Happy Birthday, 'Murica

We spent the 4th of July in style - redneck and fabulous.

After escaping Hurricane Arthur the day before, we were ready to put on our red, white and blue and celebrate.  We themed out the holiday as "White Trash 'Murica" and encouraged everyone to dress the part.

Robert was the clear winner.

His ability to go white trash redneck was pretty amazing.  It must come naturally because I remember a certain toddler who pulled this look off and there ain't no way he could do that without some sort of genetic help...

Like father, like son.  One proud mama here.

But I can't excuse my ability to be a little trashy either.  I mean my custom airbrush t-shirt and acid washed daisy dukes took the trashy to a whole new level.  I think Robert and I fell in love all over again.

Without a doubt this was one of the funniest themed parties we've had to date.  There's just something undeniably special and liberating about trashin' it up a bit lot.

God Bless 'Murica, Y'all!

The DeMarksation Vacation

Yes, we named our vacation.

Well, we actually named the beach house that we all decided we would buy together in the future (The DeMarksation)...it now has stuck as the official name of our 2nd annual beach trip.

We had beautiful weather all week which pretty much kept us from leaving the house.  We beached it or pooled it every.single.day.  Did we have any complaints?  Absolutely not.

All six of the kids, ages 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, & 7 (we even had age 1 when Amanda and Scott came to visit) did as kids do - played, bickered, tattled, laughed, teased and name called - and we all pretty much just took it in stride because a vacation state of mind can do that for you.

The girls watched Frozen an obscene number of times and after introducing Beetle Juice it came in at a close second.  It was later brought to our attention that the language in the movie was probably not appropriate for the kids' age group - somehow though, Eleanor (age 2) was the biggest fan!  Not that it mattered really because the entire week each kid was trying to outdo the other kids with how many "potty" words they knew - butt crack, fart and weiner were among the top five.  Mattie personally loves poopie and fart - we have proof on video that Evan took early one morning - totally BUSTED (and let me state that we do not condone this behavior at all):

 

When the kids finally went to bed, the adults played.  The week was dedicated to reconnecting, laughing and laughing some more - something I need more of from these people.

Until next year, my dear friends!

Tennessee Road Trip

I've had a weekend to settle back in from our trip to Tennessee.  It already seems like weeks ago that we went.  I imagine it's because we crammed a million activities into about 5 days - but that's how we roll.  We like it crazy and chaotic.  And then we like to complain about it.

Before we even headed west, we actually traveled north to Raleigh to see Amanda, Scott & Bryson.  They were in town visiting Amanda's Dad and Judy.  With only three hours between us, there was no way we couldn't swing by to see them before they headed back to Florida.  It was a quick stay over visit - cooked out with the family, hung out for a few hours and then out the door the next morning.

What a cutie Bryson is and growing by the second.  Mattie and Evan couldn't keep their hands off of him.  Evan is even more convinced now that he wants a baby at home (keep dreaming, bud).

On to Tennessee we go.  Initially, Robert was going to make this trip alone because he was going to Pigeon Forge for business.  But I figured since he was gonna be so close to Knoxville, it would be really nice if the kids and I came along and we all visited with Robert's family.  I was quite aware it would be a quick visit, but I also knew it was important for the kids to see their grandparents while we had the chance.

We stayed the first two nights in Pigeon Forge while Robert worked.  I dragged the kids to the Outlet Mall one day, but repaid them with race car driving and amusement rides later that evening.

We also had a pretty good dinner at the historic Old Mill Pottery House Grille.  All of the food was served on plates made at the Pottery House which was a nice touch.  The area surrounding the Grille was charming as well.

Our second day was spent at Dolly Parton's Splash Country.  This water park puts Garden City's Wild, Water & Wheels to shame.  It is a traditional theme park, just like Dollywood, except it's all water rides - not to mention, it is HUGE.  The kids loved it.  Robert and Evan chose not to wait in the hour long lines for the big water slides, but we had just as much fun hanging out in the kiddie parks.  We also randomly ran into Cousin Matt & Heather whom we would be seeing later in the week.

Once we got to Knoxville, we had about 36 hours to visit with everyone.  Evan's birthday was only a day away so we thought it would be fun to have a party for him while we were there.  He has never had the pleasure of having both sets of grandparents at one of his birthdays - not to mention aunts, uncles and cousins!  He had a blast!

Other than the party, we managed to squeeze in a little park time with Grandma Bopp and Kaylin.

And just like that, we were back on the road headed for home.  Exhausting - but well worth the trip!