Wilmington Girl's Trip

Earlier this month, Matthew and I traveled to Wilmington, NC for a girl's weekend. It had been over two years since we had all four been together. The last time being in Wilmington right after Amy and Kevin got married and before they moved to Hawaii. On that trip I was 5 weeks pregnant with Robert, Molly lived in Colorado, and Erin was engaged. This trip I brought Matthew (9 months) with me, Molly lives in Richmond (yay!), Erin and Jimmy are expecting sweet Hattie in November and Amy had both Finn (almost 2) and Rose (4 months) with her. My favorite thing was simply sitting up late into the night and catching up. We chatted about life and kids and everything. So much has changed but also so much is the same and I will be forever grateful for each of them.

Amy got to meet Matty and I got to meet sweet Rose! They will be in the same grade in school, so we obviously decided that they will be each other's homecoming dates at some point. 

Seeing Finn and Matty together was really sweet. Finn was so kind about sharing his toys with Matthew. I wish that I could have brought Robert too. Finn and Robert would have had a blast! Finn and Robert are only 5 months apart. Matthew and Rose are 5 months apart too. 

Matty and Molly time... they are both serious beach lovers.

Although I missed Robert, it was really nice to have just some Matty and Mama time. It was also so much more manageable for me to have quality time with Amy, Erin and Molly. 

The house we stayed in was right on the ocean. After I got Matty down we would sit on the deck with a glass of wine and enjoy the ocean. 

While I was gone, Robert had the time of his life with Daddy, Mamie and Papa. I received plenty of pictures showing me all the fun that he was having, which in return made me happy too. They had donuts, went to Busch Gardens and went to the pool!

Visiting Gaby's House

 We were lucky to be able to visit Gaby in both May and July this year. Both trips were awesome! Robert LOVES the horsey in her basement, so we spent a lot of time both trips downstairs playing horsey and rescue. 

Gaby took Matthew, Robert and I to Burke Lake to ride the train and the merry-go-round! It was such a fun time. Thank you, Gaby!

Matthew's first train ride was a hit!

Robert getting a little too comfortable.

After riding the train we went over to ride the merry-go-round. Robert and I were the last ones to get on, so sadly he didn't get a horse. He was very sad about this but we managed to still make the bench fun. When we got off the young guy working the merry-go-round said that Robert could have another turn and this time on a horse. It was the kindest thing. The worker definitely didn't have to do that and I told him thank you so many times. Robert was very happy and it was really sweet.

Gaby made ice cream with Robert. It was chocolate and so yummy and very rich. Matthew also enjoyed a taste.

We went to the pool! I didn't get a picture but Robert had fun jumping in and playing in the little pool. 

Gaby made Robert a wonderful birthday meal and I got into a lovely habit of having a corona on the back porch around 2pm every afternoon during the boys naptime. It was a treat for sure!

A very friendly and chatty UPS worker let Robert checkout his truck. He was so kind of him. Robert thought it was very cool. Gaby and I definitely got some good laughs after chatting with the guy. He was very forth coming in his stories.

It was nice to have time to just relax together around the house.

Matthew even got to ride the famous horse in the basement. Robert played on this horsey everyday!  Every morning he would ask if he could go right away downstairs to ride on his horsey. Gaby got a cowboy hat and Robert enjoyed wearing that while he played. He would play that he fed the horsey, brushed his mane and then would ride him to rescue people (often me sitting on the treadmill). We had so much fun! It is always special when we have time with Gaby. Both these trips were so wonderful!