So much to share; so little time

I am failing woefully at posting consistently...hence the title.

Last weekend we took the kids (Man-Child and Bonus-Girl {The Husband's daughter}) to Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia for their birthdays.  At this point, it is just easier to give memories rather than actual "gifts."

Originally, this was The Husband's trip but, at that last minute, I decided to join them.  I had a doctor's appointment early that Friday morning - knowing this, I now know I should have packed the night before....

In my defense, we couldn't get into the VRBO until 2:00 pm, so I figured I'd have plenty of time after the appointment.  And I *did* have enough time, but I also neglected to make a list and to take the weather forecast seriously.

Usually, I pack according to a list so nothing gets forgotten.

Turns out, I forgot my pajamas, robe and slippers.  Fortunately, I remembered that BEFORE we actually got to the house.  If you know anything about Smith Mountain Lake it is in the middle of nowhere.  We ended up stopping at the only option in town - the Dollar General - to cobble together some pajamas and socks.  It was reminiscent of the last time we visited my mother-in-law - same scenario, middle of nowhere PA - and The Husband had forgotten to pack HIS pajamas - Dollar General to the rescue.  

Also before making it to the house we stopped at Food Lion and picked up a few supplies to get us through the weekend, including some baking supplies as I planned on making Man-Child's and Bonus-Girl's favorites - Praline Cake and Key Lime Pie.

I did have the presence of mind while packing to include ingredients I had on hand, so that meant I only had to buy a handful of ingredients when we got there.

As usual, I snagged VERY few pictures of the house or the people *sigh*.  But I fell in love with kitchen island - which isn't "staged" you'll notice - as all of our stuff is all over it.

The owners have renovated extensively, and are apparently still "in progress" with the kitchen as they haven't changed the white cabinets yet.  And yes, that island is as long and wide as it appears; I absolutely adore everything about it.

I was apprehensive about baking in someone else's kitchen with their equipment which didn't include a stand mixer...and I will admit, it was a little stressful, but I pulled it off somehow.  And the kids were both very happy with the results.

The Husband was happy as he was able to do lots of fishing on the dock in the back of the house.  This house overlooks the lake - kind of - there were a LOT of trees between the house and the lake.

I was happy to spend a lot of time out on the back/side porch all weekend.  But remember how I mentioned that I neglected to take the forecast seriously?  When we arrived Friday afternoon, the temperature was hovering in the 90's and was super humid.  But when Saturday dawned, the temperatures had plunged dramatically.

And guess what else I forgot to pack?  If you guessed a jacket or, at the very least, a shirt with long sleeves, you get a gold star.  Luckily, the Boy Scout The Husband had packed a couple of jackets, so I confiscated one and looked like a poor, little urchin for the remainder of the trip.

There was one hiccup to the trip, on Saturday afternoon we stopped at this boutique that was holding some kind of - I don't even know what to call it - there were other vendors set up outside, there was a band (that left before we got there), a catering truck, etc. in this giant field in front of the store.  After Bonus-Girl and I crawled all over the store we met up with the guys who had wandered outside while we shopped.  We decided it was time to head back to the house and as we were walking back to the car, Bonus-Girl tripped over a half of a cinder block that was randomly sitting at the edge of the field and went down HARD onto the gravel drive.  Needless to say, we had to pick gravel out of her palms and her legs will be host to some pretty large and colorful bruises for a while.  Turns out, that lone piece of cinder block had been placed there by the band to hold down their extension cords - and they neglected to remove it.

But, for the most part, the birthday trip was a big success.

Oh, and about that door that I was so hopeful about?  We are back to square one.  I nearly had a seizure when I saw the estimate.  I had one number in my head that I think is a very reasonable number.  The number the company had in their head - that I think is COMPLETELY unreasonable - which was easily triple (or more) of the number in my head.  

Yes, I was disappointed.  But I will forge on.  Eventually, I'll get that darn door...hopefully before I die.