The Good Life

Libby enjoying her first ever steak bone.

It's been a busy month, and September is barely half over! And, of course, we seem to be booked solid through October. But I think we'd just get bored if we had a simpler schedule.

Another Long Weekend

Last weekend, Andro and I headed down south to visit my parent's at their beautiful retirement home on St. Simons Island (Georgia). This was Andro's first visit to their new house and we are definitely looking forward to spending a very warm Christmas there this year. The whole goal of the weekend was to craft Libby's Halloween costume. But sadly, we got very easily sidetracked...

About a year ago, just before Halloween, Andro stumbled upon this article. While he often scoffs at my attempts to dress Libby up in her various costumes and outfits, even he admitted, if we had an Ewok costume, he would dress Libby up in it all the time. We have been in discussions with Mom all summer about how to make this costume. I bought a bear that we could de-construct, we had all the measurements, and we thought we were set. But a late start on Saturday meant we didn't make it to the fabric store until after it closed... (and in the south, once it's closed, it won't be open until another business day...nothing is open on Sundays)

So, Mom and I came up with an easy solution...head over to Target and pick up one of their dog costumes. We choose the turtle, below are a few photos of Libby modeling once I brought it home. I think this is her favorite costume to date, because essentially she is being encased in a comfy pillow; nothing dangling off her, no wings or extra claws to chew on.





Why did Mom and I get so easily distracted? Well...I have no answer. We both wake up early but can fill an entire day with not doing much but talking and hanging out together. It's both a blessing and a curse. We talk to each other all the time, but then every time I talk to her it feels like we haven't spoken in a week!

Andro and Daddy enjoyed a round of golf on Sunday, while Mom and I went to the movies and just walked around the downtown. On Monday, in our honor of our long-standing tradition, Mom and I went to the water park and left the boys to fend for themselves. We headed over to Jekyll Island and had a blast! It's a smaller park, but we probably rode more water slides than we ever have in our trips to Splashin' Safari, because there was no crowd. We relaxed in the lazy river, jumped in the wave pool, and just had an overall great day.

Great trip, over too soon, and of course I forgot to take any pictures...

Campbell Kids Reunion

Of course, I brought my camera along for my trip to Connecticut, but only managed to take a couple of photos of my furry niece Sophie... I have to get back into taking pictures!

I managed to bring the chilly Chicago weather with me to the East Coast, but we had a great weekend nonetheless. Friday, Addam and I hit up the movies then we all went to the casino that night. The casino is on a reservation and is like a big lavish Vegas casino with a Native American theme, beautiful and really nice. I managed to win $17 on slots (and yes, by win, I mean I won back all the money I put in plus $17). Saturday, despite the rain, we headed up to Northampton, Massachusetts. Smith College is in Northampton and it's like the ideal college town.

In between, we managed to eat a lot of junk food, candy, and drink a lot of local beer. It was great, but yesterday my plain spinach salad tasted like manna, so I'm taking a break from the bad food for a while...

Overall a great weekend. It was great to hang out with Addam and Christine and see their town.

Never say never

If you would have told me when I was the age in the above photo, that I would be EXCITED to see my brother, I would have thought you were crazy. Can't wait to see him and Christine!

Love this

I've gotten hooked on this blog--www.cakewrecks.com. Hilariously bad cakes. By far my favorite is the Darth Vader baby shower cake. When I'm pregnant (in like 5 years), I want this cake.

Who's the boss?

I'm very excited to head out to Connecticut this weekend to catch up with my brother and sister (in-law, technically; really just my sister). They have been living there for a few years and this is my first trip out to see them. I know, I'm a bad sister, but better late than never!

While I'm gone, I'm hoping that Andro will clean up the condo. I've been cleaning on Fridays (giving Andro the summer off from his chores for good behavior) but that is quickly coming to an end as my summer hours (half day Friday's) are over Labor Day weekend. I have a feeling, though, that a lot of his free time will be devoted to naps and video games.

Working Girl

I'm a big fan of all sorts of blogs. Blogs by people I know (Mae and Kasey), blogs by people I don't know, blogs about saving money, blogs about decorating and home improvement (younghouselove.com), to name a few. On one of the savings blogs I check out, they had an article on ways to make more money. My favorite tip was getting your dog a job.

While I think she is adorable and definitely has 'spokesdog' potential, Libby could never sit still long enough to model anything. And any career as the next 'Wishbone' is also out the window--she only understands commands about 45% of the time. But, Andro has found her a job nonetheless. We just have to move to Italy.

I think Libby would look great in that swim vest. The only problem I can really see is her complete hatred of water.