Nashtown...

This past week was a whirlwind of a weekend, but one we wouldn't trade for the world. We got to spend the weekend in Nashville with some of our favorite peeps - the Boyles. Talk about a walk down memory lane.  We had not all been back in Nashville together at the same time since May 2007, when Ryan graduated form Vanderbilt.  So to have us all back in the city that brought us together was pretty special. 

We soaked in all we could in the two days we had together.  We took in some Top Golf...

We played games...

While some old ones did some homework...

We did a drive by the old house...

Scott and Ryan took the littles on a ropes course on Saturday.  

Not only did Lila and Sullivan like it, the boys were pretty impressed too.  It sounds like they found the jackpot with this activity.

While the littles were doing that, Ab and I took the big kids to downtown Franklin - the cutest, quaintest little town around.  We had fun shopping and pursuing the downtown area.  We meant to sneak in a few pictures, but you know, that doesn't always happen with high schoolers.  

BUT they were sweet enough to oblige us with a photo with a Franklin mural that we saw driving into town.  We promised them one picture, but I might have snuck in a couple.  

Our Tennessee born babies...

The funniest thing is that this darling mural was attached to the oddest building.  Nothing like driving by, stopping and posing for a picture in front of a urgent care facility.  Weird.  

Saturday evening we dined at an old favorite, Mafiaoza's, and reminisced about the good old days.   I wish, wish we would have taken a picture of all of us, but sadly this is the only one from dinner.  

After dinner, we did a swap and Ab and I took the littles while the bigs went with the boys to a concert downtown.

The crew saw The Killers perform...

It was the first for the kids seeing them in concert, but Scott and Ryan have seen them a few times.  

Again, the boys hit it out of the park... the kids loved the concert!  Lots of great memories made that night. 

Sunday morning we had to say goodbye to our dear friends and the city that will always have a place in my heart.  What a great (although short) weekend.  I couldn't have asked for anything better. 

And just when you can't ask for anything better, you get the cherry on top of an already amazing weekend.  We met another one of my favorite peeps for breakfast.  My dear friend from my teaching days in Fairview, Cynthia, was sweet enough to meet up with us for a quick bite to eat. 

Gosh, my cup of happy runneth of that morning.  As always, so incredibly good to catch up with her and in lots of ways, it doesn't feel like any time has passed.  A special lady that Cynthia is!

And finally, no trip is complete if you drive by a Buc-ee's and don't stop.

Two Buc-ee's in a matter of a few weeks.  Say what?!?  This one didn't disappoint.

And with that, one of the best weekends in a long time came to a close.  Thanks for the good times, the good memories and the great friendships, Nashville!!

BIG News Week...

It was a BIG news week last week in our house. Lots happened and lots to be proud of for both Quinn and Sullivan.

Quinn officially entered the working world.  She secured her job a couple weeks ago, but started this past week.  She is officially a cake froster at Nothing Bundt Cakes.  

She is currently in training to learn all the tips and tricks of how to properly frost those sweet desserts.  She is really liking it so far.  Sadly or maybe as a blessing in disguise, she doesn't get a discount for six months, so she won't be tempted to bring home all the sweets from the bakery.  

Before work began, she did some practice frosting at home...

Quinn also got accepted to the Spanish National Honor Society this week too.  A great honor and distinction for this Spanish speaking girl of ours!

Now, you might ask, what was Sullivan's big news?  She tried something outside of her comfort zone and proved to be successful at it.  She tried out for the school's cheerleading squad...

 and MADE THE TEAM!  

You are looking at the newest member of the football AND basketball cheerleading team.  So add "cheer mom and dad" to our roles.  We are excited to go to the games and watch Sullivan do her thing!!! 

It was a big week for the girls this week, and we are oozing with pride for their accomplishments.  

Charleston...

 Day 2 in Charleston proved to be just as fabulous and rich history.  We started at Fort Sumter...

We took the ferry across to Fort Sumter which proved to be about a 30 minute boat ride.  So hard to believe that this island (man made with granite from NY) was used as a crucial and critical part of the Civil War and WWII.  

Once inside, Ryan gave us an obligatory photo...

Then we lost him...

He made the most of the hour we had at the fort. 

The girls enjoyed looking around, but did not soak up all the educational information that the monument had to offer.

After Fort Sumter, we headed to King Street to do a little shopping.  

Then we headed to Rainbow Row.  It's a cute row of rainbow colored houses in the historic part of Charleston.  

Then we did another Pooley type of adventure to end our time in Charleston.  There is a show on Netflix called Outer Banks.  Outer Banks is filmed in Charleston.  So we found the mansion that Sarah Cameron's house lives on in the show and did a drive by.  

It is a gated house which made it pretty hard to see.  Apparently one that is rented out for weddings and other events because during our drive by we witnessed a wedding party.  It was pretty neat to see another famous house in the flesh though.

On the drive home to NC, we had one more stop to make...

That's right.  One last trip to Buc-ee's.  

Labor Day

We didn't do much laboring on Labor Day, but we did venture down to South Carolina for the weekend.  We started the weekend by stumbling upon a Buc-ee's Travel Stop.  If you know, you know and if you don't, google it. It is definitely an experience.  

We then made our way to Congaree National Park outside Columbia, SC.  

Congaree is known for being a large, intact lowland hardwood forest. It's low land makes it prone to flooding.  We did a nice little hike in the forest and saw some pretty neat things.

Ryan ventured off the beaten path...

Quinn pondered the sight of this giant tree...

It was a gorgeous forest and I'm glad that we were able to visit yet another National Park.

We then made our way to Charleston, but took a slight detour to do a wacky, touristy Pooley kind of thing.  As a family we watched last season's of Rock the Block on HGTV - a home decorating competition between 4 sets of HGTV famous designers.  We knew that it was filmed outside Charleston, so we looked it up and coincidentally we were driving right by it.  SO... when in Rome!  

We found the houses and did a quick drive-by.  Pretty neat and fun to see...!

Then we went to Charleston and visited the SC Aquarium where we saw some pretty great exhibits.  

We ended the night visiting Sullivan's Island, which I must add was a really neat part of Charleston.  We visited Fort Moultrie and learned a little about the defenses used there.  

We also learned the history behind Sullivan's Island... thinking that it was going to be something great!  Because you know, all Sullivans that I know are amazing.  Turns out this was were tens of thousands of slaves were brought when taken from their homes in West Africa.  

Not really a very nice history.  At all.

What was nice though, was the GORGEOUS sunset on the beach.  What a beautiful sight.  

That wrapped up a very busy first day.  Stay tuned for the following day!