Our Honeymoon in Negril, Jamaica

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Justin and I will be celebrating our 10th anniversary in August.  (August 14th, to be exact, in case you want to send gifts.)  It makes me feel old just saying that.

It seems like just yesterday that we were at that old go-cart track meeting for the first time.  (Yes, go-cart track. That’s another story for another day.)  I have several posts planned about our relationship–How We Met, Wedding, etc. in honor of our upcoming anniversary.

Today, I thought I would share the story of our honeymoon.  I apologize in advance for the quality of these photos.  Ten years ago, I only printed photos, so these are pictures of pictures.  (Even scanning didn’t turn out so well….)

For our honeymoon, we went to Negril, Jamaica.  It was the closest thing to heaven-on-earth that I can imagine.  Our room was right on the beach, about fifteen feet from the ocean.  We had double doors that opened to the beach, with a hammock in a tree about five feet away.  Paradise.  The below photo was taken standing in the doorway of our room.

Honeymoon in Negril, Jamaica at the Sandals resort. www.ouralabamalife.com

Being Jamaica, there were several ladies (mostly from countries other than the USA) who chose to sunbathe topless.  (Our resort did border the nude resort, but I’m not even going to get into the grossness of that.  If it’s your thing, more power to you, but I do not want my behind sitting on the same seat that someone else’s sweaty, naked behind has been on.)

One such well-endowed beach goer would park her topless self right in front of my view every single morning.  When we were in the room, I would close the curtains to our doors, because who wants to stare at someone’s boobs all day?  I would turn around, and the curtains would be open.  I’d close them.  They’d open back up.  Close.  Open.  Apparently, my new hubby didn’t mind the view.

Disclaimer:  I have teased Justin with that story for the entire ten years that we have been married.  The ocean really was a gorgeous view, that neither of us wanted to miss.  =)

The resort was Sandals All-Inclusive, so each night we made reservations at one of the different restaurants on the resort.  The food was amazing.  (If you’ve never stayed at a Sandals Resort, it is a must.  If you want to feel rich and famous, that is.)

We also enjoyed several excursions–we went canoeing across to a small island about a hundred yards of the coast of our beach.

Honeymoon in Negril, Jamaica at the Sandals resort. www.ouralabamalife.com

We rode the Hobie-Cat almost every day.  (A Hobie-Cat is almost like a small sailboat, with two ‘floats’ on either side.)  It was actually on the Hobie-Cat that I first thought I wasn’t going to make it back home.  While we were out, a storm blew in, and these newly married Wests almost didn’t make it back to shore.

Honeymoon in Negril, Jamaica at the Sandals resort. www.ouralabamalife.com

We took a taxi to Rick’s Cafe, where the locals dive off cliffs that are 100 feet high.  My new hubby thought it would be awesome to do as the locals did and take a dive off the cliff.  (It was here that I first thought I would be traveling home alone after only a few days of marriage.)  Obviously, he survived the jump.

All jokes aside, the only time I was truly afraid was on our van ride back to the airport.  As we were driving along, we were stopped by several plain-clothed Jamaicans holding machine guns.  I say plain-clothed to let you know that these were not members of the Jamaican police.  I’m not quite sure what they were members of, but it didn’t look good.  And yes, real machine guns.  After a few moments (probably two but it felt like two-hundred), the men waved us along and we continued to the airport.

We absolutely loved our trip to Jamaica and would love to go back.  It’ll probably be our 25th anniversary before we can afford it though 🙂

Beach Trip Number Two

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We left last Saturday and spent an entire week at the beach with my family–the four of us, my parents, my grandparents, my sister, and her boyfriend.  You know you had a good trip when you didn’t stop long enough to take many pictures!

We stayed at the Caribe resort in Orange Beach, AL, which is actually on the bay side, not the beach side.  It was the first (and probably last) time we have not stayed ON the beach.  While the resort was wonderful (and full of pools, slides, and a lazy river), the trek to the beach was tough.  We only made it one morning and we are beach lovers.  It was just too much.

Each night, Mal and Trey switched up between the air mattress and the pull-out couch and the girls switched up between them.

We spent a day at Waterville and the girls slid their hearts out.  Their favorite was the 6-man tube slide because they could race everyone:

From left to right in the above photo:  Mallory, Kyndall, Justin, Trey, Mark, and Libby.  (Apparently, Mark and Trey cheated and went before the lady at the top said go, but that is only hearsay.)

On the one day that we did go to the beach, the girls caught a live starfish.  They kept it and showed it off to anyone who would look for several hours, and then threw it back before we headed up to the room.

On yet another day, we visited the USS Alabama.  Justin and Trey explored every.single.inch of the ship.  The rest of us did a quick look-through and then waited, like this:

Don’t get me wrong, exploring the ship was neat.  It was a navy ship that was in the fleet during WWII.  I just didn’t feel the need to explore each inch (and reenact the scenes from those times, but you didn’t hear that from me!)

Apparently, Justin was pretending he was a navy captain 🙂
We spent 90% of our time at the resort’s pools and absolutely loved it.  

I forced bribed talked the girls into a beach photo shoot that lasted approximately 3.2 minutes.  This was as good as it got.

We are so extremely blessed to have been able to take two family beach trips so close together.  We are now home to enjoy the rest of our summer, but we made some awesome memories!

Memorial Day Beach Trip

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Over the long Memorial Day weekend, we went down to the beach to hang out with Justin’s family.  His sister, her husband, and their sweet baby boy drove over from Arkansas.  His parents drove down, too.  

We spent most of our time stealing sweet baby snuggles.  The girls turned into little mommies at the first sight of West.  They held him, fed him, even changed his diapers (as long as they were just wet).

If they weren’t taking care of West, they were in the salt water.  Give these girls a net and they are entertained for HOURS, I tell you!  The first morning we were down at the beach, Kyndall caught 30 little fish and several more hermit crabs.  We released them when it was time to go up for lunch, and then she caught double that during the afternoon.

The girls caught some strange creature, too.  It was about the size of the end of my pinky finger, with five long tentacles, and it was clear(ish).  My vote is that it was either a baby octopus (yes, they have eight legs…maybe they grow more as they get older?) or a baby jellyfish.  Either way, it was something we had never seen before.  They also caught two small rays and a ton of live sand dollars.
Libby built a few sandcastles and even set up an entire sand restaurant.  She served me Starfish-Seashell-Pie and Sand-Donut-Shoppe-Coffee.  <–Her words, not mine 🙂
Kyndall wanted to be buried in the sand.  She really wanted to be a “mermaid with big boobies”, but I did the best I could with what I had.  You can’t see it well in this picture, but she has a seashell bra.
We had such a fun time, and it’s always great when we get to see Kristi and Luke.  It’s so hard having them so far away.  Here’s to making this a yearly tradition–beach trips every summer!

Orlando Vacation, Part 2–The One Where We Meet Anna & Elsa

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Our original vacation plans only included 3 days at Universal Studios.  It really hurt my heart that were were going to be SO close to Disney and not see Anna and Elsa, who just happen to be our favorite.  If you’ve ever been to Disney though, you know that going for only a day is much more expensive than going for several days, so it just wasn’t in our budget.  As our luck would have it, one of Mallory’s friends who had just begun working at Disney texted her and offered to be our personal tour guide for a day at Epcot (where Anna and Elsa are until April 1st).  AND she was able to get 3 people in the park for free, as part of her employee perks.  YAY for us 🙂

Chelsea met us at Epcot Monday and spent the whole day with us.  It was truly a VIP experience!  We still had to wait in a few lines, but she knew so much and was able to help us with lots.  We were in line for Epcot at 8:15, and the gates open at 9am.  As soon as the gates opened, Justin SPRINTED (sorry Disney) all the way back to Norway to get in line for Anna and Elsa.  Even with all this planning, we still waited an hour and a half.  Anna and Elsa are kind of a big deal right now.

While we were waiting, I went into the store and purchased a few Frozen books (that I think you can only get at Disney) and we had Anna and Elsa sign them.
After Anna and Elsa, we hit the rides.  We did Soarin’, Journey Into Imagination with Figment, and the Seas with Nemo and Friends. We took a break for lunch at La Hacienda de San Angel, in Mexico.  From there, we saw Mulan and watched an acrobatic show in China.
We rode TestTrack and the bigger kids (including Kyndall) rode Mission: Space.  While they rode Mission Space, Libby and I sat around and did a little people-watching.  When they were finished, we rode the boat over to Disney’s Beach Club Resort and had dinner at the Crew’s Cup Lounge and ice cream at Beaches and Cream Soda Shop.  We made it back just in time to see the fireworks before calling it a night.
On Tuesday, we went to Universal Studios.  From everything I read, this park was going to be the least-friendly to my smaller children.  It’s better suited to teenagers and adults.  We did find lots to do though!
We rode E.T.’s adventure and Woody Woodpecker’s Nuthouse Coaster. We happened on a dance party with the characters from Hop, and posed for a few pictures.

We saw the Spongebob parade, and characters, next.

We braved the Transformers 3D ride (the girls thought it was a little scary) and then the big kids went to ride Hollywoods Rip Ride RockIt while the girls and I, with Gra-Gra and Pops, went to see Shrek 4-D.

Leaving Shrek, we saw Fiona, Donkey, and Shrek.
Donkey was so cute!  He talked to the girls for a while and then asked Fiona to show them how to pose like princesses. When they already knew how to do it, he said “Well, look at them! Alabama royalty!”
After Shrek, we went for lunch at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company.  When our bellies were full, we came back into the park and found seats for the Superstar Parade.  (It was a really cute parade, but much shorter than the ones we were used to from Disney.)
As soon as the parade was over, we got in line for Despicable Me Minion Mayhem.  It was a 70 minute wait (because we didn’t have Express tickets… boo!) but well worth it.  During the ride, Gru and the girls turned us all into minions! It was really cute.  After the ride, we were able to meet a real-life minion and get our picture taken.
Kyndall decided last-minute that she wanted to ride Revenge of the Mummy, so we hustled to the BACK of the park to let her ride.  Then we had to speed walk out to meet our bus to take us back to the hotel. (FYI:  We stayed at the Hampton Inn S. Universal.  It is off resort property, but offers free shuttle service to and from the parks.  There are certain times the bus runs, and you have to catch these times.)
Wednesday was our last day and we decided to go back to Islands of Adventure for a while.  Kyndall, Justin, and Gra-Gra waited 90 minutes to ride Forbidden Journey, while Pops and Libby rode Flight of the Hippogriff THREE times!  While they did all this riding, Mal and I did a little shopping.
We went back to Seussville and the girls rode the Caro-Seuss-El.
Just so you know how amazing Suessville is, here are a few photos.  
We left Islands of Adventure just in time for lunch, so we stopped in at Hard Rock Cafe for a quick bite to eat.  Then, we took a taxi back to the hotel (it wasn’t anywhere near time for the bus to pick us up).  The girls loved it and requested that I take a picture of their first time in a taxi:
For the rest of the afternoon, we hit the outlets wide open :).  The girls both got new tennis shoes from the Nike outlet and germ-x from Bath and Body works.  (They love hand sanitizer, which is hilarious because I am the anti-germophobe!)  
We grabbed a quick dinner at McDonalds before heading back to the hotel and pack up.  We had a jam-packed, fun-filled 4 days in Orlando and, as I’m writing this, I’m already planning our next trip!
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.  I am, by far, NOT an expert, but I’ll be glad to share tips and tricks that we’ve learned along the way!

Orlando Vacation, Part 1 (Universal Studios Tips)

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We left Saturday morning around 5 am and began the LONG drive to Orlando.  We stopped at the Florida sign for our traditional photo.
Don’t you love the “Open For Business” sign above our heads? 🙂
We didn’t get to our hotel until late, so we spent the first night just getting settled.  Shout out to the Hampton Inn–it’s our favorite.  We try to stay at one whenever we can.  The complimentary breakfasts are the bomb.com!  (<–and that doesn’t tell my age at all!)
On Sunday, the weather was a gorgeous 80 degrees and sunny.  We went to Universal’s Islands of Adventure park and spent the day. 
How about those Dr. Seuss shirts? (Crafty Cookie Boutique designs)
We made our way straight to Hogsmeade for the Harry Potter rides, because everyone said (and rightly so) that they would be the most crowded.  I took everyone’s advice about the Butterbeer, too.  It was REALLY good.  Butterbeer is the drink from Harry Potter–it is a non-alcoholic butterscotch cream soda drink.
Dragon’s Challenge was the only ride the girls wanted to ride and weren’t able to.  Justin, Mallory, and Gra-Gra rode it though and were SUPER dizzy when they got off.  I’m glad the girls weren’t tall enough yet.

Flight of the Hippogriff was Libby’s favorite ride.  At last count, she had ridden it 8 times before we left!  Kyndall was able to ride Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, but Libby was too short.  The girls loved these rides so much that I didn’t get pictures.  Oh, well.

The girls met the famous Mystic Fountain at the Lost Continent.  He read the names from their shirts and then read their palms.  He predicted that Kyndall liked music and gymnastic and Libby liked macaroni and cheese and dancing.  The girls thought this was SO funny!

Next stop–Seussville!! Seussville was by far my favorite place at Universal.  We ALL had our pictures made with the characters, but I’ll save some space and just show you the ones of the girls.  We saw The Cat in the Hat and the Lorax:

Thing 1, Thing 2, and Sam-I-Am:
Sam-I-Am (again) and the Grinch:
We actually missed the Grinch on Sunday, but we lucked up and saw him when we went back on Wednesday.  In Seussville, they have a Dr. Seuss show and following the show is a dance party.  The girls danced with the Things on Sunday and the Grinch on Wednesday.  (Tip:  The parks were MUCH less crowded on Sunday than on Wednesday.)
Lunch was at the super cute Circus McGurkus Cafe.
After lunch, we met Spiderman!  Of course, Mal had to have her picture made with him too 🙂

Then, the big kids (aka Justin and Mal) went to ride the Hulk while the girls met a few more superheroes.  Storm, Rogue, and Wolverine.
Our last stop of the day was riding Bilge-Rat Barge for all of us and Ripsaw Falls for Kyndall and I.  We were SOAKING wet, and fortunately for you, there are no pictures.  While Kyndall and I rode Ripsaw Falls, the others walked around trying to dry off.

We had such a fun (and exhausting!) first day at Universal! In case you are going anytime soon, here are my tips:
  1. Buy the express ticket.  We didn’t, because we were trying to save a little money, but I think it would be SO worth the extra money.  The express ticket at Universal is a lot like the FastPass at Disney, except they last all day.  When you go to get in line for a ride, there are two separate lines–one for Express tickets and one for regular riders.  The Express ticket would save LOTS of wait time!
  2. Purchase the souvenir cup.  The cup itself is $11.00 and then you get free refills all day long.  If you are there multiple days, the cost is $9.99 for each additional day.  If you are drinkers like we are, this saves you a good bit of money!
  3. Go to the park early (a few minutes before opening time) and go straight to Harry Potter.  The Forbidden World ride gets backed up quickly, so go there first.  
  4. Try the Butterbeer.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of our vacation story–where we meet Anna and Elsa, get turned into Minions, and help save Princess Fiona!

The Inn at Christmas Place

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Last weekend we went on yet another getaway.  I know, we’re rivaling the Kardashians, right?  Only, I’m pretty sure they don’t do their own laundry…. Anyways, we traveled to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee with a few of my teacher friends and their kids.  Quite a cute crew, am I right?

We stayed at the Inn at Christmas Place.  They celebrate Christmas year round!  When we got there on Friday night, they were having a marshmallow roast.  All the kids (and moms!) ate plenty of marshmallows.  I like mine just barely warmed–just enough to be melted.  I was surprised how many people liked to burn the marshmallow on the outside.  That’s just gross!

 

Every night, the inn put out milk and cookies.  The good, Otis Spunkmeyer cookies.  (Needless to say, I gained around 25 pounds on this little trip!)  They also had complementary breakfast every morning–made to order omelets, waffles, biscuits and gravy–anything your heart (or stomach!)could want!
We spent most of Saturday at the outlets doing a little shopping.  For being such good sports, we took the kids to see the Lego movie and eat Mexican food after.

Saturday night, Santa made an appearance at the Inn and performed for us.  He sang several Christmas carols before posing for pictures with all the kids.

 

 

On Sunday, we drove up the mountain to Gatlinburg.  We walked up and down the streets, checking out all the cool stuff.  We watched them make Taffy at the taffy store, bought chocolate at the fudge shop, and watched a few magic tricks.  The kids played a round of mini golf and then we rode the lift up the mountain to see the gorgeous view.

 

We spent the day Monday traveling home, taking our time, not quite wanting the trip to end.  It’s always so much fun to getaway with friends.  We’re all hoping to make this a yearly tradition!  Now if only I can find someone to do my laundry for me…..

 

 

New Baby Love

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We got home late Sunday night from a quick weekend trip to Arkansas to see my sister-and-brother-in-law and their adorable, precious, perfect new baby boy.

We left Thursday evening around 8:00 and made it just past Memphis before stopping for the night. 
At one point, all three girls looked like this:
Now THAT is some good sleeping!
We reached Luke and Kristi’s house around 1pm on Friday and immediately began loving on Baby West:

I told you he was perfect!  I wanted really badly to smuggle him back home with me, but I’m pretty sure that would’ve been frowned upon. 
They had a little snow in Arkansas, so the girls did some sledding behind the house.
Typical West family photo 🙂
Kyndall had a really good run:
Not one to be outdone, I took a quick ride:
Look out USA Bobsledding team–we’re coming for you! 🙂
After playing in the snow, we went back to the hotel to swim for a little while.

A short 48 hours later and we were on the 8-hour drive back home. If flights were cheaper, I’d be in Arkansas way more than Luke & Kristi would want me there. 🙂

Callaway Gardens Half Marathon, Race Recap

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I have to start this post with a photo of my favorite spectators.  After dropping me off at the start line, they were able to grab breakfast and then wait in the warm car before coming out to cheer me in for the finish.  I was so happy to hear their voices.  (It did hurt a little when Libby said, “Mommy, I didn’t think you were ever going to finish!”  Thanks, Lib.)

The race began at 8am eastern time, which was 7am for me.  I had woken up feeling pretty crummy (hello, UTI symptoms), so I took Tylenol before the race began.  The event coordinators were REALLY good with organization–we started at 8 am on the dot.  The half runners and full runners both began at the same time–the race course was a loop around the gardens, so the half runners completed the loop once and the full runners did it twice.

The race reviewers weren’t kidding when they said the course was hilly.  I don’t know that any part of the course was flat….at all.  I felt like I was either running up a hill or down a hill.  Even with all those hills, I felt strong.  I paced myself really well (as opposed to previous races) and was hitting a steady 8:30 per mile going into the 7th mile.

Around the end of mile 6, I started to feel a nagging pain in my right hip.  Nothing severe, just unexpected.  I’ve never actually hurt during a run at all, and I’ve especially never had hip pain, so I didn’t quite know what was going on.

The course was beautiful–winding through trees and flowers and around a lake.  The weather was great–39 degrees with zero wind.  Chugging through mile 7 listening to my tunes and taking in my surroundings.  All was great in my world.

Mile 8 I made a friend.  He strikes up conversation.  (Thankfully, he did most of the talking and I did most of the listening.) He was a trainer for the Biggest Loser contestants once they returned home from the show.  He had actually just completed the Disney World Marathon two weeks prior, expenses paid (flight, room, and race fee) by a client who wanted him to pace her.  Now that’s a job I could handle, right there 🙂  Conversation with this friend lasted a little while, and I made it to mile 10 without thinking about my hip.

I’m not sure what happened between mile 10 and 11 (I’m thinking the Tylenol wore off), but my hip started screaming.  Every step I took was excruciatingly painful.  At mile 11, my mental toughness (or stubbornness, maybe) kicked in.  I was determined to finish.  I had made it that far with a pretty steady pace and with zero walking, so I wasn’t quitting.

Miles 11-13.1 were miserable.  My hip pain radiated down my leg to my knee and into my foot.  I was fighting back tears, and my pace had slowed to somewhere just over 10 minutes per mile.  Still not walking, but not good pacing either.  (I actually attempted walking, but the hip still hurt just as much, so I figured I might as well run.)  I was SO glad to see the sign for the finish.  I heard my girls cheering me on and mustered up this smile for a photo.  Totally faked and completely for my girls.

I crossed the finish in 1:56:42, with an average pace of 8:55 per mile.  My first half was 1:55:16 and almost completely flat.  Even though I didn’t PR, I feel like I ran a better race this time when you consider the hills.  And the pain.

I made Justin take this picture of me with the girls before literally falling into him and having him drag me to the truck.  I don’t know if it was the hills, or if I stepped off the trail and pulled a muscle during the run, or what, but as I’m writing this (on Wednesday) I’m still having hip pain.  It has gotten slightly better, but not much.  I can walk without falling now.  After the race on Sunday, I would literally stumble with each step.  When I put weight on my right foot, something in my hip area hurt so much that the muscle would give and not support me.  Crazy, right?
I’m completely baffled by this race.  It was superbly organized, and utterly beautiful.  Definitely a race course I would recommend.  They have several options–5k, half, and full marathons.  The hills were killer, but who doesn’t like a good challenge every now and then?  What confuses me is my hip.  I’m not sure what the problem was (is?!?), so I don’t know how to prevent it from happening again in a future race.  My plan is to give it a few days of complete rest, and then work on stretching it out really well.  Hopefully, I’ll be able to walk normal and start running again next week.  Until then, I’ll just be limping around over here. 🙂
Any suggestions for hip pain?  I need a diagnosis 🙂

Pine Mountain Animal Safari (Callaway Gardens, Part 2)

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On our trip to Callaway Gardens, we drove about 15 minutes south to explore the Pine Mountain Animal Safari.  It is a drive-through safari and zoo.  This is the entrance.  They have a cattle gap that makes it impossible for the animals to get out, but all those animals are right there waiting on you to come in.
This was our ride.  Justin got to drive it, which he though was SO cool.
All the animals were so friendly and attention-seeking.  They loved sticking their noses through the bars for a scratch.
Hello, Mr Elk.
That zebra SO wanted Libby’s hat!
This was NOT my favorite animal…..he really freaked me out. Justin thought it was SO funny to
stop when he came to my window and let him stick his head through.  I may or may not
have screamed like a girl 🙂
Check out those horns!

After the drive-through section, they had a walk-in zoo that housed the animals in cages.  You know, lions, tigers, and bears–oh my! 🙂

But first, a posed shot with the decorations.  (Don’t you love how Justin even has his hand up like he’s driving?  I mean, if you are going to play the part, PLAY the part.)

The thing I most loved about this safari was that the animals actually WANTED attention.  At every zoo I have ever been too, the animals stay over away from the people and don’t ‘do’ much.  I’m not sure if it was the cold weather or the fact that we were one of two families at the zoo this day, but the animals really wanted to interact.  This giraffe almost ran to the window when the girls walked up.

This iguana was the funniest.  When the girls walked by, he followed them down the length of his cage.  They thought they’d be funny and run back, and he chased them.  I bet they ran back and forth, the girls and the iguana, five or six times.  I finally made them stop because I didn’t want to wear the poor fellow out! (Justin has video of this on his phone, but for some reason I can’t get videos to upload to blogger.  If you can help with this, please let me know!)

This zoo had it all–lions, tigers, wolves, bears, monkeys, wombats, giraffe.  Even several animals I don’t think I’ve ever seen in real life before–kangaroos, a serval, and hyena’s.  

He looked over at my camera like “Heeeey!”
This was by far the BEST zoo/safari ever.  I would drive the three and a half hours again, just for the zoo.  If you and your family are ‘animal people’, this is definitely something you want to experience!  You can find their website here.

Callaway Gardens Weekend Getaway

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This weekend, we traveled to Pine Mountain, Georgia.  It was about a 4 hour trip and we didn’t leave until after school.  With the time change, we arrived at the Mountain Creek Inn around 10pm, Eastern Time.  We checked in, went to our rooms, and fell straight into bed.

The room was pretty standard, with a king size bed and a small bathroom.  The Mountain Creek Inn does have a nice lounge area with two restaurants.  The girls and Justin tried out one of them–The Plants–the morning of the race.  They gave it 4 stars.

Saturday morning we woke up pretty early and went to the Country Kitchen for breakfast.  We enjoyed pancakes, omelets, and biscuits and gravy with this view:

The southerner in me loved that they served my milk in a mason jar:

Following breakfast, we drove about 15 minutes to the Pine Mountain Animal Safari.  We have been to a drive-through safari before, but this was by far the best.  So much so that it deserves it’s own post, which I’ll try to get to tomorrow.  But I’ll leave you with this teaser:

Yes, that’s a zebra trying to eat my hair!

When we FINALLY left the safari, it was time to go the race expo and pick up my packet.  I’m going to save all race information for another post as well, so you’ll get the race recap soon!

Before leaving the gardens, the girls wanted to go to the Butterfly Center at Callaway.  This was an epic fail–because it’s been so cold, we ended up seeing more dead butterflies than we did live ones.  We did get a picture of one, very pretty blue monarch:

We left the gardens with no clue what to do.  I had picked up a ‘Pine Mountain Experience Guide’ from the safari, so we leafed through it.  When I saw the ad for Warm Springs Winery, I knew that was it.  Visiting a winery is on my 30 Before 30 list and it’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time.  I called ahead to make sure it was ok to bring the girls.  When we arrived, the vitner gave the girls grape juice (from their own vines), pretzels, and wine crackers.  (Wine crackers are now K’s favorite snack..oops!)
We were all educated on the wine-making process and the nerd in me loved it!  Justin and the girls enjoyed it too and even asked questions.  I was very pleased with the way the staff included the girls.  Justin and I sampled a few of the wines and the girls sampled grape juice, chips and muscadine salsa, and pretzels.  (Libby even picked apart the tortilla chips.  She said “I taste a little sugar… and a lot of salt.”  So funny!)

After the tastings, the girls made wreaths from the dried out grape vines.  They had so much fun!

We left the winery with a bottle of grape juice, a jar of Muscadine salsa, a box of wine crackers, and an un-named and thus, un-labeled bottle of white wine.

Dinner was at Aspen’s Mountain Grill.  It was a very quaint, homey restaurant with a mountain vibe.  There are animals on the walls–a bear skin, a hog’s head, an elk head–and it’s nicknamed “the Hunter’s Hangout.”

After eating, we stopped in at Lulubelle’s Ice Cream parlor and enjoyed some Baskin Robbins ice cream.  With our belly’s stuffed, we headed back to the Inn and were asleep by 8.  It was a very fun, very BUSY day, and we were all exhausted!

Sunday morning, the race began at 7am (our time), which meant we were up and getting ready at 5:30. That’s early!  The race happened (more on that later) and while I ran, Justin and the girls had breakfast. After the race, we stopped in at Cracker Barrel for breakfast (where I properly refueled) and then a potty break at the Bass Pro Shop.  While there, the girls posed in front of the fish tank:

They are getting much better at actually wanting to take pictures for me.  They requested I take this one “for the blog”.  Isn’t that funny?

Our getaway was SO much fun and I would recommend that anyone within driving distance make the trip.  It was such an enjoyable, beautiful, laid-back place.  Perfect for a weekend trip!