**This post contains affiliate links.** I love to take photos, just ask my kids. When we're on vacation, I'm usually behind the camera which means I have tons of pictures of my kids and Scott but very few of us all together. Two years ago, I discovered Flytographer just before our 20th wedding anniversary trip to Europe. We got the most spectacular pictures of us. I mean, like frame-worthy. So, when we decided to head to the east coast this summer for photos, I figured why not give them a try stateside? These Washington, D.C. photos speak for themselves. Our photographer, Elisenda, was just a delight. I had hopes of taking the photos at the Capitol, but with security (and the … [Read more...]
East Coast Adventure: Sweet, Sweet North Carolina
Over the next few days, I'll be sharing bits and pieces of our epic road trip to the east coast. It was 13 days filled with joy, sibling fights, a bazillion rest stops, one major meltdown on the side of I-10, great memories and lots of hugs with awesome people. Oh, and we saw a ton of cool stuff, too. You can read all about it by city: New Orleans, LA; Atlanta, GA; Charlotte, NC; Washington, D.C. and Knoxville, TN. Praise sweet baby Jesus that the drive from Atlanta to Charlotte was way more enjoyable than the last drive. We timed our early morning departure with a just-in-time arrival at Billy Graham's Library at lunchtime. Literally, just as we pulled out of the parking lot I got a text … [Read more...]
East Coast Adventure: (Not) Hotlanta
Over the next few days, I'll be sharing bits and pieces of our epic road trip to the east coast. It was 13 days filled with joy, sibling fights, a bazillion rest stops, one major meltdown on the side of I-10, great memories and lots of hugs with awesome people. Oh, and we saw a ton of cool stuff, too. You can read all about it by city: New Orleans, LA; Atlanta, GA; Charlotte, NC; Washington, D.C. and Knoxville, TN. The drive from New Orleans to Atlanta was easily the absolute worst of the trip. Everyone was still settling into the close quarters, we hit Alabama beach traffic and it rained, rained, rained. It's stretches like that when Scott and I wonder if we are legit bananas. One … [Read more...]
East Coast Adventure: Easy Living in NOLA
Over the next few days, I'll be sharing bits and pieces of our epic road trip to the east coast. It was 13 days filled with joy, sibling fights, a bazillion rest stops, one major meltdown on the side of I-10, great memories and lots of hugs with awesome people. Oh, and we saw a ton of cool stuff, too. You can read all about it by city: New Orleans, LA; Atlanta, GA; Charlotte, NC; Washington, D.C. and Knoxville, TN. Here. We. Go. Because our sweet, reliable, amazing Honda Odyssey was hovering close to 230,000 miles on her, we opted to let her sit this 3,700-mile road trip out and rent a van. What was originally supposed to be an 8-seat capacity Suburban turned into a 12-passenger … [Read more...]
BBQ: It’s a Family Affair
Texas and barbecue go hand-in-hand, kinda like chips and queso or beer and Mexican food or, my personal favorite, vanilla and Dr Pepper. When Texas Monthly came out with its top 50 BBQ joints in the state, our family was all in. Every four years, the BBQ editor (yes, that's a real thing) Daniel Vaughn and his staff scour the state for the best in 'cue. But, this go around, they upped the ante by partnering with YETI to provide incentive prizes for various challenges. Honestly, it started out as a top 10 brisket challenge for us (the prize was one of these), as well as hitting a few Austin joints. Several of the places on the list were already family favorites and we'd visited them on a … [Read more...]
