Weekend Recaps

Ever since the girls and I got back from our 2-week stay in Charlotte, life has been busy! I feel like we haven't had a slow weekend and because of that, we haven't really had an opportunity to recharged for another upcoming week.

The weekend following our return back to Florida, we had the opportunity to attend a wedding of one of Ryan's law school friends. It was such a fun day. We got dressed up, hired a babysitter for the night, and drove 45 minutes north for the wedding. The ceremony was so beautiful. The bride and groom looked so happy and we really enjoyed all the wonderful words that were spoken by their Pastor. The groom's sister was an American Idol finalist so we really enjoyed the few songs she sang during the ceremony. Ryan and I danced all night and got home late. We had so much fun!

The next weekend, I was fortunate to get Saturday off, so we jumped on the opportunity and decided to make the drive to Orlando for a very much needed Temple trip (read all about LDS Temples here). We are gearing up for our very own Temple dedication at the Ft. Lauderdale Temple, but we needed to do a session. Ryan went in first to do a session so I watched the girls and by the time he got out, the whole Orlando region had a tornado warning and we decided to head home. I wasn't too disappointed that I wasn't able to do a session myself because I just went with my Mom the previous week. The girls had fun walking the Temple grounds. Brinley is so excited to go to the Ft. Lauderdale Temple Open House and she kept saying, "Mom, can I pleeeeease get a sneak peak inside of the Temple?" Sweet girl. 

This past weekend was General Conference (learn more here). Unfortunately, I had to work for most of the weekend and was only able to watch one session. I miss those lazy General Conference weekends with nothing to do except eat good snacks and hear spiritually inspired messages from our Church leaders. I appreciated the messages I did hear and I can't wait to go back and watch and read the sessions I missed. The benefit of having East Coast conference time is that we have our entire morning before the first session starts.

So on Saturday, we were able to attend Family Day at the Oceanographic Society put on by the Bar Association. They had so many fun activities going on, a goodie bag for the girls, and a sponsored lunch! We love the Oceanographic! We fed the stingrays (read, Ryan fed the stingrays), and learned more about how we can keep our beaches clean and the animals safe. It is the beginning of sea turtle nesting time so we will start to see turtle nests marked off soon. This is the summer to go out on a night beach walk to see the nests hatch but those don't begin until June. 

On Sunday morning, we decided to head out for a beach walk. We are so lucky to live in such a beautiful area and I hate how often we take it for granted. I was able to watch the first session on Sunday before heading into work.

Grateful for a wonderful weekend spent with my favorite people!

Our 2 Weeks in Charlotte: week two

Just one more post about our time in Charlotte, promise ;-) 

During our second week, we finished up our crafts, played some more, said goodbye to Auntie Cassandra :-(, attended the Temple, and spent a few more days indoors because of another cold front that came through the city. 

We were ready to see Ryan by the end of our stay, and we met up that with him that Saturday in Southern Georgia to make the swap. We missed our Daddy! We were happy to be welcomed by warm weather and sunshine! 

made this birthday board to remind us all when our families birthdays are :-) I love it! 

walking down to the lake

cute mama!

right before Ellie fell down the driveway...so scary!

and her poor face...

my mom taught a Zumba class for her Relief Society sisters. We had so much fun! She is so good too. 

working on craft #2

Temple trip with mama

pouf finished! 

saying goodbye to Grandpa before he left for his 2-week work trip to Southeastern Asia. 

finally with daddy!

we had a LONG day.....

Thanks for spoiling us Grandma and Grandpa! We had SO much fun!

Hello Spring!

We needed something for our screened in porch for the girls to be able to play with. and seriously--having a screened-in porch ROCKS. This winter, I left the sliding glass door open for many hours during the day and it was so nice to have that fresh breeze come inside. But now that it is getting h-o-t, we needed something to cool us off. I ordered this water table and it has been a HIT ever since. Ellie decided to climb inside and sit down. And Brinley decided to make everything her "baby" and give them all baths. She loves pretending to be a mother. I just can't figure out the best way to keep the ground from getting muddy. When it rains, our patio gets full of water and dirt. Is there any outdoor rug/mat that would help?

Our 2 Weeks in Charlotte: hanging out with G&G Briggs

While we were in Charlotte, the girls and I were able to drive up to see Ryan's parents on two separate occasions. They live about 45 minutes north from my parents house. On the first day, we went to the mall to have lunch at Chick Fil A and to ride the carousal. While we were there, Brinley decided to do this trampoline jump thing. She watched a girl do it before her, and she tugged on Grandpa Briggs arm and said, I want to do that! She walked right up to the machine, got strapped in, and jumped away. It was crazy! She was so brave. On the way back from the mall, we drove to this amazing park and fed some ducks and played on the swings. Ellie was getting pretty crabby and tired at this point, so we headed back to have a quiet afternoon. Ellie went down for a nap, and Brinley played outside with Grandma and Grandpa. It is so nice to be able to see both sets of Grandparents in one trip!

The next time we went up was nearing the end of our 2 week stay, and we were all feeling a bit vacationed out. We spent the afternoon with Grandma Briggs and had so much fun doing fun indoor activities. It was another super cold day, so we couldn't really play outside, but we had fun regardless. It was nice to spend time with them. Ryan will see his parents when he flies out to Idaho for his sisters wedding in April. And wee will see Grandma and Grandpa Briggs again when we go up this summer for our Steele family reunion. 

Isn't Brinley's princess cat shirt the cutest!?