2013 Beach Trip with the Lakefield Boys

This year for our family vacation we took an amazing trip with David's group of best friends from his ward when he was growing up. This trip was about a year in the making and we were so glad to have been able to see David's friends and to have such a great time. It was especially fun because we all have new babies (Savannah is the oldest) and they are all girls. Watching them interact was really special.

 

We rented a beach house on the Holden Beach island. This little island was perfect because it isn't touristy and the beach wasn't crowded at all. Now if only the weather could have been better....

 

Here's our little cutie playing in the front seat of the car during one of the bathroom breaks along the road.

 

The first day there we packed up everything and walked down to the beach. People kept staring at us because of how many strollers and children we had! It was pretty hilarious! I'm so glad I took this picture because during the first night there one of our friends little girls got sick and they had to leave. This is the only picture we got of the whole group so I'm grateful I took it!

At Holden Beach with daddy!

David hung Savannah upside down and stuck the top of her head in the water. She thought it was great!

I think this is my favorite picture from the whole trip. Savannah looks so, so happy...and look at those chunky legs!

The boys digging for crabs.

The next day it was raining so we decided to drive to Wilmington for the day. We ate a yummy dinner and then got some amazingly good ice cream from Kilwins.

We were trying to teach Savannah to lick the ice cream. She was...okay at it.

Jake and Chris decided to do handstands in the water. Jake was definitely better than Chris was. (shhh, don't tell Chris I said that!)

The cute mommies with their girls, Hadley and Kenedee.

Little Kenedee makes the silliest faces!

One day we came home to find a very long and very "fresh" snake skin hanging out of the dryer vent into the car port below. It kind of freaked us out. We were grateful when we found the (very large but thankfully not poisonous) snake outside on the pipe. He would sit there whenever we had the dryer on because he didn't like it and then he would slither back into the vent when the dryer was off. Needless to say we kept the dryer on a lot while there!

Here's the house we stayed in. It was perfect for us!

The next day we went to a family friend's house for dinner. Matt Case and his family who had left the first night at the beach house because of sickness came too so we were able to see them one last time before they headed back to Tennessee. Here's the three oldest girls, Pippa, Savannah, and Hadley. Obviously Savannah was stuffed from Anne's yummy dinner and just wanted to lounge a little.

It's That Time Again...

Super Double Coupons!

 

My couponing trip this time around was pretty great. I was able to get a lot of things we really needed like meat, BBQ sauce, ziploc bags, etc. Maybe because of that this couponing trip left me feeling extremely grateful for the ability to provide food and groceries for my family at a minimal cost. Even though food prices keep rising couponing gives us the ability to keep our food budget relatively low and to still be able to add to our food storage in case of an emergency. It may take a lot of time and effort but in the end couponing really has been worth it for me and my family!  

 

 

So here's what I got on my (first) super doubles trip this month:

 

Baking Cups

7 Bottles of BBQ Sauce

4 Boxes Hefty Ziploc Bags

Huggies Baby Wipes

2 Boxes Wheat Thins

Bottle Hellmanns Mayo

Bag of Rice

2 Boxes Rice Pilaf

Box of Spaghetti Noodles

Dishwasher Detergent

Colgate Mouthwash

Pita Pockets

Bag of Chicken Bites

2 Bottles of Simply Lemonade (for Savannah's upcoming first birthday party!)

Gallon of Milk

2 Meat and Cheese Wraps

Huge Bag of Lunch Meat

10 lbs Ground Beef

Package of Chicken Breasts

 

Total Spent:$46.59    Total Saved:$88.39

 



Baby Shower and Easter Fun

I've been a little remiss in posting so now I'm playing catch-up. In March I had the opportunity to help with one of my good friend's baby showers. Rachel is married to Chris Dixon who was one of David's best friends growing up and they are about to have their first baby, a little girl named Kenedee.

The theme for the baby shower was "So Sweet" so all of the food was sweet themed: sweet potato pie, sweet and sour chicken, sweet and spicy bbq sandwiches. It turned out really cute.

Here are the cupcakes Courtney made for the shower. Aren't they amazing?!

 

Here's the momma-to-be. She's so beautiful!

Here's another beautiful girl who crashed the party! By chance, David and I had a house showing at the same time as the shower so David brought Savannah and hung out at the shower with us until the showing was over. Savannah was sitting on the kitchen island playing with a clementine and we looked down and realized she'd bitten a chunk of the skin off. After that we peeled it for her and let her go at it. She'd never had anything really citrusy before but she seemed to enjoy it!



A couple of weekends later was our nephew Jackson's birthday. He wanted to go to the Atlanta Aquarium and since David's aunt lives in Atlanta we took a quick trip down there. David's dad came up from Florida and met us at the aquarium. Here he is with Savannah before the dolphin show.

Savannah didn't really get what was going on most of the time but we still had fun!

We attended a 3-D show...

Savannah definitely didn't like it so we waited in the hallway until it was finished.

Our Fatty Munchkins

At David's aunt's house we were sleeping in the living room. Aunt Kimmie was teasing Heather because she made David's bed and even turned down the covers. Kimmie left and came back with a mint for his pillow. Such service!

Swinging on the porch with her favorite cousin Caroline.

On the way home David and I stopped in Greenville, SC which is a very nice city that has had a lot of restoration done in the older sections of the town. There is a beautiful park in the middle of the city with a huge bridge.

David took a picture of this plaque for you, mom. Historical Marker!

We got back from Atlanta Saturday night and had Easter at our house on Sunday. We only really got one picture of Savannah in her Easter dress. It's a dress my mom gave us for her before she was born. It is beautiful!

Date Night, a Cousins' Lunch Date, and a Birthday Party

This past week David and I had an amazing date night. Thankfully our wonderful friends, Chris and Rachel, were willing to watch Savannah while we were away. We are so grateful to them, especially since Rachel is almost eight months pregnant!

 

We started our date at Natty Greene's, a well-known pub and restaurant in downtown Greensboro. It's named after General Nathaniel Greene from whom Greensboro gets its name. The food was yummy and I love that the restaurant is in a revitalized old brick building. The atmosphere is definitely part of the fun.

 

 

After dinner we walked across the street to the historical Carolina Theater. The Theater opened in 1926 and has been completely restored. It now shows theater productions, hosts events, and plays old, classic movies. I had to go when I saw they were showing the movie "Singing in the Rain." David had never seen it and what better way to introduce him to this classic than at a theater that was around when the movie originally debuted?! I can't express how fun it was! 

 

(Sorry for the bad photo quality. We only had our cell phones.)

A few days later, Savannah and I went to lunch with David and our niece/cousin Caroline. Whenever they are together it is very apparent that Savannah adores Caroline! Caroline can always make Savannah laugh and smile. Here's a picture of Caroline reading Savannah a book in Chik-Fil-A. Don't you love Savannah's excited face? :)



 

Today we went to Rachel and Chris' apartment for a surprise birthday party for Chris. Our friend Priscilla was there with her daughter, Penelope. Penelope is three months younger than Savannah and she looks so small next to her. She is so cute! These two are going to be friends!

 

 

Bonus Pic: I painted Savannah's toes for the first time this week. The results were a little blotchy but not horrible for our first try.