Vacation Part 1 - Charlotte

We left for vacation on August 1st which was a Friday and we planned to break up our trip to Florida with a weekend in Charlotte with the Taylor family! We got to their house around lunchtime on Friday, so we had the rest of the day Friday and all day Saturday to spend with them. Lindsy and I had planned some outside activities for the kids. We were going to go to the splash park after naps on Friday and spend all day Saturday at the neighborhood pool. Well, our plans were abruptly changed when the temps were so low that our kids needed pants and long sleeves on Saturday (we were headed to Florida so we didn't have any warm clothes packed!) and it was raining on and off. Bummer. But honestly, our kids didn't need plans. They just enjoyed playing together. And of course Lindsy was Martha Stewart hostess and had back up activities like homemade play-doh for the kids.

Friday evening the rain subsided and we took the kid to Dollar Cone where the cones were literally $1. How awesome is that? The kids enjoyed their ice cream:)

I love Grey's face in this picture. I'm pretty sure he is wondering why his sissy is sharing with this other kid!

Saturday was my birthday and it was so fun to spend it being on vacation with our friends! Lindsy is still running (she's in her 3rd trimester) because she is a rock-star! And she always talks about running on the Charlotte Greenways so we decided to do a run together on a Greenway. I loved the Greenway and so wish we had them here in Lexington! Running on a paved, tree covered trail for miles was perfect. I would take that any day over running in a neighborhood with cars/traffic around. And they have a huge running community there so the Greenway was full of runners. Great atmosphere! While Lindsy and I did a 4 mile run, Jonathan took the double jogger and pushed the boys for a longer run. We left the three girls home with Tim and they had fun enjoying the playset before the rain started.  

Bonus was that the beginning/end of the Greenway we went to had a Starbucks across the street! Of course we had to head there after our run to drink the calories we had just burned! And then we went to Great Harvest to get yummy muffins. What a fun way to start my birthday!

Perfect rainy day activity: homemade play-doh! And of course the girls wanted purple so Lindsy not only made it purple, but she added glitter and lavender essential oil!

 We tried to get some pictures of the boys together. Cayden wasn't in much of a smiley mood.

And of course we had to get a picture of the big sisters.

Lindsy was sweet enough to plan a fun date night for us on Saturday night. She hired two baby sitters to watch the kids so we could go out to a nice dinner. This was such a treat for us! I couldn't tell you the last time we went on a double date. We had so much fun!

We told the girls they could stay up until we got home from dinner so that they could eat some birthday cake! Lindsy recommended an amazing bakery for Jonathan to order my cake from and it did not disappoint!

Jonathan of course spoiled me with fun necklaces that I wanted from Our World Boutique and a new pair of rain boots! I had such a fun birthday! 

We had a wonderful time with the Taylors and it was hard to say our goodbyes on Sunday morning as we headed to Florida. It's hard to put into words how special they are to our family. I am so glad we're able to see each other every few months for one reason or another. We can always pick up where we left off and our kids do the same. Our kids talk about their kids all the time. Cayden even talks about how Grey goes poop in his potty (TMI?) since he witnessed it while we were there. Too bad he doesn't use that to encourage himself to do the same... Adalyn always talks about Kennedy and Avery. Always! I look forward to our next trip to Charlotte and can't believe there will be another Taylor next time we see them!