After our Firetruck fun, we all attempted a nice lunch together with the kids…

While the food was nice, let’s just say we didn’t pick the most kid-friendly option in town! But, we survived.

Maxwell’s favorite part of lunch was getting to see sweet, baby Evelyn! He was so excited to see the little, bitty baby and it made me really excited for him to be a big brother again! 🙂

We spent the rest of the weekend just enjoying being in the mountains…

And we especially loved getting to hang out with Lulu and Granddaddy!  Even better that we got to give Lulu a special birthday hug while we were there!!  Happy Birthday Lulu!!!

Let’s do it again soon!

We went up to Highlands, NC this past weekend for the annual Firetruck Weekend! Each year for a Saturday in August, the local volunteer fire department pulls out all of their trucks – and some other, antique ones too – for everyone to come climb on, sit in and check out. They even give people rides around town ON TOP of a firetruck!  So fun! I have no idea what the liability is for that but I just climbed that 12 foot ladder and didn’t think about it!  🙂  Needless to say, our firetruck loving boys were in heaven!

The best part was that Robert’s great friend, Patrick, was there with his family.  He has a little boy, Henry, who is just 2.5 months younger than Maxwell so they had a fun time playing together.

Soon enough it was time to climb on to the top of the truck!

We got to sit right behind the lights and the siren and Maxwell was like the king of the castle sitting on top of that truck waving to everyone in town as we drove around!

It was awesome. And can we please discuss Spencer wearing Maxwell’s old 2T jeans?

The cutest.

Just when we thought the day couldn’t get any better, Maxwell said, “Momma, I see Santa!”  What?!  Sure enough…

I guess Santa decided he needed a break from the workshop to come check out the firetrucks!

It’s never too early to start your Christmas list…and I already know that another firetruck is on Maxwell’s list…again!  🙂

More pics from the weekend tomorrow!

On Saturday of last week, we loaded up and drove to Tim’s Ford Lake in TN for a little family reunion with Robert’s mom’s side of the family.  Cousins were in from California and everyone else drove over from Huntsville, Montgomery and Birmingham to spend some time together. It’s always fun to see everyone and how much the kids have changed.  Honestly, I was a little unsure about going considering what happened the last time we went (!) but we all managed to stay away from the hospital this time!  🙂

All the cousins in the best pic I could get!

Maxwell and Spencer are the youngest of the crew.  Evie, the next oldest, is 5.  I tend to think of Maxwell as such a big boy that it was different to see him around the real “big boys” and realize what a little guy he still is. I also learned the depth of Maxwell’s dog fear while there. While I have tried very hard to never react negatively to dogs when he’s around, he’s clearly my son and did not want to be anywhere near the two dogs…at all.  If he found himself within 3 feet of a dog, he would let out the most piercing scream you’ve ever heard.  Yea, that made things fun. Regardless, there was plenty of playtime without dogs around…

Plenty of “vacation food” like Lucky Charms!

and plenty of awesome views!

Maxwell loved floating in the lake…

While Spencer preferred a pool his own size!

There was water balloon fun…

A family fish fry…

and smores!

The best part was just having a chance to hang out!

It was a fun weekend in a beautiful place!

Thanks so much for hosting us all, Nancy Ellis and Charlie!