Fun with Friends

Luke has a best friend and his name is "Ander" (Andrew).



Over the past few weeks, we've gotten the chance to hang out with the Barnsby's a lot, so it is high time that I posted some pics from all the adventures that we've had!

The boys having fun at the Botanical Gardens:









A hug (with a running start) that got a little too aggressive for one party:





Me and the boys!



Picnic on the mountain:

(exploring with Ms. Kristen)



(feeding the fish... aka: kiddos eating lots of saltines)

Playing with Play-doh!

We always have so much fun with the Barnsby's and are happy that we live close enough to get to see those guys lots! Poor Luke is now lost without having "Ander" around. He'll just be in the middle of playing and say "Ander toming?" (Andrew coming?) or exclaim "Ander's turn!"

Although the boys have VERY different personalities... like, polar opposites... it is fun to see them being BFFs!

Memphis - Anna's Wedding Weekend (part 1)

This past weekend, the fam loaded up the Tahoe and headed over to Memphis for Anna's wedding!! We left on Friday morning and I went straight to the bridal luncheon at the Beauty Shop. It was such a cute little restaurant - delicious food, wonderful dessert, and the best company! That night was the rehearsal (at the Memphis Zoo) and rehearsal dinner (at the BBQ Shop - YUM!)

We had some free time on Saturday, and although we were at the zoo the evening before, we decided to take Luke to the zoo again for the full experience!

We saw elephants...



We saw "kits" (cats)...



We saw koalas...

(koala in the background)

We saw ostriches...

We saw zebras...



And we saw giraffes...

Whew! Of course, we saw more animals than that - but that gives a pretty good overview (and showcases my best photos).

With all of those amazing and exciting animals to observe, this was really Luke's favorite activity at the zoo:

Pushing the stroller!!

He couldn't get enough of it!

It was all we could do to get him to look over at the animals sometimes... he was on a mission with that stroller!

Anywho, we all had a good time at the zoo! It was a beautiful day to get outside and walk around. Here's one more parting shot from the zoo experience:

(what a cutie pie!)

Next, we headed over to Huey's to have the "best burger in Memphis" and I must admit... it was an awesome burger!!

We made it back to the hotel for a little relaxation before the evening festivities began.



Ok, this seems like a good spot to end this blog post for tonight. Stay tuned for the next post about the beautiful wedding!

Bleeding Purple and Gold

We took a family trip down to Baton Rouge for the LSU/Auburn game last weekend. I'll just say - it was a LONG drive there and back (9 hours each way) with a 15 month old. :) I'd like to say a special "thank you" to Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, Cars, A Bugs Life, the Jungle Book, and Over the Hedge - we couldn't have made this trip without you!

Tailgating on Saturday was fun - just exhausting trying to keep up with Luke. He crawled around in the dirt, tried to eat acorns, and narrowly avoided sitting in an ant hill. We brought his little wagon so he could "walk" with it, and walk he did! He ran all around with that thing charging full speed into large groups of tailgaters! Luckily he didn't break anyone's ankles and everyone seemed to be amused by the tiny wagon-pusher.

(Luke trying on Dad's hat):





After tailgating for a couple of hours, Luke was starting to get a little squirmy so we took a trip over to the bookstore to get some loot. Since it was so crowded, I sat outside with Luke while Andie ran in. Within minutes, Luke fell asleep in my arms. The two of us were sitting on a little bench - there were hundreds of people around and it was really loud - not exactly perfect sleeping conditions! Everyone that walked by was "ooooh-ing" and "awwww-ing" at the precious sleeping child - apparently we were quite a spectacle amongst the tailgating crowd. I knew that this was his only opportunity to sleep all day, so I just sat there with him (and got in lots of good people-watching!) while he snoozed for an hour. :)

The trip was a lot of fun, but I'm not gonna lie... I'm happy to be back home!

(the fam!):

Labor Day Weekend

We took Luke to the Chattanooga Aquarium for a little day trip. Here are some highlights...

One of the first stops was the butterfly room:


Penguins! It was fun watching them swim around, then shoot up to the land.


Luke pointing out some fish in the Ocean building:



Beautiful jellyfish:


Huge sea turtle (note the size of the sea turtle in comparison to the diver in the tank!)


More fish-gazing:


Luke showing us the rattlesnake:


Who can resist this smile??