Buffalo: Saturday

We have been looking forward to our trip to Buffalo, NY all summer.  Finally, we went two weekends ago.   The weekend came and went quickly, but we packed in lots of great time together with friends, touring Niagara Falls, the Bills game, watching more football, and lots of good food. 

C did great on both flights.  I couldn't believe she kept them on, but the headphones were a hit! 

On our way into Buffalo our flight was actually early, so the pilot detoured a bit to give us a view of Niagara Falls.  It was so cool to see from above and then later the same day, literally be on a boat next to the falls.  

We went to Buffalo to see some dear friends of ours, "G" and "Buster" as Caroline now calls them.  G and Buster are really more like family.  Our families have been close since I was 5 years old.  I lived with them the summer I met John.  And basically every summer of college + many weekends while John and I dated long distance for 2+ years.  So, while they are like second parents to me, they have also become friends and mentors for me and John.  Needless to say, we love spending time together and visiting them in whatever city they currently live (which happens to be Buffalo right now).       

Saturday, G picked us up from the airport and had packed us an amazing picnic to take with us to see Niagara Falls.  You can see the falls from Canada or NY, but it is a much better view from the Canadian side, so we crossed the border and headed that way.  

We did have a slight detour to the immigration office when crossing the border to Canada.  Apparently, there is someone in the state of NY with John's same first and last name (middle name is different, but it is the same initial) and the exact same birthday.  How weird is that?  Supposedly, the other JRP doesn't have a great record and so until we got the clear in immigrations, John was a red flag through customs.  Thankfully, our JRP has blue eyes and the other has brown eyes.  And they have different SSN's.  That was key!

  The falls were incredible!  Absolutely beautiful.  I am not sure what I expected, but they far exceeded whatever I had in mind.  

See that little boat (on the right in the pic above)? Also known as, The Maiden of the Mist.  We rode that to get the closest view and get totally soaked.  It was so fun though.  If you are ever in the area, it is a must to see!

Thankfully, they do give you ponchos on the boat and it helps a little bit.  

This picture below is while we were actually riding the Maiden of the Mist. 

Trying not to get too wet!

We even got wet just walking around.  It was crazy how strong the wind was blowing the mist from the falls.  

After the falls, we headed back to the house to see Buster,  eat (again), put our feet up, and watch football for most of the evening.  

More to come on the rest of our trip!

Weekends, Bible Study, and More Preschool

Our weekends seem to be jam packed right now.  I am not even sure how that happened.  We were trying to create more margin with our time this fall.  All fun and exciting things, but I think I will enjoy when things slow down around the time baby #2 arrives.  Until then, we are having lots of fun staying on the go. We headed to Bham for Labor day weekend to visit Mimi.    

As funny as it sounds, Bham seems like a vacation spot for us sometimes.  It is always so laid back, relaxing, and just a slower pace.  It is a treat to have mom's help for a whole weekend too! 

It was nice to have the Monday holiday and stay an extra day.  Saturday was a perfect summer day so we went swimming and enjoyed being outside. 

The start to college football is always a favorite time of year in our house.  Caroline cheered hard for her Auburn tigers! John and I squeezed in a birthday date to celebrate my 27th.  Per my request, we grabbed pizza at one of my favorite spots and watched football.  I just wanted something simple: good food, time together, and no little one for the night.  

Caroline was on cloud 9 all weekend.  I don't know exactly what it was, but she had this look on her face most of the time.  She kept looking at the TV and screaming, "football!"  She is my child, indeed!

We were able to squeeze time in with several friends too.  Erin was in town and joined us for the AU game. Mel and Rus were in town again from HK.  And we had a big family cookout with the English clan.  

Since I have not had any preggo pics, this is me at 26 weeks below.  

And last weekend, my college friends all came to Atlanta and we celebrated Turner with a girls weekend.  Her wedding is in November.  One of the things I love most about my friends: Saturday we all wanted to go get pedicures which happened to be at the same time as the Auburn game.  So, we grabbed some diet coke, headed to the nail place, (thankfully they had a large flat screen), and we enjoyed game while being pampered.  How awesome does that sound?!   

Fun to stay in a hotel in your own city and walk the streets I usually only drive on.  

This week I started a bible study while C is at preschool one day.  Have I mentioned I stopped working part-time to stay at home full-time now? I am thrilled about it.  The study is at a different church and I went not knowing anyone (which I was kind of nervous about).  First person I run into is another mom of a little girl in Caroline's class.  Turns out I knew several other people too.  Excited to read this book and gain wisdom from other moms.   

John took Caroline to preschool one day this week.  I am not sure who was more excited, Caroline or John? He is normally at work super early so it was a treat for both of them.  Caroline insisted her baby be in the picture too.  Thankfully, the baby didn't go to school.  Week 2 and she is still loving "school."  In fact, she asked if she could go tomorrow!   

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! 

First Day

Little munchkin had her first day of preschool yesterday.  Every little milestone and new season is hard to believe and I suppose it will continue that way with each baby at each stage.   

It is crazy for me to look at these pictures of C holding the staple preschool tote bag when I can remember many pictures of myself doing the same thing.  This picture (above) also reminds me of a picture of her Daddy's first day of preschool found here.  

Wednesday was "meet the teacher" day so, by Thursday, C marched right in her classroom comfortably and never looked back.  She had a  great first day and hasn't stopped talking about "school" since.     

The first thing she said after her nap yesterday afternoon was, "Mommy, I go school."

And today, while pushing her shopping cart around the house, she said, "I go school, bye."

We are excited about this year for C and the first "school" experience to learn and, as hard as it is to say, be without mommy and daddy.  Part of me wants to keep her with me as long as possible.  To protect her from the hurt this world will throw at her as she gets older.  But, I know that is impossible and I am not (thankfully) ultimately the One in control.  We feel great about sending her to this preschool and pray for her teachers and new friends this year.   

Watercolor

We spent last week at the beach for the 5th annual Watercolor trip.  This trip gets better and better every year.  This year our group rented 3 houses with a total of 30 adults and 9 kids (all under age 4)!    Needless, to say it was a blast and the weather couldn't have been better.  This trip is always refreshing and relaxing to be in community with so many other wonderful friends. 

I left my good camera at home by accident, but I did take a few pics (and snagged some from others) to document the week. 

Meredith and Thatcher

John, Caroline, Caleb and Lila

This little girl became a fish this week thanks to these floaties.  We didn't do swim lessons this summer, but these floaties were perfect to help Caroline lift her head out of the water and "swim" on her own.  She loved it!

McK, Micah and Matt playing for everyone in the morning

Low Country Boil

Lila and Caroline were not fans of the beach/sand, but we managed to get a few smiles.

Bikes rides were a hit everyday

Yep, she wore her beads to the beach one day.

First time to have an ice cream sandwich.  Success!