this week…and last week…{from my phone}

I know I’ve been slack with blogging lately, partially from a lack of picture taking and partially from a lack of time for blogging. But I love being able to recap our week via Instagram. In a stage of life where it’s difficult to get the camera settings just perfect in time to capture the day-in-day-out aspects of life, my phone has been such a great replacement and I’ve loved being able to capture the little moments that I would normally never get my big camera out for.

Two weeks ago we loved having a few days of a break in heat. On the way to my cousin’s bridal luncheon {at almost noon} my car was reading 80 degrees. Only 80 degrees! I am dreaming of fall and all of the fun we can have outside without sweating to death.After the bridal luncheon, while I was packing the kids and myself up for the beach, Emory was playing with her new wedding dress-up dolls {thanks, Aunt Rhonda!!} on my bed. It has a boy with a few tuxedos and a girl with several wedding dresses. She was laughing and said, “look mama! dis if for when dey bof are goin’ to work!”After the wedding Friday night, the kids and I headed to the beach for a few days. Luckily my parents, Aunt Kat & John and Aunt Jo were all there to help out, because being at the beach without Daddy kinda freaked me out. Watson and {almost} Uncle John bonded over the beer cooler.We had a great first day on the beach, but after sunscreening three kiddos, I was too tired to make sure I was well protected and got a little fried myself, so I stayed indoors the next few days. A late night trip to Walgreens with grandmamma resulted in a pop-up princess castle. We opened the box right away and all 3 kids loved it! Even Boland enjoyed crawling in and out. It was most definitely well worth the 19.99 spent and now resides in our playroom at home. We hit California Pizza, our go-to spot for an easy, delicious, kid-friendly dinner, and during the 15 minute wait Emory wanted to ‘babysit’ Boland. That consisted of putting her face really close to his and talking baby-talk gibberish. He was less than amused. She thought she was hilarious.We left the pizza place and had a few slices that we packed up to take home. Watson was very upset that we were packing the pizza up and held the to-go box as we left and went to the ice cream shop next door. My sweet baby has been having a hard time teething, which means he was having a hard time sleeping, so I was so relieved when he went to bed super easy at the beach. Although a couple mornings he was up super duper early, and that’s never fun.I packed the car and the kids early one morning to head home. I crossed my fingers and hoped that pillow pets, dunkin donuts and our Vacation Bible School cds would get us home with no stops.We got home easily, with all three kids sleeping most of the way, which meant they were in no need of naps when we got home at lunchtime. Luckily our road was being repaved and Watson sat at their little table at the kitchen at watched the ‘tractors’ for almost two hours!!! With. out. moving. He kept saying, “sit, mama, sit.” and patting the seat next to him. I have never ever ever seen something hold his attention so well. After all of our back and forth-ing to and from the beach, the car was way in need of refueling. I’m usually not patient enough to fill the car up all the way, but this time I was patient {read: distracted because I was on the phone} and was able to win the “see if you can land on an even dollar amount” game. I’m hoping that this amount gas lasts me for about 2 months. sheesh.After a quick lunch at Chick-Fil-A, we dropped the boys off with a babysitter and Emory and I headed to get our nails done with Taylor and her mommy. This was a much overdue pedicure for myself, but Emory’s first manicure! She and Taylor got their nails painted pink {with purple glitter!} and they couldn’t have been cuter. I love me some mommy/daughter time!Aaron and I packed up {again} and dropped the kids off with Mimi and Papa to catch a flight to Baltimore.  We got in late, but were able to have a delicious dinner at Sotto Sopra, where I had the most delicious hibiscus syrup and prosecco cocktail. I’m most definitely gonna figure out how to make those at home! Girls’ night anyone??We spent the morning touring Baltimore, in all it’s 105 degree glory. Holy moly! Only we would have the awesome luck of a massive heat wave hitting while we’re here. Regardless, we’ve learned that Baltimore is a neat little city with lots of charm and fun things to do. The Star Spangled Banner? Written here. All of the sugar supply for the entire East Coast? Processed here.  {A single barge full of sugar arrives here from Brazil each week.} The first parochial school in America was started here by a local nun and the first churches for many denominations were established in Baltimore. Our expectations were very low after to talking to many people who were either from Baltimore or have visited, but we were pleasantly surprised with all there is to see and do here.

Boo and Alex joined us the second day and we jumped on the chance to take a speedboat tour, hoping for a little escape from the heat.It took us around the harbor, where we got to see some interesting things…Navy ships…Fort McHenry…the Francis Scott Key bridge…Friday night we headed to a comedy club. It was hilarious and embarrassing all at the same time.Before the Sunday baseball game we ate at a local bar, Pickles Pub…And toured the Babe Ruth museum…As well as the Sports Legends Museum, where Aaron and Alex dressed out for a game.Sunday night we jumped on a plane to head home…only to get right back off of that plane, wait two hours, board a different plane and finally make our way home. There’s nothing worse than a 2am arrival back home.We’re planning for a big party for Aaron’s 30th birthday and this week we stocked up on some craft beer. To  say we’re excited about the party would be a huge understatement!!I had a few baby gifts to sew this week and this was by far my favorite…a ruffle-bottom onesie! I wish I had one of these {or about 50} when Emory was a baby! I love it!I finally took the afternoon to clean out my car. There were enough cheerios, goldfish, and fruit snacks on the floorboard to feed a small army. It took me hours in the sweltering heat, but the kids loved playing in the backseat and I now have a squeaky clean vehicle!There you go. A quick recap of our last two weeks. Two weeks worth of details that may have not ever been documented if it weren’t for the ease of my phone’s camera. I {heart} Insta-Friday!