I'm Eye Candy!

Not exactly me, but the blog is!

If you follow me on instagram I posted a picture of William's gallery wall and entered a hashtag #athoughtfulplacefridayeyecandy to potentially be featured by one of my favorite home bloggers.  She featured me!

A Thoughtful Place  was one of the first home blogs I started following and continues to be my favorite read.  Courtney has a great eye and is so creative.  Her writing is also so genuine.  I've gotten a lot of inspiration from her, so please check her blog out!

And thank you for featuring William's gallery wall!

XOXO

Aubrey

Keeping it Together {Thirty One}

Summer is officially here and that means pool days and picnics.  I've always had a go to bag for the pool and a lightweight cooler for picnic lunches.  If you haven't jumped on the Thirty One train, this post is here to push you in.

The Large Utility Tote isn't just for the pool, it is such a versatile bag that I own two!  We use this bag for overnights or week long trips.  And even take it on plane trips, it completely flattens in our suitcase so it can be our beach bag while on vacation.  This bag is always packed in the closet with towels, sunscreen, toys, and extra bathing suits so we are always ready to go. 

(The stripe pattern above is no longer available, but lots of other great options)

Yes, it's versatile.  But the real reason I own two of these bags is because they fit perfectly in between the front and back seats.  We need every inch of space when traveling by car!

I first posted about Thirty-One last summer when I purchased their small thermal tote for a shower gift.  I also own one and love it, it's great for holding a few beverages or snacks.  But I needed something bigger for lunches, snacks and extra beverages...Picnic Thermal Tote to the rescue!

This was such a great buy, it holds so much!  The site advertises that the tote can hold up to two 2-liters, which equates to at least two bottles of wine in my world.  Well, most of the time this bag is going to be holding the necessities pictured below.

I'm happy to announce that my dear family friend Terry Schafer, a Thirty-One independent consultant as our newest sponsor.  If you haven't checked out their products, you need to!  There is something for everyone with lots of fun prints!  Thirty-One has a special on the large utility tote too! Spend $35 and get the large utility tote for just $10.  This is when I bought both of mine!

Baking Bread

Last week we were invited to join some friends for a private tour of a local bread bakery and learn about how bread is made.

Another mom organized the tour at Great Harvest Bread Company and the kids got to listen about the entire process.  I even learned a few things too:)

 The group was really small and the tour took about thirty minutes so the kids never got bored or distracted.  I'm not sure if it was the owner, but our "tour guide" was fantastic.  She really knew how to engage the kids and kept it entertaining.

They got to roll out their own piece to bake and then take home along with a fabulous goodie bag.

Thanks to Tiffany for organizing and Great Harvest Bread for hosting!

 XOXO

Aubrey

Happy Father's Day

I hope all the dad's out there enjoyed their special day!  

Happy Father's Day Billy

You are their world, we all love you so much!

XOXO

Aubrey

Greenfield Village

With school ending last week and swim lessons and camps not starting for a few weeks we had some days to fill.  I had been wanting to get to Greenfield Village on a nice day, but not a hot day.  We picked a perfectly sunny and only 70 degree day.

Once again, we were lucky to have my mom's friend get us in.  She was just thrilled to have all these young kids use her pass.  Thank you so much Miss Geri!

There was so much excitement in just being able to ride on the train and carousel, as well as any animal that crossed our path.  

There is also working farm at Greenfield Village which we didn't have time for on our last visit.  The farm has turkeys and roosters running around, a newborn calf, pigs, and sheep.  The kids just loved it all!

And of course there was a stop for ice cream...big portions of ice cream.  Lauren is holding a baby size, sugar highs soon followed.

As much as I love a schedule and routine, I also love that I can plan days like this.  We had a great first week home and are hoping the weather will soon warm up so we can get to the pool.

XOXO

Aubrey

Cocktails and Cuties

This is just a quick little post of a few pictures I got on Sunday afternoon.  We ended our weekend with dinner at my in laws, but enjoyed some extra company for happy hour. Jocelyn, Colin, and Emma came over for a few cocktails and as usual our kids were thrilled to get to play with miss Emma.

I don't always know the right settings to use when taking pictures, but I love it when it goes my way.  This is one of the better pictures of William I have gotten in a long time.

I just love those faces, and wish I had some of that energy!

I hope your week is off to a good start.

XOXO

Aubrey

School's Out!

Summer vacation has officially started, we said goodbye to our school and all of our favorite teachers last week.  I love this side by side picture, looking only a little more grown up in her face and eyes.  

 It was a bittersweet day.  Even just taking these pictures made me sad thinking we won't be here in the fall, yet so excited to know we'll be doing this at our new house (more on that soon...)

 She wanted to wear a special dress for her last day because they were doing a little concert for the parents in her classroom.  Nothing fancy, just a few songs they worked on.  It was adorable!

The kids were so proud of themselves, and Lauren has been singing the songs ever since:)

 I did get a little teary eyed because I do love her school.  Some of her friends she has known since she was three months old and they are a special little group.  One I know we'll keep in touch with.

 So long school, thanks for all the wonderful memories and HELLO SUMMER!!!

 I'm looking forward to mornings where we aren't rushing out the door, days at the pool, and nights at the playground.  

XOXO

Aubrey