Believe it or not, this glorious three day weekend was not due to National BBQ Day or National Mattress Sale Day. I have to admit, had I not been reminded by other people's much wittier words, I may have coasted through this weekend without even thinking about why we didn't go to work on Monday. I've seen a lot of photos, stories, etc. summing up this weekend, but this one is my favorite. So rather than speak uneloquently about Memorial Day, I'll let you read this.

I kicked off Memorial Day weekend a little early with Girls Night at Marietta Wine Market on Wednesday.  My mom and I stumbled on the shop a couple weeks back and I noticed they had wine tastings on Wednesday evenings and Saturday afternoons. Dominica and I went two weeks ago, and now we're hooked. Of course, on our first visit we became best friends with the owners - so now we're on a first name basis and feel super cool. Now that I've been 3+ times in two weeks, I do not feel super cool - I feel like a super creeper. Anyway, Dominica and I decided the next girls night had to be at the Wine Market, so off we went!

On Friday, our office closed at 1pm and since Adam's last day of school was Thursday, we decided to spend the afternoon at the pool.

I found these bad boys in Food Network Magazine this month and decided to make them to mix with my Vodka Sprite at the pool. They took me all of 15 seconds to make, but I felt so crafty and original! (And they happened to be super refreshing and delicious.)

Typical, I covered myself in sunscreen but still got burnt in the most random places. AWESOME. We headed back to the house and got spruced up to head to a few graduation parties. (Let's remember, Adam's a high school softball and baseball coach, so he had a few invites. We don't hang out with high schoolers on the reg.) They actually ended up being pretty fun. The other coaches are always a good time, and who doesn't love drinking some wine poolside on a cool summer evening?

Saturday we were up bright and early to walk up to the Farmers Market. I told Adam I wanted two things: fresh squeezed lemonade and a puppy. (They never sell lemonade or puppies.) Lo and behold, they had the cutest little lemonade stand this week and for $1.50 my thirst was totally satisfied. And then (OF COURSE), some lady was walking around holding this puppy that looked just like Ruthie. After a few pets, the woman said "Do you want her? She's free to a good home!" (Are you kidding me, lady!? Get me away from that thing!) After politely declining - and then being told by a couple randos that there was some lady giving away a dog that looked just like ours - we ran into her again. I am so proud of myself. Adam was over there saying "It's fate! You wanted lemonade and a puppy!" and I stood my ground. (But let's be real, if we had run into her again I would have bought into the whole fate thing and we would have a puppy destroying our house right now.)

Moving on - Saturday was my dad's 54th birthday, so we met up with my parents at (you guessed it!) the Wine Market for the wine tasting. (Seriously? They have to be so sick of me by now.) After wine, it was grilling time at my parents'. Check out these bad boys!

Happy birthday, daddy!

The boys got up early Sunday to go golfing, and my mom and I spent the morning checking out different antique malls. We always end up trying on obnoxious hats and just about peeing ourselves from laughing so hard. Real mature.

Adam and I have been lucky enough to receive a good amount of gift cards for restaurants, and we finally decided to redeem one of them on Sunday night and have ourselves a date night. We chose Salt Factory Pub in Roswell, and I was super impressed. Highly recommend the Calamari and Thai Beef Lettuce Wraps. The best part (other than the company, of course) was that we scored outdoor seating! They only have 4 little tables outside, and the stars aligned for us to get one.

On Monday, I felt like we had to do something patriotic so we decided to hike up Kennesaw Mountain. Turns out we weren't the only ones with that idea. We pulled up to lots of cars and people watching a reenactment. (At that point I spazzed out and fumbled to turn off the radio blaring music that I'm sure wasn't supposed to be part of the act.) We kept driving and scored a parking spot at another hiking trail, so that sufficed. Well, if you asked Ruthie I bet she loved this walk even more because it included a trip to a creek - which she immediately decided was her new home.

We ended the day with some pool time (guess what? I got awkwardly burnt again, even covered in SPF30...again.) and an early night. I was in bed by 9PM - keeping it real crazy over here, y'all!

I thought I'd be ending this post saying it was a pretty low-key Memorial Day Weekend, but after recapping all of that - it ended up being pretty eventful! Thank you to all of those who have and do serve to ensure our freedom. We are forever grateful for your sacrifices.

...and the weekend continued!

As overwhelming as my little brother's graduation post was, I thought I'd split the weekend into two posts.

Jefe and Katie headed back to Texas on Sunday afternoon and we headed straight to Kelly and Jason's pool to celebrate Jason's birthday! Kelly makes the most delish cakes, and this one was not an exception. Nom, nom nom!

Monday was Memorial Day and I was so happy to be able to spend the day with my handsome hubs! It's easy to forget how insanely lucky we all are that countless men and women have given their lives to ensure we get to spend lazy days at the pool. I am eternally grateful for their ultimate sacrifice.

Monday was super special for another reason.... the Meldrums came in town! Adam's mom, Debbie, fell in love with Annie Bananie when she was just a baby in church nursery. One thing led to another and the Bakers ended up watching all of the Meldrum kids and it was the highlight of Debbie's life! She will never always admit that she loves those kids more than her future grandchildren.

Three years ago, the Meldrums moved to Iraq to spread the Word after being called by God. They have done incredible things over there and you can keep up with them on Kristi's amazing blog (that should be turned into a book!). Anyway, they're back from Iraq for the summer and it was our first time seeing the kids since they left! It's unreal how grown up they are, but at least Annie still remembers us.

After dinner, we all went down to the tennis courts so Adam could throw around the baseball with them. Pretty impressive for a family without a baseball bat at home!

Toby got multiple hits!

Adam and his shortstop.

Jesse hit a homerun! (Actually, the ball hadn't event gotten to him, but we'll give it to him anyway.)

Go Annie!

And to top it all off - there was a double rainbow! Um, hello perfect day.

The Meldrums will be in town for a while, so we'll be able to see them at least once more. Woo hoo!

Also, last night was the Lassiter Baseball Banquet - the season is officially over. How handsome are the coaches? Best team, ever.

In case no one noticed - I actually just posted a blog on a weekday! About two weekday events! (Ok - so maybe Memorial Day doesn't count, but still).

Happy Graduation to Mitchy!

My parents are officially (almost) empty nesters! My little brother, Mitch, graduated from Lassiter High School on Friday - woop, woop! Seeing as he's the favorite child in the Reaves family (whatever...), the entire Reaves  clan came into town. Yep. All of them.

Before the chaos (aka family) arrived, we were able to attend a couple of Mitchell's graduation events.

Senior Night on the Green

Adam and I also attended Lassiter's Senior Night on the Green... in 2006. We decided to recreate the moment - ha!

How handsome did Mitchell look at his Baccalaureate? Such a stud.

On Thursday, the whole famdamily arrived! My dad wanted to get a big family picture taken for his birthday, so after a cocktail or 5 we all headed down to the neighborhood lake and put on our best smiles. I think they are going to turn out fabulous and will be sure to post them on the blog when they're ready! Here's a few I took on my camera...

The original Reaves siblings: Frances, Dad and Nancy

Mitch, Me and Jeff

After pictures, we headed back to my 'rents house and surprised them with a mini anniversary party. They celebrated their 25th in April, and we decided to do a little somethin' somethin' for them while everyone was in town. We ordered them a cute cake and Jeff made them an adorable slide show of pictures of them through the years. 

I made them this little gem that I found on Pinterest. The three maps show where they had their first date, where they got engaged and where they got married. It took a lot longer than a thought, but it wouldn't have even been possible if I didn't have a handy man like Adam around. He had to custom build the frame.

Cheers to 25 more!

And now, a photo dump of Mitchell's graduation and graduation party...

Adam made him this pretttty awesome beer pong table for graduation, and of course the entire family had to play. (It was also my dad's birthday on Friday. Talk about a weekend of celebrations!)

For his graduation party, Jeff, Katie, Adam and I created Mitchapalooza shirts. And then we took over the photo booth, of course!

HAPPY GRADUATION, MITCHELL! We're all so proud of you!