Summer: Week 7 / Girls Weekend

When we started the week, the nursery looked like this:

On Monday, Jake had a baseball game. Sometimes I think it was taking on too much doing YMCA baseball right after City League baseball, but I am loving how laid back YMCA baseball is. We are actually now halfway through the season & only have a few games left. I've still yet to get a picture of Jake in his Tigers uniform. 

On Tuesday, this child finally got a haircut. It was a little overdue.  

I don't know what's up with the goofy "after" picture smile

 On Wednesday, with his camp, they got to go on a field trip to the zoo. Jake loved seeing the animals (he kept changing which one was his favorite), but his favorite parts of the field trip were getting to ride the big yellow school bus & eating their lunch outside on a picnic table. When I picked Jake up that afternoon, I was laughing with one of the counselors, because she was saying that her favorite part of field trips is seeing the Kindergartners get so excited about riding the bus. I told her they should make that a field trip for them. Just ride around the city on the bus. 

 By the end of the week, our crib looked like this:

And you could actually walk into the room!

 For the weekend, we were triple booked. Robbie had his boys weekend in Chicago. I had my girls weekend in Birmingham and Jake had Camp Nana & Gran. 

Camp Nana & Gran

At Camp Nana & Gran, on Friday night, they camped out. They roasted marshmallows & watched a movie outside. Then they actually all slept in the tent and stayed throughout the night. (Usually they give up & go inside to sleep on beds.) 

Jake, Maddox & Marrell
Major props to my dad & brother, for staying with them & sleeping in the tent too.

 On Saturday, they spent the day swimming

On Sunday, they went to church & then Gran took Jake fishing. Jake said he loved fishing except for the fish & the worms. Jake had such a fun time! No wonder he would gladly move to Nana & Gran's and just settle for visitation with mom & dad. 

Girl's Weekend

 I see my 2 best friends from college all throughout the year at different events or visiting. But we pick 1 weekend out of the year, that it is just us 3. No husbands, no kids, no schedule. Just a weekend for us to hang out & catch up. At my bachelorette party, Amanda was just a few weeks out from giving birth to her 2nd child. 2 years ago at our weekend getaway, Stephanie was just weeks out from giving birth to her 2nd child. And now this year, I am weeks away from giving birth to my 2nd child. We've each enjoyed a weekend away mucho pregnant. Since this was my turn, they sweetly offered to come up to Birmingham for the weekend, so I wouldn't have to travel.

The girls got into town Friday afternoon and then we went to dinner Friday night. On Saturday, we spent the day shopping and then checked into our hotel in downtown Homewood Soho. That night we have a fabulous dinner at DoDiYos. 

Stephanie, me & Amanda

It was honestly one of the best weekends. We laughed, we reminisced, we just had an amazing time. You know you are among your best friends, when you can do hardly anything and it is an absolute blast. I had so much fun, it really made me think about our friendship after they headed home on Sunday. We've been best friends for the last 17 years. We met as sorority pledges our freshman year in college. What makes 3 people stay friends for 17 years, when you live in different cities & all have busy lives? 

• You stay friends with people that make you laugh. We laughed so much about so many things over the weekend. Laughs were shared over old stories, new stories, stories about our kids, stories about our mistakes. You want to be around people that make you laugh.
• You stay friends with people that make you want to be a better person. Both Stephanie & Amanda have amazing traits that I admire so much. Whenever I spend time with them, I leave wanting to eat healthier, exercise more, be more giving, be more selfless. They don't make me feel bad about myself, they just make me feel encouraged and motivated. You want to be around people that make you want to be the best that you can be.
• You stay friends with people that make you feel normal. I don't know how many times we would tell a story about something going on in our lives, with our husbands or kids, and someone else would say "me too!". It makes you feel normal to hear other people have the same worries, concerns, fears & embarrassments. Stephanie & I will both send our oldest to kindergarten this year, and Amanda gives some of the best advice since she has been through a lot of this already with her oldest son. You want to be around people that make you feel like you are not alone.
• You stay friends with people who love you even when you are not very lovable. We've each gone through our rough patches at different times over the last 17 years. Sure it is easy to find people to love you when everything is going great & you are at your best. But it is when you are at your lowest, that you find out who your best friends really are. They are the ones who stick by your side, who listen to you, and offer a shoulder to cry on. Stephanie & Amanda are 2 of the few people that knew every in & out of our struggle to have a 2nd child from the beginning. They had to listen to me tell the same story multiple times. They had to listen to me overreact to things that probably were not as big of a deal as I made them out to be. They made time for my whiny phone calls, even when they were busy with their own problems & lives. You want to be around people that make you feel loved & cared for.   

Our friendship over the last 17 years....

I am so very blessed