A Sleepover At The Heflins!!

Going out to bars with friends on Saturday nights is a very rare occasion for Alex and I these days. Our Saturday nights are spent with me waiting for Alex to get off of work and then him coming home and us being asleep in front of the tv. However, occasionally we do hang out with friends. When we have a get together with Derrick and Jodi on the weekend, if it's just our two families, we usually pack to spend the night. This particular Saturday  night was no different.

 

The kids and I went over to the Heflins around 4 pm to hang out and start our evening.

 

I took a few pictures of the girls just for fun.

This beautiful face :)

How great is this beauty?

She loves the camera!

I love the fake smile....she still looks so beautiful though.

Pretty pretty girl...

We took a few of the girls together.

 

 

They are the prettiest babies.

 

I think this one is my favorite.

 

Then we added in the other two crazies.

These four keep us busy. And they all love each other.

She is shocked!!!

HAHA.

You know, I just wonder what she is thinking here.

 

 

We had a delicious meal prepared by Jodi. Alex got there. We all hung out, watched tv, played games, ate food.

The girls danced. And danced. And played.

They LOVE to play dress up.

Charlotte is obsessed with Ella.

And Sawyer is obsessed with toys that aren't his. He loves going to Aunt Jodi and Uncle Derrick's house.

The night for the kids usually ends with Sawyer sleeping in the room with Emily and Charlotte and Ella watching tv in Jodi and Derrick's room.

 

After the kids are all asleep, the adults get to hang out and just relax...which is why we always spend the night. By the time that happens, its like 10 or 11 pm. So the adults hung out and had a blast...as always. We didn't drink too much. All of us Jacksons slept downstairs on the couch or air mattress as usual. We love our nights with Jodi and Derrick and the girls. We love getting to hang out and just be together. I love watching our kids play and love on each other. We are so thankful to have friends like this here.



The Four Crazies Reunite Part 1

The last part of our day on July 28 was when one of my best friends Niki drove to Asheville to pick up to the two kids and I and drive us to Greenville to stay with her and her sweet boys for the night. The plan was for Mom and Dad to come get us the next afternoon and spend the evening in Greenville. So Niki came and got us and drove us to her house.

Her two boys were fed, bathed and ready to play (thanks to Daddy Ty.)

This was the scene within a few minutes of us getting there!!

Naturally, they all wanted to play with the Shop Vac. Why wouldn't they?

"Momma, thank you for bringing me to these friends! I am so excited that I could climb right up your body!"

He loves it!

Alright, time to do yard work...naturally....

Niki and Tyler are in the process of moving while we are visiting. The master bedroom mirror was on the floor ready to be moved... and the two younger boys LOVED it.

How sweet are they???

Six months apart.

Sawyer just kept grabbing Parker from behind. He was LOVING having a friend close to his size.

Sawyer wanted to take him home...

The Midgett boys were in bed by 8:30 and I got my two asleep by 9-ish. (They slept on the way to Niki's house). It was a long day. I slept about an hour and a half the entire trip from Illinois to NC. Talk about tired.... Niki and Tyler are the BEST, most considerate, most accommodating hosts ever. The kids and I slept in their Master Bedroom. We had everything needed right there. It was so heart warming to see these four kiddos reunited. They really love each other so much.

Tomorrow is going to be a fun filled HYPERACTIVE day!

A Meet Up With Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Amelia in Asheville

On Saturday night July 27, the kids and I joined Mom and Dad and headed to Asheville, NC. Dad's company has two different vacations per year that his agents/agency can qualify for and the vacation in the Summer is a family one. So Dad asked us to go with them. I was excited to head to Asheville, NC since it was so close to one of my best friends, the kids could see their other grandparents, and we could have a bit of a vacation as well!! 

We headed out around 8 pm and drove straight through to Asheville. Driving with 2 kids 2 and under is always a real blast. The meltdowns, the whining, the crying, the boredom....it's always a real dream come true :) Until you have experienced it, never ever claim that it is an easy thing to do. Just sayin'.... We ended up in at the lodge around 11 am and got right into our room. It is a HUGE hotel. We got to be in the recently renovated room. The kids ran around the room and exhausted themselves. I got showered and got ready. We were planning to meet Grandma and Grandpa Jackson and Aunt Amelia around 1 pm. As we were getting ready to leave the hotel at 12:30 to meet them for lunch and an afternoon at the Botanical Gardens, we realized that we couldn't find the keys. The keys were NOWHERE to be found. 

We traced our steps back to the car. We looked through all of the bags we had opened. We looked EVERYWHERE. We called onstar, we called the front desk, we called housekeeping. The funny part is the kids and I were travelling to Greenville, SC that night so we could see their best friends Parker and Gavin. So we hadn't even brought in all of our bags or toys. So, we let Grandpa Jackson know what was going on and they ended up going and eating lunch downtown while we tried to find the keys. After 40 minutes of looking for the keys, we found them in the BOTTOM of the kids' suitcase. One of the kids had put them in there when no one was looking. We got loaded up in the car and then realized we had left our room key and couldn't get out of the parking deck. O. M. G. The never ending obstacles....

Finally we were on our way to the Botanical Gardens. It was only a few miles away. I went thru the drive thru at Wendy's for the kids' lunch (so healthy) and then we headed to the Botanical Gardens. We were there by 1:25...only 25 minutes late. The kids ate their lunch and played in the car. Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Amelia got to the gardens around 2:15. The kids were so happy to get out of the car :) (After trips like this they HATE the car for an extended period of time.)

Off to explore the gardens...

The child that is OBSESSED with water.

It was a long way down that hill...

Charlotte was in Heaven and she knew Grandpa would let her do whatever she wanted to do.

Sawyer loved his Aunt Amelia time.

Such a pretty pretty girl...

Sawyer is a Momma's boy.... always trying to get away from the people that hold him.

This is her "pretty girl" face when she is posing for the camera.

The boy loves a phone.

Funny boy

Flying!!!

I think someone was ready to go! (Naturally she had time to load up her gifts from Grandpa and Grandma)

Pretty flowers.

Charlotte picked a flower for Grandma Jackson. 

She was so proud of herself!!

Grandma and Grandpa Jackson with their two grandchildren.

Aunt Amelia with her niece and nephew

They do love each other. They are each other's best friend....even if they don't know it.

One last really good shot with Grandma and Grandpa :)

Time to head out....

The Gardens closed at 4 pm and the family had a 2 hour drive back to Columbia. We headed back to the hotel around 4:15 and they headed home. It was a beautiful summer day in Asheville (not too hot) and the park was perfect. The kids just ran around and played....something they really needed to do since they had been in the car for so long. 

Thanks for a great few hours Grandma and Grandpa Jackson and Aunt Amelia. The kids loved their play time and all of their treasures and gifts!!