i want to get away, i want to get away

on august 12, 2010 the husband and i will celebrate our 10th year of marriage. holy smokies that's a lot of years for such a young couple... i'm sure that is the exact thought that ran through your mind, right. seriously it is a lot of years. the great thing is that after so many years with him, i still absolutely love my husband. he is awesome. and an amazing father to boot.

so since my cousin is getting married on our anniversary weekend this year, we decide to take a mini-anniversary trip away this past weekend. my sweet sister and her husband were ever so kind to take in sweet cheeks for the weekend (who by the way loved every last moment with her cousins, aunt, and uncle).

we, the husband and i, swept ourselves away to the ever so glorious mountains of chattanooga, tn. i wasn't sure what i was expecting at first, other than a get away in two hours time. but what we ended up having was a really great time!

who knew that on friday nights in chattanooga it is bike night. you can only imagine how delighted the husband was to see all of the motorcycles. he even ran into someone he races with. small world with those bike guys i guess. funny how two wheels can bring so many people close together.

not only was it bike night, but there was also a free concert in the park. all of the band's songs sounded exactly the same, but it was still fun, free, and outside. we really enjoyed just sitting outdoors (and not sweating to death or being eaten alive by mosquitos), talking, and drinking a few cold ones. it doesn't get any better than that

of course we had to take a few shots of ourselves since we didn't have anyone else to do it
on saturday we walked to a great restaurant, blue plate, for breakfast. then we watched an imax movie on oceans. great movie but a little too preachy in the way of the environment. i just wanted to see dolphins and whales swimming in their environment, but left feeling bad for all the ocean's sardines.

in the late afternoon, we went for a guided boat tour down the tn river. it was actually quite fun. we learned that moonpies are made in chattanooga, as well as all twix bars. who knew! mmmmmm.... moonpies.

a few pretty shots of downtown chattanooga from the southern belle boat we were on

me at the restaurant we had dinner at on saturday night. sadly the food wasn't good at all. lucky for me the company was
we had our waitress take this one so we would always remember that we did in fact still love, and even like, each other after 10 yearshow lucky were we that on saturday night, chattanooga hosted a 2nd outdoors concert (just for us). you can bet your bottom we were at it. much like the night before, we were in heaven being outside in the cool mountain weather, chatting it up over a few coldies. it really was so refreshing. and what a view since it was down by the river. that is the aquarium behind all of the people.

all in all, the husband and i really had a great weekend away.

thanks melissa, brent, and cousins for entertaining sweet cheeks for the weekend.

thank you husband for marrying me 10 years ago. i am still happy with my decision in saying 'yes.'

peace sun sand

its only taken me an extra week to get these pictures up!

our yearly st simons trip was yet again a success. the kids really had such a good time playing together all 5 days. we did everything from oceans, to pools, sparklers, bikes, games, dancing, and eating! no matter what we did, the kids had fun.

sweet cheeks at the beach

swimming in the ocean

sparklers. what a hit they were


the pool, which we went to two days in a row. the kids really loved it there


the dads and the kids did a bike ride into town. my sister and I drove in to meet them in case anyone wanted a ride back in the car. none of them did. despite the heat and the distance, they all enjoyed the bike ride. (especially sweet cheeks who had the best ride of all!)

seriously, i couldn't get enough of these 3 together

sweet cheeks watching the giant cargo boat go by the pier
the kids on this really crazy but beautiful tree. what you didn't see here in a picture is sweet cheeks jumping out of this tree, hurting her hand, me going to help her, poking her in the eye, scratching her, and lots of tears! now that i think about it, i am glad i didn't get a picture of that



another crazy big tree
dinner out. sweet cheeks love the crab cakes at this restaurant
so beautiful
i am already excited for our trip next year!

we're back in the u.s. of a

it snowed in ga...


(my little bro, who dog sat for us, took this pic with his phone for us to see on fb)


but we missed it.



because we were in jamaica mon!





i will share lots of pictures tomorrow of our amazing vacation.

despite being diagnosed with strep throat the morning we left for vacation, sweet cheeks had a fabulous time!

and i'm gonna swim swim swim swim swim...

just got back from a super vacation with the husband and sweet cheeks, as well as my sister, her husband, and their two children. it was such a fun trip all together. and as close as i am with my sister, this was actually our first family vacation together. we won't wait so long to do it again!

i know sweet cheeks absolutely loved having the kids there to play with. they played games, swam (a lot!), rode bikes, and were just all around silly together. it was great.

just a few pics to share of our vacation-

beach time. sweet cheeks rocks in her barbie shades


sweet cheeks and her cousin playing a game


swim time- that is sweet cheeks with the yellow swimmies on


sweet cheeks absolutely loves the ocean- for swimming, sand time, and snacks!



my girlfriend drove down with her two kids to visit us for a night. here are all the kiddos together!



here we are out to dinner- love the kids faces


me and sweet cheeks


**

love this new shop for kids clothing, decor, and accessories- it is called hijkids.

sugar cookie dress in green



pixie top in chocolate dots


ric rac blouse


verta rae scarf with embroidered flowers