Food Tour of Lexington

A few weekends ago Matthew, Avery and I drove up to Lexington to spend the weekend with M's parents.  David and Sandra are most likely moving sometime in the next 6 months, so we wanted to make sure and get 1 more full weekend in Blue Grass Country.  Will be so sad to not get to go up anymore, at least with any frequency.  Although, I will not miss the 6 hour drive with a toddler ;)

David and Sandra graciously told us that they would love to take us out to several Lexington "foodie" type places.  We were more than happy to oblige.  I'm sure they were ready to have us leave after eating out with a toddler at every single meal :)  I think my favorite restaurant from the weekend was The Windy Corner, a local sandwich type place that is surrounded by beautiful horse farms.  But every place we went was really, really good.  Lex town has some great restaurants.

Saturday night, David gave M and me their tickets to the UK/Florida game.  Despite the heartbreaking, and I mean, absolutely gut-wrenching loss, it was the most fun I have ever had in Rupp.  The crowd was so incredibly loud... if only we had pulled it out, it would have been magical.  Go Big Blue anyway, despite out loss x2 to Arkansas last night.  Can't be #1 every year I guess....;)

Here are the pics from the weekend:

Nerlens.

Snow Days Part 2 and a Belated Valentine's Day

We got snow again in Birmingham last week.  Not just an inch or two, but enough to make a decent sized snowman.  Something M and I took advantage of after Avery had gone to bed.  It probably snowed 4 to 4.5 inches within a few hours.  I really hadn't seen that much snow in years, and I gotta say, it was beautiful.  Especially because I was able to watch it from the safety and warmth of my own home with M home.  Avery still didn't really know what to think about it.  I was kicking myself for not having gotten her a snowsuit for this winter.  I just assumed there would be no way she would need it.

We celebrated a belated Valentine's dinner at the one and only Highland's Bar and Grill this past Tuesday night.  Thanks to Uncle Geoff and Aunt Mollie for offering to babysit without even being asked.  We have awesome friends.  M and I left fat and happy after a dinner of their famous seafood fry for appetizer, lamb and veal, plus coconut creme brulee.  Both times we have eaten there, I have told M, "One of these days when our kids are out of the house, I hope we are regulars  here, and the maitre d' knows us by name". ;)  We just love food.  We love it so much that embarrassingly enough as we were enjoying this meal we spoke for a good 5 minutes about another incredible meal we had in New Orleans with friends THREE years ago.

Happy Weekend!  Post soon about our trip to Lexington last weekend.

The Things She Says

People keep telling me that Avery is in the "golden" stage of development.  I guess they might be right because it seems she is learning a new word, color, shape, etc... every single day.  Now, while her vocabulary is ever expanding, she doesn't always get it quite right, and she can say some pretty funny things.  On top of that, as we are nearing her 2 year birthday in a few months, we are encroaching on some "terrible two" behavior, especially in the last few weeks.  I have a VERY strong-willed child.  Something that for obvious reasons can be a curse, but at the same time, I can't help but be a bit proud. I hope this means she will grow up to be an independent woman who can fend for herself.  That's what I will keep telling myself anyway as I watch her flail her arms and legs about on the den floor.  Here are some funny things she has said and done lately.

M to Avery as she was throwing a tantrum: "Avery do you need a time out?" To which she looked up complacently at him and said, "Yeah".  After 5 minutes in time out M went back to her room and said, "Are you ready to be sweet and come out of time out?" to which she replied, "No".  He said, "Do you need to stay in time out then?"..."Yeah"  I mean what can you do?!

Me: "Avery what is your baby dolls name?" (having never asked this before) to which she immediately replies, "Mae!".  Then looks at her and says "Hi Mae!"  Where in the world did she hear that name?!

When we ask her to say Go Big Blue.  It comes out more like "Bo Big Bu!"  And when we ask her to say "Go Cats!" she will say it and put 3-goggles up on her head like the 2012 National Championship team.  I think we know which parental figure is responsible for that.  

Here she is trying to count.  We have a little ways to go.

She loves to sing and has really started picking up on words in the songs.  Her current favorites are "Pat the Bible", "God Made the Big Round Sun", "If You're Happy and You Know It", and "Shake Your Bean Bag" (a song from story time at the library).

There are numerous other funny tid bits, but I won't bore everyone with stories that M and I only find amusing, because we, of course, think everything she does is hilarious.  Happy Wednesday!!  We are currently on another snow watch/warning.  Our Wednesday church has already been cancelled for this evening, and Avery didn't have school today.  It has yet to spit an ounce of snow.  We shall see.  2 weeks ago has me scared enough to lock myself inside the house for the rest of the day!