a day at the zoo...

It has become a tradition of ours to go to Lowry Park Zoo every time we are in Florida. I love this tradition because I really, really, love the zoo. I think Carver is really starting to love it too.

We always start the day with breakfast at Cracker Barrel, then we spend the morning hours at the zoo and finish off the excursion with lunch at Jason's Deli.

All in all, a perfect day :)

Julia made a new friend.

He's on a mission.

Waiting to ride on the carousel...

...and we waited and waited...

Finally we were off! And Carver's mouth stayed like this for the ENTIRE ride...

Then we rode a camel.

Staying hydrated.

Starting to get sleepy...

His favorite part of the day? Definitely playing in the water.

He loved having Julia play with him in the water-- and so did I. Thanks Jules :)

Wedding Shower for Courtney!

The main reason for Carver and I heading down to Florida a couple of weeks ago was to help throw Courtney a super fun wedding shower. Well, I hope it was super fun for her.

We had the shower at The Stanford Inn in Bartow. The room was great, the food was great, the servers were great--- the owners, not so much. I won't vent here but they have a nasty letter in their future...

Here are some pictures from the super fun shower:

Courtney and Grandma Ruby

Courtney with Mickie and Aunt Ginger

Cupcakes: Key Lime and Red Velvet

The ridiculously cute "sign in" box.

Favors: Lucky Bamboo in tiny Mason jars with ribbon (teal or brown)

David Yurman! (Ginormous Blue Topaz ring from Mama and Daddy).

Carver "helping" Aunt Courtney open her presents.

Post-Shower pics at home-- I totally failed to get pictures of us at the shower.

Less than two weeks until the wedding-- I'm so very excited! Carver and I leave in 3 days to begin our (very, very) long journey to Baltimore and then the wedding festivities begin!!!!

Sweet friends, baby love, and a visit to the Alma Mater

While in Florida Carver and I had the extreme pleasure of visiting my friend Courtney and her sweet family. Courtney is one of my BFFs and we don't get to see each other often enough. I love getting to visit her but it makes me extra emotional about the fact that we don't live close enough to each other. I SO wish we lived closer and our babies could truly grow up together.

My heart simply swelled watching our kids play together. Whitney is 14 months and is petite and precious with beautiful blue eyes and huge dimples. She is the perfect mix of Courtney and Darin. Love, love, love this girl. My major concern with the visit was that Carver would either a) play too rough with Whitney and scare/hurt/traumatize her, or b) Carver would destroy their lovely home. Luckily he LOVED Whitney and was super sweet to her...unfortunately, he did break one cute ceramic lamp-type thing on their patio...

Exploring the backyard.

Pushing Whitney around on her train.

Pool time! They had a blast!

The highlight of the much-too-short visit was spending the morning wandering around UF's campus, reminiscing about our college days (we had almost all of our non-core classes together there during my last two years at UF), and eating at our favorite Gainesville restaurant, The Swamp. I simply loved being back on campus. This was my first visit back since I graduated 8 years ago. So many emotions and memories are wrapped up in that place. It is incredible to me that Court and I were walking around the campus, pushing our kids in their strollers. My my how time flies. It was a perfect, perfect morning. (With the exception of the parking ticket I received, though that brought on its own wave of nostalgia). I love college campuses-- especially this one.

I tried bribing the kids with snacks to get them in a picture together. Fail.

There is one thing I sincerely dislike about Courtney. The fact that I look like a chubby Amazon next to her...

Around Campus:

Carver fell asleep during our trek around campus. I try to tell him that he wouldn't be so tired if he did not get up at 5:45 in the morning.

Lunch at The Swamp.

Broccoli Bites = Fried yummy goodness. A tradition of ours.

I've said it before, but Courtney is one of my very best friends and we are so.much.alike. It is a little scary. She just gets me. I think we could spend weeks talking and never run out of things to say. She is 100% supportive of me, always. She will listen to my crazy rants and then tell me that she feels exactly the same way. She is a comfort and a blessing to me and I find it absolutely amazing that God so carefully orchestrated this friendship. We met in French class and clicked immediately. She is the only friend I made at UF and still talk to with any kind of regularity. I didn't learn French that year, but I gained an incredible friend. Which is well-worth the misery of French class five days a week. Courtney-- please move here. Please, please, please. There are multiple houses for sale in my neighborhood :) I need you here!!!