Tallahassee Highlights

Following the homecoming service, Kyndall and I spent the next week in Tallahassee visiting family and friends.  Matthew had to fly to Dallas for the week, so Kyndall and I took advantage of some good family time with the Grandparents.  I haven't been feeling so great lately and my energy level is pretty low, so we didn't keep our social schedule nearly as full as we usually do when we're in town.  However, we still managed to squeeze in quite a few fun activities with some of our friends.  Mostly, I just took advantage of the extra help and used much of the time to rest and feel better.

Several years ago, (pre-Kyndall) I worked as a nanny for a sweet, sweet family in Charleston.  They had boy/girl newborn twins at the time and I had the privilege of caring for them in their home on a daily basis.  Fast forward to 2013 and those babies are now sweet, smart, funny, thriving FOUR year olds!  Recently, sweet Ava Grayce was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes.  She had a rough start, but she's doing really well now.  Last weekend, their family participated in a fundraiser walk to cure diabetes.  Even though we couldn't be there for the walk, I wanted to support "team Ava", so I ordered matching t-shirts for me and Kyndall and we proudly wore them on the day of the walk to show our support for this sweet family.

We love our Avie-Cakes!

We spent a few days with Matthew's parents and Kyndall enjoyed helping Nonie in the kitchen......

Once we arrived at my parents house, Kyndall couldn't wait to see this guy.......

She loves her some "Ankle Michael"

Kyndall and I returned to Two Egg to spend some more time with my Grandma on Wednesday.  There are two things that Kyndall always asks about anytime I mention going to Grandma's house.  

1.) "Widing the dolf tart" (riding the golf cart)

and

2.) "Tloe" (Chloe, my Grandma's great dane)

Sweetest dog EVER!

On Thursday, we met up with my friend Jenny and her kiddos Ali and Landon at the Tallahassee Museum.  I spent MANY days here as a kid, and I was anxious to take Kyndall back for a visit.  

Jenny and I planned ahead of time to have all of us dress alike in our matching FSU monogrammed t-shirts.  What can I say?  We're dorky like that!  =)  But we received lots of compliments!

These girls were too cute together and had such a great time!!

Sweet Landon was such a good boy and was happy to explore the museum from the comfort of his stroller

Kyndall saw this deer and said "Daddy says bang bang but I say we lub the deers".  Jenny is my witness!  It was so funny!

I realized on this day that my child has absolutely NO fear......not even of these evil, nasty things.....

While Ali kept a cautious distance, Kyndall walked right up to this spawn of Satan and proceeded to touch it, grab it and thoroughly check it out.  YUCK!

My skin was crawling by this point, so we made a quick exit and moved on to the farm animals.  Much more my style!

This overly friendly cow was eager to give kisses to anyone who dared to get close enough!

Again, Ali kept a safe distance but my little animal lover had to get up close and personal with this beast!  I love this action shot that Jenny captured on her camera!

We enjoyed a picnic lunch, some play time on the playground and ended the day at the discovery center

Just as we were about to leave, they brought this little guy in and my child couldn't wait to get her hands on him

Yet again, Ali kept her distance and said "see ya" as soon as this thing got near her.  I think she was supposed to be MY child!  I have no idea where my little dare devil gets her bravery, but it sure isn't from her wimpy Mama!

Later that night I enjoyed a girls night out with my Tallahassee girlfriends, which is something I look forward to every time I come home.  No matter how crappy I'm feeling, I ALWAYS make time for this!  

Friday Kyndall and I met up for lunch with my Mom, my sister and my Mom's BFF Mrs. Shanna.  Kyndall looked super cute in her new fall attire so I couldn't resist having a little photo shoot in the back yard before we headed off to our girls lunch!

Hamming it up for the camera, as usual............

Keeping with tradition, we couldn't possibly make a trip to Tallahassee during the fall and not go to the North Florida Fair!  Kyndall has been every year since she was just a baby and it's something we look forward to all year long.  

Guess who we met up with again?  Ali!

My favorite thing about the fair (besides the food) is watching the pig race!  The announcer chooses several people from the crowd, assigns them a pig and then sets the pigs free to race in pursuit of an oatmeal cookie.  If your pig wins, so do you!  It's like the redneck version of the Kentucky Derby, only better because it's free!  =)

Two years ago, Kyndall's pig (Lindsay Loham) was the winning pig!

Waiting for the race to start this year

Kyndall's pig (Snoopy Hoggy-Hog, #1) took the lead and what do you know......

She won AGAIN!

Two winning pigs in 3 years.....not bad!  Oh, we are so proud!  Ha!

Next, it was onto the petting zoo, where my little animal lover had a slobbery good time

Much like the cow at the museum, this goat gave kisses freely to anyone who got close enough to receive them!  Kyndall thought it was hilarious!

Another flash back.....Look how little she was!

Landon had fun too!

Checking out the baby chicks with G-Daddy

Aunt Kelly got voted as Kyndall's riding partner since she is WAY more fun than Mommy!  =)

The bumper cars were one of Kyndall's favorite rides.....since apparently running head first into other small children and receiving moderate whiplash is super fun!  Just look at these giggles......

I wasn't sure how she would like the swings and she seemed awfully little to me to ride this, but she insisted.  I should've known my fearless girl would LOVE them!

My Dad and Michael joined us later that night

Though we may not share a love for slithery reptiles or sketchy fair rides, we DO share a love for kettle corn!!!  This girl could not get it in her mouth fast enough!

I'm quite certain she ate half of her body weight in fresh hot kettle corn that night.  "She get it from her Mama!"

Even though I'm not a fan of most fair rides, there does happen to be one ride that I love.....

I couldn't pass up the opportunity to ride it with my girl, so I gave Aunt Kelly a break and took Kyndall on the ferris wheel

Matthew does NOT share my love for the ferris wheel.  He will gladly ride ANY other ride at the fair, but mention the ferris wheel and his stomach turns into knots.  I think it's hilarious that he's terrified of such a wimpy ride, so last year I insisted that he go on it with us.  Even now, this picture still makes me laugh.......

Matthew's terrified face, my happy face, Kyndall's curious face

Since he wasn't with us this year, we called him from the very top and told him we were thinking of him.  I can't even tell you what he said in response to that.  It's not appropriate for the blog!  =)

Next, we explored the glass house where Kyndall led the way

We had time for one more ride, so Kyndall chose the swings again.  This time Mommy stuffed my big ole hips into that itty bitty swing.......

We had so much fun!  We arrived at 5:00 pm and didn't leave until 10:15!!!  Kyndall slept until 11:30 the next morning.....no lie!!!

We spent Saturday relaxing and packing up our stuff to head home early Sunday morning.  Kyndall and I made the drive and arrived safely back in Jackson around dinner time Sunday night.

We're already looking forward to our next trip home, which is just two weeks away when we go back for Thanksgiving!  We keep the roads between TN and FL hot!