Terrible Hosts

We won't be winning any brownie points after my mom's visit over her fall break. 

She arrived during our kitchen renovation, so most of her trip consisted of us trying to figure out how to prepare meals that didn't involve any dirty dishes (we had no kitchen sink).  In addition, we couldn't use our stove or oven for pretty much the entire time she was here.  Oh, and her "guest room" was still basically being used as a pantry/massive storage space with a tiny spot for her to sleep.  

We had a cute kid present for her to fawn over, so hopefully that counts for something.

Luckily, Kaden and I whisked her off for a couple day escape to Atlantic Beach.  My sister-in-law's awesome mom, AKA our good friend Beth, let us borrow her beach cottage for a night.  The weather the few days before we left was cold and rainy, so I figured we were in for a freeze fest, but luckily the sunshine came out while we were there.  The weather couldn't have been more perfect!  The ocean is one of my favorite places to be.  I've always loved it.  There's something about sand on your toes and the sound of the waves crashing against the shore that makes life feel instantly better.  

Kaden is still a little uncertain about the water at the beach.  It pretty much terrifies him.  Since we were only there for a couple of days, there wasn't time for him to get really friendly with the waves.  Plus, Chad wasn't  there to coax him into the water.  He preferred climbing up the sand dunes and running down, or chasing seagulls.  He was so devastated that they wouldn't let him touch them.

While mom was here we also went to our neighborhood's fall festival.  I didn't get any pictures, but it was a lot of fun!  They had rented a couple of giant bounce houses for the kids and they had a BBQ and fried chicken catered lunch.  There were also cupcakes that tasted like Twinkies.  What's not to love about that?  Kaden LOVED the bounce house.  I was a little nervous about him going in alone at first, so I went with him.  There were a lot of bigger kids in there, so I didn't know if he'd get mauled, but they were so sweet.  They kept asking, "Do you want me to bounce you?" and helping him jump higher.  After about ten minutes of standing there watching him have a blast, I left and let him go crazy on his own.

Mom and I had a girls' day on Saturday afternoon and explored The Vintage Village, which is this amazing place with a series of antique shops.  It is also dangerously close to my house.

Mom's trip ended much too soon, with no time for me to consult Martha Stewart on how to redeem myself as a hostess.

I need to make sure I buy some mints for the pillows the next time we have house guests.