Good Times - Great Girls

Between the four of us girls (Lindsey, Lynley, Nikki, and me) it has always seemed very difficult to get together.  Ever since we left for school (4 years ago!) our schedules have always conflicted with each other, making it almost impossible to see each other more than twice a year.  However, last weekend, in a very last minute attempt to reunite...it happened!  Lynley missed our trip to Fayetteville last semester, so she decided to use her Labor Day weekend to visit Nikki.  Lindsey had already made plans to be in Fayetteville, so I was the only one left.  After a bit of convincing from the girls, and the okay from my supportive husband, I headed to Fayetteville too! 

Still waking up...hence the puffy face

I got in town Friday evening to find Nikki...yup...cleaning.  We met up with Lindsey and Lee at Mama Z's for some fabulous homemade spaghetti and meatballs.  Then, we waited for Lynley to get in town.  She's a bon-a-fide teacher now, so she had to wait to get off work before making the trip to Arkansas.  No problem, Say Yes to the Dress marathon anyone?  Lynley finally pulled in around 10:30, and we spent the evening...duh...talking.  And yeah, I was the first to fall asleep again :( 

The next day we headed out for lunch at Red Robbin (yummm).  With nothing else left on the agenda, I suggested we go to a place called Daisies and Olives.  None of us were extremely excited about going, but we went anyways.  I had been looking for some things to put on a wall in my apartment, and I was determined to find something.

Four girls, and two hours later...this is what we ended up with:

A little ridiculous I know, but we couldn't help ourselves.  Every time one of us found something cute, the other would say "oh my gosh, that's so cute...if you don't get it I'm getting it!" As a result of that, the mantle, a frame, and the welcome sign were thrown into the pile.  The rest of it was due to bad influence from each other:

"You have to get it...it's too cute!"

"This would look so good in your kitchen/bedroom/living room/anywhere!"

"What am I going to do with it?"

"You will definitely find a place for it...get it!"

And...if finding things to go in our homes wasn't enough, Lynley added an extra excuse of:

"This would look great in my classroom!"

"I could use these shelves for binders!"

Total inventory from the trip:

1 mantle

1 bench

2 empty frames

1 empty window pane

1 window

2 shutters

3 old crates

1 old bucket

1 canister

1 old army trunk

1 red side table/cabinet

2 signs (1 welcome, and 1 tomatoes sign)

I had to leave Saturday, but even though I was only there for a day, it was well worth the trip.  Love you girls!  Can't wait to do it again...SOON PLEASE!

Chicago...Seniors 2009?

It's been a tradition thing in the Carpenter family to take a family vacation after each of us girls graduated. For Kelsey's senior 2004 trip we all went to Disney World. For my senior 2006 trip we traveled to New York. So for Kayla's senior 2009 trip...I got married! So yeah, vacation (for the family at least) didn't exactly happen that year. Therefore, Kayla graciously rescheduled the senior trip for this summer instead. Thanks Sissy!

And here's a list of what we did...

a mostly picture post (out of order because the pictures are random):

 

Lincoln Park Zoo

    

    

Navy Pier

   

Fireworks show at the Pier...excellent!

Gino's East

YUM-O

The Bean

(Cloud Gate is it's official name...no one knows that though)

John Hancock Observatory:

We did not go to the Sears Tower, because the John Hancock (though not as tall) had much better views...that is the truth!

Window washing at John Hancock is VERY dangerous!

Architectual Boat Tour

This was our boat tour guide...it was Tyler's Uncle BOB!!!

He doesn't think so, but I was constantly reassuring him that he was wrong.

So apparently Chicago is Gotham City..most of the Batman movies were taped there. This is the Willis Sears Tower. At the top (if you can see) there are a couple of little boxes attached to the outside of the building that you can stand in and the only thing between you and the ground is a few inches of glass!

 

Cubs Game @ Wrigly Field

So...they lost 18 - 1, but the experience was a 10!

Field Museum

 

This is Sue

Sue is the largest preserved Tyrannosaurus Rex ever discovered

This is Mom and Dad acting like Sue

Sic' Em!

 

Not Pictured:

Second City (Comedy Club)

Portillo's (still dreaming about those hot dogs and chocolate cake)

Magnificent Mile

Museum of Contemporary Photography

 

Overall...a very GREAT vacation! Let's do it again!

The Dam Club 2010

Okay...so I know that it's been way to long since I've posted anything, and if I told you that it's been the busiest few weeks around here, you probably still wouldn't believe me (or cut me any slack).  Whatever, here we go:

First of all, this summer Tyler and I secured our membership in the Dam Club...that's right!  I am now a 2 year member of the Hot Springs Dam Club (brought to you by the Ellis/McCormick families).  Tyler and I met up with his parents and their friends the McCormicks earlier this summer.  Every summer they spend two weeks in Hot Springs on Lake Hamilton...and we get to reap the benefits!  We had so much fun with everyone (Ryan, Kelsey (McCormick) Turner, Jeremy (husband of Kelsey) Turner, Michael McCormick, and his wife Lynsey, plus all the parents) and even though the sun got the best of some of us, we didn't let it ruin all the good times. 

It is so nice to live so close to them when they visit.  Hot Springs is only about 40ish minutes away from Arkadelphia, which makes it nice and convenient to drive out in the morning and drive home at night. 

We not only renewed our membership in the Dam Club, but we spent lots of time wake boarding, tubing, riding the boat, and eating good food!  Here are some pictures of us wake boarding:

This is me

This is Tyler

This is Ryan 

And here are the pictures to prove our membership in the Dam Club:

By the way...the water was 45 degrees!!!  That will explain the expression on some of our faces.  It was...well...dam damn cold!

Thanks for the good times Ellis/McCormick Clan.  We look forward to it every year!

Coming Soon!

New posts coming soon!  I haven't had my camera with me, so I haven't been able to update pictures...be patient the posts are coming:

Dam Club

Chicago (Seniors '09)