Tupelo Honey

father’s day weekend

father’s day weekend was bittersweet. i was originally supposed to go to charleston for a girls weekend, but when my plans fell through, madeline and i flew to NC for a couple of days while andy stayed behind with work obligations. i was really bummed that i couldn’t see my tumblr girls, but excited to spend a few days at home. 

at 16 months old, madeline cannot be tamed. she wants to explore and get into ev-er-y-thing. normally this is cool with me, just not on a airplane. my saving graces for our flight down south: her binky (which is normally reserved for naps/bedtime only), ratatouille (her favorite movie), and a fancy new sippy cup of milk. she was a rockstar. 

first stop, greensboro.

since we were flying home early sunday morning to spend father’s day with andy, we reserved friday for time with grandpa (my dad). this included outdoor “alphabet soup” -what i call bath time/swimming with her foam letters and numbers. 

beanie’s new obsession is ice. she loves sucking on chopped pieces from the ice maker. this comes as no surprise, the girl LOVESLOVESLOVES (like i’ve never seen anyone love) water. of course she’s gonna love ice.  i get extremely paranoid about this whole ice-eating business though, so i always make her “open up” to show me what’s in her mouth. 

lovin’ her grams. 

mom and dad hosted a family cookout on friday night so madeline and i could see everyone before we headed to RDU on saturday. seriously, nothing makes me happier than being with the ones i love most. family is everything to me.

the ferris men were too busy talking sports and whatnot to entertain the idea of a group photo, but i was able to gather up the girls for a few pictures. 

(left to right) aunt wendy, cousin jennifer, cousin sarah, mom and bean, aunt cheri, and me

we caught lightning bugs! the girls would snatch them up and then hand them to madeline. i thought she would freak out, but she apparently loves bugs. that’s our girl!! always fearlessly (but also cautiously) exploring what mother nature has to offer, just like her mama and daddy. 

holding a lightning bug, watching it light up for the very first time. she was so gentle. 

*****

we woke up bright and early saturday morning to a full, fun day staring back at us.

it was blake and emma finch’s 1st birthday parties! i don’t know how we got so lucky to have both of madeline’s best buddies -and my dearest girlfriends daughters- birthday parties fall on the same day, but they did, and that made this out of town mama very happy. it took some serious planning on my part in order to attend both… not only did we have 2 parties starting within an hour and a half of each other, but i also had to factor in travel time (us in greensboro, parties in chapel hill and raleigh) and madeline’s VERY NECESSARY 2-a-day naps. i am one determined girl though, and we made it happen. 

this is taylor, cori’s sister. ((hey, tay!)) their relationship is the main reason that i want a sister for madeline. taylor is more than just ‘cori’s sister’ to me. her and i have a special bond that goes back 15+ yrs, a friendship that i will forever cherish. taylor is hilarious and crazyinsane in love with her niece blake… borderline obsessive, for sure. i spent most of the party trying to figure out ways to take pictures of blake without taylor in them. case in point-taylor with 2 cameras in her hand: 

madeline is a kissing bandit, especially with blake. here are a few pictures from blake’s pool-themed party:

after blake’s party, we jumped in the car and raced to raleigh for emma finch’s party. again with the kissing! madeline and everly are clearly smitten with one another- they are adorable together!! miss emma finch would have been up in the mix too, but family members were too busy hogging her. understandable, she looked so precious in her fancy birthday dress!!!

i was so busy catching up with the turys and the jordans that i barely took any pictures. here are a few of us taken towards the end of the party… give a bunch of toddlers a cooler with ice water on a hot day and they’ll be entertained for a solid hour!

my favorite raleigh girls, take one:

and take two:

pretty mamas with our baby girls. 

after the party, about 15 of us headed back to haley and adam’s to keep the party going. SO.MUCH.FUN!!!!!!!!!  as usual, it took a crow bar to pry me away from them. 

we eventually headed back to greensboro, promising that we’ll be back soon and making plans for our next trip home. 

we woke up early sunday morning and flew back to philadelphia so we could spend father’s day adventuring with andy. we took a walk down by wilmington waterfront, ate a late lunch on the christina river, and then i surprised andy with a date night to see midnight in paris. all i can say is that woody allen outdid himself with this film- it was brilliant and he is a genius. HIGHLY RECOMMEND. 

it was such a whirlwind weekend that i’m still recovering!!! mom and dad are in town this weekend, hopefully i’ll spend the next couple of days resting instead of go-go-going. we’ll see… relaxing is definitely not in my vocabulary. 

happy friday to my tumblr loves!!!