san francisco summer

to cap off  a fantastic summer, we packed up for one last big trip...san francisco.  we have grown to love this city for so many reasons but a five-way tie for the best reason to visit goes to the west coast pilgreen family.

we jumped right into their daily plans the first couple of days and soaked up some amazing weather in the city.  i even took in my first giants game (finally)!

and then the bug hit.  for the next few days, we passed around a not-so-fun stomach bug while we tried to disinfect the entire house before it claimed any more victims.  once those of us who had been under the weather were finally ready to get out of the house again, we quickly made up for lost time.  ben and lee made a trip out to napa valley for dinner.  shauna and i drove over to hayes valley and pacific heights...two little pockets of the city i had never visited...and explored cute little shops, boutiques, bookstores, and more.  and of course, the boys caught up on baseball with uncle lee in the garage.

saturday, all eight of us made the trek to lunch and the farmer's market in noe valley and then onto dolores park to play.  we followed that up with a bus ride to get ice cream and then a loooong, steady incline of a walk back to their house.

i'm sorry.  i thought i had a baby boy, not a grown-up big boy!

sunday, we were blessed with another sunday at epic.  God is doing amazing things in and through that church, and we are so thankful to follow this journey with them.

this was perhaps the best weather we have ever experienced in the city.  brendan played legos and watched videos on the ipod with his cousins.  we left refreshed and ready for the upcoming year and all that God has in store for us.

asher giving brendan baseball advice, i'm sure

i couldn't resist

sam and brendan bonded over snacks and the ipod

college station day

back in july, we made a trip to college station...our first since february!  we missed katy and college station so we remedied both while we had the time.

first stop, wings 'n' more for lunch.  then, we paid a visit to the renovated MSC on campus...which is an awesome student center.  not all that often do i put something from any other campus above anything from alabama's campus, but this takes the cake.  job well done, a&m.

from there, we made our way to the garrett house for some swimming.  the garretts were as gracious as ever and cooked dinner for us, as well.  the kids enjoyed playing with brendan who was much more entertaining than the last time we visited.  jennings shared his cars with him and the girls took turns holding him.  lots of fun in one day, but totally worth the drive!

one week in alabama

our first stop in alabama was tuscaloosa.  we have to alter our route for tuscaloosa to "be on the way" to prattville, but when the time allows, it is totally worth it.  we met up with adam long enough to unload the car and let brendan play with their basset hounds.  side note:  brendan LOVES dogs.  and thankfully, their dog, ginger, loved brendan back...or at least did not mind being "loved on."

we finally made it to the quad with brendan for the first time.  to say the least, i was excited about this moment.  i am sure if you are reading this you know my love for the quad, particularly denny chimes.  i realize brendan will not remember this visit, but i will and i love the pictures we have to document it.

the remainder of our time in tuscaloosa included dinner at cypress inn, church at calvary sunday morning, and lunch at jalepenos with the rest of the weeks family.  we really enjoyed being back at calvary...the place i called my church home for several years, the place we got married, the place where i had my first full-time job, and the place where we still have many good friendships.

a short drive later, and we arrived at grandma and papa's house in prattville.  we had such a fun week full of family, friends, pool, food, and baseball. the beginning of the week brought everyone to us for swimming and spaghetti.  as an added bonus, wesley stayed the night to hang out a little longer since he worked late.

later in the week, we made a trip to maw's house, and brendan played with toys, old and new, that maw had waiting for him.  he also got to enjoy dinner at the table with everyone else like a big boy.  he sure did enjoy time at his great-grandmother's house :).

we filled our last full day in prattville with a visit with my long-time friends, erin and kimberly, and erin's daughter, kaylee as well as a trip to the montgomery biscuits baseball game.  it might have been the hottest day to date in alabama, but we all enjoyed 6 innings of fun.

we said goodbye on saturday but will see them soon for the big birthday party!  we sure did miss aunt rachel, but we were able to facetime with her for a long time one day which was wonderful!

summer vacay, part 1

the first leg of our summer vacation excursion began in louisiana where i left lee and brendan with the guys (and eva), and i headed to the beach with emily, erin, and emma.  to say we were excited about this trip would be an understatement.  it had been 3.5 years since i had been to destin so this was a much anticipated, well overdue trip.

we met up with shauna at our condo, unpacked, and made our way to the beach.  we thought the waves looked a little choppy, but we had no idea just how rough they would get before the week was out.  we all walked in the water and then hopped in the pool before a yummy dinner from shauna.  that pattern became our typical schedule for most of the week.  we enjoyed the day by alternating between the beach and pool and followed that up by a yummy meal made by someone different for the first three days.  one evening we enjoyed the candymaker, a cute store right behind our condo, on our post-dinner walk.  our last evening was our night out.  we all dressed up and headed to the marlin grill at baytown wharf.  YUM.  i cannot forget to mention our delicious breakfast we had one morning at another broken egg.  everything from the fancy to chocolate milk to the blackberry grits to the overflowing plates of delicious food was a hit.

emma's initial reaction to the beach

while i was gone, lee and brendan managed to have a good time in louisiana as well ;).  they spent the days with GJ and often with uncle walter, jonah, and eva and uncle zach, joe, miles, and will as well.  brendan discovered his love for kitchens, both real and play.  he went on walks with GJ and "helped" uncle zach in his backyard.

 

it was my first time to be away from brendan that long and lee's first time to stay with brendan for that long, but we all had a good week.  i am still so thankful for the opportunity to spend a few relaxing days at the beach.  friday night, we were all reunited and saturday we made our way to alabama.