Arizona

Eric and I had the opportunity for a little just us getaway to Phoenix, Arizona.  It was a business mixed with pleasure for him and all pleasure & relaxation for me!  We had a wonderful time, and I always enjoy these spring trips with this particular group of dentists and oral surgeons.  Everyone is so nice, and I really enjoy the wives' company even if we only see each other one time a year.

 

Our dinner on Thursday evening was amazing, and after a few notes of business at the beginning, we were able to chat and catch up with everyone.

 

Dr. D giving a few introductory items of business.  He also happens to be the oral surgeon that took care of our sweet Amelia back in January.

 

On Friday evening, we had another group dinner, and it was also fantastic!  This cake was so yummy!  I needed to share it with someone.

 

On Friday and Saturday mornings, all the doctors were talking shop,

 

listening to an informative lecture (NO sarcasm - this guest speaker was great!),

 

and doing some hands-on dental implant stuff (yep, that's the official term!)

 

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, on Friday and Saturday mornings, I explored the beautiful property while going on a morning run after going to the gym.

 

I spent a couple of hours having my feet and hands pampered.

 

In the afternoons, all the doctors had a chance to play and relax too!

Dr. C loving the Flow Rider

Dr. C, where are you?

Dr. H lost it on this surf.

 

On Saturday evening, Eric and I had a casual dinner out.  

 

Afterwards, we came back to the resort and had a few drinks.

 

When Eric and Brock (the Columbia rep) started up with pool, I left them to their man time and retired to the bed.

 

What a fantastic getaway from the day-to-day grind.  My parents kept the house and the girls with no troubles and had fun with their granddaughters.  Win-win for everyone!!

Not Your Traditional Date Night

My husband spends many of his fall and early winter evenings & EARLY mornings in the woods.  He's been wanting to get me in the deer stand for awhile now.  We finally had an afternoon/evening that my parents could babysit, and he could be away from work in the afternoon, so we donned our camo gear, headed to his hunt club, and sat in the woods.  I even wore a deer call around my neck!  Madeline would be so proud that even while hunting, Mommy had on a "necklace". 

 

It was INCREDIBLY quiet, but I enjoyed myself.  I very much enjoyed the quiet.  I can certainly understand why the peacefulness is appealing to Eric after a hectic workday.  We didn't see any deer, but that's okay, I got a little taste of my honey's world.  And, we had a little date night even if we had to text each other in order to "talk" - that is until it started getting dark, and I had to cut my phone off.  :)  Eric said I followed all the "rules", so I suppose that means he'll invite me back to his little slice of peace and quiet.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Eric had a long workday on his birthday, and we were sad that the girls would not be awake when he got home from his case in Asheville to celebrate his birthday.  (Birthdays are becoming much for fun for us now that the girls enjoy celebrating someone's special day!)  After dinner, we made a banner to hang on the garage door, so Daddy would have a birthday greeting from his babies.  Who knew sign making would be such a fun project!?

Madeline helped me make brownies for Daddy. 

I got the girls nestled in the bed and prepared a little birthday dinner celebration for my hardworking honey.  It was a nice evening, and Eric felt loved most importantly!

Happy 36th Birthday to the special man in our lives!  We LOVE you!

First S'more Roast

We broke in the new fire pit with a post bath time s'more roast!  What fun!  Daddy was in his element collecting wood and building the fire.

Madeline was very excited to be able to come back down after her bath to roast a s'more.  Amelia just can't hang, so she was already in the bed.

Happy Daddy with his new fire pit

It really was a lovely evening to be outside.

Loading up the skewer with a marshmallow

Madeline enjoyed roasting the marshmallow, but she's really all about the end result.

Madeline couldn't get her hands on one of these fast enough!

YUM!

All smiles!

Savoring every bite

Daddy and his sweet girl - notice the bracelets.

We admired the moon.

What a great evening!

Hilton Head

Happy 7 Year Anniversary, Happy Birthday Eric, and Happy Post Baby Getaway was the theme for our most recent beach rendezvous to Hilton Head. With all of Eric's travel, he has racked up a bajillion Hilton points, so we decided that it was time for us to get away ALONE to the Hilton Resort on Hilton Head. (Side note: It really did feel like we were on a tropical island getaway! That hotel was amazing, and our stay was at no cost thanks to Hilton Honors points.) It was fabulous. Our room was perfect, our extra special treatment was divine, and the alone time with my honey was wonderful. We only had a couple of goals on this trip: relax, talk adult talk, eat slowly, sleep in, and play bocci on the beach. All of our goals were met!

We certainly enjoyed walking out to the beach with only a small cooler, chairs, towels, and bocci. Ahhhh, just beach, sun, and water.
Just us...we enjoyed lazy days by the beach playing bocci. We also enjoyed getting cleaned up to go out to dinner during what would normally be the dinner/bath/bed routine with the girls. (Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for giving us a long weekend away!) We had several dinners out, some fancy, some casual, to celebrate our anniversary and Eric's birthday.

This next series of pictures cracks me up because as Eric and I were posing to do our famous self portrait at dinner one evening, the lady at the next table kindly offered to snap a photo of us. Not only are they blurry, but she was not happy that we were content to sit across the table from each other. She wanted us to be all lovey, dovey on each other. She obliged and took our table picture.

Then she pointed to me, and said, "Sit on his lap." So I threw caution to the wind & did as she asked since she was rather insistent. :)

Then she wanted us to kiss. Really lady?! We agreed upon the cheek kiss.

Luckily, the lady and her man's cab arrived, so she gave us our camera back. Later back at the resort while wandering around, Eric and I documented the night with our self portrait!

Lunch at the pool bar was so relaxing --- no wiggly kiddos, no cutting up food, no worries!

A much needed mini vacation with my true love!