#summerbucketlist

Summer is officially behind us so I thought I would do a recap of this super fun season. I created a summer bucket list back in May and it was helpful in making sure our days were full of fun and sun! We didn't get to everything but I was happy with the memories we did make. Here is what our summer looked like-

1. Summer beach trip

We took a trip to the Gulf Coast the first week of June just like we did last year. The school year ran late this year due to our brutal winter so we were nervous it would interfere with our trip but it didn't. We always have the best weeks when we are at the beach with our Georgia peach. The beach is our happy place.

2. Attend an outdoor concert

It wasn't outdoor but it was at the Grand Ole Opry which was even better. We saw Terri Clark, Sam Hunt, Craig Morgan, Trace Adkins and CARRIE! What a blast.

 

3. Teach Georgia Grace how to catch fireflies

Check- this was fun too. Before it got super hot in August we stayed outside until dusk a lot of nights.

 

4. Go on a date night to the drive-in

This one didn't happen and I was excited for it :( I called two different times for their showings and neither time did the movies sound appealing so we never went. We will try again next year!

 

However, we did go to an outdoor showing of Frozen! It was so much fun and an activity we could all enjoy. We will definitely do this again next year.

 

5. Spend a few weekends at the lake

We halfway did this one. We went to the lake once for Father's Day Weekend and had a great time. The rest of our summer weekends got away from us so only one trip this year. We will try for more next year!

 

6. Make and eat popsicles

Yes and yes! We ate homemade, store bought-we weren't picky.

 

7. Take Georgia to the splash park

Did this but didn't have the best time. I think next year when she's older she will enjoy it.

 

8. Go to a farmer's market

Marcus and his family took Georgia Grace to Jackson's Orchard at the beginning of the summer for a fun day trip. They have a petting zoo and slides so it was fun for everyone!

 

9. Attend our county fair

Our county fair falls during the 4th of July holiday every year so we went a few nights for some square-dancing, socializing and funnel cakes!

 

10. Learn how to can from my Mamaw

Postponing this one for next year. The days got away from us and by the time Mamaw was ready to can I had just started my new job.

 

11. Take a day trip to a place we have never traveled

We spent the last weekend of the summer in Memphis which is a city neither of us have traveled to. It was a short trip but jam packed with fun. Staying at The Peabody, exploring Beale Street and going to Graceland were some of the highlights!

 

12. Try a new recipe

I will be honest and say I didn't try a lot of new recipes this year. It was a Summer of transition as we sold our house and moved in with my Dad. I did try a spicy crockpot queso dip the other day and it was delicious! I will have my own kitchen soon so I will make up for lost time then :)

 

13. Have a TV sitcom/movie marathon night

We had a busy Summer so I don't think we ever spent a full night watching TV ( we will make up for that this Fall I'm sure) but our favorite show to watch this Summer was Modern Family. I know it has been on for several seasons now but we just got into it and laugh ourselves silly.

 

 

14. Read four books

I was only able to read one book this Summer. Between the move and my new job my spare time couldn't be spent reading and that's ok. I know there will be a season for that.

 

I did read Surprised By Motherhood by Lisa Jo Baker and loved it. I'm glad I found time for this one.

 

15. Make homemade ice-cream

We did this a lot! This is one of our favorite summer traditions.

 

16. Walk to the sno-cone stand one night after supper

Before we moved we made it a point to do this because we will no longer have the luxury of walking to the sno shack stand.

 

17. Go to the pool- a lot!

We knocked this one out of the park :) Mom's pool was our Saturday hangout most weekends. Georgia Grace became more and more comfortable with the water each time we swam. We will miss swimming!

18. Watch fireworks

We watched fireworks on three different occasions. GGH didn't mind them one bit.

 

19. Go on a family picnic

One of my Thursdays I was home we took a little family picnic. Our Summer was mild so it was enjoyable to be outside in the middle of the day in July!

 

20. Go to a baseball game

Didn't get to this one. We aren't big baseball people so it wasn't high on our priority list but I do want to expose her to America's pasttime. Next year! I doubt she (or myself) would have sit through a whole game anyway.

 

21. Take Georgia to our church VBS

She went one day with my Mamaw and I hope next year she can go a few days. She will be in a regular class before we know it!

 

22. Chase Georgia with a water hose in the yard

This was how we beat the August heat! She had a ball.

 

23. Stay in our pj's all day

This didn't happen much either but I do recall one rainy Saturday I don't think we ever went anywhere or put on "real clothes"

 

24. Eat fruit right from the vine and make a pie with the rest

Georgia Grace did this a lot with her Pa picking grapes from their vine. She was sad when they were gone. No baking but I don't think grapes would be good baked :)

 

25. Break ground on our new house!

This hasn't happened but I'll give an update soon :)

We had a great summer checking things off our summer bucket list!

Father's Day Weekend 2014

We had a great weekend celebrating the fathers in our life. Marcus pretty much did whatever he wanted to do and we just tagged along :) We embraced the love language of quality time over gifts this year and I think we all preferred it.

We started the weekend Friday night by meeting with our architect to discuss the revisions to our house plan. We were at his house for FIVE hours. He showed us how a design plan would look from a certain angle, exteriorly, in 3D, etc. He was even able to put an average size person walking through the rooms to show spacing and room sizes. It was unbelievable! I'm anxious to make some final decisions soon. Geez louise there are so many decisions! And making decisions doesn't come easy for me.

Architect meetings and a wiggly 1 1/2 year old don't mix so my Dad kept Georgia Grace for us until the meeting was over. She helped him get ready for our lake day by exploring the boat. He said she played in his boat for 1-2 hours! Maybe we should just get a boat... :)

Saturday we spent the day at beautiful Lake Malone. Of all the lakes I have been to Lake Malone is my favorite. It's smaller and you can fish or do water sports. And the landscape is head and shoulders above the other lakes in my opinion.

"Ocean"
Ha!

For the past couple of years we have been going to the lake with our best buds Nathan and Rachel and staying in their family cabin. They weren't able to go this weekend but let us use it anyway. So we did :) They are the best! It's seriously the cutest little cabin ever.

Uncle "Erie" and GGH ready to hit the water


Georgia Grace's 1st time on the lake! She loved the water but wasn't crazy about the life jacket. Sorry but not sorry baby girl.

My Dad even let her "drive" the boat (we are idling). She thought she was big stuff of course. Love this picture of these two.

 I think we are looking at our crew in the other boat but I love how her little hand is on my Dad's leg and I'm holding her hand. Safe as can be!

After we went out in the boat for a while Mamaw, GGH and me came back to the cabin to sit on the porch while the rest of them went back out. She fell asleep in my arms while we were swinging. It was a perfect day at the lake.

Father's Day 2014

I didn't think I would ever know a man that was as good of a father as my Dad but I do. I'm blessed to have my husband and Dad leading our families. I'm so thankful for this man!

The way to my husband's heart is absolutely through his stomach. He is a foodie for sure so I made him a Father's Day breakfast of eggs over-easy, bacon, homemade buttermilk biscuits and fresh fruit to go with it. The biscuits are Grandmomma's recipe and he said they were good so I was proud of myself!

Sunday afternoon after church we were back to a body of water. This time my Uncle David's pond. As soon as we finished eating lunch at my Mamaw's we walked over to do a little fishing. We caught 20 fish in about an hour! Bluegill and bass. This is my first catch in many many years. I ended up holding the fish but didn't bait the hook. Rome wasn't built in a day :)

We went home and when Georgia Grace woke up from her nap she had a special Dad's Day card for Dada. She is reading it to him in the picture. Such a big shot! He loved it.

This was one of those weekends you never want to end.

Letting The World Go On Without Us

This weekend felt like we really scooted under the radar and I didn't mind it one bit. No big plans, no time table, no agenda. It was heavenly!

I had a three day weekend because on Thursday I co-coordinated a fish fry fellowship at my hospital. It turned out to be so much fun and we had a great turnout. My friend Robin and I were in event planning overload all day. We even went to her house to cut cattails when we realized we weren't going to have enough as the RSVP list grew. It's all about the details. This event reminded me of what an amazing organization I work for. I'm thankful God placed me at TLRMC.

Friday GGH and I hung out at the Hidden Valley Golf Resort while these two played nine holes. The sweetest story-Jagger, Marcus' student he has had for the past 3 years, called him Thursday to ask if he wanted to play golf with him. He had recently started taking lessons and wanted to show Marcus what he had learned. Is that not the cutest thing ever?!? The boys had a GREAT day. Both of them chipped in for birdies!

Mommy and baby chillin' and polka dot matching on the porch at Gammys. The pool is ALMOST ready! (insert gritted teeth emoji here-we are excited and READY)

Saturday we met my dad, my grandparents, and Paige and Eric at Garcias for lunch. Paige and Eric were in town for a wedding, we hadn't seen them in two weeks and Paige couldn't believe how much Georgia Grace had grown and changed! We love having them home.

The rest of our Saturday was spent at Lake Malone celebrating Marcus' birthday (early). Georgia stayed home with Grandma Harrison (thank you Shannon!), we didn't want to chance taking her since she had been under the weather at the beginning of the week. We (my dad) supplied the boat and they (Rachel's dad) supplied the cabin. Rachel took her first boat ride and first tube ride, the men caught 47 fish, and Rachel and me caught up on girl talk that was long overdue. The guys fished until dark and we ended the night with a good ol' wienie roast and a juicy watermelon (running down our chins of course). The weather was perfect for a lake day. We actually welcomed the fire once the sun set. It really felt like early fall instead of the dead of summer. We are loving these lake weekends!

This is one of the pictures I received while we were at the lake. It's too bad they didn't let her have any fun while she was there...

Today Georgia stayed in the church nursery for the very first time. Our cousins had nursery duty so I thought this would be a good test to see how she would do with people she was familiar with. They said she did great (doubt they would tell me otherwise though ha!) and even started reading her bible while she was in there! Our nursery starts them young :)

The rest of our Sunday was spent eating BBQ and homemade Heath bar ice cream (my all-time favorite) at Mamaw Carolyn's and exploring the church where my sister will be getting married in December!! They have set the date-December 14th, 2013! Five months! Ahh!!

I'm thankful for this low key weekend. I checked my phone sparingly, I never opened my planner and I don't believe we turned the TV on one time. We let the world go on without us. It was nice to just live in the moment without a care in the world.

My heart is full!

Outdoor Weekend

We had a fun week/weekend enjoying the beautiful weather we were blessed with. It finally feels like July here in Kentucky.

Thursday night we went to grams for homemade pizza and a little nighttime skinny dipping (Georgia Grace only). My girl is a water baby. She loves pools and baths and she really loves gram's kiddie pool that is like a pool/bath combo for her. It has a shallow end (6-8 inches deep I would guess) and a deep end (18-24 inches). Granddad built the pool himself several years ago for AKK and it's so stinkin' cute! She can sit on her own in the shallow end and ride in a float in the deep end. This girl is never lacking entertainment!

Friday night we went to Music at the Mural. We helped paint the mural back in April  and we enjoy supporting our community and their efforts to make our town fun and thriving. Georgia Grace had fun playing in the grass and crawling off the blanket. We called it an early night for bedtime but we had fun listening to the talented musicians while we were there.

Saturday morning my mom, mamaw, Georgia Grace and myself went to Bowling Green to shop and to meet Marcus for lunch [he's taking a weekend class for his Rank I certification. He's not happy about it but he loves his professor and the class only meets 4 times so he's finding the silver lining and bearing down.] Saturday afternoon we spontaneously threw a trip to the lake together with the Ross' while my mom kept GGH for us. We had never been to their lake cabin before but trust us this will not be our last time!

It's seriously the cutest lake cabin ever. Just look at that fireplace-swoon! There's a big back porch with an amazing view and an adorable dock that we spent most of the day on.

The weather was perfect. We explored their ancestor's homesteads and did a little fishing.

We had such a great time and can't wait to go back. We had planned on eating at a fantastic fish place later that night but they closed early and then I got a call from mom on our way home that Georgia was not feeling well. 

I was fearful that she might be teething again because she had a runny nose that morning and was chewing on everything. I think mom and Stan had a rough time trying to take care of her and I hated seeing her not feeling well and that I had not been there to take care of her. When we got her home she woke up two times through the night but went right back to sleep. I stayed home from church with her today and she seems to be feeling better. No fever, just feels bad and has a runny nose. The verdict is still out if it is teething symptoms or her 1st sickness. Time will tell.

Even though the end of the weekend hasn't been great we still had fun enjoying the outdoors. We have already planned another lake trip next weekend for Marcus' birthday! Hopefully our baby will get to feeling better. I hate to see my sugar girl down.