After a family reunion, trip to the beach, birthday bash and much anticipated movie outing...we are back from vacation. It was a bit of a whirlwind, but we had so much fun and it was great being able to spend time together for a whole week.
The week started on the 10th, when we travelled to Gainesville for my annual family reunion. It was nice to catch up with everyone and visit for the weekend. The family reunion weekends always fly by and it's hard to sit and talk to everyone. I feel like I got to spend some quality time with my aunts and uncles and cousins this time around.
Ainsley had fun playing with the itty bitty kids. Most of whom are children of my cousins. She especially loved following Caiden around. Caiden is only 1 year and a few months older than Ainsley, but he is a big boy. However, he is so sweet and was so great with Ainsley. They had fun jumping on the trampoline and playing in the dirt at the ball fields.
Clif played softball, but I did not this year. My knees have really been giving me issues. I knew there was no way I'd be able to squat down or run so I sat the bench.
After the weekend we headed south to Nags Head for a few days at the beach with Clif's family. At first Ainsley was not a fan of the sand and wanted nothing to do with the water. I even had to sit in the baby pool with her. However, she began warming up and even spent some time in the ocean with Clif jumping over the waves. She loved that...which means maybe we will have a little thrill seeker on our hands!
The beach was awesome and Clif and I agreed that next year we would spend a whole week there. However, this year we had to come home on Thursday to get ready for Ainsley's party.
But before I get to Ainsley's party, I have to share some very exciting news. My sister and her boyfriend showed up on Friday night and Mike proposed that evening! He had been planning to do it on their trip to San Francisco this week. However, he thought Carolyn might be getting suspicious. So he called Clif on Friday afternoon and laid out his plan. We met for dinner at a place downtown (Carolyn, Mike, Mom, Clif, Ainsley and me) then we took a walk on the Canal Walk where Carolyn played right into his hands. She pointed to a nice spot up ahead and said "Mom take a picture. Come on Mike." And the rest is history. We are all very excited and glad that they shared their special moment with us.
Saturday morning it was busy, busy, busy getting ready for the party. We kept it much smaller than last year - family and a couple of very close friends - but we still seemed to have a lot of people here. I kept the party much less stress free this year. I didn't make the cake...I bought it. I didn't make 18 different appetizers...I made 4, very easy dips. I didn't have a broken refrigerator!!!! I think that was probably what made the day so easy. Amazing what a working fridge can do for your stress level!
Ainsley had a blast playing in the baby pool, opening gifts and eating cake.
We had a really great day surrounded by our loved ones.
Finally, Sunday we were able to get a babysitter (Thanks Caitlyn) and Clif and I went to see the new Harry Potter movie. I could not wait to see it. I am a big fan of the books and the last time a movie came out I had a 5 or 6 day old, so needless to say I did not make it to the theater.
Well that about wraps it up. We are now trying to get back in the swing of things. It's so hard to go back to work after a week off. It's even harder to come home at night, make dinner and clean the house. On vacation you don't have to clean and you get to eat out most of the time. Too bad I can't spend most of my life on vacation.
P.S. - I'm having trouble loading videos to You Tube, but I have a few to share. I'll do that in the next post.
