The Brown Brick Road

Capturing our adventures one photo at a time...

Naples

So, last Sunday, the kids and I hopped a plane down to Naples!

naples

I flew by myself with all 3 kids and it really wasn’t bad at all. Robert was able to go to the gate with us in Birmingham and then we had a direct flight to Tampa where GJ was waiting to load us up into the car to drive to Naples! The boys got an A+ on the trip and Samantha snoozed through her first plane ride! Success!

flight

Once we got to warm, sunshiny Naples, it didn’t take us long to get on our short sleeves and head outside!

naples

We spent a full week down there and managed to fill our days with a good mix of plenty of fun and a whole lot of doing nothing! Perfect! We definitely hit up the beach…

naples

naples

naples

naples

naples

naples

but the boys honestly loved the pool more.

pool

Both boys did a great job swimming. Spencer would stand on the steps and swim to me and then swim over to the ladder, climb out, and do it all again – about 50 times in a row! Maxwell is a bona fide swimmer now and I barely had to help him at all. Our second day out he even took some dive sticks and would dive down to the bottom of the pool to get them. I was SO proud of both of them!

Other exciting outings included a trip to throw money in the fountains…

waterside

Skillets for pancakes…

pancakes

and a visit to the movies! We saw Paddington Bear and, I have to say, it was a really, really cute movie.

movie

Mostly, we just enjoyed doing plenty of this…

naples

and hanging with these people!

naples

As Maxwell said to me one day at the pool, “The water is warm, the music is singing, and everything is just delightful!” I couldn’t have agreed more! Now, when are we going back?!

Wilmington

As I mentioned earlier, Robert and I went out of town this past weekend…kid free!  whoa! We traveled to Wilmington, NC for the wedding of one of my good friends, Sara, from my Dallas days with Neiman Marcus.  It was a GORGEOUS weekend along the river and we had a blast. I loved getting to see some friends that I hadn’t seen in waaaaay too long!

NC

I laughed more on this trip than I have in a long time thanks to my always entertaining friend, Vicky. She’s the funniest and the best. And Nancy is one of my besties from college who now lives in San Fran so getting to be in the same city with her was a major treat.

NC

The wedding was beautiful and Sara was a gorgeous bride, of course!

sara wedding

Robert was a great sport despite this during the reception…

NC

Yep, that’s him checking the score of the second half of the AL v. Ole Miss game that did not end the way we wanted. He was a trooper though and put on a smile and still hit the dance floor with me!

sara wedding

wedding

He really is the best wedding date. I’m a lucky girl!

sara wedding

Meanwhile, back at home, the boys weren’t missing us at all because they got to spend the weekend with GJ.  They are lucky boys!

bham

As much fun as the weekend away was, I sure was glad to get back home where I belong!

home

See you tomorrow!

Catching up

Welcome, Monday! We’ve got a lot to catch up on. I was actually gone for half of last week and, as much fun as adventures away are, I sure missed my boys. I flew out to CA on Tuesday, spent the day in the office in San Fran on Wednesday, and flew back on Thursday. Phew. Big thanks to Robert and Susan for keeping everything running while I was gone!

A few pics from San Fran – me actually wearing real work clothes, my view from the office for the day, and my awesome dinner at Pacific Catch (it was worth photographing if only to make Robert jealous!)  🙂

san fran

Meanwhile, back at the dude ranch, the boys had a great time going to school, gymnastics and swim and even getting special treats from the Fire Station!

boys

But, as I’ve said before, the best part of going away is coming back home…

back home

A few other things to catch up on.  We got a new car two weeks ago – one with a 3rd row to make room for #3!  It’s an Acadia and, so far so good!

acadia

After Maxwell’s birthday party, we wrote thank you notes for all of his gifts and he wrote his name on every single card – in orange pen of course!  I was super proud of him and only had to bribe him with a few handfuls of Pirate’s Booty!  🙂

thank you notes

(also have to note that he was super disappointed that his stationery doesn’t have firetrucks on it. In my defense, I ordered this before he could even talk so had no idea the love of firetrucks would be so strong! On that note, anyone seen any cute firetruck stationery? My usual go to, Minted, is failing me.)

Two weekends ago, Robert and I went to the AL game and had a blast in our (thankfully shady!) seats. Roll Tide!

al game

The boys stayed home with Ms. Jen from school and didn’t miss us one bit! and yes, I wore Maxwell’s Big Al hat to the game – fits great!

Maxwell’s getting really good on his bike and the past 2 weekends we’ve gone on long walks where he rides the whole time!  Go Maxwell!

bike

We went to eat at The Club on Friday night and the weather was perfect. The boys loved throwing all of my change into the fountain…

the club

and I loved getting a picture where they were both smiling (and looking off to the side, but, I’ll take what I can get!)…

the club

Finally, I don’t have a picture for it but Robert started a new job Monday and had a great first week! He’s back at the company that he started with when we moved to Birmingham and we feel he’s just where he should be.  We’re all super proud of him!  We love you Robert!

Phew, feels good to be caught up a little. See you tomorrow!

More Highlands

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

highlands

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! 🙂

evelyn

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

park

boys

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!!!

highlands w lulu

Let’s do it again soon!

Weeoooo Weeeooo

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!

fire truck

fire truck highlands

fire trucks

fire truck highlands

fire truck

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.

robert and patrick

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

fire truck highlands

fire truck

fire truck highlands

firetruck highlands

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!

fire truck highlands

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

jeans

The cutest.

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

santa in august

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

santa highlands

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!