OUR WEEKEND + FIVE THINGS I LOVE

It was a super low-key weekend for us! And while I always love getting out and doing things on the weekend, the quiet ones are just as nice too.

Friday: Ayla and I were actually visiting my parents in South Carolina for a few days while Ben was away on a work trip, so we spent Friday with them. We’re getting our kitchen cabinets done from a shop local to them, so mom and and I went over in the morning to pick out our paint color and hardware. Now I can’t wait to get them installed! We went out for lunch after visiting the cabinet shop, which ended up being more like a scarf-it-down kind of meal since Ayla wasn’t into the whole lunch date out thing that day. It’s amazing how fast you can get packed up and out of a place when the little one decides to start wailing at the top of her lungs! Sorry, cozy cafe lunchers…we’re leaving now! We spent the afternoon and evening at home with my parents and called in an early bedtime since I was planning to leave in the early morning to head back to Tennessee.

Saturday: We left my parent’s a little before five o’clock in the morning, because as crazy as it sounds to leave that early for such a short six-hour trip, it’s just so much easier to travel when Ayla will sleep for the first few hours. It’s one thing when there are two of us traveling, since one of us can be back in the back with her to help entertain when she starts getting restless. But when it’s just me, it’s a helpless feeling when you can’t do anything to help when she’s bored. Singing to her helps, but one can only sing “you are my sunshine” so many times before you just can’t sing it anymore, hehe. She took a while to fall asleep once we left, but thankfully she ended up sleeping for almost three hours before waking up for the day. We got home around noon, and just spent the rest of the day at home doing some cooking and unpacking and taking a walk around the block for some fresh air.

Sunday: Ben’s flight got in around eight thirty in the morning, which was so nice since we still had the rest of the day to be together. Ayla did her typical little shy-girl routine when he came in the door…looking at him for a few seconds, then sticking her thumb in her mouth, then shyly looking back at him for a few minutes before getting her big smiles on her face for him. Cutest thing! We had naps in the morning and a big welcome-home lunch and then a family walk to enjoy the pretty fall day. It was so gorgeous out! We left for church a little earlier than we needed to in the afternoon so we could stop for a little smoothie date, and then spent the next few hours at church. Ayla did so good this week, and even managed to fall asleep in the stroller so Ben and I got to sit together for an entire church service for the first time in a long time. Hopefully it’s a new trend, hehe. We came home after church and did our usual Sunday-supper routine…which is basically pull everything edible out of the fridge and make plates of whatever you want. It was such a good Sunday being together with my little family again!