Darby's 3rd birthday!

We celebrated Darby's 3rd birthday last weekend with a Candyland party.  You all know Kaydee throws a fabulous party and this one did not disappoint!

The birthday girl was so excited!

All dressed up in her rainbow tutu!  She loved twirling!

Hard to get a picture of that!

We had a delicious lunch.

Then on to the sweet table!  All kinds of fun candy!

The cake was so cute!

These cookies were so cute.  The detail is amazing!  I can't imagine how long it took to make them!

A few pictures before singing happy birthday and cutting the cake.

This little cutie is almost 8 months old already...Allie Ruth.

Darby opened presents and loved every one as you can tell by the expression on her face!

She's going to take dance this fall and this will be darling on her.

The kids played outside for a while.  It was a hot day!

And, of course, we had to have our pictures taken with the props!

What a fun time we had and it's always fun to have an excuse to get together with family.

Loveless Cafe

Last week several of us took a ride on the Natchez Trace to the Loveless Café in Franklin, TN for lunch.  It's a 3-1/2 hour drive over there but it was a pretty day and I guess none of us had anything better to do!

Me, Patty, Sharon, Christy and Sheryl.  The husbands were off doing something, probably grumbling about the long wait!

It was an old motel that was converted to a restaurant years ago.  It's quite a busy place...there was an hour and a half wait and it was every bit that long!  It was worth waiting for though.  Doug had meatloaf so I had a chunk of that and some vegetable sides.  They are most famous for their biscuits which were so good and the jams that went along with them!

We got back on the Trace and drove to Leiper's Fork which is just right off the Trace.  We went into a few shops but didn't stay long as it started thundering and we thought we better get on home.

Last time we were in Leiper's Fork we had lunch at Puckett's Grocery.  It's a neat place too!



We were going to stop for dinner on the way home but all of us were stuffed from the big lunch!

Last week I took the boys shopping for school supplies and new tennis shoes.  They are so hard on shoes!  Cameron picked out these Adidas, size 10.

Harrison couldn't find anything he liked in his size so I ordered his off the internet and they came today.  Size 9-1/2.

The next day Emma Taylor picked me up and we went to lunch then shoe shopping for her.

It's so weird having Emma Taylor picking me up...just doesn't seem right!  She's a good driver though and not once did I fear for my life!

Bay Springs

Courtney, Matt and the kids were camping at Bay Springs a couple of weeks ago.  They invited us to come over and spend the day with them.  Actually there were over 20 people there!  I had never been to Bay Springs but it's a beautiful lake and Piney Grove Campground right on the lake.

Courtney and Matt have a very nice camper.

One of their friends that we call Tank has a pontoon boat and he brought it over.

He ferried us all over to a sandy beach on the other side of the lake.  Allie Ruth was ready to go!

Cameron and Ben camped in a tent close to Courtney and Matt.  Cameron brought one of his friends along for the weekend.

Darby's ready too!

Duncan would rather play in the mud!

That's Cameron doing the handstand.

Cameron and his friend Jackson swimming.

Ronald did a little fishing with Luke.

Luke was thrilled that he caught a fish!

Ben and the girls...they didn't know that he photobombed this picture!

We had a great day.  Weather was gorgeous!  They plan to make it an annual event!

Look who's driving!

Emma Taylor turned 16 on June 24th and got her license the next day!  She was excited and has already made many solo trips.  Heather loves having an errand runner!

They stopped by our house after the test and I gave her a birthday present.  Money and a new purse.

It looks black but it's really navy.

She is driving her mom's car right now but it will be passed down to her once they decide what to get for Heather.

She's growing up too fast!

On with our trip!

We had the opportunity to drive out to Marengo, IL to Bob and Linda Pushee's daughter's beautiful home.  They were having a party to celebrate two graduations and graciously let us be a part of it.  We rode out there with Al and Janet, a little over an hour drive.

This picture doesn't even capture the whole house!  There's a wing to the right that used to have an enclosed swimming pool.  They have since filled it in but the room is enormous!

I took this picture upstairs overlooking the large living room.  Hors d'oeuvres were served here.

Leann is a dentist and Jeff is a periodontist.  They have two sons, Bear and Jude.

Here's the numbing station.  So clever!

Bob gave Doug a tour of the 13+ acres on the golf cart.

The he took Janet and me on the tour.  Such a cute little building on the property.  I'm not sure what it's used for.

Beautiful clematis vines.

They have their own barn quilts...I'm jealous!

A tooth topiary!  So cute!

The chickens have a pretty nice house too!

The hostas were so beautiful!

This is the view from the back of the house.

This is the back of the house.

They are adding a pool and outdoor kitchen which aren't quite finished.

We had a wonderful day and couldn't have asked for more beautiful weather.