Cousins!

This past weekend we were lucky enough to meet a Carpenter cousin for the very first time. Long story short, Mary reached out to Bryan's parents a few years back. Through communication she got Bryan's email address along with Marie and Kevin. Over they years a few dates have been thrown out to meet, but with how busy everyone is, things just never panned out. About a month ago Mary emailed Bryan and said she was planning a girls weekend in our area and would love to meet. And so we did! She was wonderful. I can honestly say that it's like we had all been friends for years. She was so easy to talk to. We met downtown at Nicki's Sushi and talked for hours. Then we bar hopped a little and continued getting to know each other. Sunday she came by to meet Chappelle and Braxton, who absolutely fell in love with her. She wasn't a stranger for long. Within less than 5 minutes, little B climbed in her lap and was playing and naming lego's after her. You know it's love when he names his lego's after her! Mary stayed for a couple of hours before having to head back. As we walked her out Braxton said "she sure is pretty!" And as you can see by the pictures....he is right!
Till the next time......

Key West BABY!!!!

So for Bryan's 40th birthday, my main present to him was a card that said "PACK YOUR BAGS!" and on the table I had little slips of paper with Costa Rica, Cabo and Key West turned over. We basically had a long weekend Thursday - Sunday to go away. I already had my mom lined up to watch the kids so now we needed to decide how to get the biggest bang for our buck. The cost to go to all three wasn't a big difference but what we had to keep in mind was the travel time. So the Keys it was!

We had an absolutely amazing time! Flew in around 2:00 Thursday, plenty of time to get checked in at our B&B - Tropical Inn and venture out. First stop Front Porch. Beer and wine...just our kind of spot. They were great and gave us some really good tips. We enjoyed the beverages and company there and then hit the walk...sidewalk that is! Our location was prime! We were directly in the middle of Duval St. We tried to hit as many local spots during our stay as possible too. Timing of the trip was perfect and coincided with the KeyWest Songwriters Festival. We were lucky enough to get seats for the show at The San Carlos Theater to see Jamey Johnson, Robert Earl Keen, Raul and a few other up and comers. It was totally MTV unplugged style. They would banter back and forth and just strike up a tune. Seriously amazing. We did everything possible to try and see Jerrod Neiman, but didn't luck out. It was super cool though because Jake Owen sat right next to us at the airport...Hello Handsome! Bryan and I had such an amazing time together and reconnected, which all couples need. We missed the kids terribly, but wouldn't you know it, jumped right back into the groove as soon as we got home. It was like we were never gone!

Mom/Grandmomma/Gaga did great. Thanks so much! She got some really good one on one time in with botj kido's. Can't wait for the next trip already!!!!