Providence Canyon and Other Fun Things!

We spent last weekend visiting my long-time best friend and her family in Fort Mitchell, AL (basically just over the GA/AL line...very near Columbus, GA). We had such a great time! I had not seen Hayley since October, and that is too long for us! We've been best friends for almost 21 years now! We grew up together, just a few houses down the street but basically living together b/c we had sleepovers every single weekend and hung out until our parents made us come inside every week day. Hayley may as well have left her toothbrush at my house during the summer, she was there so often! Anyway, visiting her is always like a breath of fresh air! She has an adorable soon-to-be 4 year old and soon-to-be 2 year old. I assume that Grayson and her youngest son would get along the best, given they are only 6 months apart in age, but Grayson and Leland, her oldest, seem to be best of friends! It was SO sweet watching them play together and make each other laugh hysterically! I don't think I've ever heard Grayson laugh so much and for so long!

We spent a lot of the weekend just hanging out at the house, but we had some fun outings too! We spent the day hiking at Providence Canyon (AKA "The Little Grand Canyon") on Saturday. It is a really amazing place! You walk down to the canyon floor and walk alongside these massive canyon walls, all the while trekking through sticky mud from the stream running through the canyon. It was definitely an adventure with three little boys, two of which required being carried the whole time. Thank goodness for strong daddies and backpack carriers! Here are some iPhone pictures of our time at the canyon-- Yes, I realize I'm not in a single picture. #photographerfail

Hayley with her sweet boys -- Leland and Cody

Of course we had to spend some time exploring the playground!

He kills me how he looks like such a big kid in these last two pictures! Just chillin' and playing with sticks!

I guess I'm kinda, sorta in this picture! #shadow

After our trip to the canyon, we headed back to the house for diaper changes and snacks. Then, we headed back out to visit River Walk in Uptown Columbus. It is such a cute little downtown (uptown?) area with this beautiful river running alongside it. The area is really well maintained and there are nice walkways where people of all ages were jogging or going for walks. There were also TONS of people walking their dogs (both at the canyon and River Walk), which Grayson was thrilled about! Every second he was pointing out dogs and waving and shouting "HEY!" :) Also at RiverWalk, they have man-made white water rapids in the river! People can actually pay to kayak through there. How cool is that?? Not something I would really want to do, but I still think it's pretty awesome!

We had dinner at this TINY burger/taco place and it was delish! The little boys were so well-behaved and Grayson ate his black beans like a champ (was there ever any doubt??). Then we went to a Growler place where we felt like parents of the year as we pushed our strollers around while making our beer selection. Don't worry--it was a fairly classy establishment! Scott and I chose an amber craft beer which wasn't great, especially considering the price, but it was fun to try something new.

After getting back to the house and got the kids to bed, we had a bonfire in the backyard and stayed up past midnight (a big deal for me and Scott!!) just talking and listening to music. I had a great time reminiscing with Hayley, but I'm sure we were boring the guys to death. Oops! Sometimes it just has to happen!

Sunday we just spent the day at the house, playing with the kids and jumping on the trampoline! Scott took an adorable picture of Grayson and Cody eating breakfast together at the kids' table. I can't believe what a big boy my little boy is becoming!!!

Hey, look! I'm sort of in that one too. Yep, the one with the awesome socks! ;)

We left and headed back home after dinner and managed to safely get home, despite both of us feeling too tired to drive by the end of it. Lots of prayers and TSwift keeping me awake during my shift!! And it felt oh, so good to crawl into my own bed that night!

Monday we had off work, but wanted to be home so we could get some much-needed stuff done! We cleaned the house, grocery shopped, and played outside with Grayson. We played with bubbles for the first time and it was both exciting and frustrating for Grayson. He had fun watching the bubbles and trying to catch them, but was annoyed that he couldn't catch one without it disappearing and even more annoyed that he couldn't blow bubbles for himself! Every time I tried to hold the wand out for him to blow, he would snatch it from me and put it straight into his mouth! Good thing the bottle says it's non-toxic! :/

It was hard going back to work after such a great weekend, but look! It's already Friday again! Hooray for short work weeks! :) No big plans for this weekend yet, but I'm sure we'll get into something!

Hope you had a great long-weekend and are geared up for another good one today! :) Happy Friday!