Our first Mommy and Daddy ONLY Vacation

 

 Hubby and I traveled to Florida last week for a Youth Ministry Conference. NCYM is the National Conference on Youth Ministry and host around 200 Church of Christ Youth Ministers and their families for a week of worship, learning and fellowship. We spent almost an entire week in Daytona Beach, and even though the weather was not what we had hoped for, we still had an amazing time. 

We have a few Youth Minister friends from Georgia who came as well. We hadn't seen any of them since we moved so it was great to catch up. I was the only wife of our group of friends that came, but I had a blast being "one-of-the-guys" for the week while I hung out with them. The worship at this place was awesome. Something I needed so much, you just really don't get that feeling outside of camp or something, so it was great to get it this weekend. The lessons we good, we learned some new teaching tricks, and some helpful apps to make teaching teens better. Also we met some very inspiring men, who have given their life in dedication to pursue God's purpose. It was great to hear their struggles, and the way they used them in their journey to find God. Overall I would say this Conference was much needed, and we are hopefully going to go again next year. 

 

This was our first trip alone post-baby. Little Man was left in the hands of his 3 grandmothers that live in town. Fortunately he got to sleep in his own bed every night, and didn't seem to mind being passed around. I am so thankful that we have family here that can help us out, and give us some much needed time alone.

Little Man and his "Poppy"-my dad

Family Fun in Branson

As you know I was on hiatus last week. I was spending the week with my family in Branson, MO. We used to go there all the time as a kid and since Hubby had never been we decided to show him the best Branson could offer. Unfortunately, it rained the ENTIRE week :( but we were able to sneak in some fun stuff in between the downpours.

The first day we spent shopping and walking around at one of the local outdoor malls. While we were there we stopped in to take some old time photos. Little Man did awesome and the photographers were very impressed.

 Sorry for the quality. I had to take a picture of the pictures with my phone. They have this special paper that if you try to scan it, it creates a watermark right over the picture and they are ruined. So this is the best I can do :(


We stayed in my parents time-share, which is always nice. It's basically a little apartment with a complete kitchen and washer and dryer. We saved a lot of money by cooking breakfast and dinner while we were there.
-Side note: We got ranged into one of those time-share sales presentations. I felt so bad for the guy, he said that ministers were the hardest to sell to, and on top of that, my parents are already owners so we can use it whenever we want. But we went along with it and in the end collected our $150 gift card, BONUS!!

Oh and if you didn't know, when you travel with a baby you bring a car load FULL of crap. OK not crap, I needed all of it at some point during the week but seriously, he took up more room than I could ever dream of. Between his own suitcase since I had to take extra outfits in case we had a blow-out, his jumpy, his tummy time mat, a stroller, baby carrier, car seat with base and my giant diaper bag, we were surrounded by baby stuff.

On Thursday we went to Silver Dollar City, an amusement park in Branson. This is my all time favorite amusement park (aside from Disney), and I have been to many. The reason I love this one so much is that it is so family friendly. Not only do they have 3 awesome roller coasters, water rides and other rides for older kids and adults, but they have a whole section for smaller kids. We even got to take Little Man on a ride! Also they have tons of shopping, and since its based in the 1800's its also educational for kids complete with  live glass blowing and a blacksmith.
If you have never been to Branson, it is a great family friendly trip right in the middle of the country. Only a 5 hour drive for us, and they have something for everyone. Shows, putt-putt and go-karts, Silver Dollar City and shopping, Branson is fun for all.

Now that I'm done plugging Branson - just kidding, these are all of my own opinions, but I really do think its a great place. Here are some pictures of the rest of the week.

Hubby and Little Man hanging out at Silver Dollar City

Little Man passed out from all the fun

Little Man's first ride, the Flooded Mine, he was very confused but wasn't scared at all when it went dark, or at the sound of the guns shooting

Swinging bridge, my boys had fun jumping up and down

We went to putt-putt and Little Man got to be a pirate. Hubby was actually very good while having a baby strapped to his chest.

Overall we had great time, it was great to spend time with family. We are back rested and ready to finish up this busy summer.

Our Whirlwind Weekend

This past weekend we took the 15 hour drive down to Georgia. After our move from Georgia to Kansas only 4 months ago, I swore I would never again make the drive; but with plane tickets over $450 each there was no other option.
We left after work on Thursday afternoon and drove through the night. It was a rough drive, but we made it to our destination at about 10am. Hubby and my mom did most of the driving, I stayed in the back and took care of the baby. Little Man did awesome and slept pretty much the whole time.

Friday night we met with friends and ate at our favorite sushi restaurant Sushi Bites, the Sushi Bites Roll is a MUST!
Saturday we visited my 2 favorite girls, the ones that I took care of while we lived in Georgia. I can't believe how much they have changed in the last 4 months! They loved Little Man and were very excited to give him a Brobee doll and Yo Gabba Gabba movies. I guess its never too early to break out "We're gunna eat" song :)

Saturday evening we went to my cousin David's wedding. This was some affair, let me tell you. It was at the Atlanta Country club. A beautiful wedding, a beautiful couple, and the food was AWESOME! The only thing that would have made it better is for the downpour to have stayed away. But lucky for them the rain stopped right as the ceremony started.
This was my first wedding with passed hors d'oeuvres (Hubby was very impressed). I felt like I was in one of those wedding shows I watch on TLC.

Here are some photos of the weekend, please excuse the quality they were all taken on my iPhone. 

All dressed up, Little Man was very fussy pre-wedding

Everyone kept telling me how adorable he was

 Hubby held Little Man in the back just in case he decided to get fussy again. He was content the entire time. Afterwards I complemented Hubby on doing a good job keeping him quiet. He then broke the news that he was using cherry lifesavers to bribe him to be quiet. I wasn't too happy about this, but oh well.

They offered water or pink lemonade once you sat down at the ceremony. The programs were doubled as fans, although because of the rain it wasn't hot enough to need them. The front of the fan says "Order of Ceremony, Music Starts, We Get Married, Everyone Parties" I thought that was too cute.

The happy couple and a beautiful ceremony

First dance, they danced to Christina Perri's "A 1000 Years"

My cousin David (groom) and I at the reception

 My cousin Derick meeting Little Man for the first time                          Grandpa Doug dancing with Little Man