Road Trip Weekend!

Since Daddy is still in Texas (we thought he'd be home this weekend ), Stryker and I set off to see Nana & Poppa in Aiken. We always love going up there and it's been since October since we got to go.

We packed our bags Thursday night, loaded up the car Friday morning and left directly after work & school to hit the road! My little man is such a great traveler. I strapped him in, got him comfortable with blankie & puppy and set him up with his IPad.

The ride seemed longer this time around & I'm not sure why. It took us a bit over 2 hours and we were finally there! Nana & Poppa treated us out to dinner, which included cotton candy & ice cream... at 7:30pm... Needless to say, we returned home, Stryker whipped Nana in Wii and we stayed up til almost midnight! We finally made Stryker go to bed :)

Saturday morning my little guy woke up bright and early (of course!) and hung out with Nana while Mommy got to sleep in (until almost 10!!! Blessing!). We had a yummy breakfast cooked by them and got ourselves ready for the day. Since it was cold (FREEZING!) and rainy, we started off at the Aiken Railroad Depot. This was a fun little train museum with a diorama outlining the railroad system from Charleston to Hamburg. It was quite interesting and Stryker loved the trains.

After the trains, we stopped off at the Aiken County Museum. We learned all about the different towns within the county of Aiken. It's been a very long time since I've visited a museum and I really enjoyed it. Stryker got a little amiss after roaming through this place (it was QUITE large), but he hung tough and seemed to enjoy the attractions as well.

(This is a panoramic pic from my IPhone. It's taken in sections... Styrker must've been running in front of me during the picture taking! There are NOT three little Strykers!)

 

 

 After the museum, we treated Nana & Poppa to their VERY FIRST Fro-Yo experience! Stryker was super excited to show them the different flavors and the oh so many toppings. The Aiken Fro-Yo is awesome! They have better toppings then what we have here in GC. Cookie Dough & Cheesecake bites were my favorite! No pictures of our Fro-Yo since we were all pretty hungry and this was 'lunch'. :)
We made a quick run to Target and headed back to the house to Skype Uncle Bubba & Daddy. Aunt Katie & Uncle Logan came for dinner. Nana made us hamburgers, hot dogs, chips & slaw and we stuffed ourselves. BUT, Stryker was down for some more Wii and the whole gang spent the night playing with him and chilling out. We even roasted S'mores in the fire place by the fire. After Katie & Logan left, it didn't take very long for our favorite little Bug to zonk out on us. And look! Even Max was thankful he FINALLY settled down :)

Today we got up early for a easy breakfast so we could go to church for the early service. After church, we returned back to the house and had a very relaxing morning. Soon it was time for lunch and we all agreed we should go to Outback. My favorite! And apparently Stryker's too :) Thanks to Nana & Poppa for treating us again! After lunch, it was time to hit the road back home. :(   The weekend seemed to fly right by and leaving is always hard. BUT there's always next time! And hopefully next time will be in just over a month for the Aiken Spring Steeplechase! This will be our 4th year!

Last picture... besides the above picture, this is as close as Max will let Stryker get to him... Too funny!

Thanks Mommy & Mark for your hospitality and the fun times! We love y'all!

Mom's 54th!

This year I am trying a new thing... I would like to give 'experiences' for birthdays versus gifts for my family. First up this year, Mom! And lucky for me, this was an easy one!

The Price Is Right Live show was scheduled to come to the North Charleston Performing Arts Center the weekend of her birthday. I purchased our tickets ASAP and we were set to go. Aunt Lorie was kind enough to pick up Stryker and let him spend the night with her and the kiddos that Friday night while Mom & I went to the show. Mom came down early so we could head to the PAC and register to be a contestant before the show. We soon found out, everyone else in Charleston had that same idea :)

It looks rather bad, but in actuality it wasn't that bad at all. We waited approximately an hour and we got into the lobby, filled out the little form and got our name tags. It took 2.5 minutes. We decided that since we had an hour and half until show time and they weren't letting people in to sit yet we'd go grab a bite to eat. We planned to head just across the way to Panera Bread for a soup & salad. WRONG. Traffic was RIDIC! So, to play it safe (in terms of not wasting a lot of time), I treated my Mom to Waffle House for dinner. Winning! LOL! She said she didn't mind and let's face it, WH is awesome!

After our delish fancy quick dinner, we headed back to the PAC to find our seats and get comfy. The place was sold out! We waited patiently for the show to start...

The show was a good time and unfortunately for us, we were not picked to go on stage to win fabulous cash & prizes. But, fun nonetheless! I hope my Mom had a nice birthday gift outing! It sure was fun to have a girl's night! 

Saturday we had Ethan's first birthday party to attend and then we headed over to Granny's house for a birthday dinner for Mom. Granny, Mark, Logan, Katie, Lorie, Peyton & Maddison along with Stryker, Pat & me had a great time celebrating our favorite Nana! Lorie made us Stuffed Shells, Salad and Garlic Bread. I provided the cake. LOL! I'm very fortunate to have a SIL that loves to cook, and does it so very well!

 

After dinner, it was time for cake & ice cream! 

    

These guys seem like they were waiting forever or something...

It was all we could do to keep Peyton & Stryker from blowing out the candles while we sang the Birthday Song! They were quite ready and waiting. Little Miss Maddison wasn't sure what all this hoopla was all about!

 

 

 

Finally! The song was over and they raced to blow out the candles!

And both of them HAD to lick the icing off the candles. There may or may not have been some wax eating...

Next up, you guessed it! GIFTS! The best part for the boys! Nana was quite the diplomat and made sure everyone had a turn in opening her gifts and cards. Good sharing guys!

And in true Nana Fashion, gifts for the grand kids followed her own celebration! Peyton, Stryker & Maddison each got a Valentine goodie bag full of V-Day treats and Love.

 

Hmmm... what's this? I shall put it in my mouth! Good catch, Mommy. Maybe next time :)

 

We all hope you had a fabulous birthday Nana! We love you so very much!