Lake Nottely

Our last stop on our July roadtrip was to Lake Nottely to visit Mom and Bob's new lake house. It was like being in paradise. It is in a tiny quiet town on the water. It was one of the first times I have fully relaxed in months. Mom took the girls each morning so that I could sleep in and I was in heaven. We spent the majority of our time on her wrap around porch with the baby pool and ventured out to the dock and lake every afternoon.

view from the deck during the day

Sunset view

Penny HATED the taxidermy raccoon

Dock time

Ellie loved the glass table and circled the table for food like a baby shark

pack n play with a view

Ellie had fun knocking every magazine off the block

First time I had read a magazine cover to cover in months!

Ava was so excited to have a toddler bed

GiGi holding court

buddies

block time

Ellie doing the "sprinkler"

proud of herself of dumping out all the blocks

She thinks she owns this place

Dock time!

weeeeeee

swim time every day

our gardening babe

picnic table in the front yard

view from downstairs rooms

Bunk Bed Babe

Having fun boating with Ms. Shirley

GiGi and Ellie Bean

Sunset on lake

Ellie Bean driving

fell asleep with GiGi

view of GiGi's house from the water

feeding the fish all afternoon

monkey babe

Ava ended up getting motion sickness so we had to evacuate the van and clean it out. Thank Goodness GiGi was with us to battle the drive!

Georgia on my mind

Our second leg of our road trip was to Marietta, Georgia the home of my Dad's side of my extended family. I was able to make the horribly long car trip smoothly this year with the assistance of my Aunt Ellen. She took the train from DC to Hampton Roads and then helped me drive to Georgia. She was a life saver and a fantastic copilot. Her years of knowledge and experience of roadtripping with three boys was so valuable for us. We were spoiled as usual by the Cones and the Fulchers when we arrived. I had three enthusiastic babysitters our entire trip (Tilly, Ella, and Davis aka TED), my favorite homecooked Southern dishes from the Cones, and countless hours of entertainment from their new 6 inhabitants - the chickens! It was a great time and are looking forward to returning next summer hopefully with Greg in tow.

We had MANY potty breaks with a two year old bladder on board.

Tilly, Ellie, Ella, Davis, and Ava

Davis would sit down and read books aloud to Ava several times a day.

Ellie gives judging looks to everyone....including chickens!

My Georgia Peaches

The chickens getting open yard play time

Aunt Julie picking fresh blueberries for my new favorite cobbler that she makes.

Aunt Ellen aka our MVP Copilot

Dean and one of his beloved Chickens

Every morning Ava would wake up at 5:45 AM and ask me if I thought the chickens were awake yet. I told her that nothing ALIVE wakes up till 7 am and she has to wait. She was fascinated with them.

Fresh eggs everyday!

Mini hates hats- too bad Momma found one with a strap on it!

Tilly had a special touch with Ellie and would rock her to sleep every night.

The good looking Fulcher Family

Ava couldn't get enough of this swingset. She didn't understand why she couldn't play on it at 5 am as well since it was in the back yard.

The garden that the Fulchers and Cones have is massive and impressive. Here are some pictures of it- Jalepeno peppers!

Dean built this chicken coop

Pool everyday as usual

Big D!

The gals

Aunt Julie and Ellie

Ellie trying to tame the two year old

Went to story time at the library and made this cool mobile

The girls would take Ava so that I could nap with Ellie - the nap is the BEST gift you can give me these days!

Tilly's Corn

TED plus Ava and me

I LOVE this hammock. I got to nap out on it and read my kindle. This is my happy place.

movie time

Uncle Ed shenanigans

All the kids are in Tae Kwon Do and Tennis. Quite the athletic bunch

Checking out the chickens

Ellie is fearless!

Thanks again Cones, Fulchers, and Aunt Ellen for a memorable trip!