Thank You for a Big Weekend

First an apology--sorry I've been a slacker about blogging lately.  Brandon got on my case.  I told him I was having trouble thinking of something to write about.  He informed me that most people just look at the blog for pictures of Carson, so that's not really an excuse.  But it's all I got.

Second, a year ago on Easter weekend, Brandon and I told our families we were expecting a baby.  I have lots more to say about that, the passage of time, and how unbelievable it all is, but I'd like this post to be a manageable length.  So I'll wait.

Now, the post.

Brandon and I sort of goofed up and "double-booked" ourselves for Easter weekend.  A few months ago, Brandon's family began planning a long weekend at a cabin in Blue Ridge, Georgia, which would include his family from Mississippi, South Carolina, and Georgia.  Not realizing it was Easter weekend, we committed to the get-away, since it was one of the only weekends that worked for everyone involved.  The original plan was to stay through Monday.  In the meantime, we began planning for the 5th year in my family's tradition of alternating hosting the Easter festivities with my brother Toby and his family.  It's our year.  Or it was supposed to be.  Eventually, we realized the two events we were looking forward to actually coincided and overlapped. 

Oops.

So our first thank you goes to our families for being so understanding, accomodating, and generally great about the mix-up.  We cut the weekend at the cabin a day short, and my parents agreed to have Easter at their house, so it all worked out, to say the least. 


Thank you also to Uncle Jon (seen here holding Carson's hand) who watched our dogs all weekend, making the cabin trip possible.

Thank you to Brandon's mom (a.k.a. Gram), who planned and organized the weekend at the cabin. It was gorgeous, relaxing, and fun.  We know how much work went into making it happen, and we all have some priceless memories because of it.

Thank you to all of Brandon's family for making the trip to Georgia--we had so much fun hanging out with everyone! 

Thank you to all the bears in the woods for leaving us alone on our hike.  I was pretty sure we were going to get eaten.

 

Thank you to Chad and Courtney for putting together a super-fun Easter spread and spoiling Carson rotten.

Thank you to my parents for having the crew at their house for Easter--I think my head would have exploded if I had attempted to get ready for both Carson's first overnight trip AND having everyone at our house.  And nobody likes a blown-up head.  Here are Grandma and Grandpa holding a tired Carson.

Thank you to Carson for being such an angel all weekend.  Her first vacation was a true success.  She stayed in a good mood, let everybody hold her, and had at least as much fun as we did.  She has pretty much done nothing but sleep since we got back.

It's weird--I feel like I know her better after the weekend.  I mean, I spend a lot of time with her, and it is strange to think I didn't already know everything there is to know.  But seeing her interact with so many new people and explore an unfamiliar environment for a few days somehow taught me more about who she is.  And I am even more in love with her now than when we left.
 

And finally, thank you to Uncle Toby

for showing me how to insert a photo slide show into the blog so I could share the rest of the pictures from the weekend.