the hoppe pad

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Summer Road Trip 2015

Oh what fun was had on our Farewell to Summer Road Trip! We covered Charlotte, Atlanta, and St. Simons in 6 nights and 7 days. My friends' were beyond generous in treating Norah and I to a beyond fabulous time. Memories were made that will not be forgotten! I just hope we can see everyone again soon! Fun does not even begin to describe the time we had!

We started by heading to Charlotte to staying with Christie and her family. Harper and Norah are only a few months apart and Norah misses her a lot. Perry is only a couple years younger so the three of them are the perfect playmates. Norah has talked non-stop about Charlotte since we left and asks when we can go back to Mrs. Christie's house! We also got all of her back to school shopping done which was so nice. We ate at Chipotle (a must anytime we are near) and hit up the pool that we used to go to all the time when we lived in Charlotte. Christie and I forgot to take a pic of ourselves! Oh how I miss Charlotte for sure!

We then hit the road and headed to Atlanta, GA. First stop was the Georgia Aquarium. It was really cool and we both said we could have stayed longer.

After the aquarium we headed to my friends Meredyth and Tony's house. They grilled us dinner and then the night continued after Norah went to bed with lots of wine! Too fun! The next day we went to the neighborhood pool, out to lunch to Uncle Maddio's which was super yummy!, and then ended with sushi at Sushinobo which was also delicious. What is so cool too is that we walked to the restaurant as it is in there neighborhood...love urban living! Tony also made me the first vodka martini that I actually liked and that was super cool!

We left Atlanta and headed to St. Simons to see my friend Anna! Anna's son is a year younger and they had fun playing together. The first night we went to Bubba's for some mexican and then took kids for yogurt. Everything was awesome. The next day we went to the Cloister's Beach Club since that is where they are members.. The kids had a blast and Anna and I got to have drinks by the pool and meet some of her friends. So fun! We left and hit up the store to grill out. Anna and Matt made a great dinner and Anna and I stayed up drinking and laughing.

Anna will kill me for posting this one...but it was too funny not to! Oh those Clemson days didn't seem so long ago...

We tried for a more presentable one...

We left and headed home on Tuesday and boy were we worn out!

Ok...to sum up a few things. I cannot say how amazing our trip was and how much fun we had. I think I gained 10 lbs and have to detox for a little bit...but I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. We fell in love with all their dogs too and came home with lots of new recipes (made Mrs. Christie's famous pancakes this morning!)...and all I can think about is when I can I see them again!! I miss y'all! :)

Since we were in the car roughly 16 hours we listened to books on "tape" and finished book 3 of the Percy Jackson series...."The Titan's Curse" and loved it.

Then we started Book 4..."The Battle of the Labyrinth" and now have to finish it at home! Such a fun series.

Now here are some extra pics from the Aquarium...

And to end...this was on the way home when we stopped at Starbucks for some treats..I was definitely hitting the wall of tiredness at this point!

So we got home and Jeff picked up Chinese for dinner...this was my fortune...no truer words could have been said!

Share:facebook - twitter - pinterest

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Summer Reading and Music...

I love that I record all the books I read on the blog...but I wish I did a better job of summing them up more often as they are sprinkled throughout other blog posts. So last year I did a post on the books of the summer so I thought I would do the same today. Here is my original wish list and even though I read some off it...I hope to find a couple more on it to read (I'm borrowing one of them from a friend.) So since June...I've read 13 books. Don't worry...I've already started another book and I am sure I will knock out a couple more before August is over. However, the next few weeks will be a little busy so I thought it was a good as time as ever to get this down. (And a reminder to all the kids out there...make sure to finish your summer reading before school starts!!)

Here are the books...

By far my favorite was "I am Pilgrim." I also really enjoyed the two Daniel Silva's books...I'm actually just started reading another one by him called "The English Spy." Depending on your mood...you cannot really go wrong with any of the above books.

Norah also has put a dent into her summer reading lists...one of her favorites was "El Deafo" which she thought was really good.

I usually listen to country music but Norah has turned me this summer!. Now we listen to "pop" and I find this kinda funny. So Taylor Swift is on a lot, as well as the "Pop" station on Amazon Music, and of course R5...we even listen to a different radio station in the car. I will admit that I'm loving it!

I'm still in shock that it is already August...gonna soak up the last of summer every minute we can!

Share:facebook - twitter - pinterest

Monday, August 3, 2015

Weekend in Review...

Friday's movie ("Descendants") was a hit with Norah. Saturday we had a more chill day and then hit the beach later in the day. It was so beautiful.

Jeff and Norah played in the ocean.

Sunday we had a boat day. Norah went tubin' and loved it! It reminded me of when I used to do it as a kid. I see many years of Norah doing tubin', skiing, etc. in her future. The weather was pretty amazing.