Monsters University Movie Date

Sam has been so nice to invite Bennett to have a few playdates.  We decided to take him to see Monsters University with us.  We picked him up early and headed to play at the arcade. They loved the Monsters toys we got for them.  

I brought snacks in with us because the last time we went I spent $60!  I brought popcorn that I popped at home and we I passed it out to the kids Sam said "did you get this from the movie people?"  Ha!

They loved the movie but did not love the 30 minutes of previews.  They kept saying "when are the monsters coming on??"  Towards the end of the movie they were asking "is it almost over?"

Bobby's Wedding

Amy's little brother, Bobby got married!  One of my first memories of Bobby is when he came and lived with us for a couple weeks at Tech.  I got to take him around town to look for a job.  He landed one at Monjuni's that very day!  Amy looked like a princess and her mom looked like a dang model.  It was such a fun evening.  One of my favorite things was the tambourines they gave out while dancing.  I love a prop!

Chris Beck M.D. even flew in from Nashville to be at the nuptials.  We were happy to host him.  We had a little family reunion on Saturday before the wedding and left Beck at the house.  We told him to make himself at home...and he did.  When we got back home he was sitting on the couch, eating food, and only in his BOXERS!  ha!  Talk about making yourself at home.  We are ready for him to move back to Shreveport after his fellowship in DC. 

I like this picture of us!

Jennifer and me (friends since age 3)

me and Amy (friends since age 19)

Cox, Beck, and Neil

Beck and Amy

Peach Fest

Rebecca and I decided to put a booth in the Peach Festival in Ruston.  Our Lemons and Limes Boutique stuff is really selling well.  We are proud of our selections and our sales!!  We basically dripped sweat for 12 hours while peddling our merch.  We had to arrive at our booth at 6 am to set-up and the festival didn't even open until 8 am.  Neil even fashioned a little "fitting room" out of a shower curtain.  We were VERY proud of our dressing room.  

Our booth was positioned between Lyle's Knives and a girl taking pictures with face painting.  We really enjoyed being next to the knife salesman.  He was really sweet.

The family came out to visit us along with  my Dad/Carolyn, Merideth/Molly, Katie McKinney, Hannah, and some other Ruston friends.  We felt special having so much support.

Bennett had to have a picture in front of this statue.  Reminds me of this...

Neil and his groomsmen

The boys went with Nana and Neil to the Peach parade.  They got to sit right outside the store.  It was perfect to get relief from the heat AND to get Lewis' bags for all their loot!  Bennett caught TONS.  Sadly, all that candy had to stay in Ruston.

We were so HOT setting up our booth.  Neil and Rebecca began setting up the tent in the pouring down rain, but it turned out to be OK.  Richard and Neil made the set-up so seamless. Nana even gave us a battery operated fan for some relief.

Here's our booth!  You can see the white curtain for our fitting room in the back left of our booth.

Our next door neighbor painting his face.  She even bought something from us!

We both made sure to wear peach!  

Tell your friends about Lemons and Limes Boutique!  

Henry's Baby and Me

Henry got to do swim lessons this year.   Last summer during Bennett's lessons I decided that Henry had to do it too.  He is LITERALLY the best baby in the class and I am not just saying that because he is mine.  He splashes, blows bubbles, and kicks when he is supposed to.  He is always SO HAPPY.  Oh, he is sweet!  I was glad that Neil came to watch the boys and take a few pics.  

Henry and his teacher, Ms. Frances

Henry loves the rings.

The bad part about seeing these photos is you have to see me in a bathing suit.

He kicks to reach these little toys.  

He loves getting himself out.  He uses his head a lot of the time to pull himself out

Elbow, Elbow, tummy, knee, knee

He has 2 favorites: knocking the turtles down and the duck.  He can hold onto the wall all by himself without my help.  He is like Baby Hercules.

This is his other favorite...riding Mr. Duck.  He "quacks" the whole time!

And sliding is our last thing...yay!!

I kept getting Neil's attention to get him to take pictures of Henry.  I said we needed all the pictures we could get considering I have pictures from EVERY lesson Bennett ever did.  I am so proud of you, Henry!!

Airbrush is really cool.

Pops asked what the boys wanted from his romantic getaway to the beach.  I said airbrushed t-shirts. There is just something about airbrushed t-shirts that are hilarious to me and I can't pinpoint it.  They boys love them!!  Thanks, Pops!

Our last Day in San Fran

We began our last day in San Francisco with brunch.  Aunt E and Uncle David took us to The Magic Flute along with cousin Caroline.  Caroline is living with them while she is in grad school.  She so graciously gave up her room for us to live in for the 4 nights we were there.  How sweet!

We slept in and took our time getting ready...this is something that almost never happens for young mommas.  I feel like I rush to get ready every morning to make sure the house doesn't get destroyed or burned down.

David, me, Casey, Leigh, Erinn, Elizabeth, and Caroline

 After our brunch we headed to Golden Gate Park.  David dropped us off so we wouldn't have to pay to  ride.  Leigh was thrilled about going to the Science museum and the planetarium.  I tried to use our Sci-Port reciprocal membership but it didn't work in SF!  We went to see an earthquake show that I had to keep my eyes closed for...I get so motion sick!  I bought the boys some cute souvenirs at the gift shop.  We looked around for a bit and then walked to a main street for our Lyft.  It was SO COLD this day.  I was shocked considering it is JUNE.

The Lyft took us to Union Square...a totally upscale mall type place.  Lots of shopping and food to be eaten.  I ended up splurging on a souvenir for myself...a pair of Tory Burch sandals.  I am just so excited about them.  I am normally not into labels and brand names, but I really like her stuff.  Erinn splurged too since she has been wanting a pair for a year!

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I sent this to Ashleigh because I knew she would totally understand!

We bought a few more souvenirs in Union Square and then it was time to head to our 6:30 show of Beach Blanket Babylon!  We drove through China Town to get there.  Honestly, I don't understand the hype of China Town.  This is the largest China Town in the US.  I took a few pics as we drove through.

We made it to BBB early enough to get good seats.  The seats were not assigned so we had to get there extra early.  This show was HILARIOUS!  They only had about 10 actors that played everyone from Justin Bieber to Obama to Madonna to Princess Kate.  It was so entertaining!

And since the theme of our trips are always centered around food...we went next door for an Italian meal after the show.  It was a weird little place.  We were sitting next to a family from France who had been vacationing in the US for 5 weeks. Must be nice. He took the picture for us.  

Last night and meal in SF!

It was up and at 'em the next morning for our 6 am flights.  Aunt E even woke up and made sure the cab driver knew the correct way to take us to the airport.  It was such a fun trip and I can't wait to see where the husbands are sending us next year!!! (wink, wink)

 Thank you, Neil, Matthew, Trey, and Beau for planning such a special surprise for us.  It was so thoughtful and sweet.

Day #3 in Sonoma

Casey and Matthew did a wine tour to Napa a few years back and used Max Napa Tours.  Matthew booked this tour for us several months ago.  Max picked us up for our private tour at 9 am.  He rolled up in his Expedition and we were on our way to Sonoma!  One thing that had me really excited was the fact that we were going to Guerneville and to the Russian River Valley.  Why was I so excited?  Well, I teach a book in Child Development called A Child Called It and part of the book is set there.  I took a few pictures to show my students next year!  I just realized how dorky this is.

Russian River and Guerneville signs!!

The first stop on our tour was Iron Horse.  It was one of my favorites.  It had a sort of rustic feel with flowers everywhere.  The tasting room was outside overlooking the vineyard.  Oh, it was nice!  It reminded me of that movie Letters to Juliet!

Here is the outdoor area where we tasted.  Leigh usually doubled handed her glass!

Me at Iron Horse.  Our tour guide, Max is in the background on his phone

 The next stop was VML.  I loved this one!  It was so pretty but still had a homey feel.  I even bought a bottle of SB for someone I know that loves SB!  they said it won't ship until October because it is so hot here.  They don't won't the wine to ruin.  I bought bottle opener for our house because no one can ever find one here.  Casey joined a wine club and Leigh and Erinn both bought bottles.

The tasting room at VML.

Our next stop was to a huge total commercial winery.  I can't even remember the name of it because it was my least favorite.  We think Max took us there because of the pretty gardens.  The wine was not delicious and the set-up was way less intimate.

Sonoma Wine girls!

Our last stop was Sbragia Family Vineyards.  It was a nice place with great views of the vineyards.  We decided not to do a tasting and opted for splitting a bottle of wine instead.  We liked the slow place of just enjoying company, wine, and the view.  All vineyards close at 5pm to cut down on drinking and driving.  We stayed until 5!

Grapes...cannot remember the name of them

Sbragia winery

We headed back to the city and had Max drop us off at a little sushi place.  We enjoyed it and then walked across the street because of course we needed dessert!  They had lots of board games and dessert.  We got Sorry! out and then our desserts came.  We ate instead of played.

San Fran Day #2

Day 2 in SF was a blast!  I love being a tourist!  We got up bright and early (Leigh was up at 5 and I was awake at 6), got ready, and called Lyft.  They arrived very quickly and took us to Fisherman's Wharf.  We asked where Lombard Street was located and he took us on a little detour.  He even stopped and took our picture in front!  This was such a pretty street.  Flowers everywhere and tons of people taking pictures!

me, Casey, Erinn, and Leigh in front of Lombard Street.  We were definitely the brightest dressed people in SF!

We went to the Buena Vista for brunch and it was delish!  Casey and Matthew had eaten here a few years ago and loved it.

Here we are on the cable car.  We never actually rode the car but we had to get a pic!

Next was Fisherman's Wharf

We got to see a few sea lions.

Me and the sea lions

We decided to take a boat tour around the bay.  It was a 1 hour tour and gave a lot of history.  We all took a little Dramamine and we were good to go.  We were able to find an outside bench on the boat that had enough space for all 4 of us until a lady came and sat right by me when there were numerous other seats available.  Totally squished us on the bench.  It was fine because once we got going..I moved to a better location with a better view.  We never even got sick on the boat!

The Golden Gate in all its glory...and me.  We rode under the Golden Gate bridge

We rode right next to Alcatraz and got to hear lots of stories about Al Capone.

After our boat tour we bought some knit hats for the kids and walked to Ghiradelli Square.  Have I mentioned how much I love being a tourist!??  We got to sample the chocolate and then Casey and I split a sundae.  Leigh was totally flabbergasted at how much we all love dessert! 

Chocolate Chip Cookies Sundae at Ghiradelli.

After our really bust touristy day we headed home to re-group.  This was our night that we were going to a fancy dinner at the Cliff House.  Well, we never made it.  After relaxing for a bit, I got very nauseated.  It was awful.  We never made it to our fancy dinner.  Ugh.

I was just going to stay home while everyone else went to get dinner, but then I rallied and got out of my pjs and headed to JapanTown with the girls.  JapanTown wasn't far from Aunt E's so we walked.  We did stop on our way at Walgreen's for Pepto, though!

We got to JapanTown and it was very weird.  We just didn't really fit in. We ended up at Benihana at 9 pm!  We waited and waited for a table.  I didn't really want to eat anything but white rice because of my recent sickness.  Well, it's a good thing that's all I wanted!!!  So, we ask the hostess if we had to wait to sit in the bar area...she said no so we sat ourselves.  After about 10 minutes and no waiter...Erinn asked the hostess if we were supposed to have a waiter.  She felt awful and offered us all free drinks and free white rice for dinner.  She even brought soy sauce and garlic butter.  It hit the spot and it didn't cost us anything but a $10 tip for the hostess!  We ate for free in San Francisco!

Our delicious dinner.

After dinner Uncle David picked us up so we didn't have to walk.  It was an eventful day. Next, Wine Tour in Sonoma!