Hotel Kirkpatrick

They are finally here!!!  Gramma and Poppy kissed Green Bay and its arctic winter goodbye last week and made the (hopefully permanent) move to Knoxville.  They had to stay with us until their furniture arrived and (more importantly to my Dad) their cable connected.  So for a week our house had three adults, a toddler, three dogs and a cat.  We loved every furry second of it!

 It has been lots of fun and all kinds of silly around the house over the past week or so.

 We've had to rake leaves TWICE!  Even though he has his very own rake, I would say he was more of an unraker this year.  Every pile I made, he unmade almost as fast.  But he had tons of fun and he looked cute doing it, so I guess I'll keep him on the payroll. :)

 I discovered that getting him to ride in the wheelbarrow was the best way to harness his "assistance".

 Of course he had to help Poppy do so man-chores to ready their apartment.  Who knew you could switch the door hinges on refrigerator and freezers so that they'll open in the opposite direction?

 John Thomas is getting sillier by the day!  The other night after dinner, he disappeared into his room to come out singing "Dat Da Dah DAAAHH" with the emptied waste basket on his head.

 Shortly there after, he decided to wear his foam letters like a belt.  Actually he twirled around and called himself a ballerina, but I didn't want to encourage my little twinkle toes too much.

 It wasn't long before he had convinced Gramma to join in on his silliness.

 Before I knew it, it was a parade of wacky dogs, Gramma, and John Thomas all around the house.  It was awesome having them at the house!  We ate well, had all kinds of fun, and spent lots of quality time together.

Among the many blessings we have to be grateful for this Thanksgiving, having my parents back in the same area code is definitely at the top of our list.  We hope that you all have a yummy and wonderful Turkey Day and we are thankful for all our loved ones near and far this year and always!

Walking on Sunshine!

Greetings from beautiful Mexico Beach, FL!  I type this from a little slice of paradise with some of my my besties from college and it's been an amazing weekend!  But before we get to all that fun, we have to recap our not-so-spooky Halloween.

As customary in the Kirkpatrick household, our pumpkin was as happy as the boy who helped carve it.

Chester, ever the good sport, is probably the least enthusiastic about the neighborhood kiddos ringing our doorbell and getting their treats.

 My cute lil punkin wanted to be Spiderman this year.  After eating some of his candy, he really was trying to climb the walls :).

 But he gave me this cute little pitiful face when I asked him if he wanted to wear his spidey mask.  Needless to say, he was a an unmasked hero!

 We had two pre-Halloween soirees, so we definitely got our money out of his costume.  We got to go to Mama Cole's and hang out with all his buds, which is always a treat!

And our Church had a Trunk or Treat celebration for the kiddos as well.  

 Changing gears, on a whim I decided to leave on Friday to meet up some of my college besties at the beach!  I had no idea it was going to be sunny and in the eighties everyday!  Best. Decision. Ever.

 We took our selfie after dinner at Provisions.  If you're ever at Mexico Beach, you've gotta try it!

Love these girls!  We always have a great time together and usually spend most of the time laughing until there are tears in our eyes!

After a delicious meal, we headed to a local dive to sing some karaoke!  Katie stole the show with her rendition of Sweet Caroline bah bah bah!

I guess the birds on the beach are a little more hungry these days, since it's the off season.  We thought it'd be a great to eat our lunch on the beach.  Instead, we were harassed by a bunch of real angry birds.  Here's Jen under full assault and making a mad dash to save her fries!

We'll be leaving early tomorrow, but so thankful to squeeze in some girl time and funning in the sun!  Lastly, I just need to send a birthday shout out to Jen and Cara--glad we got to help you celebrate this weekend!