Father's Day Weekend At The Lake

A sign of a really fulfilling weekend is always how hard it is to keep my eyes open come 7pm on a Sunday night...am I right?! I don't know how I've managed to even type out a sentence here on this keyboard right now, but I just had to get up a Father's Day post.

Billy's request for Father's Day weekend was to spend it at his favorite spot on Catawba Island boating, fishing, and relaxing with the kids and his family. He's in his true element there, so I was happy to pack up the kids (which felt like it took days to do and we may have packed the entire house for a short 3 days but #worthit) and head there on Friday!

 (this one didn't drive us there, despite what it may look like.. ;)

And to no one's surprise at all, we had the best time.

Camden caught his first fish (with the help of his grandpa) and was obsessed with riding in the golf cart, on the boat, playing at the beach area. He had the time of his life, especially since his aunt and uncle brought him a new huge ball + inflatable basketball hoop for the pool. Grayson got to go on his very first boat ride, too! He wasn't sure what to think at first (I think more so of the life jacket that was weighing him down ha), but was all smiles and happy as a clam the entire weekend, no matter where we were or what we did. Also, he shocked us all this weekend when he decided to say "night night!" It was so cute!

If there's one thing in this world that I know to be 100% true, it's that my boys are so beyond blessed to have Billy as their Daddy. He truly gives us his all day in and day out, and rarely asks for anything in return. He puts the boys first and is always making them laugh or showing them love. The boys light up when he walks in the door. He is always so patient and kind and I am so thankful for everything he does for our family and the type of father he is!

And also I have to wish my own Dad a Happy Father's Day as well. He is basically a best friend to me and has always been my hero, role model, and #1 supporter. I don't know what I would do without him and the lessons he has taught me!

Dad's definitely don't have it easy so if any of you reading are one, thank you for what you do! :) 

When At The Lake...

You:

+Celebrate your brother-in-law's engagement! 

I put together this little gift basket with champs, a bridal magazine, mr. and mrs. koozie's (found at Michael's), a ring holder,  and placed it all in a white bin (that she can use for all the wedding papers she's about to have!) 

I actually made the ring holder...it was easy peasy! I just cut a piece of foam and burlap to fit in the frame portion, then I took a pin and bent it down to go through the foam so that it would stick out and she can hang her ring on it. I thought it was cute! 

+Spend all day at the "beach" area with your friends and their kiddos!

 

 Camden & Ella (our friends youngest baby girl!)

 Camden & Olivia (holding hands! same friends oldest daughter)

 

 toes in the lake/sand for the first time :)

+Go eat at your favorite Italian restaurant with good friends (and their baby boy who is a few months younger than Cam!) 

and then take 1,001 pics of your little man because it hits you that you have SIX MONTH OLD!!

+Go boating. A given...

+Wake up and head to the closest farmers market to stock up on fruits and veggies! The strawberries are going to be so yummy in our smoothies this week...

+Have the Monday blues. At least we've still got the Nordstrom Annniversary Sale goin' for us so I guess I can add 'stalk the mailman until he delivers my package' to this list. (Did you see my picks?!)

How was your weekend?

Father's Day At Catawba

Oh Monday, you're like a gigantic slap in the face after a nice weekend!

How was your weekend? Hope everyone had fun celebrating the dads, uncle, granddads, etc. in their life! Going into this weekend I was really looking forward to celebrating Billy's very first Father's Day. He is the most hands on, loving, affectionate Dad and watching him these past (almost) six months with Cam has been the absolute best time of my life!

Billy's request was to spend the weekend at the cottage in Catawba...so what Daddy wants, Daddy gets! We drove there Saturday morning and spent the day at Put in Bay with Billy's brother and his girlfriend. It was pirate weekend there so everyone went all out and was dressed up in costumes. Billy's brothers girlfriend (also named Katie) bought Cam a little pirate hat to wear around the island for the day...it was too cute! 

We had a delicious lunch at the Boardwalk, got ice cream, and had some drinks outside...

 

he doesn't look thrilled, but I swear he loves me smothering him 24/7 with kisses ;)

Billy's parents recently bought a new boat! It is so, so nice! Since we were in Nashville over Memorial Day weekend, this was our first time getting to go on it. Our friends bought Cam an infant life jacket so we just took him through the channel (instead of out on the lake) for a bit, then Billy's mom watched him back at the cottage while we went out on the boat for a while! 

On Father's Day, we woke up and took Cam to our favorite coffee shop and got Billy his favorite donuts on the island.  Because, why not?! Donuts make everything better. The rest of the day was spent hanging out with his family and on the boat. I really wanted Billy to have a great first Father's Day...he is the most amazing Daddy and deserves way more than just one weekend a year! 

 

Cam's little smile and tongue in that picture....le sigh. It is one of my new favorites pictures of him. I could just eat up like we did with that box full of donuts... ;)

I gifted Billy this personalized engraved keychain (found on Etsy) and a membership to the Dollar Shave Club. He loved them both!

 

I'm so glad Billy had a wonderful weekend doing what he loves the most and that the weather held up for us for the most part. Phew! 

I've got a fun giveaway coming up this week so be on the lookout. Have a good day guys! 

29th Birthday Weekend

Sorry Monday, you've been replaced with bigger and better things. I welcome YOU with open arms, Tuesday!

As I mentioned last week, we had Friday and Monday off so as of right now I'm a firm believer that all weekends should be four days, don't you?! Especially when a birthday is smacked right there in the middle!

It was awesome, to say the least, and just like I had hoped the weather was seriously perfect. I'm talking sunny skies the entire weekend, warm, and hardly any clouds. Amen.

 

Thursday night the celebrating began when Billy took me out to dinner at a new restaurant in town called Hudson 29 (we ate on their patio outside and loved our food...big fans) and afterwards for dessert we walked down the street and got my favorite ice cream (actually Billy's too) at Graeter's. You can't beat their black raspberry chip...you just can't. If you live outside of Ohio, look for the pints inside your grocery stores! The best, best.

 {new Tory sandals from my parents!}

For my birthday, Billy got me the white leather Michael Kors watch I've been wanting! I have worn it everyday since, and am wondering how I've gone so long without a white watch for the summertime.

It goes with everything, I love it!

 {bangles are from Harper Designs-obsessed with all the stones you can pick from!}

Friday...good ole Friday. We made our way to the cottage and took the boat to Put In Bay to meet Billy's brother and his girlfriend for dinner. The trip wouldn't have been complete without A. a beautiful sunset boat ride on our way home and B. getting pulled over by the US Coast Guard. 

What? You act like those two things don't go together. ;) The US Coast Guard can actually pull over any boat in the water and legally they don't have to have a reason to stop you, which is pretty crazy. They went over a bunch of safety equipment with Billy (aka quizzed him over and over), but since he's a rock star and everything was up to date on the boat we left without a ticket and them wishing up a good weekend. I wasn't that worried about it from the beginning, but it was still something we were definitely not expecting!

The views weren't too shabby and we had a great dinner with his brother and girlfriend!

Saturday morning, we headed down the street from the cottage to our favorite little coffee shop, Rudders! Billy's parents, cousins, Grandma, and Uncle Joe all headed up Saturday afternoon so we got to spend the next two days with them. It was wonderful and everyone had so much fun boating and we also took the boat over to Put In Bay again for a few hours. Billy's mom had surprised me with a birthday cake and the whole family sang happy birthday to me Sunday afternoon. It was perfect!

This was also Rocky's first trip on the boat! The water was pretty calm so he was safe the whole time, but we aren't really sure if he liked it or not...

at least he looked cute. :)

{my coverup is from HERE!}

If you're wondering why you don't see any pictures of hardly any of us at night dressed up, it's because well I never really got out of my bathing suit all weekend and there was no having to worry about doing my hair and make up at night.

Weekends like this really need to come around more often...

 {billy's brother and cousin greg // billy and his cousin doug}

{Billy's sister and Cara (Doug's girlfriend)}

{Billy's momma!}

I may be another year older, but the times just keep getting better and better. So excited for what this year will bring! :)

Hope you all had a fun holiday weekend as well! Cheers to another short week!