Okay, picking up right where we left off--Party Week, Part 2! So, as I mentioned at the end of last week, the partying continued with my friend, Chris coming in for an entire week!! We had a great first night just hanging out and catching up, but we were excited for Monday to roll around because that meant time for the BEACH!!! I had just spent the entire weekend before preparing food for us to take to the beach, and of course, food for my 3 guys left at home! I had to make sure they wouldn't starve for 3 days! Leslie, here's what your produce inspired me to make!
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Zucchini and fresh tomato baked ziti! |
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Mediterranean Pasta Salad for the beach! |
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Zucchini tots--yummy!! |
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Chris' favorite--fresh green beans with mixed potatoes and bacon...mmmmmm...bacon! |
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Whole wheat pancakes for the boys! |
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Davey's favorite--roasted veggie cheesy rice! |
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Avocado, cucumber, and cherry salad :) |
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Whole wheat zucchini muffins |
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Whole wheat banana and blueberry muffins |
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Laura's favorite--homemade tuna salad with avocado and greek yogurt! |
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Blueberry greek yogurt cake! |
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Plum and nectarine crumble--excellent fresh out of the oven, but not so much after a couple of days!! |
Okay, with that amount of food, I was convinced that none of us were going hungry this week! So, Chris, Laura, and I packed up and headed out! We obviously had to stop to see Grandma Jan on the way, since it's right on the way, and we were rewarded with a delicious lunch of homemade baked ziti, salad, and fresh peaches--YUM!!! After looking at some OLD family photos (who are those adorable little toe-headed toddlers?!), we hit the road for Wilmington! Once we got all settled in, we made our first fun stop at a local winery literally across the street from our hotel--Noni Bacca Winery!
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having a sip of vino at the winery! |
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Laura--that looks like more than a sip?! :) |
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Chris loved this one tasting where you got to take a sip, eat a piece of dark chocolate, and then take another sip! |
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Good times haha :) |
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I don't always drink chilled dessert wines, but when I do, I prefer them to be $80 per bottle! (this was just a sample, but it was $4.50!) |
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Chris and LoLo in their matching-ish outfits! |
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Chris, I guess you're the only one old enough to remember those times--bahahahaha!! |
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Seriously, we all wanted one of these, but it wasn't for sale sadly :( |
That was soooooo much fun, that we decided to continue our first evening out by hitting downtown Wilmington! We grabbed a cab (a cab that provided some very interesting conversation!), and had him drop us right by the river in the middle of everything. Now, it was Monday night, so it wasn't what we would call "hopping", but we had a great time all the same! We ate tapas at a really cool restaurant called Circa 1922, and then we headed to "Level 5", which is a rooftop bar on the fifth level. We chose that place because it was supposed to be karaoke night, but we were pretty much the only ones there, so no one was graced with our lovely singing voices!
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The 3 amigas arriving at the river! |
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Cool restaurant, but turn the dang fans on! |
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From left to right: hummus, mixed beets and goat cheese, sesame tuna sticks, shrimp lollipops, mixed spanish olives, and boursin and mushroom bruschetta--YUMMM!! |
The following morning, we decided to hit the beach....except that there was some kind of "tropical downpour" forecast for the ENTIRE DAY! So, after a quick look out the window, we decided to hang at the hotel for a little while. Laura and I went swimming, while Chris was a good girl and hit the gym! Somehow, Laura and I accidentally forgot our running shoes--how did that happen?! So, after our "workouts", we noticed there was a brief break in the rain action, so we decided to just give the beach a try--realizing that if we made it for an hour, it would be a miracle! In fact, we were kind of scared to take our cameras out because the skies were so black, so no pics of the terrifying clouds! We ended up making it about 30 minutes before the lifeguard bailed, and we decided to follow his cue! Since we were already at the beach though, we decided to eat at me and Laura's favorite restaurant there--The Oceanic!! Laura won the best entree award as we all had to taste her fish tacos--by FAR, the best ones I've ever had!
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I didn't take this picture, but it's a cool depiction of the fact that the restaurant is literally right on the beach! |
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Laura's fish tacos were to die for!! |
So, we kind of took our time eating, and lo and behold, the storm was over by the time we finished!! So, thankfully, the local meteorologists totally botched the forecast, and we were able to stay on the beach the rest of the entire afternoon! I have previously been a little too scared to go into the ocean (ever since I was old enough to realize the potential dangers!), but I'm so glad I decided to jump some waves with Chris this time--it was so much fun! I felt like a little kid out there, and it was just so nice to relax out there :)
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The beach just after the rain :) |
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Haha, for some reason Chris wanted to lay down with her hand in the air like that! |
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Our little seagull friend :) |
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That's me diving on in at the left--I think Chris is about to get owned! |
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Haha--Chris where are you?!?! |
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Oh man, that was a close one for me, turned around just in the nick of time! |
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Chris and I solving all the world's problems as we relaxed in the ocean :) |
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I just had to pose with that incredibly large beverage that I barely drank haha! |
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Don't we all look super cool in our shades?! |
Laura and I might've gotten a little too much sun though, since we thought we might be out there an hour max, so we decided to just relax on Wednesday morning before we checked out--not to mention the fact that 2 of the workers at the continental breakfast called me a lobster! So, we just kind of hung out, relaxed, and chatted our morning away until it was time to go. We decided to eat a late lunch/early dinner at Cracker Barrel, and then we headed on out for our second stop at Grandma Jan's house! My Aunt Joy and Uncle Allen were there visiting, so that was a nice treat to visit with them too! Aunt Joy especially loved all of the funny Tommy stories--this one was her favorite I think:
Recently, Tommy has been waiting until we put him in bed at night to do his business (yes, we ask him repeatedly if he has to go, and we make him sit on the potty before bed--he pees at that time, but doesn't poop). So, now we can kind of expect about 30-45 minutes after we put him down, for him to call out "DADDDDDDYYYY!!!" And, I think we all know what that means :) So, Davey gets just such a call the other week, and he goes up there preparing for the worst. Once he enters the room though, Tommy just says, "Daddy, I dropped Teddy, help me!". Relief washes over Davey, as he easily picks up Teddy and hands him back to Tommy. Feeling in good spirits, Davey cheerfully asks Tommy, "Is that it buddy? Is there anything else?", to which Tommy responds, "Aaaannnndddd this" and promptly points to his bottom, where there is a deuce just waiting to be changed by Daddy!
After some more good conversations in the car (there were a lot of good conversations this week!), we went back to my house because Nolan and Laura had a house showing, and Nolan was at our place while they were there. Well, get this--OFFER MADE!! So, a huge congrats to Nolan and Laura for selling their house!! On Thursday, Chris and I just kind of decompressed a little and hung out with the kids until we met my Mom out for dinner at Carrabbas. On Friday, we took the kids the kids to Monkey Joe's to give my wonderful husband a break! They had an absolute blast, and so did Chris (bahahaha--I think there were some bad flashbacks involved)!!
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Chris is just loving life at Monkey Joe's!! |
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OMG--totally forgot to mention that Chris cut the boys' hair--so cute!! |
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Tommy listening to calls for "cheese"...Ethan totally ignoring me :) |
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I'd like to say Tommy was patient and waited for Ethan as it appears he is going to do in this photo, but he pretty much stepped over him 1 second later! |
On Saturday morning, Chris and I headed out to Stone's School Supply store in Cary. Chris is a first grade teacher in Pittsburgh, but she's an hour and a half away from the nearest school supply store! So, we literally spent 2 hours in there, and let me tell you--it was SO HARD for me not to buy anything in there! A school supply store for a stay-at-home mom is like a candy store for a kid! I was happy that Chris was able to find some cool things for her classroom though! We met Leslie for lunch--Chris has known us both since 9th grade after all--what is that--nearly 20 years--holy cow! So, it was nice for them to catch up a little too! We ran by Old Navy, and then headed back to the house to get some dinner ready for Chris' family, that were due to arrive later that evening. So, Rich (her husband), and Richie and AJ (kids) made it safely to our house around 7:30pm. Some of you may recall the cute ring bearers from our wedding, well now they are 14 and 15!!
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Those are some good looking ring bearers!! |
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Here's the 14 year old AJ cracking a smile :) |
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15 year old Richie was all smiles all the time! |
We had a blast catching up with Rich and the boys--it was so so good to see them all again! And, oh my goodness--Tommy decided to poop in the potty to impress everyone after some lessons from Miss Chris (whom he continued to correct me by saying, "Not Christmas--Chris!")! After a late night at our house, we all got our acts together to get to my parents house for lunch on Sunday. Dad grilled out burgers and hot dogs, and we had a good old fashioned cookout, just like we used to when Chris and Rich lived here--good times, good memories! There may or may not be some kind of random bet between Rich and my Dad concerning the Pirates making the playoffs this season, but regardless, check out these amazing jerseys Chris and Rich brought for the boys!! And, seriously, we already had the hat, but it's Ethan's favorite, and could he look more adorable?!
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The boys wearing their new Pirates jerseys! |
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Tommy is pretty pleased with his new baseball jersey! |
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Tommy is also pretty pleased with himself as usual! |
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Our tired little Pirate captain! |
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How cute is he, seriously?! |
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Uncle NoNo donning his Pirates jersey (a lovely gift from his super thoughtful sister for his 30th birthday a few years ago!), even though he had no idea the boys just got some too! |
They also got the boys Pitt shirts for the future, as well as some very thoughtful giant hand clappers that aren't at all annoying for Davey and me (just kidding, they love them so we love them!!) :) Before it was time for the Boeh's to continue their vacation in Hilton Head, we had to take a few family pictures for keepsakes!
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AJ and Chris making some homemade salad dressing for the cookout! |
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Richie and his Mommy snuggling--hope for the future! |
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Rich and Nolan talking baseball |
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AJ's sexy pirate pose--watch out ladies! |
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Richie says he doesn't need any props to look good! |
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The Boeh men--not too bad Chris!! |
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hey, they're all wrestlers--what do you expect?! |
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Haha...hmm....what happened here--the parents seem pretty pained by this whole family picture thing! |
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Ahh, they just needed their new stowaway with them! |
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The Hayes family and spouses! |
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Tommy gets in on the action because he didn't take a nap!! Ethan was snoozing away like a good boy! |
And with that, it was time for the Boeh's to get on the road to Hilton Head :( It was sad for us to see them go, and Chris even shed a few tears as Tommy tried to get in their van with them and "go to the beach!". As predicted, Tommy has asked several times already this week, "Where's Chris go?". Hopefully we'll get to see them all sometime soon again!
Life Lesson #7: Perspective
So, this kind of leads right in from last week as well. Choosing wise friends has all kinds of positive ramifications down the line. One of those is seeking wise counsel. As I said, we had tons of great conversations this week--something I love doing! It was really cool though because, even though Chris and I are in different stages of our mothering lives, I really think we were able to help each other out just through basic conversation. It is always so helpful to glean advice from someone who has actually "been there, done that". In my case, Chris is the mother of 2 sons who are 16 months apart--pretty stinkin' close to my situation, except that she's been through the younger years already--BONUS! So, she was able to give me some fresh perspective on dealing with the boys. Sometimes it can be so hard to see past what you're in the midst of dealing with every single day. It can really help to have someone on the outside looking in to give you a fresh take on things. Specifically for me, I realized that I can tend to not be patient enough in letting the boys figure things out for themselves. For instance, I tend to just yank their clothes on and off instead of letting them struggle through it. I'm in it every single day, so to me it was just easier to do it that way. But, looking at it anew, Chris was able to encourage me that Tommy could do some of those things by himself, and that it would make it easier on me once he got it down pat, and so it has!
Now, on the flip side, how could I possibly have provided any perspective for Chris and the boys since I am younger than her? Well, it just so happens that Richie and AJ are very good wrestlers, and I was a pretty good athlete back in my high school days! You wouldn't necessarily think it, but there are all kinds of issues and decisions to be made concerning sports. They play both for their school teams and for a club team (kind of like travel ball or AAU sports down here), and sometimes they are taught different things by different coaches, not to mention the different skill levels of the coaches! Most of the time, a travel team coach will be much more knowledgeable and more "hard core" than a school coach. So, there are questions about how to deal with less knowledgeable coaches, or teams that are mainly there for fun instead of winning. Both teams take up an incredible amount of time, so there are issues with that. Both boys have a desire to wrestle in college, so I hope I was able to shed some light on the reality of what that usually looks like (because it's not the fantasy most of us have in high school!!). AJ wants to wrestle for an elite Catholic High School instead of their public school that isn't so great. While it costs much more, he'd likely get a college scholarship if he did. So, anyway, I was happy to explain situations I encountered in high school, travel ball, and college sports, and I think/hope I was able to provide some fresh perspective that they can use in their decision making!
The point is, I think it's always a good idea to hear other people's perspectives. What harm can it possibly do? In anything, I think it is wise to gather up as many possible ideas and solutions from multiple sources so that the most informed decision can be made. The more information you have, the more informed and thought out your decision will be. When true friends offer you their perspective, listen intently and be thankful that they are sharing their experiences with you. Thoughtfully consider their advice and points of view as you strive to make wise decisions in your own life.