Apple Pickin'

This past weekend, we headed up to Ellijay, Georgia with my family to go apple picking.  This is a tradition started by my parents and sister/Dave but Ben and I have always had a conflict whenever they went in the past.  Soooo, now that Wyatt is old enough to enjoy this type activity they made sure to plan around us being able to attend.

Apparently there are several orchards up in Ellijay and we went to Hillcrest.  There was much more to this place than an apple orchard -- petting zoo, tractor rides, etc.

When you walk into the place, its kinda kitchy, but they did have a bunch of old antique tractors that are there for kids to climb on and take pictures, I suppose.  Wyatt LOVED this blue tractor because he could reach the wheel!  He was a little overwhelmed by everything at first, but really enjoyed sitting on this tractor and posing for pictures.

We also posed for the obligatory family picture in the wagon. 

Then it was off to the petting zoo.  As you can see, Wyatt wasn't quite sure what to think of all the animals.  All he wanted to do is run around!

After the petting zoo, we tried out the slide.  Wyatt didn't really care about this one way or the other but Ellie sure did!

At this point *someone* in our group was just famished so we took a lunch break.  (I'm not going to name names here, but I'll give you one hint that it wasn't one of the babies ...)

After lunch we walked around the orchard for a bit until it was time for the pig races. Yes.  You read that correctly.

Then, Wyatt discovered a new escape route from his stroller!  Guess we can't be so lax anymore about buckling him in.

We went on a little tractor ride all around the orchard, which I was nervous about because Wyatt doesn't really like being held in my lap -- he wants to run.

Despite my concerns, he was very happy during the ride especially when Meme started making him laugh.  (Who knew, saying "e-i-e-i-o" was so funny ...)

After the tractor ride, it was well past W's naptime so we walked around the orchard a little more and let him play. (Rereading that sentence, it makes zero sense!  But, generally if he is outside and running around he's happy even if he is sleepy)

He was so happy running around and picking up "balls"

It was a fun day, but at this point it was well past nap time and we loaded up the car to go home.

Wyatt was zonked before we pulled out of the parking lot!

Monterey - Day 2

This was probably my favorite day of the whole trip.  Because of that, I have tons of pictures, so I'll try to keep my words to a minimum.  Before we left for the trip, everyone told us that we needed to take the drive out to Big Sur.  So we did (poor Carrie and Burke -- I think they have to do this with everyone who comes to visit!)

We started off the day with a pretty intense drive along winding coastal-mountain roads up to this adorable restaurant in Big Sur called Neptenthe.  We ended up getting a great table outside on the patio -- right on the cliff looking down 800 something feet to the sea (correct me if I'm wrong ... not quite sure about the elevation).  Anyway, the food was amazing.  Not to pick favorites, but this was one of my favorite meals of the entire trip.  I wish I had a food picture, but I had the BEST heirloom tomato and mozzarella salad that I've ever had in. my. life.

After lunch, we did hang around to take a few pictures at Nepenthe before heading back down the coastline to do a few scenic stops before wine tasting in Carmel Valley.

I made Ben pose for this one! 

The drive was once again, intense, and this picture kinda gives you perspective -- a section of road literally crumbled into the ocean a few weeks ago so now that part of the highway is one-lane.  Scary!

The drive drove one passenger to drinking ... (i'm probably going to get in trouble for posting this but since he doesn't read my blog he'll never know.  unless his wife tells him, which she probably will)

We stopped to take some scenic pictures.  Is the view not breathtaking?

We then stopped at this little beach and decided to hike down to take photos down there.  We all laughed at this sign on the way down (foreshadowing).

I forced Ben to take this picture too.  We did like 375 takes, and it still didn't turn out like I wanted.  I blame the soft sand, and the fact that white (wo)men can't jump.

I'm seriously trying not to bore you with pictures, but please indulge me ....

A few minutes after posing for a picture on these particular rocks, they became our refuge.

We were all just standing on the beach enjoying the waves when we started to notice them getting pretty big.  One wave in particular we were kinda like "oh wow ... that is big"

then: "oh ... shoot.  its really big."  and we all take off running

Burke, Carrie, and Becky, escaped to higher ground quickly enough.  Wes, Ben and I did not.  We all ended up on these rocks spider-man style!  It was hilarious and I'd give just about anything to have that on video.  Basically, we all realized we were about to get totally soaked and at that point it was every man for himself!  One of the funnier moments of the trip.  We were all pretty winded by that point and headed back to the car.

After all the excitement, we headed back down to Carmel Valley for a little wine tasting.  We had the best time and Carmel Valley is gorge!

Burke was good about reading us the tasting notes before each wine we tried.

I  made my own tasting notes.

After all the wine, we figured what could a little more indulgence hurt and got dressed for dinner.

We went to Mission Ranch which was UH-MAZE-ING.  Best meal of the whole trip!  Seriously. 

After dinner, we decided we were all dunzo, and headed back to Carrie and Burke's house to get some rest before another exciting day!  It was a long, but very fun day. 

Also, big HUUUUGE thanks to my parents for keeping Wyatt for us the whole time we were gone!  They were so good to keep sending us pictures and updates each day.  I don't think he missed us one bit, and Ellie sure did keep him well-entertained! 

Weekend in Tennessee

This past weekend, we all traveled up to Tennessee.  I had a bachelorette party in Nahsville so Ben and Wyatt rode up with me so that they could spend the weekend with Ben's parents in Murfreesboro. 

We started off on Friday night by having a few drinks at the Parker (or was it Patterson ... I can't remember) house right behind the hotel we were staying in.  This picture may make us look lame because all you see on the table is water - I promise we had legitimate drinks too! 

It was just a small group of girls on Friday night/Saturday morning so we enjoyed a relaxing morning brunch at Noshville followed by a hellacious attempt to pick up a friend at the airport (damn you, Nashville Marathon)!  After that adventure, we walked to a local restaurant to have appetizers and drinks and enjoy the nice weather.  We ended up sitting there all afternoon because people kept arriving and needed to have lunch ... but we had a really good time talking and catching up.

We had a little lingerie shower for Erin in the hotel room.  I didn't take many pictures of that, but I do have one of the guest of honor opening gifts.  Notice in the background her male companion for the evening - D'Angelo. 

Then we headed off to dinner at a wonderful restaurant called Boundry.  The food and drinks were awesome (special thanks to Wes for the surprise champagne delivery), and we were really enjoying ourselves but the icing on the cake was when Taylor Swift walked in with her band!!  We couldn't get a picture without being totally obnoxious, so we opted not to do so. 

Meanwhile, back in Murfreesboro, Wyatt was having the time of his life with his Lolly and Pops!  And his Daddy too, of course.  Ben's mother told me before we left that I didn't need to pack too many toys because she had a "few things" ... well, we get there and her house seriously looked like a Toys R' Us!  I think he had more there to play with than he does at our house.  That, combined with tons of attention made for one spoiled and happy little boy! 

Sorry for the random picture arrangement at the end of this post.  Blogger seems to be muggin'

Amelia Island

This past weekend, we took a little trip down to Amelia Island.  My sister had Spring Break and usually likes to go somewhere so my she and my parents decided they would go down to Amelia to stay at our grandfather's beach house.  Because I gave them such a hard time last time they went without me and Wyatt they did invite us along this time! 

The trip almost got canceled due to sick babies but by the time we had to make a decision on Saturday morning, everyone seemed well and/or on the mend so we decided to go ahead and go!  Ellie had fevers the first part of the week and as soon as we thought we were in the clear Wyatt got a stomach bug.  (So, so so pitiful to see your baby throwing up every 15 minutes, btw). That aside, we did have a great trip!

Both kids ended up doing really well in the car on the way down and we miraculously only had to make 2 stops!  Wyatt slept the whole way down there as he was still recovering from his lack of sleep the night before and Ellie watched Barney and ate snacks the whole way!  We pretty much went to dinner as soon as we arrived on Saturday because Wyatt has a pretty strict bedtime schedule (dictated by him, not me ... keep him up past about 7:30 and you'll see why!)


We ate at a cute little place right on the beach, so after dinner we did walk out to the sand to see what Wyatt thought.  As evidenced by this picture below, he didn't think too much of the sand!  (In his defense, he was t-i-r-e-d)
 

 He was okay once I picked him up. 

The next morning, we all ate breakfast and headed out to the beach.  Is this kid excited or what?

He was happy under the tent, sitting on the beach tarp, playing with the truck.  (Wheels are maybe his most favorite thing at the moment -- he turns every car or truck over and just plays with the wheels)

Then I took him down to the water's edge to see what he thought .....

The verdict: Mommy is funny ... jury is still out on this sand and water stuff!

After lunch and naps, we went back out to discover low tide.  The sandbar and tidal pools were great for Wyatt (and Ellie) because the water was slightly warmed up from the sun.  He's not sure what to think yet ... 

Then he warmed up to it!

By the time both Ellie and Wyatt were ready to play we struggled to get a good picture. 

So we tried again a little later in the afternoon.  This is the result of our 2nd attempt!

At this point, it was beyond obvious that Wyatt was tired.  As we were taking him back to the house, he was asleep before we even stepped off the sand!

Napped, bathed, and hungry ... and posing for pictures!  (And my hair?  Don't even want to talk about it .... gaaaah)

 sweet cousins posing!

Ellie is such a big helper! Even Ellie couldn't encourage Wyatt to eat his peas though!  (Oh well, I hate them too so I really can't blame the kid)

The goal was to get some good beach pictures, so we kept trying when we went back to the beach on Monday. 

Then we played the paci game on the beach.  And as a result we both ate about a pound of sand.

And of course, we attempted feet pictures.  (We'll have to do this again when Ben is with us at the beach in June)

We went to the pool for a little while.  It was COLD though so we only got in for a minute!

Both kids enjoyed kicking their legs in the water despite the temperature.

After our morning at the pool and beach, we headed in for lunch, baths and naps.

Smartly, I went to lay out for about 30 minutes during W's nap.  I fell asleep on the beach and ended up sunburned.  Ouch!

We spent a little time walking around Fernandia before dinner and of course found a few photo opportunities!

 Does this look like the face of a kid who is ready to drive home tomorrow??

It was a fun beach trip and we're really looking forward to our longer trip in June when Dave and Ben will join us!

Off to the lake this weekend for a birthday party.