A few months ago, my mother’s cousin, Jennie, reached out to me asking if she could stay at our place with her son and daughter-in-law since they had a wedding to attend in the area and figured it would be a great way to sneak in some family time among their wedding-related plans. We jumped at the chance to play host and were excited to welcome Jennie, Michael and Amy into our home on Friday evening!
Speaking of Amy, she’s actually the one who snapped the beautiful family photos of my mom’s side of the family during our family reunion trip to the Outer Banks last month.
I know I promised to share them with you guys, so here’s a little peek:
Amy is a professional photographer living in Raleigh, North Carolina (though she does travel for shoots) so if you need professional pics in the area, definitely check her out!
Anyway… Back to this weekend!
Amy, Jennie and Michael arrived at our house around 6 p.m. and we spent the next hour or so catching up before they had to head out to attend a rehearsal welcome reception.
Since they had plans for the evening, Ryan and I kept things low key and hung out at home with Sadie and Chase. I prepped some food for the next day and hung out on the couch with Ryan before bed.
Saturday
I think I got wrapped up in family time on Saturday because I forgot my camera at home and didn’t touch my phone until the evening, so I unfortunately don’t have many photos to share from Saturday other than what Ryan and my family shared with me.
Chase was up for the day at 6 a.m., so our Saturday began rather early! Ryan headed off to the gym before everyone else was up and Chase and I made blueberry muffins and a frittata for the gang.
Everyone was up around 8: 30 a.m. and we had a wonderfully lazy morning at home before we decided to change into our swimsuits and spend a few hours on the lake before Chase’s naptime!
We boated over to a small island in the middle of Lake Norman where there was a beach and plenty of room for Sadie to jump around and Chase to sit on the shore and splash in shallow water. The weather on Saturday was sunny and H-O-T and the perfect boating weather. It felt wonderful spend a few hours outside on the water!
We made our way back home a little before 1 p.m. and while Chase napped, we grilled outside and chatted over a lunch of burgers, chicken, fruit salad, baked beans and cold quinoa salad. Everyone was up for some relaxing after lunch, so we spent another hour or so just talking and hanging out on the couch before the wedding crew had to get ready and head out.
Chase woke up just before they left and after he had a little snack, Ryan and I took him out to Gander Mountain since we heard they were having a going out of business sale. The sale was seriously disappointing (only 5-10% off most things) so we left with nothing (we were hoping to nab a tent!) and made our way to Carrburrito’s in Davidson for dinner.
A quesadilla hit the spot and we couldn’t resist walking over to Whit’s after dinner for some frozen custard for dessert.
We figured we should let Chase run around in some shade before heading home and stopped by a local park for 30 minutes or so before it was time for bath and bed for our little man.
Sunday
Sunday morning began with baked oatmeal! Chase had us up early again which gave me plenty of time to whip up a batch of baked oatmeal for everyone to enjoy once they were all up for the day!
We ate our breakfast while we chatted about the previous night’s wedding before Jennie, Michael and Amy had to get going. (Jennie had a 7+ hour drive ahead of her and Amy had a photo shoot scheduled in Winston-Salem in the morning.) We were sad to say goodbye but grateful for such a fun and laidback visit! I’m crossing my fingers for more family fun soon!
After everyone was on the road, we figured we should make the most of our Sunday morning and decided to take the boat out again for a couple of hours.
Sadie was psyched as always and we had a great time playing fetch, making some pretty sorry looking sand castles and splashing around in the water.
Chase had a bit of a meltdown when we tried to take him out of the water and head back home for naptime but slept for a solid two hours once he was tucked into his crib.
While Chase napped, I felt the itch to run and took Sadie on a 5 mile run/walk around the neighborhood.
I ran the first 3.5 miles or so and walked the last bit with Sadie and loved spending some quality time with my favorite furry running buddy. I miss our runs together!
I showered the second I walked in the door and then fixed myself a plate of leftovers from Saturday’s cookout for lunch to eat while I began typing up this blog post.
Chase was up and ready for action around 3 p.m. which is right when the clouds opened up and it started to storm. With all outside activities off the table, Ryan, Chase and I headed off to Discovery Place Kids for some indoor fun.
We stayed at DPK until it closed and then made our way home for dinner, books and more indoor playtime before Chase was ready for bed. I’m not sure what it was but I was pooped by the end of the day and fell asleep the minute I crawled into bed around 9 p.m.
I hope you all had a great weekend and that your Sunday is going well so far!
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Love those photos!! So adorable. I’m anxious to get our boat in the water. It’s been at the shop waiting on a piece to come in for weeks, ugh.
What a beautiful weekend! Those pictures are amazing. I have quite few weddings in Raleigh in the near future and will definitely be sending the couple her website!
Amazing photos!!! My family is coming in June from AZ and I would love to do something like this!! Rare that everyone is all together!
You are also really making me want a boat again haha!! We were thisclose to purchasing one a few weeks ago, but we would have to store it at the lake and the lake is about 45 minutes from us. Soooo, I’m just not sure how much we’d realistically use it. Ugh the dilemma!!!
Hope you have a great weekend!!!
There are a ton of local boat renting services that might be worth checking out if you just want to use one for a weekend here and there!! 🙂 Hope you and your family have a wonderful visit!
Those pictures are so so sweet!!
Gorgeous photos! Though I love the bum picture, ha! We had a storm roll through this weekend as well, which made for a fun adventure when we were all caught off gaurd at the farmers market.
Those photos are beautiful! And what a fun weekend hosting and spending time with family. So jealous of your boat rides and time near the water!
Happy Monday Julie! Holy bathing suit goals! You look amazing and you inspire me everyday in my fitness routines!
Thank you!!!
Have to agree with Taylor! You look amazing!!!
Also happy to see you are back to running – I know you mentioned it was uncomfortable right after you had Chase!
Have a great week Julie.
Thank you!!! Yes, it honestly took me a LONG time to feel better running even a mile after birth. It feels good to feel better again!
Thanks so much for saying this, Taylor!! <3
What a great family weekend. I love your family photos, especially that jumping action shot.
Looks like you guys had a great weekend! It was as a perfect weekend for boating here, too. I think everyone in the surrounding area was out on our lake! And Gander Mountain. ugh. I’m not surprised at all they went bankrupt. They’re “sales” are never really sales. I mean, do they know they are competing with Amazon?? Ok, I’ll stop. GM’s business model irritates me, clearly. 😉
Those photos of you all on the beach are lovely! You have the sweetest little family.
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I hope you frame every single one of these, friend! So cute! Also, way to be super fit mom and run 5 miles during nap time! I wish I could motivate myself to do that – I’m hoping once we have sidewalks at our new house it will do the trick!
Nap time workout motivation doesn’t come to me very often either! I tried my best to take full advantage when it popped up yesterday! I think the perfect running weather helped (overcast with a cool breeze)!
Those are such beautiful pictures! I am so jealous that you guys are able to go boating so often, if it such an fun and relaxing way to spend the day.
Sounds like an amazing weekend! I’m now itching to get on the water 🙂 I haven’t been boating in forever!
Those family beach photos are gorgeous! You should definitely get at least one put on a big canvas. I love canvas pics! And looks like a nice and busy weekend for you guys! 🙂
It sounds like you guys had a fun weekend. And Amy is an amazing photographer. I love the photo of your parents with Chase.
That’s one of my favs, too!! <3
Beautiful pictures! Lake days are the best, and I can’t wait for cookout food this weekend! 🙂
Oh my goodness Julie!! Those pictures are absolutely gorgeous!! 🙂
Your fam is so gorgeous! You are GLEAMING and look so happy <3
Thank you, friend!!! <3 <3
Your family photos are so lovely, thanks for sharing!
Happy Monday! Love the family photos on the beach – your cousin did such a beautiful job! She sure knew how to pick the right lighting for the shoot! Everyone looks amazing, and everything seems frame-worthy. Gorgeous!
I love the sound of your family fun weekend – especially the boating! I live right next to TWO lakes (one is in walking distance, the other is a 4 minute drive), but I don’t have a boat. :/ It’s a shame if I’m living in the land of 10,000 lakes and I don’t have my very OWN boat yet, amIright?? We’ve rented them multiple times (my parents had a boat while I was growing up too.) But every time I see your boat adventures I want to get back out there! Especially love the idea of stopping on the island and swimming. So fun!
Thanks for another really fun post! And thanks for the reminder to make baked oatmeal again!
The picture of Chase helping put the muffin liners in the tin is adorable!
fabulous family photos!!!
The pictures are beautiful!
Love these pictures 🙂 Also, every time I read your blog and you share pictures of afternoons on the boat I’m ready to pack my stuff up in 5 seconds and buy a boat! Looks SO fun!
Gorgeous pictures! Makes me want to plan a beach vacation asap:)
PS I love your skirt! Where is it from? I’m always on the hunt for a cute maxi skirt!
Thank you! It’s from Zappos but the brand is Flynn Skye: http://bit.ly/2qdozva