza and Jenny attempted her boiled peanuts- which Adam didn’t call the dead sea peanuts this year- she did much better on them this time! And she was sweet enough to make these delicious s’more cupcakes in honor of my birthday. She knows I love anything associate with s’mores! Too bad I had just spent an hour-ish working out and couldn’t keep myself from remembering that with each bite I took- but at least the bites I took were worth it



Monday night we went over to my parents house to celebrate me and my sister. You see, I don’t get a solo celebration with my family- my sister, albeit 4 years later, was born a week after my birthday and since she’s the baby, well all you older/oldest siblings know how that goes haha!



Ava had been preparing for my birthday dinner all day by helping mom and she couldn’t/wouldn’t tell me the secret surprise that she had helped pick up from the grocery store. It was so cute and sweet to see her keeping the secret from me, even while I teased her and tried to persuade her to tell me what it was!



The following Friday night, Adam took me out to eat at my favorite restaurant- J. Alexander's. I had been looking forward to this meal for a long time! Adam loves their crab cakes, I love their veggie burger and couscous, and we always split their mac and cheese. This time we also ordered onion rings. Hey if you are going to be bad, you might as well do it right, right?! We nearly died when they brought out this tower to us! Needless to say, we didn’t finish all of them or our meals, but oh my it was delish!

Disney, Round 3

My birthday fell on a Friday and since the weather had been unusually cool for late April, I told Adam I wanted all 3 of us to spend the day at Disney. I know some people probably think I’m crazy for wanting to spend my day at a theme park, but I just thought it was something the 3 of us could do together and really, I just wanted to spend my day with my 2 favorite people!



It was a nice day, we had absolutely no agenda- since we have been there so many times in the recent months we didn’t have anything we just HAD to do, which made it nice, we just opted in or out of the rides depending on the wait time as we came to them.



The wait, miraculously wasn’t super long for Storytime with Belle, so Ava wanted to go again. This time she said she didn’t want a part, but guess who was picked?!



Yep! Adam was the knight in shinning armor! haha! How fun is that?!

He said afterwards he was the victim of profiling since he was tall- poor thing, we all feel so sorry for you…ha!



Side Note: I decided to take mom’s camera and not worry about carrying my big one around all day, which was extra nice, but apparently she needs to learn to set the date on hers….

Ava did decide she wanted to join in on the parade around the room at the end of the play, this worked out since she was able to see Belle.



 



At the end, even Adam got a picture with her- haha! I couldn’t hardly snap the picture for snickering at him



These 2 of course, couldn’t resist Pirate of the Caribbean… They are something else.



 



 



We rode the Liberty Bell riverboat, something I don’t remember doing, I know we haven’t ever done it since we have been in the last several years, it just makes a simple loop around Tom Sawyer’s Island.



We also went in the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House, another first for us- and we died laughing the entire time, Ava, apparently is afraid of heights- like deathly afraid. She clung, and when I say clung, I mean clung! to the inner side of the tree house, she wouldn’t even step near the railing- I mean look at her face, she was near tears the whole way up and down. Aren’t we just the worst parents? We couldn’t stop laughing at her and how afraid she was!



After riding several rides, watching the parade, trying new things, we decided to call it a day. It was nice to be able to go and take our time and not feel like we had to rush from one attraction to another. We didn’t see as much for that reason, but this was also our 7th visit in about 3 months time, so I think we have just about saw it all at some point during those 7 times. We ate dinner and headed North.



It was the perfect way to spend my birthday- with my girl and my guy!