another first for the books.

Weekend Wrap-up huh? Does anyone still do these anymore? Probably not. Oh well. Today I am.

This weekend was awesome. Absolutely positively so much fun.

A few months ago, my very football crazy aunt bought tickets for the Charlotte Panthers/New York Giants game. She was stoked at the chance to come see her beloved Eli Manning play so she snatched up tickets basically the minute we moved to the Charlotte area. My brother and sister in law made plans to come up for the weekend and we've all been so excited for this weekend.

But plans change. And when kiddos are involved, they change quickly.

The day before my S & Kiki were supposed to come down, their little one came down with the chicken pox. Which quickly put a kibosh on the weekend plans.

My aunt and granddad still came down though so Saturday we took them with us to the littles' ballet practice and then headed over to Southpark to do a bit of shopping. My Papa and Mr. P did most of the entertaining of the little one (who is finally at the age where these excursions are mostly fun) while my aunt and I hit basically every store in the entire mall. True story.

BG hit a few stores with us and as she exclaimed "look! isn't this so cute!" over and over as she showed us stuff, I was hit with a memory so hard it took my breath away. I remember spending Saturdays growing up shopping with my Grandma and aunt and now here I am, with the same aunt and my little girl shopping away on a Saturday. Some traditions are too awesome to not keep.

Since we now had two extra tickets, we decided to just take E to the game with us instead of leaving her behind. I figured if she got super bored, we would just walk the concourse for a bit. I honestly wasn't too worried about it.

And I truly shouldn't have been.

We dropped the three of them off at the stadium while Mr. P and I went and parked. We then walked the mile back to the stadium and met back up with them. We went on through security and checked in at the guest counter where BG was gifted a certificate to commemorate her first Panthers game.

We found our seats, then found some overpriced hotdogs and drink to consume. BG ate and kept her eyes on the beginning of the game. She was being so good!

She lost interest for a bit but just sat down in front of her chair and played on the stadium floor (no judgement!) for a bit. After a quick rest on her Mama's lap, BG was ready to finish out the game. And finish the game she did.

In no time she was high fiving those around us, dancing with the cheerleaders, and having a blast watching the Panther dance around the end zone. I'm not sure she watched a bit of football, but it didn't matter. She clearly had a blast. And so did the rest of us.

The weather was perfection. The city is perfection. And though the Giants basically didn't show up to play at all, it was still worth it to go. It was an absolutely perfect day.
We ended the day with wings and ice-cream before collapsing in the bed pretty early. It's safe to say my girl enjoyed her first NFL game. And so did her parents. Such a good day.

columbia zoo trip. ftw.

This past weekend, Mr. P and I and my brother and sister-in-law decided to take a trip down to Columbia and take the girls to the zoo. My brother and I were in Charlotte Friday working a golf tournament so we decided to meet Mr. P and Kiki and the girls there. Only they took forever. So Steve and I took a detour to a driving range and then to the parking lot to take a nap.

Finally, they made it. And it was time to hit the zoo.
Some of Kiki's family made the trip down as well and brought their kiddos. BG had an absolute blast running around with the other kiddos.
Seriously, how many people can one fit into a photobooth?!

The day was so fun. The weather was less than perfect but the kids didn't care. When it rained, we hit the indoor exhibits. Or we ran around in the rain. Either option.
We had such a good day. I love spending time with my little family and I love being surrounded both other friends and family. And my girl? she's made like me. She thrives with her favorite people around.
It was a good day. I kind of can't wait to do it again.

patch #3. for real.

One of the greatest things about living where we live now has been living a bit closer to my brother and his family. I think I've said it before, and I'm sure I'll say it again, but I'm loving the fact that BG and her cousin now live close enough to each other that they get to do a bit of life together. It's pretty awesome.

Doing life together also includes getting to do those "we're parents now so this is basically required of us" things like pumpkin patches in October and tree farms in December. So last month, a pumpkin patch trip was made.

And it was good.

Unfortunately we went the day that Sandy was passing by so the wind was out of control and the sun was basically nonexistent. But the patch was still open so we went.

There was a cow train (a running one!), a hay ride (super windy for sure), a two hour stint in a corn maze (in which Baby A slept and BG rode- lucky), games, and a ton more. It was a total blast.

*a plumber's crack, a sleeping babe, and a corn trail to get our lost tails out of there is what a good trip is made of..*
So much fun. Even though a fight almost broke out over cornhole (seriously the brother and I might be ridiculous competitive) and the girls wanted nothing to do with a photo op (only smiles were the work of crawling on the ground Aunt Kiki), it was a win.

Though going to the pumpkin patch three times in one month has BG all confused as to why we haven't been to one lately. Try explaining it will be another year for that trip to a toddler... Fun.

fair fun.

At the beginning of the month, the fair came to town and there was no way on Earth this girl wasn't going.

I love the fair. Everything about it. The rides, the exhibits, the food; give me it all. Mr. P is more of a fan of "whatever keeps the wife happy" as there is no way he's getting on a ride that can be "taken apart in minutes and fit in the bed of a truck". His words.

This girl? don't care.

I immediately checked out the dates and texted Kiki (my SIL) to let her know the dates so we could plan a big 'ol family fun night at the fair. And plan we did.

BG has been to the fair once, back in Savannah, but Mr. P has never been with her and this was Uncle Marine's first time with his little family so the trip was all kinds of special. And a total blast.

Mr. P and I headed out right after he got off of work with the little one. No lie, I was itching to get there all day and might have talked it up to BG so much that she and I both might have made Dad a bit crazy on the ride. But we made it. In one (or three individual pieces).
We skipped the exhibits and headed straight for the animals. After procuring a cup of food, we did the rounds of the petting zoo making sure BG got to feed each and every animal (I am not a germ phobe at all when it comes to things like this. I love her getting right in the thick of it). And get in the middle of it she did. This girl definitely got my love of animals and enjoyed every second of the petting zoo. Except for the one that got her shoulder. She had to stop and give that one a talking to.
Ha. See?
When in Rome, or when at the fair, you do as the fair folk do so we headed off for face painting. For the little one. I'm not that fair crazy.
By that time, UM and his family were pulling in so we grabbed some pizza and sat down to eat while we waited on the three of them to find us. Only it took them forever so we headed down to let BG take her first ride on a pony. Don't you let her expression fool you; she LOVED it.
Eventually we found UM and crew. And BG was ecstatic as usual because she adores those three something fierce.
After a second trip through the petting zoo, it was off to the pig races. Which the adults were far more excited about than BG was. She is a tough crowd.
Then it was time for the rides.

This trip was a ton of fun in that BG could actually ride a ton of the rides. Yay for being over 3 feet tall! The carousel was her first choice and it was a much bigger hit than her first carousel experience this summer. She loved it. Though she did spend much of the ride checking herself out in the mirror. Such a girl.

The rest of the night was spent riding rides and eating way too much fair food. Kiki decided that UM, me, her, and her friend needed to ride that Gravitron ride, so we did. And I'm clearly 30 because it almost killed me. I felt drunk the rest of the trip. Oh getting older is amazing.
Oh yea? See that fish? That's our new addition. I won him. Mr. P is thrilled.
BG even went on her first "rollercoaster" with me. I don't have any pictures though (lucky you!) because no one else likes to work my camera. Oh well.
It was an absolute and total blast. Pretty sure we all woke up with a fair hangover the next morning, but it was totally worth it. Even if it did take us hours to get moving the next day. We made it to breakfast at 11:00. Nice.
Is it bad that I'm already excited about next year's trip?

Don't answer that.