Sunday, May 17, 2015

dixie

Do a lot of people enjoy breakfast food as much as we do? It's funny because we're not really breakfast people during the week, but when Saturday rolls around we break out pancakes, bacon, eggs and hash browns. 
When we first moved away from Omaha to Rockville, MD we made it a point to venture out and find local restaurants to love. I've mentioned before we love Beef n' Buns in Frederick, Maryland, but we also found Faidleys in the Lexington Market in Balitmore who has hands down THE BEST crab cakes. ever. Finding little local gems is one of our favorite things to do in any new city we're visiting or living in. When we first came out to Coastal NC we asked our realtor what local joints he recommended. This is how we found Britt's Donuts, The Provision Company, P.T's Grill and Pizzettas. A year ago we wanted to find a really good diner and stumbled upon The Dixie Grill. This has quickly turned into our favorite breakfast restaurant. I don't know if it's the quirky artwork of an egg and bacon trying to run off the plate and the egg failing by getting stabbed by a fork and its yolk running out or maybe the line stretching out the door, the bright colored walls or the food. But I do know, whenever the word 'breakfast' comes up in conversation, 'Dixie Grill' follows close behind. 
Wilmington Magazine: http://wilmingtonncmagazine.com/a-step-back-in-time



There's usually two kinds of restaurants....1) you go only for one thing or 2) it doesn't matter what you order, everything is amazing. Dixie Grill is definitely the latter. Kensi will not stray from her short stack, but her fork always finds its way to my plate for eggs, gravy, grits, jellied toast, or fresh fruit. Mike has gotten to the point where he orders Alma's biscuits and gravy just for the table, to snack on between bites of their individual meal. I'm not kidding, it's that good. And although I've never had anything I didn't love, I always battle it out with myself to try something new or go with the Dixie Egg Benedict that has fried green tomatoes and covered in a vidalia onion gravy. It's ridiculous. So ridiculous that every. single. time we have someone visiting, we go to Dixie Grill.  
I'm already dreaming of the next time we go....omelettes, and pancakes and biscuits, oh my! 

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

5 months + highchairs

Oh dear goodness, I can't believe this little nugget is 5 months! 1-2-3-4-5! Why does it have to happen so quickly??? I do adore all his spunky personality that comes out more and more with each passing week. Finnley is wanting to be on the move so much he's fanangling his little body every which way whenever he can. He is turning into quite the little Houdini; constantly flipping and rolling his body out of the Boppy pillows and trying to turn over his bouncer and swing. He's a crazy little man! 

5 MONTHS
Mohawk 
Trip to Maryland
Baby food 
Laughs hysterically 
Easter 
Talks in his sleep 
Mamas boy 

Last month I mentioned he loves Taylor Swift....let’s be honest about this, his love for Tay-Tay is beyond words. It’s hilarious. He will be fussing and as soon as you ask him if he would like some Tay-Tay he starts cooing like ‘DUH MOM! Put it on already!’ And I kid you not, as soon as Shake It Off begins, this kid is chill as a cucumber. He talks and giggles during the song and we like to think he’s trying to sing along. Taylor also helps put him to sleep. I know we listened to Taylor quite a bit while I was preggers with Finn, but could this really be a connection to why he loves her so much? Maybe, maybe not, but as far as I’m concerned, she’s my miracle helper. 

All last week he hated being down and only wanted to be held. We could tell he was clearly ready to be sitting up and wanted to be part of all the action. We finally bought his countertop high chair and the second we put him in he was grinning from ear to ear! He is so excited to be part of the conversation. We also started baby food. He's been reaching for stuff for awhile, but you know how babies are...everything goes straight to their mouth. But he is a big boy so we started with a little cereal and he wasn't too much of a fan, but when we gave him some sweet potatoes....the kid chowed down! 
Those big eyes get me every time. 

Speaking of his high chair, we bought the Inglesina Fast Table Chair. Before we had the Chicco 360 and we thought we really liked that one, but the Inglesina is a dream. Not only is it easy to clean, but it can easily be moved and taken with us when we go out, and let's not forget the array of fun colors they offer. We went with orange for a burst of color in our color neutral home and we are loving every stitch of it. 

Thursday, May 7, 2015

day trips

One of the many things we love to do is travel and explore new places. When we lived in Maryland we loved how close everything was and we were often able to visit a new place in a day. We started calling these our day trips. We went to DC, Delaware, Annapolis, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Virginia; and all for different reasons. Some were to see historical sites, some were for fun and sun, others for markets and ghost tours. People thought we were crazy for going to some of these places just for a day and sure some of them were about three hours away, but we loved it and always managed. 
Now that we’re in North Carolina we had to find new places for our day trips. We often go to Raleigh/Durham and Charlotte. We still have yet to visit Myrtle beach, but trust me it won’t be long.
We were in need of a few items from IKEA so we knew we would be making a trip to Charlotte about 3.5 hours away. Yes, people think we’re crazy and that’s okay. We planned our day to start early and jam in as much as we possibly could. This trip we made it a point to visit the Discover Museum in Uptown Charlotte. Kensi and I went last August while Mike had a conference and we knew this museum would totally be up Mike’s alley so we had to go again. I really don’t know who had more fun, Mike or Kensington. 

We love this museum for several reasons, but mostly because it’s so family oriented. There is something for everyone. Inside there’s an IMAX, mini aquarium, rain forest, animal exhibit (frogs), building tables, mechanics of how things work, baby and toddler room, water table, science lab and Kensi favorite: water lab. The last time we were here she was able to pet a sea cucumber and star fish.
The main floor is filled with all sorts of exhibits of how things work with blocks, building shelters, sling shots, levees and pulleys and so much more. This main area is by far the busiest and always the most crowded especially when you run into spring break or a dozen different schools spending the day there for their field trip. We’ve run into both :) 
This last trip was the first time we were able to experience the baby and toddler room with the water table. I loved this part because the water table had two baby seats for the littles to sit and play int he water. Finnley wasn’t able to sit up by himself, but with a little help from me he was able to splash around in the water. He really enjoyed being able to experience it and it was so fun to watch both of the kids have fun together.  Kensi talks about this museum a lot and keeps asking when can we go back. 

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

HAPPY CINCO!



Wishing all our readers a Happy Cinco de Mayo! We hope you celebrate the fun with lots of salsa and dancing {salsa dancing emoji here} and mustaches, lots of mustaches!
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