Bourbon Birthday

Happy Happy Happy birthday to my better half. He's thirty years old today, and I've been lucky to be in his life for a third of those years. We're actually in New York City celebrating not only Hubbies birthday, but also my baby bro graduating from NYU this week! So fun!

I'll tell you more about this trip when we get back, but for today I'll recap Hub's birthday surprise from a few weeks ago.

I pulled off a great surprise and he had absolutely ZERO clue. Mom, the kids and I worked all week right under his nose and he didn't have a clue #boys. I planned a full day of party bus fun visiting the bourbon trail with all of his besties. It was a great Kentucky tradition and an awesome kickoff to his thirties!

We had all kinds of fun surprises for the day. And a big should out to my momma who helped me pack up lunches, adorned with funny Shane photos and personalized toasts from all of his friends.

 I woke hubs up early and told him the kids and I were taking his for a fun surprise. He was a great sport, and having the kids with us totally through his for a loop. I made him close his eyes while we drove to meet up with everyone and the bus. And when we go there everyone was waiting and he was shocked! His momma met us and we pulled the kid switcheroo while we headed out for a day of adulting.

First stop, Buffalo Trace. So beautiful and so much awesome history.

 Shane's brother, Ted.

 The whole crew!

 Tasting #1

 Stop Number 2: Three Boys.

 Back on the bus heading to stop #3: Four Roses.

 And finally, back aboard the bus for stop #4: Town Branch

We had an absolute blast and it was the best way to celebrate my bourbon loving birthday boy! And, a big thank you to Mint Julep Tours for helping me plan such a great day!

 Happy Birthday handsome hubby!

Life Lately

Life lately has been a little bit of everything. Lots of celebrating, lots of housing, lots of snacking, lots of derby-ing, unfortunately lots of puking :(, just a lot of things. Here's a little look at life lately.

We struggled for about two weeks with sickness. The stomach bug, hand foot and mouth, just a nasty hodge podge of yuckiness. It didn't keep little miss from being her cute crazy self, but it did put a damper on life for a little way. Luckily I think we're finally all over it and back to normal! A much welcomed word around here.

 Hubs and I made a last minute decision to buy some cheap seats for a comedian coming to town, Daniel Tosh. Shane used to think he was hilarious in college, and the tickets were so cheap we simply couldn't pass up a mid week date night.

 We've had a lot of spring rain around here, so that's meant lots of movies (Star Wars, Ninja Turtles and The Little Rascals our the current faves), indoor activities and couch snuggles with my littles.

 Hubs and I had another date night and went to see THE Neil Diamond in concert.

We took our kiddos for a full day of fun to an indoor games/laser tag/bowling, etc. and had a blast!

 We took advantage of Derby week and everything our city has to offer. The Air show and Thunder Over Louisville (the largest firework show in the USA), The Chow Wagon (fair food + rides on the waterfront).

Amidst the rain, we opened PaPaw and GoGo's pool and take good advantage during any sunny breaks.

 We're watching this nugget's vocabulary and personality shine through more and more every day.

 I'm watching these two keep creating a friendship that is blossoming into the sweetest sibling love ever. Don't let their cuteness fool you though, mama needed to finish some much needed shopping for a big Derby week and they do NOT make that easy :)

 Mister Bennett qualified for his next belt in Karate and passed his belt testing! He's now a camo belt with white stripe and proudly broke TWO boards with his kick during testing.

 We've snacked our our favorite bakeries Derby cookies.

 And little Miss rocked her 18 month well visit!

And that's a little look at life lately. We've got another big couple of weeks coming up as we roll right on into summer! And hopefully we'll be living in that house of ours soon enough! Toodle-oooo!

Kentucky Derby 143

Another Kentucky Derby is officially under our belts and this year was MUCH better than last year (ha!)!  I was in super recovery mode last year from a series of pretty nasty surgeries, so to be right up in the action with finish line seats was a far better time this year!

I've been going to the Derby since I was a youngin' - my parents were always awesome and included us in such a Kentucky staple. And even though I've been more times than I can count, every year it's always just as magical. And it's the absolute BEST time to live in Kentucky.

This year the weather was a super bummer (rainy + cold), but the Bluegrass has some Derby magic and come time for the 143rd run for the roses the sun was indeed shining bright on our old Kentucky Home! <3 I rocked black jumpsuits, wellies, and fascinators both days and couldn't have been more pleased with my choices.

First up was a gals day at the track for the Kentucky Oaks. I went with one of my lifelong besties, Jessica, we've been friends since kindergarten and it was such a fun gals day (minus the frigid temps). Before we left for a super fun breakfast little Lainey gal joined the fun and wore one of my fascinators from years past.

If you know anything about Derby week, you know it's ALLLLL about the fashion ... well that and the ponies ... and the celebrities, and the parties, and mint juleps (HA!)! But .... back to the fashion. There are A LOT of options of places to sit (or not for that matter) and with better places to sit comes a heft price tag right along side of it. So, for a fun a last minute girls day ... we opted for the cheap seats (because we had no idea the weather would be so cray) ... and therefore when you're not under cover and gonna be walking for miles ... you ditch the beautifully fancy shoes and embrace the rain boots! BEST decision EVER!

All of these girls ended up ditching their heels and wearing rain boots too ... but for the sake of the photos they adorned heels (look who didn't have hers, heheheee).

 We finished the night with a yummy yummy gals night dinner and wrapped the Oaks, just to wake up and do it all over again for Derby!

And whew, my Derby date was lookin FLLYYYYYY. Oh heyyy rain boots (again!) ... I actually switched out of the rain boots by race three and rocked heels for the rest of the day because the weather gods were on our side with that Kentucky Derby magic. But, alas - the only photo we have I'm rocking those pink wellies again.

 Hey pretty mama!

And all the fascinator love! I made both of my hats you see in these pics (I've done it every year since I've been a kiddo - a lot of us Louisville gals do) and it's absolutely one of my favorite parts of Derby. I think my Oaks day fascinator was actually my favorite of the two, but it didn't photograph that well. The top of it was much more to write home about than the straight on view. But, either way, my late night glue gun creations are my favorites and seeing all of the hats and fashion at the track is just something unlike anything else.

 Fam Bam!

And finish line fun with the baby bro in from NYC and daddy-o! We didn't have the winner, but man did we have fun!

Hope to be back next year for 144 ... come with me, I promise you'll have a good time!