May 14th Hot Air Balloon Festival

A few months back I saw that there was going to be a Hot Air Balloon Festival in Franklin, TN. It was taking place in this quaint little community called West Haven. My aunt decorated one of the houses there for Christmas one year and we got to tour it during the Christmas Home Tour. I have always loved that neighborhood and just knew that this would be the place to host such a fun event. So I got some of my friends together and we all decided to make a night out of it. We even had adorable hot air balloon shirts made. We thought we were just the most creative parents to get all this together! Here are the cuties with their matching shirts! 

I am sure you can guess how the night went, right! Well let's just say that we will definitely eat before we come next year. (If we are brave enough to come again.) There were all kinds of food trucks with lots of different foods. The problem was they needed about 3 times as many food trucks. We waited in line for an hour and half to get our food!! John and I tried this taco place. The food was excellent but really not worth that long of a wait! Brittney and Tyler got hamburgers and bless they won the award for being in the longest line….two hour wait! Again, good food but much too long of a wait! Eric and Molly found a Puckett's food truck that had the shortest line but they were out of several things on their menu. By the time we all settled down to eat our food, it was getting dark and we were getting so excited to see the hot air balloons! They were going to have them glow in the dark. 

Here is Avery with the hot air balloons. And yes that is all of the hot air balloons they had for the night…5 balloons. They were tied to the ground and never took off! Again, we were expecting this big open field with hot air balloons in the air. I think we may have set our expectations a little high.

You might notice the long sleeves and jackets. Well as you can imagine our cute little creative night also turned out to be one of the coldest nights we have had in months! We were all freezing! But look at this cute picture of us! 

Here is a close up of the cute shirts we had made! They really turned out precious! 

And wait for it….here is the glowing in the dark hot air balloons at night! They flickered on and off all night. That was that! Don't get me wrong, it was a neat idea and I think the potential was there for a wonderful evening, if we had eaten before we came! Then we could have seen more of the festival. 

Nevertheless, as soon as we got loaded up in the car that night, Avery said that was so much fun! Can we go back. So with that, it was a success because the kids had fun! I think that is my take away from our night…..kids don't have expectations! They are happy no matter what! They look on the bright side and enjoy themselves no matter the circumstances! It was a night we will always remember!

Last Night at Beach Escape

So to end our vacation week, we had to get one more good dinner! Our choice was Sea N Suds again! The boys missed it and wanted to go! They have some of the best food anyway so we sure didn't care to go again.

Before we left we had to get a few pictures!

Thank you Nay Nay and BeBe for a fun week with you guys! It was so fun to all enjoy a beach trip together!                      

I just love this picture!




                                                 Mama and I on the pier at Sea N Suds!

Of course when it's your last night of vacation you have to go and get ice cream!! We all decided we were NOT counting calories this week. 

After ice cream we drove out to Fort Morgan to see the sun set again. It was an absolutely beautiful night. We made it right as the sun was going down. 

It was the perfect week with my favorite people at my favorite place on earth! I look forward to our next beach trip together! Beach Escape 2016 is in the books!

P.S. There are no pictures of the trip home! We were all worn out and our goal was to get home! HA!

Day 6 Beach Escape

Our last day is here! I always dread our last day at the beach. I am never ready to leave the beach! We decided to have a full beach day. We started out flying Avery's micro kite. It was so tiny. The tail on it was so much bigger than the actual kite. We had to have BeBe's help to get it up and going! (You have to look hard to find the kite.)

Avery's favorite thing to do was for us to dig holes and let him fill them with water. He went back and forth from the ocean with a water can and bucket to fill them. It was the sweetest thing.

Bocce ball has always been a favorite for our family. Mom and I played earlier this week but we needed to have a Wilson/Campbell challenge. I am not sure who ended up winning. We just had  fun playing!

                                                         

Reed Morgan enjoyed his last day at the beach too! We were all a little "crabby" it was the last day!

He enjoyed taking a nap on NayNay! 

 We had a lovely day chilling at the beach! I wish this was my backyard! 

Day 5 Beach Escape

When we planned our vacation we didn't realize Mother's Day would be that week. It was a pleasant surprise and has been so fun to celebrate all week! The boys surprised Mama and me with a spa morning! We started off today with manicures and pedicures! We got the royal treatment hot stones, hot towels, paraffin wax, scrubs and more! Mom and I had so much fun just the two of us. It was such a special treat and I am so thankful for the time to rest and relax! 

We went to The Beach Club Spa down in Fort Morgan. 

The sun was shining through the window behind us. Even with the filters I couldn't make the picture look good, but I wanted a picture of us in the chairs! 

Here we are after our spa time!  Check out those manicures!

That afternoon we hung out at the beach! It was a beautiful day. I think it is safety say that both boys are beach bums like their mama!

Avery had fun going back and forth from the ocean to the holes he dug in the sand. He filled them up over and over again with water. 

Reed Morgan and Dada

NayNay was good at getting Reed Morgan down for his nap at the beach!

Mama and Reed Morgan got a few pictures together for his first beach trip! 

For dinner we grilled hamburgers and NayNay made her famous NayNay french fries! It was so yummy! We thought about opening a restaurant and all moving to the beach! 

We went to watch the sunset out at Fort Morgan tonight but it was so windy we really didn't get any pictures. Hoping to get better ones tomorrow night. 

To end the day we had a HUGE crab hunt, I even came with the boys. It was so much fun! We probably got 20-25 crabs! We collected everything from sand crabs to stone crabs! It was a big night. I think I was the good luck charm! Bebe was so creative. He even brought Avery glow in the dark necklaces and a mini flashlight for each night to crab! Going crabbing has been the highlight of Avery's week!

Look at all the crabs we caught!

Here is the stone crab that I found!

                              Here is the master crab hunter…check out his glow in the dark necklace!

Another great day here in Fort Morgan….how will we leave?? 

Day 4 Beach Escape

I heard John say a cold front was moving in the night before but I didn't seem to comprehend it at the time. When we woke up and got ourselves geared up for another beach day, we had no idea how cold and windy it was outside. However, since it takes 115 hours to just get everyone ready to get to the beach, we decided to truck on and have some beach time. The "big" boys were not with us, they had left bright an early for a fishing trip that morning! So just NayNay, Avery, Reed Morgan and me went down to the beach. Between the cold temps and the gusty winds we stayed maybe an hour and half. We had towels wrapped around us pretty much the whole time. Despite the weather, we had a fun snack and I got some cute pictures of Avery!!

                                           The wind was perfect for the pinwheel though!

 I just love all his cute faces in these pictures! He was being silly and I was just snapping away!

I will have to add pictures from the guys fishing trip later. They are on the big camera! 

They had a ball and caught trout and red fish. It was another delicious lunch of fresh fish for them!

The afternoon was another relaxing one at the beach while the boys napped. John and Dad were eager to rest after getting up so early so Mom and I headed down to the beach and read in our books. The weather was much better turned out to be a gorgeous day! 

For dinner we decided on a place right down the road, Sassy Bass. We enjoyed some gouda cheese balls for an appetizer. (That is one of the things they are known for!) The girls and John enjoyed burgers, Bebe got a pulled pork sandwich. The homemade fries were my favorite!

 After we ate, Avery asked if we could go and get ice cream! Who could turn down a cute 3 year old little boy that wants ice cream?! We sure couldn't! 

We tried to get some pictures at the beach before dinner but it was still too light outside. The family pictures at TCBY turned out much cuter! Go figure! 

His smile shows exactly how I feel tonight! Absolute BLISS!