The girls and I went to Birmingham, AL during the majority of August. We got in some great visits with friends and family. Right before the trip, I visited the Dollar Tree to get some cheap, small toys to carry on the plane in case the girls needed extra entertainment. Hannah actually found my stash of toys the day before I trip and insisted on playing with the matching cards.
The night before we left for our trip, Daniel treated us to a night out. We went to a great restaurant called Cabo Flats, then enjoyed some time on the carousel.


The girls were great travelers for the most part. We had a layover in Charlotte, NC for an hour and a half, which made Gryffyn a little antsy during the second leg of the trip. We tried to say entertained with our movies on the portable DVD player and our cool Tiger earphones.

Lots of hugs were to be had when we landed in Bham. Dearie and Papa were waiting for us at security check and as soon as we grabbed our bags, we were off to their favorite Mexican Restaurant. As you can tell from the picture below, Gryffyn really liked her meal.


Dearie and Papa had my old room set up for us, which included two new Dora the Explorer Toddler Beds. The girls did really well about sleeping in the beds. I was really nervous about Gryffyn staying in the bed since she has always slept in a crib, but she proved me wrong (something she likes to do) and slept like a champ! Hannah preferred to cuddle with me in the big bed, but loved to lay on her Dora Bed and talk to Dora.

As soon as possible, a trip to Mamaw and Papaw's house was in order. Mamaw and Papaw are Dearie's parents. Gryffyn really liked hanging out in the recliner with Papaw, while Hannah liked trying to pet Sweetie.
That Friday we headed to Memphis, TN to see some old friends. We hung out with Holly and her twins, Eva and Grayden, who are 4 weeks older than Hannah. Then we joined David and Brandy Calhoun at Mellow Mushroom for dinner. Since it was Friday night, the place was packed! So we asked for first available and got a raised booth, which meant no highchair. Brandy and I sat on one side with Gryffyn in a booster seat, and David sat on the other side with Hannah in a booster seat. Hannah is able to manage on her on after her food was cut up, so David and Hannah finished easy, while the other side was struggling. So I switched the girls, in order for Brandy and I to be able to finish our pizza. Gryffyn wasn't too happy about that switch.
Next day, we hung out with David and Brandy more. Got to spend some time at Tom and Mary's and swim in the pool with Brandy's little brother, Hunter. That evening we went to John and Angi Burke's house. I have known John and Angi since I was 12 and met them at Christ the King Lutheran in Bham. They have 3 kids, Trey, Gage, and Katie. The girls loved mimicking everything Katie did.

Right before we left on Sunday to head back to Bham, we had brunch with Tom, Mary, David, and Brandy. From the pictures you can tell that we were getting closer and closer to Gryffyn's nap time. By the time I pulled out of the parking lot to leave, Gryffyn was passed out and Hannah followed suit 15 minutes later.






Monday we went to Milo's Hamburger joint with Papa and stopped by the park. This park was next to the school Daniel attended for elementary.




The more we visited Mamaw and Papaw's, the more the girls got to play with Sweetie. They helped Dearie brush Sweetie's fur.


The night before Dearie's birthday, Mamaw and Papaw took us all out to Logan's Roadhouse to celebrate.
Hannah really enjoyed sharing Dearie's potato soup.
When Uncle Joshua came in town, we went to visit Uncle W.H., our cousin Liesa, and her husband Billy. Gryffyn got lots of hugs from Liesa and showed Uncle W.H. all her toys we brought with her to help entertain. Hannah fell asleep about 15 minutes before we got to their house, and enjoyed the rest of her nap in Dearie's lap.


After Uncle W.H.'s house, we went to visit Mamaw and Papaw so Uncle Joshua could see them.
Joshua and Hannah played cards that evening while I put Gryffyn to bed. I don't know if they were playing Go Fish or Poker, but Hannah won.

Dearie and I went shopping the last week we were there to get some clearance items. Birmingham had lots of clearance items (end of summer stuff) that I bought because we can use until October/maybe November down here. Below are pictures of Dearie's purchases...

Happy picture with the great-grands two days before we left to return to FL.

Hannah has been having so much fun this past week! She made a friend through story time at the library (Alexandra) and I made a mommy friend (Lauren). I love how Alexandra also includes Gryffyn when playing with Hannah, which forces Hannah to remember Gryffyn.

We celebrated the last week of story time by going to Chick-Fil-A after the library on Monday. While playing on the playground at Chick-Fil-A, Lauren told me about Christ Fellowship Church that is about 2 miles away from our house. They have attended the church and really like the youth ministry.

Lauren also told me that Christ Fellowship has an indoor playground area that they open to the public during the summer months between the hours of 12-2pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This is a wonderful AIR-CONDITIONED place for the kids to play! We joined Alex and her mommy Tuesday and today.

The playground even had a separate play area for Gryffyn's age group (under 2), so she wouldn't get run over by the bigger kids. As you can tell from the pictures below, the girls really liked this playground. It was extremely difficult to get a picture of their faces because they were moving SO fast in order to get the most out of play time. As soon as we got home, Gryffyn crashed!

Friday we received two awesome packages in the mail! One was a gift from the Bouncing Barkers (our friends from TN-Kyle, Holly, Eva, & Grayden). This gift contained Gryffyn's birthday presents (a little late b/c 3 of the 4 Bouncing Barkers have been sick) and a little extra lovely items for the Wacky Weinberg Women (no love for Dan).

Holly is a lot like me, in that she learned a lot of crafty techniques from her mother and decided that while she is not working she would use her craftiness to start a business. Her business is called "Monkeying Around" because she calls her twins, Eva and Grayden, her monkeys. She made us one of the first of her new products which are matching mommy/daughter purses in College Football theme. She knows how much Dan and I love Auburn Football, and couldn't pass up the opportunity to make these when she saw the fabric in the store. I love our matching purses and say we are ready to cheer our team on in style!


The Barkers also sent Gryffyn a Fisher-Price walk along phone that you can pull by a string and it plays music. We also got another package in the mail this Friday and that was the girls' matching earphones for their portable DVD player. I love the tiger headphones! Can you tell there is one mommy ready for football season to start?


This weekend our friend Bink (girls' call him Princess Bacon), came over to help Dan install a door. This is the door leading from the backyard to the garage. The previous door would not close properly and we also did not have a key for it. Needless to say, it NEEDED to be replaced. The guys were awesome in installing the door and I had fun trying to keep the girls out of the way. Hannah has a hard time not being with her Daddy on the weekend! It's super sweet and funny how attached she is, but VERY difficult when he has a project he is trying to tackle!


Anywho, that was our weekend! I hope you had a great one!