Yankee Doodle Annie

Happy Wednesday, errbody! I hope this post finds you all happy and well rested after the long, holiday weekend. We returned home Monday evening from a 5-day trip to Kansas to visit family and friends -- it was a pretty perfect weekend and we couldn't have asked for better company on the 4th!

We hit the road for Brandon's mom's shortly after Brandon got off work on Wednesday evening, which made for a long trip and late night, but worth it because Jax slept most of the way (and we didn't have to worry about traveling at all on Thursday). The first two days of our vacation were spent relaxing, checking out the Miracle farm, playing Yahtzee, thrifting, shopping, and lots of eating. 

Breakfast with Nana!

I wish I would have filmed him squealing whenever he saw the kitty -- too cute!

Jackson loved checking out all of the different birds at Nana and Russell's farm! 

My little city boy enjoying the country life!

On Saturday, Mamma Nancy & Russell hosted a 4th of July BBQ, so we got to spend time with Brandon's sister and her kids, as well as Russell's family (whom we'd never met before). Jackson had a great time playing with all the big kids but wasn't sure what to think of the loud fireworks.. Since daddy was the one lighting them, Jax and I watched from inside the sun room. Shockingly, I was able to get Jax down while people were still at the house, but he woke up shortly after and wanted to play with his cousins -- it was a late night but everyone had a fun time visiting/playing. 

Good old Uncle Brandon/Daddy, filling up water balloons for the kids. 

 

Jackson wasn't cooperating for pictures..

The Sandmeier/Miracle Clan

On Sunday, we all slept in, ate delicious fried chicken, and gave Benny (our nephew) his birthday gifts before we hit the road to visit friends in Hays. It was so hard to leave everyone since we only get to see them a few times a year -- it's amazing how quickly vacations seem to fly! Jax slept the entire 2 hour trip to Hays and once we arrived, we got checked into our hotel, met friends for dinner, and then all turned in early. We. Were. Exhausted.

Photo by Jax :)

Nana and her grandsons 

Soooo happy to be out of the car! 

Dinner with girlfriends -- just what I needed! 

Monday quickly arrived and it was time to get packed up to head home.. but not before visiting both Brandon's and my old offices to say hi and grab some lunch at Al's Chickenette (which, apparently, was a great decision because Monday was National Fried Chicken Day!). After making several short stops, we were home and all relieved to FINALLY be out of the car! 

As much as I love traveling and visiting family and friends, I have to admit that it's always nice to return home to your own bed and regular routine. Jax's eye-teeth are trying to make their grand entrance, so we spent most of yesterday cuddling and working around the house.. hopefully my little guy feels better soon!!

Thanks for the memories, Kansas! Until next time.. 

Good Idea at the Time

Last Thursday was one of those days where I didn't leave the house at all and began getting major cabin fever by the end of the day.. do you ever get that way? Anyway, the guys went to get some parts to fix our computer Thursday morning but I stayed home to work.. by the end of the day I was feeling sort of down and ready to escape. That's when I came up with the best idea ever!!

A few years ago, Mamma Nancy (Brandon's mom/my awesome MIL) gifted us a small, covered fire pit for Christmas that we have never been able.. so I thought it would be fun to make s'mores, sit by the fire, and enjoy the warm summer evening. Sounds totally picturesque, right?

Please ignore our yard/patio.. they are both a work in progress (the previous owners did a real number on the lawn..)

I knew that Jax would require a lot of supervision (because toddler.. and fire), but I didn't realize I'd have to keep the lighter away from him the entire time because he wanted to copy dad and light the fire himself.. Yeesh. Anyway, he had no interest roasting marshmallows or eating delicious s'mores (he couldn't get past the lighter), so our little family adventure lasted an entire 3 minutes. Oh well.. there's always next summer! 

Cracker Jacks(on)

Yesterday, Brandon and I took Jackson to his 3rd Rockies game! 

It was a very, very hot day, so we didn't watch much of the game (we saw maybe 2 innings; the rest of the time was spent walking around in the shade), but had a great time exploring the Field, watching Jax run around, and spending time together as a family. Brandon's work actually gave us the tickets and the section we sat in was reserved for people from his company -- it was virtually empty, so we were able to take up five seats and let Jax run up and down the row without disturbing anyone. 

I used to never really like this time of year, but I gotta admit that 2015 is changing that for me. 

Have a great weekend!

A Stupendous Sandmeier Summer

Inflatable swimming pool? Check!

Daddy's Mickey Mouse sprinkler from the 80s? Check!

SPF 70 Sunscreen? Check!

Sticky Popsicle fingers? Check!

While Brandon was at work on Sunday, Jax and I enjoyed all of these things -- so I hereby declare that summer is here! I'm not going to lie; last summer was kind of a bust (we were living in our tiny 3rd floor apartment and I had to carry my 6-month-old and all of our supplies up and down the stairs multiple times a day) so I'm extra excited for this year because I have a fun toddler who LOVES to be outside AND we have a house with a yard! YAY!

I hope your summers are all off to an equally fabulous start! Here's to warm days, bonfires, and lots of seasonal fun!

3 Generations Road Trip

Happy Thursday!

Mom, Jax, and I are getting ready to head out on our first ever 3 Generations Road Trip!

Wow, this is an awful picture.. but it's the only one I have of the 3 of us. We will have to change that this weekend!

I'm so looking forward to road tripping with two of my faves to visit family in the great state of Kansas! I'll be posting a lot of pictures and updates so be sure to follow along on Twitter and Instagram (#3genroadtrip). 

Have a fabulous weekend! I have a fun post and giveaway coming up for you on Monday (you won't want to miss it).

Friday Funnies

No need to adjust your screens, folks..

..the Funnies are indeed here again!

Since I'm getting back into my blogging groove, I figured it's time to bring back the FFs.

Enjoy these summer themed Memes & eCards--I'll see you back here on Monday!

That's my kind of camping!

This is how I felt about summers in humid Kansas!

Handsome Branson

ICYMI: Here's Part 1 (The Great Tornado of 2014) and Part 2 (Les Mis(souri) and the Prettiest Wedding Ever) of our vacation.

Mom, Dad, Joey, Brandon, Jax, and I left St. Louis late Sunday morning after sleeping in, enjoying another delicious hotel breakfast, and repacking basically everything we own (see picture here). Since Turin and Peter's gorgeous wedding was only a few days before my parent's 25th wedding anniversary, we decided to caravan down to Branson to celebrate for a few days.

Bullet points and pictures commence!

Sunday

• After leaving St. Louis (and before heading to Branson), we made a stop in my Grandma Mitz's hometown of Linn, Missouri. My dad has a book about the history of Linn so we stopped at the Catholic Church (which had been torn down and rebuilt in recent years), cemetery, second cemetery (where we actually found family!), and then to Dave's Pizza & Wings for a delicious pizza lunch. 
• Back on the road for what seemed like 10 hours (having to stop numerous times for a baby makes the trip soooooo much longer). 
• Grocery stop in Springfield.
• Checked in to our gorgeous condos (my parents & brother stayed in one and we stayed in another) and rested for a few minutes. 
• Dinner at Starvin Marvin's--our favorite place in Branson!
• Back to the condos for showers and sleep. 

A tribute to the unborn (at the Catholic church in Linn)--very powerful!

My Grandma Mitz's maiden name was Lock and her mother's maiden name was Hundepohl.. soooo, we're guessing the Hundepohl grave was her (my grandma's mom) parents. **Confusing much?** We're going to do some digging to find out if we're related to these Lock's in the Linn cemetery.

Our fabulous condo! My parent's was the same, just on a different floor.

All four of my guys at Starvin Marvin's--they have the best all you can eat seafood buffet and we go there every time we're in town. Yum!

Monday

• Slept in and ate a small breakfast at our condo.
• Lunch with the family at Steak and Shake.
• Brandon, Joey, Jax, and I went to Ripley's Believe It or Not, waited in line for over 20 minutes, and then walked out when we were told the price of admission (we're very cheap).. so we went back to the condo and took naps. 
• Shopping at our favorite area, The Grand Village, and dinner at Mel's Hard Luck Cafe (where Jackson managed to have the biggest blowout EVER). 
• Long walk with my mom and Jax.
• Visiting at my parent's condo. 

(If you follow my Facebook page, you've already heard this story so bear with me) The sweet waitress at Steak and Shake brought us a few little souvenirs for Jackson, including a paper hat--I immediately put the hat on him and got out my camera to snap a picture but he wouldn't smile. I finally got him to smile, snapped the picture, and then realized that I didn't even get the freaking hat in the picture!

Christmas store!! We bought a few Sesame Street ornaments for Jax :)

Tuesday (Parent's 25th Anniversary)

• Breakfast in our room (Brandon made a beautiful breakfast for the whole family, complete with yummy Mimosas!). 
• More shopping for the girls & Jax; movie for the guys. 
• Dinner, show, & cruise on the Branson Belle--the "kids" anniversary gift to mom and dad!
• Shopping and ice cream at the Branson Landing. 
• More visiting at my parent's condo. 

Mmm breakfast foods..

Dinner on the Belle.

My beautiful family!

Jackson began fussing during the show so I took him to the (dark) back of the boat to nurse him--I could still see the show just fine and Jax fell asleep!

He laughed and smiled the whole time we walked the Landing--gosh I love this boy!!

My "little" brother, Joey.

The man on the right has the most honest face I have ever seen..

We had such a fun time in Branson and I think my parent's really enjoyed their anniversary--I'm so excited for our next big family vacation (wherever/whenever that may be)! 

Have you ever been to Branson? What are your favorite things to do there?

**Come back on Friday for Part 4 (Jackson's 1st Haircut) of this epic vacation saga**