Birthday Babes

I'm catching up on a few sets of photos that have been sitting on the camera too long. We celebrated Mary Beth and Dylan's 3rd and 1st birthday, respectively, at the end of September. Granna and Papa Don came to Memphis to help us celebrate.

Mary Beth and I share a love for shoes -- something Ruby doesn't understand. So, the Mettees got her four pairs of plastic high heels. She was a happy girl.

Ben cleaning up after the pinata is emptied.

While We Were Out

Jack and Ben spent last week with Grammy and Pop, while John and I were in Mexico. They visited the zoo, train museum in Jackson and eventually made their way to Mount Juliet. I don't think Ben noticed we were gone for at least a couple of days.

First, a visit to the zoo where Jack overcame his longlasting uneasiness with the kamodo dragon. He's never been too willing to visit it, but after fearless Ben went to see it, Jack was convinced he'd be OK.

 

Later in week, on their way East, they hit the Casey Jones Home and Railroad Museum in Jackson. This is one of Jack's favorite places in the world and he was happy to introduce Ben to it.

And then, to Mount Juliet, where they visited with Great Grammy and cousins Anna and Ryan. Ben can't stop talking about going to see Anna.

And this is what a crazy week will do to you. Ben has fallen asleep before 6 the past two nights.

A Mexican Anniversary

John and I celebrated our 10-year wedding anniversary last week with a trip to Playa de Carmen, Mexico. At least, I think that's where we were. We pretty much stayed in this spot for the entire week.

We stayed at our first all-inclusive resort, Royal Hideaway, thanks to a recommendation from my friend, Cami. (Cami, we LOVE you.) John and I are already talking about when we're headed back. Everyone at this small, quiet resort was helpful and determined to meet our every request. Paradise.

A view from our room of a neighboring villa.

I think I sat in this spot for at least six hours each day of the trip. I told John we'll need to detox for a least a week from the food and margaritas.

 

 Food, margaritas and beer, I mean.

 

When it got a little hot, the staff brought around cold towels and fruit for everyone. 

 

We did manage to leave the resort one night, to meet up with John's brother, Steve, and his family. Playa de Carmen's Fifth Avenue is one long pedestrian street of shops and restaurants that gave a taste of the culture.

 

 



The staff noted our anniversary on Thursday with towel swans and balloons, in addition to the bottle of champagne that waited for us at dinner.

Our anniversary night, after a giant Italian dinner. 

One of our favorite parts of the trip was finding great friends. Even better, they were from the South. Needless to say, there was lots of football talk.

It's hard to believe, but what a blessed 10 years it has been. Two wonderful children and a pretty great life. (Oh, the kids. No, we didn't leave them at home alone. I just have the best in-laws in the world. I'll blog tomorrow about what life looked like for them last week. )

Picking out Pumpkins

The boys and I went to get pumpkins this past weekend. I needed a couple of big ones for the porch and other fall decorations and they insisted on getting small ones for each of their rooms. Jack's just counting down the days now until he can make an "angry pumpkin," aka, jack-o-lantern.

While we were there, they found an 1,000-pound pumpkin to sit with. Jack wanted to take it at first, but I convinced him I couldn't get it into the car.



Fall Soccer

Somehow, September got  away from us. The weather is finally starting to cool down, football season is well underway and we're in full swing for fall soccer. Last year, Jack spent much of his time sitting on the sidelines of the soccer field -- by choice. He would get distracted by the crowd or just want to take a self-imposed break.

This year, we see touches of that, but he's doing much better and finally sees the value (I hope) of staying on the field for his team. He's a pretty good goalie, can throw the ball in really well and we're working on everything else.

First, though, this picture. I think it may be my all-time favorite photo of those two. John is talking to Jack about hustling on the field. I'm guessing the talk involved a Halloween treat somehow.






My favorite part of 4- and 5-year-old soccer is this herd mentality. They run in groups. Everywhere.



 

Distracting Ben is a full-time job on the soccer field. He's dying to get out there and play.