Surviving Walla Walla

I thought this was the perfect title to the most eventful trip I have ever taken.  I am possibly the most anxiety ridden person in the world when it comes to traveling. I wish I wasn't. My husband wishes even more. So when my flight was delayed 20 minutes after I reached my gate I struggled to not to be annoyed. I sat down rearranged my suitcase, which means I showed half the airport my underwear, and then I started to read a book. Then it got delayed for 30 more minutes. The reason behind the delay at 7AM was because they were replacing carpet. Yes, replacing the carpet. Interesting enough. Once the delay hit the two hour mark, I marched into the closest bar and had myself a drink because I was going to come unglued. I drank two very large beers and then set out to get on the plane. I was one of the last ones to board since I was drinking away  my misery so I got the luxury of checking my luggage at the gate. Wonderful. My phone was dying, and I did not realize my charger was in my bag, which causes more anxiety for me once I landed. Luckily I made one last quick call to my friend Barb who was picking me up and then settled into my seat. For the next hour we taxied and waited in the long line to fly out, then someone decided to have a seizure. Yes a seizure. We had to return to the gate and wait for paramedics and paperwork to be done, which only took another hour and 30 minutes. The couple next to me were probably in their mid 60's and never had been on an airplane. What an experience for them. They were cute and great until they would nudge me every time the drink cart came by while I was sleeping to ask if I wanted anything. Really?? NO!! I reached Seattle about 5 hours later then I should have, then I got into the car and drove another 4 hours to Walla Walla. This is only the start of my trip.

However seeing Barb made me relax, but not until after I screamed for an hour. Then we got to Walla Walla, and I was so excited to see all the other girls. They were standing outside of the most beautiful house waiting for us. After lots of hugs and venting from me, we went to dinner, which may have been a little too classy for us "classy ladies". Or at least me. :) At this point I have been up for well over 24 hours and have drank enough for about 10 people, we turned in for the night but not until after some unforgettable mishaps.

 LeeAnne and Brittany

I love this picture. Marie, Carrie, LeeAnne and Britt

 Notice Carrie Belle behind me...BLAHAHAHA!!

The girls in front of the BEAUTIFUL house! 

Isn't Marie GORGEOUS??!!! I think so. 

Saturday everyone was awake by 7:30 and after breakfast Carrie and myself had some cake vodka and pineapple juice and it was all over from there. We went shopping, did some wine tastings including the lovely Chocolate Shoppe!! I almost died 100 times since this a favorite wine here in Charlotte. We then had a little "surprise" baby shower for two of my girlfriends who are pregnant, Barbara and Brittany, which was probably not so much of a surprise but it was fun to celebrate with them. Babies as we all know are such a gift...they are both on their second. I must add also that these two despite their beautiful bellies did not seem like they were pregnant. They were amazing troopers. I have never seen pregnant women like them before. ***SIDE NOTE*** I forgot to mention that after the first night, my cell phone had broken and so did my beloved camera. :( No cell phone on a girls trip out of state is not such a wonderful thing. Needless to say I was freaking out!!!

Brittany and Barbara and their beautiful bellies! Can not wait to meet those babies!

Marie is so sweet and we were all so happy that she was able to come on this trip!

Wine tasting! The only picture of all of us. How sad!

Our second night included a shot gun, which lead to a cut foot...don't ask how. Then a champagne cork hitting me in the neck at the bar and the jerk of a bartender who was absolutely inappropriate in calling me a liar. His exact words were "I do not see any mascara smeared on your face". Saying I did not cry therefore it must have not happened. However this is where I know my best friends are the most loyal friends. LeeAnne closed her tab right then and there and said we were leaving, and then Barb got the owner involved to complain about the awful service we had just received from him. I love my girlfriends. After all these years we still get heated when one is wronged, and it's the best feeling to know you have extended family extended from your family. We of course went back to our cottage, laughed at confessions that were more hysterical than confessions and finally drifted to sleep on our last night. I swear I got food poisoning that night, but Kevin just laughs about that.


Before I left we had made plans to have dinner with my second family who I nannied for so many years ago. Max is now 18, almost 19, and has graduated from high school, Gust is headed to Harvard for summer school (Must be my homework tutoring paying off) and Stella is still just as sweet and innocent as she was. There were about 20 people there, and I was emotionally overwhelmed. I cried and I almost never cry. Kim is so beautiful, and I just admire her so much. It was the perfect way to end my trip. 

Kevin had said that Brecken was a bit of a terror while I was away. I think he missed me or he missed nursing more maybe. I did not really fight him much about nursing since I did not think it was the right time for him. He is however not happy that I pretty much dried up my milk with cabbage leaves. They are miracle workers if you want to dry up your milk in two days. But after a week of nursing, my milk is back in. Bleh!
Kevin filled me in on the fun they had had. Free haircuts, park, playing with Caleb, walking in on Jackson putting deodorant on Brecken. You know the basics, but I am happy to be home as one usually is after sleepless nights. 


Thank you Barbie Doll, Brittany, Carrie, LeeAnne and Marie for the amazing memories and the closeness I feel after this trip. I love you ladies more than you know.


Sorry for the MASSIVE amount of pictures but I just love them ALL!

That Carrie has GOOD stories. :)

Macy's was having a HUGE sale (always) and we got new hats! 

I love this picture!

This was the Chocolate Shoppe wine tasting room. It was absolutely GORGEOUS, just like Brittany. 

I really like this picture...ALL except my black feet! :)

This picture cracks me up!  Here we all are at our best! 

Everyone loved the Chocolate Shoppe they bought  12 bottles to take home. 

 Carrie was so sweet in bringing us all vintage signs from her sister's antique shop. Lucky for Kevin she included him too. :)

Carrie and Barbie doll. Love these ladies!

Testing Limits

This is an old post that I have never published!! SO it is a little over a month old now. :)

It is hard to be 3-years-old. But I think it is harder to be a 3-year-old's mother. School has been out for nearly two weeks and I honestly looked forward to having Jackson home with me. But.....now he is bored. And when he is bored he tests his limits with me. He laughs at me when I get angry. He continues to do what I just told him not do to. He spits. He hits. He throws tantrums over silly things. He picks on his brother. He pouts when I say he can't have chips or popcorn at 9 AM. Although I still think his pouts are cute, they eventually lead into the screaming tantrum I just can't seem to ignore.

Then you have Brecken who is becoming into his own little person. He gets mad. Real mad. If you take something away or remove him from climbing or standing on top of a piece of furniture, he will cry, scream and run all at the same time. He usually crashes and then cries even harder. Yesterday I picked him up so he would not hurt himself during his rampage and he took it out on my face. My  neck has a very large gash in it. It stung all day long.  Today when I made him mad, he started slamming cabinets repeatedly accompanied by his screams. I was dumbfounded. When did my 1-year-old start acting like my 3-year-old?

Then you have the two of the gang up on me together. They love playing a great game called "Drive mommy crazy" and they do it very well. Everyday when I get the vacuum out, they like to run around it, grab onto the cord and pull all while laughing hysterically and then running around again like maniacs. It is very hard to vacuum. Yesterday when I vacuumed, Jackson had the cord, he cloths-lined Brecken and Brecken fall face first into the coffee table. Then once I start it up again, Jackson starts throwing socks in front of the vacuum and I vacuumed one up and my vacuum started smoking. Yes smoking. Needless to say I did not get anything accomplished. 

I am nervous to ask God for patience because I'm afraid of how he will show me to be patient. Why are my kids insisting that they drive me to my liquor cabinet daily?  I instead will dream of the day my kids will behave and listen instead of acting like cavemen.

Beach better give me a....tan!

We have found a new annual trip we will be taking! The Bruns and the O'Hare's rented a beach house for two days, and it just was not long enough.  It was a short 3 hour drive, and the weather was perfect! The beach was less then a 5 minute walk from the house, and it was not crowded at all. We stayed on the inter-coastal water way so we had the luxury of fishing and also attempted to crab.  I purchased a new beach cart, which I got a bunch of slack for, but it turned out to be quite resourceful. The house was amazing. It looked like it was out of Pottery Barn catalog. I had no idea it would be that beautiful.  Kevin unfortanely got a fever the night before we left and had one the entire 2 days we were there. He was pretty much bed ridden except for maybe a 4 hour reprieve, which he managed to fish, kayak and go to the beach. Jackson followed "Uncle Kyle" around and managed to catch one fish with daddy. Brecken despised the beach. He was holding on to me for dear life the entire time and whimpering. Poor baby. Jackson wanted to be in the waves at all times swimming. Of course he found some lovely 7-year-old girls who he wanted to play with, but I however did not want to hang out with 7-year-old girls. We made some great memories and are now longing to own a vacation home of our own.  

I just can not get enough of this little guy and his cheeks. 

 My little breakfast boys!!

 Kyle looks very nautical here. 

 The view from the back deck. 

 Can not get enough of these boys. They are so cute!

Seriously best picture ever!!

Even Jack managed to go for a ride. He was a little bit scared though. 

Brecken Turns 1

I had not planned on doing anything big for Brecken. I was just feeling worn out and uninspired when it came right down to the party. However, Kevin and I still had so much to do to prepare for it. I swear it does not matter if you have 5 people coming over or 50, the preparation is all the same. The day before the party I got some decorating idea,s and I just took what I had in my house and went to work. Phew, that was a mistake. I was a little stressed on what I had started. Here were the highlights...

#1. Everyone LOVED our new screened in porch/deck.
#2. The kids had a blast going down the roller coaster. Hit of the party that is for sure.
#3.  There was a love octagon between the kids. Molly loved Kade. Jackson loved Molly. Lera loved Jack...and so on. It was very comical to all of us except for maybe Jackie and Paul who were really in the middle of it.
#4. Kevin made balloon animals and swords for all the kids. Yet another thing Mr. O'Hare is good at.
#5. And most importantly Brecken  is 1 year old.  I barely can remember what life was like without him. It is so much better now.

It was a perfect day for little Brecken. Most of our best friends were here to celebrate him, and it made me happy. I saw some people I have not seen in forever, and it means the world they came. Obviously Brecken is very special to our little family, but I know he is special to people who know him. He is such a sweet, loving, cuddly boy. He is almost always happy and can adapt to any situation....except sleeping. :)

Happy 1st Birthday Brecken Paul!

Dessert table!

My friend Jackie does this every year for her girls. I love it!! 

He is definitely my dare devil!

A long ways from Wales....

After our too short of a visit with the in-laws and Mother's Day, which I spent with some of my favorite girls drinking tea, we were lucky enough to have yet another fun filled weekend with Bill and Teresa! If you remember they were in the States in November and came up for a few days to see us then. We are sure feeling spoiled since it is such a treat to be with them, and twice in less than a year is unheard of.

That Friday when they arrived we sat out on our porch and laughed, drank jalapeno beer (best beer EVER if you ask me) and got caught up on the latest. Once Jackson warmed up, he never let Bill out of his sight. He.....Loved......Him! The next day Kevin and Bill played golf while Teresa and I and the boys went shopping. Teresa pampered the entire O'Hare family, and we each received simple gifts. It was all very sweet and thoughtful. Jackson rode his first carousel, and we had a very quiet lunch out before we headed home. That night they insisted Kevin and I go out on a date. I was excited about this, and we took them up on it. We left without feeding the kids, bathing or putting them to bed. It was really a night off. We went to two breweries, visited good friends of ours, and ate some sushi. It was the best date I have had in a long time. I hope they come again really soon. We miss them already!

Jackson also finished up his last day of school that following Wednesday. Bittersweet. We all met a park, and they gave us a concert with great singing and some nose picking from Jackson. The kids were going to make shirts in school for this day, and we were all supposed to pick up a white shirt. I did not have any idea that you can go to Wal-Mart or Target and get a Hanes t-shirt for toddlers, so I got one from Micheal's craft store. As you can tell in the picture it was SO big on him. I was cracking up. His teachers must think I'm crazy.  Jackson got his teachers a summer thank you gift that included a beach towel, magazine and sunscreen!

Mother's Day tea with Natasha, Jennifer, Michelle and Shanna

 My "wool" derby hat!!

I love this picture. They are all so happy. 

Bill and Teresa with the boys. 

Yum!

He is just to cute for words.