Categories
Family/Travel

Last Hurrah of Summer

We sent summer out with a bang enjoying one last warm weather weekend at the coast. This time with my mom’s side of the family near Pawley’s Island, SC My parents, aunts, uncle, & my Papa along with my cousins & their precious 16 month old who we met for the first time. It was a blast seeing the 3 baby cousins play for the first time.

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Thurs night fun

Fri morning we shopped for a bit then hit the beach!

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Fri evening, the grandparents & great-Papa hang out with the littles while us parents got away! We enjoyed beverages & delicious fried food at Bisqit in the Hammock Shops.

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Our Sat morning plan was coordinating outfits & baby cousin photos on the beach. Well my two freaked about being put down on the sand. L still wasn’t having it on a towel. Baby cousin photo fail but still cute none the less.

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Since we were dressed similarly, I attempted to have family take some pics of the four of us. Not sure we got a great one of all. But there’s a few funny ones of us trying!

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Saturday was our last day. We were busy soaking up our last sunshine of the summer, playing with toys, snacking under the tent & learning to say ‘bird’ instead of ‘duck’ to everything with wings when L started feeling bad.

J & I took her to urgent care then made it to dinner with everyone in Merrils Inlet.

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In between all this fun was the beginning of a toddler stomach bug. Times two. L throwing up Fri am, Sat afternoon & night, Sun am & on the way home. Zach was {& still is} having issues out the other end. We’ve done a lot of laundry & given lots of snuggles & BRAT diet foods.

So thankfully for a great last summer weekend!

Categories
Everything Else

Loveable Labels Sale

I’m embarrassingly behind on posts. My draft is full of books reviews including one with an author interview! Also to come are photos of last weekend’s making-summer-last family weekend in Pawley’s Island, SC.

But when this came across my email, I had to let y’all know. I partnered up with Lovable Labels years ago for a giveaway right after BlogHer ’11. The labels I received then were the ones I used on Zach & Lucy’s first daycare bottles {I cut the Suz’s off & just used our last name}. Thousands of hand washings later, all those labels are still on there strong.

Now that L & Z are using toddler sippy cups, it’d be nice to have new labels with their names for our favorite sippys. I’d also like clothing labels as I forget what exactly I’ve taken to daycare sometimes.

If you’re looking for great long lasting labels for you or your littles, here’s a great weekend coupon just in time!

Lovable Labels
 

In full disclosure, I will receive a Halloween pack of Lovable Labels for letting y’all know about the sale. But all my opinions are genuine & unbiased. 

Categories
Reading

11/22/63

Oh my! Stephen King’s 11/22/63 novel is technically my local book club’s Nov pick. When I saw how big it was, I ditched the library book & borrowed it off my husband’s kindle, & since it’s a doozie, I went ahead & read it in August for Nov while I had a lull in my TBR stack. I’ve debated waiting til after book club to post, but I don’t want to accidentally forget.

I can’t wait to talk about it with my friends. So much happens on 11/22/63 that it’s hard to write a review without giving away any spoilers or too much inside information.

This is the first Stephen King book I ever read. I don’t do suspense books often & can’t even think about watching a scary movie & going to sleep that night. So I didn’t leap at the thought of this one at first.

I recalled the husband obsessing over this book to my annoyance last Christmas. Now I get it. {Sorry J!} 11/22/63 is a page turner & I was left repeating ‘holy shit’ more times than I can count from beginning to end.

All the connections to other King novels I thought were really cool. I like when writers casually link their books as a little gift to loyal readers {my Dad & husband filled me in on a lot of these nuances}.

The premise of 11/22/63 intrigued me: if you could go back in time & change the course of history, would you? Could you?

I don’t/didn’t know much about John Kennedy’s assignnation & the events leading up to it, but Stephen King did his research. I loved that while reading 11/22/63, I was so emotionally into this book. I was completely hooked.

I fell in love with Jake/George’s character. I cheered for fellow tall girl Sadie. I learned to see Lee Harvey Oswald & his family like I’d never known them before.

I’ll be honest & say I didn’t love the ending. But after discussing with a coworker & my family, I agree it had to be that way. {Hope that’s not too spoilerish.}

Everyone from my dad, to my SIL to my younger coworker to myself has loved this book. It’s a bit of a time investment {especially if you’re a slower reader}, but I think it’s definitely worth it. 11/22/63 isn’t a story I’m going to forget anytime soon.

Categories
Family/Travel

Labor Day Fun

We skipped off back to OIB last Fri for a long weekend of fun & sun & family!

Our loaded down van arrived in time for dinner with Nana & Pawpaw at Cap’n Johns in Calabash {L & Z loved the popcorn shrimp}.
OIB Labor Day

We hit the beach mid-morning, had lunch all together then Mom & I left the babies behind with the guys for nap time Saturday.

We attempted family photos Saturday night & this is what we got! Four cute pics but not a single great one.
OIB Family photos

Sunday, after beach church, we spent the day on the beach.
Beach day Sunday

Lucy’s turned into my beach bum- loving mango Sunset Slush & happily playing in their lil pool for an hour+.

Lucy & Zach do their best to take over my grandparents’ house with all their toys & activities
Lucy & Zach beach house fun

We ended up driving back Monday mid-morning & were graced with calm babies for most of the trip home.

Yay for another beach weekend to help easy into the end of summer!