Families come to visit!!!

What a wonderful week it was having such great guests at our home! Although the weather couldn't have been more opposite for the two groups of visitors, we definitely made the most of what Mother Nature threw our way!

Our first visitors were Trudy and Dave. It has been quite some time since they had been to the south, so we were happy to have them. Trudy was impressed with how clean and nice our place was (major points scored there) and I think they were both very happy to finally SEE where we live, work and play! I think deep down they KINDA wanted it to suck so that we had to come back to Minnesota. But once Trudy approved and found out she even liked it, all she could say was "damn." Lol. Honestly though, I think they were happy to see that we don't live in a trailor home with goats in our front yard, drive a broken down truck, and have half of our teeth missing. We live in a great area of Charlotte!

Out in uptown Charlotte doing a little shopping and wandering around while enjoying the beautiful day!

Trudy and I outside in a nice area of Charlotte right after a tasty outdoor lunch break!

Happy to be together and outside enjoying the gorgeous 70 degerees and sunny day.

Yep. I'm a reader. I used to do it around Trudy to score more points (Joe just always has more points than me because he made Ella, and I cannot compete with her sweetness!) but now I am pretty addicted and love to read... especially out on the balcony : ) So peaceful!

Perfect grilling weather- we grilled burgers and asparagus and couldn't get enough- it was so good. We sat out by the pool and enjoyed drinks and each other's company until it got dark. It was a perfect way to spend our last evening together! Thanks so much for visiting, Trudy and Dave... Please come again! : )

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Onto our next visitors... Dana and Jana (aka MA and toobs). For how much our family loves the sun, warmth and being outdoors, they sure had the worst luck with weather! We had non-stop rain and clouds from Wednesday through Saturday!!! Not only was it very rare for Charlotte to have so many days of constant rain, but our average temps are mid-high 60s now! Dave and Trudy left Wednesday morning and had 5 days of gorgeous sun and mild/warm weather. It was the exact opposite for the Kingsley girls. I felt so bad, but hey what could we do but make cookie dough and write plays (lol- long story, can explain later)?!?! Either way, we still had a great time and they managed to get a few hours of sun on their last day!

The ladies.... mom always got the "cute" award. And if not her, it was Jana. Oh well, I tried! : )

Right after I picked them up fron the airport, they wanted to try out the famous southern fast food chain "Chick-Fil-A" .... we'll just say it was definitely an EXPERIENCE. Good food, amazing (yet creepy) entertainment, but memories for sure. Ask Jana about Omar... she'll gladly go into more detail.

Cheers! We could barely even wait until the first night to get to Salsas and have margaritas and some chips and salsa (ohhh and dinner too). Tasty stuff (and they sat us right next to the outdoor area... where we should have been sitting if it were sunny and dry... insert pout here).

We decided to check out northern Charlotte and shop till we dropped (or at least I dropped). It was a great time and I bought tennis shoes to change into because my high heeled lady shoes were killing me. We ate at "Sticky Fingers" and Mom and Jana definitely felt like they were "in the south" there! : )

I am working on my hosting skills now that we are having guests more often... so I went out and bought a nice welcome mat (the one that was holding). First thing Dana commented on when we got to our place was how hideous the welcome mat was- she thought it came with the place! LOL. I have such great taste. So we went out and they found me the clown welcome mat (the one on the floor) because it was prettier. It was a pretty good ongoing joke throughout the week. "It was the thought that counts Kyra" : )

Rain rain go away! Erik and my mom under the umbrella.

Our last night..... power went out due to too much rain, Jana and Kyra did a play, Mom made us tasty drinks, played catch phrase and we were all bad at it, photo shoots on the stairs and we finished it off with a great dinner at Portofinos where Erik got this monstrous lobster with rice and clams. It was so huge, we just had to take a picture.

YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAA for blue skies and sunshine finally! My mom took some gorgeous blue sky/Charlotte tree pictures. I'm just sharing a few with you.

These trees are everywhere... still trying to figure out exactly what they are. Love them though!

TWO thumbs up for some well earned sun and pool time. Although it was pretty windy and they had to go back to Minnesota that afternoon, I think we all still enjoyed seeing the sun again! Thanks for being such good sports, ma and toobs! We had such a great time, but I think they were ready to "give me back to Erik" so I could bug him again instead of them. With Meg and Joe (hopefully) coming to visit within the next month, we just gotta get my dad down here and convince EVERYONE to move : )


LOVE to our friends and family and please come visit anytime! XOXOXOXOXO

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Some randoms of Erik's new Ford Escape.... Yea! We love it! These aren't the best pictures, but I took them the night he got it because we were too excited. Pretty sure he won't be able to go back to a little car after driving this around!

Fun in the sun!

We had about 5-6 days of beautiful sunny and 70s-80s weather! Erik and I kept saying to each other how much we felt like we were on vacation with such amazing weather in March! Although it was about 15 degrees above average, and we have had cooler temps and rain ever since..... it was so great and we were happy to share it with our friends, Cal and Kelsie! Cal is a good friend of ours and he and his girlfriend Kelsie decided to take a roadtrip down our way (from MN) on their spring break. Good times were definitely had by all!


This was the first nice day- I got up and went for a jog outside which felt awesome! I came back and rubbed it in to my mom a little (I know, really cruel) and then Erik got brownie points when he took a picture because what else do you do when its that nice out?! : ) So, mom, this is me talking to you on our deck after my run.

After I got cleaned up, I came back outside to find the HAPPIEST Erik ever.... drinking water out of his Tommy Bahama glass ("cuz that's what you do when it's nice outside") and listening to some reggae music while working on his tan a bit.

They're here! The boys decided to try out the new grills at our complex. They made us a tasty meal of steak, potatoes and fresh fruit.
Flat Stanley got to visit and enjoy the beautiful weather as well! My cousin, Haylee, sent him to me for a classroom project she was doing. Although Stanley got here a little late (due to our change of address), he got here just in time for the fun and the sun! He is wearing swim trunks and has his beach ball all ready to go!

This is SUCH a mom pic... just so you guys can put yourselves in our shoes and enjoy exactly what we were enjoying. It was a gorgeous day and although the pool was a little chilly, it didn't stop us!

Erik wanted to play too!

HAPPINESS.Yep, this would happen to Cal. For all of you who know Cal, this makes perfect sense.... a burnt to the crisp belly with a sunscreened smiley face! : ) He bathed in our aloe for the rest of their time down here.

Mini golf! Although it took the toothless lady a few attempts at taking this picture, we finally got a group shot before our mini golf adventure. Let's just say we were all bad.... but I was the only one who didn't get a hole in one. : (

Erik got a hole in one here and I wanted to be cool and pose with him!

After an exhausting round of mini golf (we walked all 18 holes- lol), we sat outside at Lake Wylie for some dinner and drinks (and amazing people watching!)

Kelsie and I at our favorite... SALSAS!

Erik and Cal.... and Cal smiling nicely for a picture!

Salsas had one of those cool bench-thingies that absolutely will not break no matter how hard you bounce on it (yes Cal and Erik tried). So we played on it for a while and then got someone to take a picture of us. This is the same bench that Aunt Mary and Uncle Kevin have on their front porch! Apparently they are big down here.

Overall- a great "vacation" for us all : ) Happy warmer temps to all of you back in MN! I hear it's in the 50s today!!!

February 2009 - Pawleys Island trip and random pics from Charlotte

This is so overdue, so I will first apologize! So sorry! These pics are old, but I wanted to put them up before I put more current (and sunny) ones up : ) The first few are from our trip to Pawleys Island, SC, a few weekends ago. It was a wonderful little getaway, although it rained all weekend! We can't wait to get back there and enjoy the beach and love from our Aunt/Uncle!

This is the back view of Mary and Kevin's house in Pawleys Island, SC. It is gorgeous (even on a cloudy day) and their view is amazing! We spent quite a bit of time on their porch just enjoying the warm, fresh air... and we stayed dry under there as well!

So, I wake up on Saturday morning to find Erik outside on Mary and Kevin's dock fishing IN THE RAIN. He wanted to fish that bad. He didn't have bait and didn't catch anything, but he sure was a happy boy! : )
We went out to eat at our favorite Pawleys Island restaurant, Franks, which is a 5 minute walk from their house. We got to eat outside and enjoy the atmosphere. Chip makes the best manhattans, right Mary? Cheers!

One of our favorite places to eat (we are easy to please) - we have kinda made it a Sunday ritual as long as we can sit outside!

Our favorite spot at home!
Erik at his happiest... book, sun and fresh air!

This was a sunny/mild weekend afternoon and we decided to explore a new part of Charlotte (the Dillworth community) while getting some fresh air. We could see the uptown area from where we were walking too (you can kinda see the skyscrapers in the background)... it is a rich/nice community right outside of the metro.

Beautiful scenery - massive trees, old houses, and a beautiful neighborhood.
Super random that I took this picture... but I thought the church looked gorgeous- especially with the bright blue sky in the background!

After a long walk around Charlotte, SMOOTHIE KING tasted awesome (it's the closest to "Jamba Juice" that I can find here)

***MORE PICS COMING SOON! I PROMISE! We have had temps in the 70s-80s+ and sun for the past 5 days and it looks like it'll only last one more day before the rain comes. I don't feel quite as guilty sitting inside on the computer when it is raining out : ) Love to you all!