Sun, Sand, & Sea

Will and I joined Nana and Papa for a relaxing week at the beach before Aaron and the rest of the family were able to join us for the weekend. The evening we arrived it was pretty windy and chilly, but we still got a glimpse of the waves.
Our days were filled with lounging around, soaking up some sun, and some ridiculously delicious food, including all the fried seafood a girl can eat, homemade ice cream, Nana's hotcakes and french toast. We both enjoyed watching old movies with Papa.

The ocean was the perfect refreshing temperature, and Will could not get enough of it!

He loved wearing his water shoes... and I was a bit jealous everytime I stepped on a sharp shell.

When he wasn't in the water, he was digging in the sand or checking out the airplanes flying overhead.

This little guy loves long walks on the beach... first with Nana,

then with Aunt Kate, all while jumping a few waves!

Lovin' us some shade...

and SAND! He had a mouthful by the time he was done for the day (crackers and sandcastles don't mix).

Time for a lesson on Daddy's boogie board!

Why does a beach vacation always go by too fast?! I'm sure we'll be back soon!

Happy Birthday, Aunt Kate/Cake

We celebrated Kate's birthday at the beach this year. The celebration began at Joe's Crab Shack.
Will was soaking up all the attention from the birthday girl, who he often refers to as Aunt Cake!

Our family trio, Mom, Dad, Nana, and Papa were on hand to celebrate the occasion.

We stayed at North Myrtle, SC where I just love shopping/eating at Barefoot Landing, because it's built right on the inland waterway.

After dinner we returned to the condo for cake and presents, where Will was happy to assist Aunt Cake with blowing out her candles!

Wedding Weekends

A great thing about living closer to friends and family is that it's much easier to attend special events. The past two weekends we went to two weddings of good friends. The first was for my Meredith classmate Kristin in Durham. She's a graphic designer and her artistic flair was evident in so many special touches on the day. The groom even built the table centerpieces for the reception.
She made a beautiful bride and it was so fun to catch up with old friends, some even that I hadn't seen since graduation!

We were seated at a table with Sandee (my MC roomie) and Ryan, Blair (hallmate) and David and Blair's mom, who I remember taking us out to lunch at Meredith.

All of us Angels sang our MC song to Kristin, "We love you Kristin, oh yes we do..."

And took our group picture, adding Kristin's sister, who is also an MC alum.

The wedding was sweet and the reception was lots of fun. A beautiful day for a beautiful couple!

Then, this past Saturday, my sister's best friend's little sister (did you follow that?), Heather, got married. Their family has been great friends of our family for years. The weather cleared just in time for a beautiful rooftop ceremony.

The whole Kemmerer gang was in attendance...

And I apparently picked out a dress that coordinated with the table runners! Awesome!

They had a photo booth going which was tons of fun. You could dress up or not... you can see what we chose, and that we apparently need better instructions on when to pose!

Here's Kate with her bestie, Priscilla, and the Padron family busting a move on the dance floor.

We had a blast on the dance floor and Aaron and I really enjoyed the night out, thanks to his parents for watching Will. Best wishes to Heather and Chris!

Shiloh Farm

Our end-of-year MOPS playdate was held at a local family farm. It was such a wonderful place with so many fun things for the kids to see and do, not to mention that it was a beautiful day to be outside. As soon as we arrived, Will began checking out all of the animals.
From chickens to turkeys, horses and donkeys, peacocks and puppies... this farm had it all. They even rescue animals. The little ducklings had been brought to them by someone who saved them after a fox got their mama.

We enjoyed looking at all of the bunnies. This floppy-eared fella was our favorite. Then, this little boy put on his riding cap...

And patiently waited his turn to ride a horse! I couldn't believe how brave he was as they put him up in the saddle and paraded him around.

He was in awe! Only once, did he look back at me and say, "Mama??" before finishing his ride.

As if that didn't already make his day, we then got to take a train ride around the property.

He was pretty proud of the fact that he got to sit all by himself. And he must have said "choo choo" a 100 times during our ten minute ride.

Next we got to "pet" the animals. First, we saw the miniature horse who gives kisses. She was the most gentle creature and she's been trained to provide therapy for children in wheelchairs.

She lived up to the hype, and planted a huge smooch smack dab on Will's lips. He had a dirt moustache to prove it!

My favorite part of the whole day was getting to play with the Basset Hound puppies. They were so cute with their little floppy ears.

Will was sooooo... gentle and did a great job holding one little guy with a little help from me.

Awww... puppy kisses! Puppy breath! If they didn't already have a home, I'm afraid we might have become a two dog household!

Squeezing in as much puppy love as we possibly could!

After enjoying a picnic lunch, we stopped back by to say goodbye to the puppies (I love how the mama is keeping watch in the corner). I think we wore them out! Such cuteness!

Royal Wedding Party

On Friday, April 29th, Mom and I woke up at 3:45am to watch the royal wedding of the century on LIVE TV! The guests were dazzling in their hats, the energy was electric, and the bride was stunning! It was such a fun historical event to witness and a fantastic excuse for party! After we watched the wedding coverage, we sprang into full party-prep mode, and nearly stayed up a full 24 hours getting ready for our big event the following day. But, we can both agree, it was definitely worth it!
Here's a glimpse at some of the decor. I made the "just married" sign for my friend Shannon's wedding and then Aaron and I used it on our get-away car, too. It's up for grabs for whoever wants it next! The bride and groom look lovely on top of our wedding cake. And we made sure to have a tiara on hand for every party guest.

We asked each guest to bring their own wedding photo album, and we voted on wedding album superlatives...

It was great to see pictures of brides from the 70's up through today. My oh my, how things change!

Many guests also brought their wedding dresses, veils, jewelry, handbags, etc. We had a great time playing dress-up!

Of all the guests' attire, Esther made the best grand entrance with her one-of-a-kind fascinator!

It was a great mix of moms and daughters, friends and family, and college roommates.

Don't our engagement ring look-alikes looked awesome?! My favorite was Anna's "diamond" ring that she colored blue with a magic marker to make it look like a sapphire.

Modeling our veils. Seed pearls, cathedral length, and satin trim for sure!

Finally, we feasted on our wedding party spread: Shrimp stuffed tomatoes, gorgonzola pear salad, cream cheese terrine with crackers, orange and blueberry scones, strawberries and cream, Scotch eggs, spinach and bacon quiche, and cucumber sandwiches.

Of course, we dined in front of the TV playing DVR'd wedding coverage.

Aren't they simply breathtaking and swoon-worthy?!

This picture of these two just makes me laugh.

Sandee won our Royal Wedding Trivia game, with 13 out of 20 questions correct. Her prize: this framed photo of the future king and queen... what else?!

Next, came the cutting of the cake.

This little princess ate it up! Her white dress was the cutest!

And here's the whole group courtesy of Shannon's tripod, check out her other pics here. The cars driving by loved this. Later, when mom was helping VA out to her car, a truck honked at her in her tiara, so she gave him a royal wave.

These guests made the day so much fun with their enthusiasm and willingness to just go-with-it. They made our cheesy idea for a party such a blast!

And, just because Mom hated for all the fun to be over... she kept wearing her tiara while we cleaned up.

And kept wearing it, and kept wearing it...

Kate finally convinced her it was time to take it off, oh, about 3 hours later. *smile*