This is supposed to be a Travel Tuesday post, but I can’t resist sharing these sweet fall items for a handsome little fellow.  Griffin is the youngest of three boys and tags along to his older brother’s flag football games.  Big bro plays for a Cowboys team, so I chose a gray shirt with a navy helmet.  I love this design!  Would be super cute for girls as well with a script monogram.  The pumpkin truck brings back memories of Bodie at this age.  He had a john john with that same applique.  These were such fun to stitch.

Our long weekend was the perfect mix of pool, football and time with friends.  I hosted a low key viewing party Saturday night for my beloved Irish.  The good guys won and I had the best night ever.  Chocolate ice cream footballs for dessert, good wine, happy kiddos and an Irish victory.  What more could a girl want?

Sunday morning the kids and I (and Gipper) loaded up the car and headed to the mountains for the remainder of the weekend.  Our wonderful neighbors of five years moved to Boone, NC, over the summer and Emery and Bodie have been missing their buddies something fierce.  And I’ve been missing their mom!  Even my pets miss them.  We were together pretty much 24/7 for five years and it’s been rough.  I miss the non-stop stream of kids running through the house.  I miss watching all of their smiling faces get off the bus every afternoon.  I miss everything about having this awesome family right next door.  I knew their move would be rough, but I really didn’t realize just HOW rough.  Emery and Bodie have been out of sorts the past few weeks and Sheila said the same about her kids.  So, we planned a visit and it did not disappoint.

Boone is gorgeous and their mountain home has breathtaking views of the Blue Ridge Mountains.  Their property is located just off the Blue Ridge Parkway, so you can imagine just how stunning the scenery is from their house.

I cannot describe how sweet Bodie’s reunion with Justin was.  They relished every second of being back together.  I love this shot of them enjoying burgers on the back porch.  Shirtless, of course.  Emery and Amelia were also thrilled to be back together.  They played with their American Girl dolls a lot of the time, which I pray continues.  I realize their doll days are numbered now that they’re nine and in fourth grade, which makes me want to cry.  I wish they could stay innocent longer!

Not only were we all so happy to be with our friends again, but we were ecstatic to meet their new puppy, Rip.  AHHHHHH!!!!!  He’s a pound puppy mutt just like my Gipper (they’re the best) and he’s precious.  Rip is already housebroken and he and Gipper were perfect angels the entire visit.  No chewing, no running off, no potty accidents.

Adorable mountain doggies!

We spent Labor Day at Tweetsie Railroad in Blowing Rock and I now have a new favorite amusement park.  Tweetsie is the ideal size.  We knocked out all of the rides we wanted to do in half a day.  The lines were not bad at all, despite the holiday.  I had just as much fun as the kids on the free fall and gravitron rides.

We were so sad to leave, but made plans for more visits soon.  The drive home was uneventful until we pulled into our driveway and were greeted by this:

A large tree limb snapped off sometime Monday and almost took out the playset.  Yikes!  I have no idea what caused this as I don’t believe any weather rolled through the area while we were gone.  I’m so thankful we were not home as this could have been a horrible situation with kids in the yard.

I’m happy we have a short week this week.  We’re still getting into the school groove.