Friday, September 28, 2012

First Experience at Build-A-Bear

Lallie has two things in this world she can't live without.  It's a fight every morning as we're leaving for school for her to leave them behind.  Her "nay-nay" (a/k/a pink minky dot blanket that she's used FOREVER, I'm surprised it's not falling apart) and stuffed Rapunzel that hasn't left her side since our Disney trip in mid-August.

Well....move aside stuffed Rapunzel, there's a new bear in town.  Rapunzel bear to be exact!  A couple weeks ago, we went down to Build-A-Bear for the first time ever for a birthday party.  It was quite the chaotic ordeal which means....this kids loved it!
Stuffing the bear.
Adding the heart to the bear.
Washing the bear.

Pausing for a picture with good friends.

Naming the bear (Rapunzel....shocking).
Exhausted and taking a snooze with Rapunzel bear (complete with undies and jeweled high heeled pink shoes.)

Happy Friday Y'all!

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Birchbox - POREfessional

I've mentioned it before, I'll mention it again.  I'm in love with Birchbox.  For $10 a month, you get this nifty adorable little box (that I keep as they're the perfect size for Christmas gifts) filled with high end samples and sometimes full size products of the newest beauty craves.

I did a post a while back HERE about some of my favorite products I've sampled....take a look.  But the other thing I love about Birchbox are the points for free products!  Just the other day, with my free points, I ordered POREfessional (based on the 427 4+ star reviews on Ulta....my other favorite store, thanks to Ashleigh) to try it out.  After cross-checking it with my skin type, I think it would be very compatible for my skin, especially in year-round hot South Florida!

Have you tried POREfessional?  I'm SO anxious to try it!!

Let me know your thoughts!  I'm anxious to hear!

Happy Thursday Y'all!

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

My Ole Kentucky Home

I have SO much to tell you and I am making a concerted effort to get it all out this week!  Including a new beauty product I ordered for FREE thanks to Birchbox points (love Birchbox, don't you?)

Anyways, we visited Kentucky over Labor Day weekend and had an absolute blast!  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves (with little tidbits here and there).  :-)  Enjoy!

My father-in-law's newly restored 1960 Corvette.  He purchased it 38 years ago for my mother-in-law and it's been in storage for about 20 years.  First time out in years!
It is Labor Day weekend in Kentucky without a wiener roast followed by S'mores!

....or Kentucky bluegrass and gospel on the back porch.

Lallie and the Corvette with the winner's trophy from the festival's car show in 1989.  The car show was unfortunately cancelled but the parade went on and Lallie got to ride in it!





What's a farm without chickens and fresh eggs!
Adorable baby Guinea Fowls (they eat bugs off the garden plants).
Axel and Slash chasing Lallie...so much fun!
Lallie's pet donkey, Clem (it was Clementine until we found out she was a HE!)
Clem doesn't seem to mind his master.  :-)
Watching a storm roll in from off the back porch.
Feeding the sheep with Cousin John-Paul.
We nearly purchased a crate to take one of these cutie-pies home!  So sweet!
And last but not least.  Hubby and his daddy in the Corvette.  Two handsome fellows indeed!

Happy Wednesday Y'all!

Friday, September 14, 2012

End of Summer Travels and a Totaled Car




I know it's well into September, but I have yet to completely update you on our end of the summer fun!

After Disney World, we took a trip up to Apalachicola to visit my parents.  Apalachicola is such a relaxing and quiet environment and we just love visiting there.  It was fun to see my parents new house too.  They have been renovating it over the past year and it's looking really fantastic!


Oyster capital of the world!  Yummm!!!!  We love Papa Joe's Oysters!

Back home, we visited the children's museum a few times over the summer.  The museum is one of Lallie's favorite places and I'm proud to be a board member for this reason.
Dr. Lallie, at your service!  Squirrels need tender loving care too!  

Daddy and Lallie also had a Daddy-Lallie day while I was at a Junior League retreat.  They went to a ceramics shop and rode in daddy's fancy sports car (yes, that does freak me out a bit I must say!)  Lallie LOVES daddy's sports car and it's a special day when she gets to ride in it.

Lallie never leaves home without her pearls.  "Like Mother, Like Daughter" she always says.

Of course, we attended church whenever we were in town.  Lallie always sits with her friends, whether it be with Husband and I or with the other parents.  They are such good little headband-club, church-goers!
 
 And last but not least.  Lovely Issac, oh wonderful Issac.  

My wonderful, most favorite car ever (outside of my '98 Jetta...fond memories) became stranded in 18" of water in my neighborhood during Tropical Storm Issac.  

I didn't think I could make it through so called Husband.  He thought I could get through, especially since other sedans had traveled through successfully.  Neither one of us had any clue that BMW's suck up air from underneath the car rather than the top like other cars.  So I just stopped, 1/4 mile from my house, in torrential rains, 65 mph winds and lightening.  The water was above my doors, so we couldn't get out without flooding the cars and we weren't about to walk home in that weather (the whole neighborhood was flooded and it was very windy with tons of lightening and rain.  The car was shaking!).  So we waited for Daddy to come tow us out with the Suburban.

This is my car, with Lallie and I inside.

Why was I out in this weather?  Well.....that morning, everything was fine.  All schools were in session and everyone went on with business as usual, being told that the weather was well on it's way out of the area.  By 10 am, we were in full force Tropical Storm winds and rains.  One forgets how strong these storms are until we experience them again.  Wind gusts at 65 mph is one thing.  But sustained....they can be downright scary.

So it was a mad dash to the schools to pick up children, the buses were traveling in flooded waters trying to get kids home.  Tornado warnings were all throughout the area.  It was an absolute mess!
 
Anyways, it took two days for the tow company to pick up my car and by then, it was a goner with water sitting in the engine.  So, bye-bye beautiful BMW....hello new car!  :-)  They only downside, I really loved my car and was hoping to keep it for quite a bit longer and not have a car payment.  We are finalizing our car shopping this weekend, so I'll let you know what I get!

Last but not least....our trip to Kentucky....next week.  (And I promise to keep things a little more up to date.  Have I said that before?)

Happy Friday Y'all!



Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Disney!!

We have been a very busy family these past few weeks!  Trips to Disney, Apalachicola and Kentucky....the start of a new school year, the start of a new dance class!  The list goes on!  That gives a little explanation for my absence.  I have LOTS of pictures to show off from our latest escapades and first, we'll start off with our trip to Disney.

We decided at the last minute to swing up to the Magic Kingdom and Epcot for a quick weekend trip.  Thankfully we live close enough that we can do this (and double thank goodness because I couldn't handle a whole week there!).

We stayed at the Fort Wilderness Lodge and it was beautiful!  By far our favorite resort in Disney World.  We plan to stay there for every future visit we just loved it so much.  It was surrounded by lots of trees and nature, just minutes from the Magic Kingdom and it felt like we were in the middle of Yosemite National Park.  Not to mention, Lallie LOVED the bunk beds!

On our way to the ferry to visit the Magic Kingdom!
Lallie was SO happy to see Cinderella's castle!  We had been promising her all summer we would take a trip and the smile on her face and the excitement....priceless!  We made it just in time to see the gates to the park open and we were able to see the opening show, something none of us had ever seen before.
Notice the Rapunzel doll....the newest addition to our extensive Rapunzel collection!  This stuffed doll hasn't left Lallie's side since our visit.  

We sacrificed the first part of the Main Street Electric Parade to stand in line to see the princesses.  We were hoping that Rapunzel would make an appearance but unfortunately, she was out on a date with Flynn.  Lallie was still extremely happy to see Belle, Cinderella and Aurora!  We plan on getting Florida season passes now that Lallie is old enough to visit more often, especially when the new Princess Fantasyland opens.  We'll definitely see Rapunzel then!

Belle had Lallie close her eyes and make a wish and while her eyes were closed tight, Belle gave her a kiss.  Definitely the highlight of Lallie's day at the Magic Kingdom!
We also visited Epcot, but I didn't take many pictures.  Here's Lallie with Donald Duck (who tried to keep her, no less!  He was very sad when she had to go).  Lallie's favorite ride was It's A Small World....we rode it twice.  And of course, the Merry-Go-Round!

The other big moment at Disney was Lallie's first roller coaster ride!  She went down Splash Mountain!!!  We had to coerce her in a bribing manner (okay, we tricked her....don't judge).  But she was brave and went down the slide and she wasn't scarred for life!  She was actually quite proud of herself!   That was however, the ONLY roller coaster ride she was allowed to ride.  She's right at 40" and apparently height is subjective at Disney.  Oh well....she'll be tall enough for everything next visit!

More about out August escapades to come later this week.

Happy Tuesday Y'all!