Last weekend my entire family came to stay with us for my Dad's 60th birthday. We had a blast, but I lost my camera shortly before the majority of the family arrived (it has since been recovered). Here are just a few shots from our Saturday morning together.
Robert and Connor LOVED the time with their grandparents.
His one-year-old party theme: balloons! It was worth blowing up all one-hundred of them to see the look on his face when I took him out in the backyard for the first time. Mommy cruelly put this grouping way out of reach, but it didn't keep the little man from trying to get to them anyway!
He's still trying to figure out why everyone just stopped what they were doing to stare at him and sing, "Happy Birthday!" It's classic that Robert is eyeing Connor's cupcake, no doubt wondering how he can stuff his own in his mouth fast enough to grab Connor's and devour it as well before either parent could spoil his plan...
Daddy's on the other end of this laugh...
And this one, too...
Seeing his gifts on the morning of his birthday...
Enjoying a birthday breakfast...
This birthday celebration has been especially fun because we're getting to experience it with an older, and far more aware, brother. Robert really was precious with Connor and seemed genuinely happy to join mommy and daddy in giving Connor special attention throughout the day. The boys and I went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch (our first trip since our move, believe it or not!) and then we got a free ride on the carousel at the mall. Connor, we're SO glad God made you!!
Connor loved the flowers. Here he is working on being "gentle" with them.
Birthday gift from the boys: free wrestling match. This Daddy has his hands full!
Robert has really been into the camera of late and we finally caved in and let him take a shot -- not too bad for a beginner, huh??
Next stop: Princeton, NJ with the Manleys - some of our favorite friends from Dallas!
Disclaimer: there will be significantly more pictures of "the parents" in this post than usual. Carlton and I were a little nostalgic about visiting the place where we first met and fell in love! This is the courtyard where he picked me up for our first date!!
Another GORGEOUS day! The entire weekend was incredible!
Connor's favorite part: the steps. He's become very predictable...
Robert loved riding the tiger.
And the rest of the family did too...
This is Carlton's old "eating club." Many dates took place here, too! :)
This is not a joke...my college friends will appreciate the reference!
And back to the site of his proposal - the Princeton battlefield. We continually remarked throughout the day that we never thought we'd be coming back here with two little guys in tow! While they cared very little about anything but the stairs, tiger statues and snacks, we had so much fun!
For all of you who have been holding your breath (or maybe it was just me), you can relax now...they do have a sufficient "Cars" section in the Target here. Phew!
Daddy made Robert his first weapon, which he'll undoubtedly want to try out on his little brother...awesome. :)
Lightning McQueen, watch out! #48 may not be fast (or easy to steer), but the drivers sure are cute! And Lowe's, we've officially converted from Home Depot. A double seater, race car buggy is a sure fire way to get this Mommy (and these boys) to shop long and often!
One of our favorite discoveries has been the Arboretum here. They currently have a train exhibit open and it is a little boy's wonderland!
And "Mommy's wonderland" is a walking/riding (bike or horse)/running path by a beautiful creek just 4.5 miles from our house. It is dreamy!! We've been there several times already and my neck literally aches when we leave from looking up and around at all of the natural beauty.
And some final shots from the Arboretum. Robert and Connor would have spent hours running/crawling up and down this hill.
In the short time that we've been here, it seems like it will be a wonderful place to live and I assure you it would be a wonderful place to visit! :)
And here is a shot of some of my favorite little people in the world!
Our first stop was in Baton Rouge. It was such a blessing to spend the evening with our dear friends, the Greenes. McGregor and Ty showed my boys, among other things, that there's nothing better than driving barefoot in your Gator!
No pictures from Atlanta...too busy, I guess.
We got to see some of our other Charlotte favorites as well. At one particular gathering we realized that all of the "men" there were named Robert, except for little Connor.
Our shortest leg of the trip brought us to High Point, NC to stay with our beloved "Gee-Gee"! We had a wonderful time and were treated like royalty by the greatest hostess I've ever known.
We got to help my cousin Carson move some of her college stuff from Gee-Gee's basement to a truck. Robert was a huge helper/cheerleader!
Next stop: Georgetown! Beautiful DC - one of my favorite US cities!
And what's a trip to Georgetown without a trip to "T-Sweets"? Carlton and I went to T-Sweets all the time in college and it has once again proven itself to be my favorite ice cream shop ever! Connor is still too little for ice cream...the excursion clearly was not as much fun for him.
Robert is apparently not too big, as he ate his ice cream and half of Leeley's, too!
Almost as tall as the Washington Monument!
This video will forever make me smile and is one of my favorite Robert moments to date. We attended the end of VBS celebration at our old church in Charlotte and Robert hopped right out of his seat and joined in while they were performing. He was hilarious!