The Beach

We planned a last minute beach vacation to the beach for Memorial Day. (Had we looked at the weather report, we may not chosen the beach we ended up at.) We rented a three bedroom beach house at Jacksonville (Jax) Beach. It was a GREAT location! We had to just walk out the back door and there was the beach!! We decided to wait until Saturday morning to leave (it's only 2 hours from us). We figured that by the time we left Friday night we would hit a little traffic and we wouldn't have any beach time anyway. We hit the road by 930 Saturday morning. We figured we'd play the beach a little before naps.

WELL our plans changed just a little because we remembered one of our best friends from high schools parents moved to Jacksonville a few years ago. SO 11 am Saturday morning we were knocking on their door. I'm pretty sure they have only seen pictures of the boys, but they could have met Carson when he was a little baby. It was so nice to see them!! We spent an hour visiting then with the Swartz's and planned to meet them for dinner as well.

We spent the afternoon planning at the beach Saturday. It was BEAUTIFUL!! (It was the calm before the storm!!) When they napped mama laid out in peace!! It was great!!

Dinner was fun! It was great spending time with them! Carson LOVED Mrs. Susan and the spider man helicopter she gave him!!

Sunday was a bit more interesting!! We were up and out on the beach by 830. It was a beautiful morning!! But by 10 it started getting pretty gray and windy! We decided to head in to put Tyler down for his morning nap and Carson got to watch a movie. By the time Tyler woke up it was extremely windy and the rain started. So much for an afternoon on the beach! We went to explore in downtown Jacksonville. We went to their science museum and then headed back home for naps. Since Tropical Storm Beryl was making it's presence known we did family night at the bowling alley! I guess we should have left to come home that night but we didn't! It was extremely windy that night! Luckily the boys slept through it all even if Jason and I didn't.

Overall it was a fantastic weekend!! Even if the weather was not perfect spending time together as a family was priceless!!

Oh Charlotte!

Source: sunnyvegan.com via Lynne on Pinterest

One week from tomorrow the packers come to pack up my house. I am still in denial about this! Charlotte is a place I have called home for 6.5 years. It's amazing how much I have changed and my life has changed since we moved here!

I moved to Charlotte two months after I graduated from college. I was engaged and ready to start my adult life. I started teaching kindergarten and slowly built up an awesome network of amazing friends! I got married, bought our first house, had a baby, stopped working, bought a different house and then had another baby. A lot of changes in almost 7 years!

As much as I will miss my home (which we bought 23 months ago) and this beautiful city, I will miss my friends the most! Our friends have turned into our family here. I love them all and will miss them dearly!!

I can't wait for visitors in Orlando!! I hear the weather is great down there!!

A veryBates Christmas

We are so lucky to have Jason's parents and my parents in the same area! I will say it again... we had a great Christmas!! The boys were spoil loved. Carson really enjoyed the extra time he was able to spend with his grandparents and his Uncle Kyle.

Tyler and Grandpa

Lots of fun gifts!

Tyler with his new walker

Carson playing the piano at Dan and Debbie's

Learning to walk

The Bates family minus Cory's family

Cousins

Aunt Connie

Headed South

Well... it's that time again... time to house hunt! Jason starts his new job on Wednesday, YES, Wednesday!! I can't believe it!! He drove down to Orlando this morning. He will need a car down there since he will be working downtown but he won't be living down town. This week also worked out to be the best week for me to go down there and go house hunting again. Instead of flying down with two children (by myself), we decided that Carson should take a road trip and ride with Jason and I could fly with Tyler Tuesday morning. We will spend the week looking at houses, figuring out the area(s) we like best, and looking at preschools for Carson. We will all fly back to Charlotte Friday night. Jason will spend the weekend with us and then head back to Orlando Sunday night. It's all very exciting!!

What a weekend!!

A fun FILLED weekend 

Friday we were able to see one of my best friends from high school, Lauren. Her husband and her recently bought a home and I was delighted to get to see it, Lauren, and her beautiful little girl McKenna!! Lauren has done a wonderful job decorating and getting her home together in just a few months!! I told her I was a bit jealous! :) I've been in our house for almost two years and I'm still working on getting it to together! :)

Tyler and McKenna

                                                     McKenna and Carson

Friday night my uncle, his wife, and son came over for dinner. It was great seeing all of them!! They recently moved to DC from England. (My uncle is in the air force) It was great catching up with all of them! The last time we saw them Carson was 3 months old and the time before that I wasn't even married yet. My cousin Bailey is 11 and Carson thought he was wonderful!! He LOVED playing with him!! Bailey did a great job working with Carson on his level and showing him how to play with his legos and play golf. It was a great night!!

We were able to spend time with Jason's parents and my parents! Of course they all love cuddling with Tyler and playing with Carson!!

Glammy and Grandpa

Big man turned 7 months while we were up there! 

Our family with Jason's grandparents! 

My mom, cousin Zachary, and Carson playing in the leaves 

Aunt Elisha and the boys 

Nana and the boys 

On the way back we were able to visit my good friend Nellie. She just had a beautiful baby Gaines. It was wonderful seeing baby Gaines and Nellie. Even though it was a short visit, I'm so glad we were able to stop!!