We celebrated my 30th birthday dinner at Pei Wei with Kristy and Andy, and then later had cake with Nicole. She made this masterpeice with 3 layers of chocolate filled with chocolate mousse and cherries, covered in ganache. It was AMAZING. Unfortunately, we flew out the next day and left most of it in the fridge. It was all I could do not to stuff it in my carry-on. I did eat it for breakfast though.
In order to sufficiently launch me spiraling into middle-age weight gain, I had TWO cakes. Micah got me a sheet cake, and sadly, the frosting was all melted by the time I blew out the candles. That's right, I left two barely eaten cakes in the fridge. (I also realized as I was posting this just how sad it is to be in your pj's for your birthday party. What can I say, I like to be cozy when I sit in front of a fire.)
The next day it was off to my parents house in Camden, SC where we hit the ground running. We decided it would be a great idea to have a yardsale to unload some of the accumulated junk. So we spent the days leading up to it going through the attic, shed, garage, etc. Thomas and Margaret came home to help, and Thomas entertained us all by demonstrating some of his yoga moves from his summer yoga course. This is what 310 pounds of grace and agility looks like:
We came across our old dance recital costumes when we were going through the attic and had fun dressing Skylar up in them. Here she models the Hershey Kiss costume:
Dawn broke on saturday morning to a frenzy of setting up. Our yardsale was scheduled to begin at 8--the crowds rolled in at 630 and they didn't mess around. They kept going in the garage looking for things that weren't on sale. We felt like we needed more stuff for them. I ran through the house grabbing things and they were gone almost before they touched the pavement.
This is AFTER it was picked over:
Skylar woke up at some point and we stuck her out there with all the stuff. Nobody bought her, but a few people tried.
She was so sleepy and just wanted Uncle Josh to carry her around.
Here is Bekah modeling a hot pink velvet dress coat. It could have been yours, sorry you weren't there.
Like the proud Austin woman she is, Margaret held her head up high, strapped on the fanny pack and took money from those poor souls who eagerly haggled for our trash.
Then it got really, really hot and the fun stopped:
After all of our hardwork, we needed a little R&R, so we headed up to my Aunt Nell and Uncle Carl's new house on Lake Murray. My Uncle David, Aunt Tish, and cousins Abby and Sarah were visiting from Florida so we had a little reunion. This is one Big House--so big in fact, that I would have had to stand in the lake to fit the whole thing in one frame:
Here is Aunt Nell working in her amazing kitchen filled with appliances from the sci-fi channel.
Dawn broke on saturday morning to a frenzy of setting up. Our yardsale was scheduled to begin at 8--the crowds rolled in at 630 and they didn't mess around. They kept going in the garage looking for things that weren't on sale. We felt like we needed more stuff for them. I ran through the house grabbing things and they were gone almost before they touched the pavement. This is AFTER it was picked over:
Skylar woke up at some point and we stuck her out there with all the stuff. Nobody bought her, but a few people tried.
She was so sleepy and just wanted Uncle Josh to carry her around.
Here is Bekah modeling a hot pink velvet dress coat. It could have been yours, sorry you weren't there.
Like the proud Austin woman she is, Margaret held her head up high, strapped on the fanny pack and took money from those poor souls who eagerly haggled for our trash.
Then it got really, really hot and the fun stopped:
After all of our hardwork, we needed a little R&R, so we headed up to my Aunt Nell and Uncle Carl's new house on Lake Murray. My Uncle David, Aunt Tish, and cousins Abby and Sarah were visiting from Florida so we had a little reunion. This is one Big House--so big in fact, that I would have had to stand in the lake to fit the whole thing in one frame:Here is Aunt Nell working in her amazing kitchen filled with appliances from the sci-fi channel.
No Austin family gathering would be complete without some kind of rowdy, violent, competitive sport. In this case, water rugby:
Sarah helped Skylar play fetch:
Now off to bed for me!
I think I met Edi sometime around 1998. We worked together in the summers. She was fun, motivated and really talented with children. Although I've known her for a long time, it's been fun really getting to "know" her as a mom this past year after she and her husband Travis moved back to Colorado Springs.
This past week we decided to meet up at America the Beautiful Park so the kids could play in the fountain.
Ashley Crum:
Edi's daughter Hailey is the cutest little thing ever. I didn't get any pics of her son Riley because he was off playing the entire time.
Hailey shared her chips with Skylar and even fed her one at a time.
Jess always packs a cute little basket for her kids. It all very Martha Stewart-esque.
This is Jude, otherwise known as mini-Peter. He is the spitting image of his dad.
We had to go to the Flying W Ranch while everyone was here. It's just what you do. Besides, it had been a few years since our last time and we had to refresh our memory as to just how bad that boiled beef and chicken "BBQ" really are:) The rest of it is good though!
