Weekend in Hattiesburg

This past weekend, Caleb, Henry, and I went to Hattiesburg, MS to visit our friends Shelley and Lamar. Shelley and I go wayyyy back, and I could devote an entire blog series to our friendship; she has been my very best friend since we were 10, and we have so many years of laughs and memories and crazy adventures together that I could never name them all. Lamar was a friend of ours from high school, so we've known him a long time too. They got married in 2012, 2 weeks before Caleb and I did. They have an almost 4 year old little girl (Florence Anne), and a 9 week old baby boy (Wells). Needless to say, we had a BLAST spending the weekend together! It was a much needed time of catching up, laughing, talking until midnight, and marveling at the wonder of our lives now. Shelley and I both said that we can't believe we're old enough to be married and have kids, and that this whole weekend felt like when we were little and used to play house. Our only complaint was that our husband's wouldn't sleep together so that we could share a bed and relive old slumber parties. 😜

Shelley and Lamar moved to Hattiesburg right after getting married 5 years ago, and I have wanted to go visit them ever since, but just have never made the time. After she had Wells in August, I knew I wanted to go see them, and Caleb and I decided to make a little trip out of it. We got there Thursday afternoon and left Sunday morning. Shelley had told me about an art studio called Bristles that was offering a Thursday night class called "Pin Pals" where you choose a craft you want to make in advance (from a list of like 20!), and when you show up, they have all of the supplies already waiting on you. OMG! It was the most fun thing ever! Shelley, her friend Mary, and I went together. It lasted about 2 hours and we had so much fun!

My project. 😊

Friday morning, Lamar and Caleb went and got Shipley's Donuts, which were delicious! I'm pretty sure we ate our weight in donuts over the course of the weekend. After getting ready, we headed to the Hattiesburg Zoo, and although it was small, it was really nice! Caleb and I were both impressed and said we wished we had something like that in Huntsville. There weren't tons of exotic animals, but they had enough to keep us interested, plus the zoo itself was really nice with lots of activities for kids. I wish Henry had been older and could have done more. That just means we'll be back! 😊 

Henry had fallen asleep in the car, and we laid him in the stroller hoping he'd go back to sleep. This is what he did instead. 😂

There was a really neat ropes course that Florence Anne was doing, and I did some panning for gems.

I love this picture. 😂

There was a little train that went around the zoo. Henry loves riding on anything where he doesn't have to sit in a carseat. 😊

The whole gang! 

After the zoo we got some lunch at Cane's Chicken. Shelley and Lamar said it was delicious fried chicken that we had to try, and they were right! Oh my goodness, I could go for some Cane's right now! Little do Shelley and Lamar know that next time we go to Hattiesburg, it will be to eat Cane's, not to see them. 😜 We went back to their house and put the kids down for naps and just enjoyed each other's company. That night, Lamar built a fire outside and we roasted hot dogs and made s'mores. It was such a great night!

On Saturday morning, we took things a little slower and sat around visiting until almost noon. We decided to go to an estate sale in a nearby neighborhood, so we got everyone ready and went. We didn't find a ton, but I did get several cross stitch books for 50 cents each (I'm an old lady, remember??), as well as an old food processor. I've been wanting one, but haven't wanted to spend the money. Well I found this bad boy for $18! I've tried it out and it works perfectly! I love a good bargain. 😊

We were planning to go out to lunch, but it was so late that I knew we needed to get Henry down for his nap. We had big plans for that night, and I didn't want a cranky baby to ruin them. Shelley and Lamar picked up Mercury Pizza (again, delicious!) and we ate back at their house. We enjoyed some quiet time while the kids napped. We ended up having to wake them up to make an appointment time that we had at Bristles to paint some pottery.

My sleepy angel 😇

Basically Bristles is the coolest place ever, especially if you're a crafty gal like me! They have tons of pieces of unfinished, blank pottery, and you select your piece and customize it however you want. We did several Christmas gifts and something for us. I'll show pictures once we get them back! Henry was surprisingly good; I didn't know what to expect after my Father's Day craft for Caleb went awry, but he was also a lot younger then. And we were working with professionals here. 😉

I'm so sad because Wells was wearing this same outfit and we never got pictures of the boys together! We kept meaning to, but it never happened. Oh well, sometimes that's how it goes with kids! 

After Bristles we went to an international food festival that Shelley and Lamar's church was hosting. You know me, the picky eater, didn't eat anything other than American food, but Caleb got to eat a variety which made him happy! We headed back to the house before Shelley and Lamar so that we could get Henry down for bed at his normal time. He was off his normal schedule all weekend, but he handled it like a trooper! He was a little whinier than normal, but he was mostly his sweet self. 😊

We spent our last night staying up way too late because we didn't want to stop talking. Lamar and Caleb went to bed and Shelley and I just sat there like old times. We literally never run our of things to say, and I know we can spend hours on end talking to each other (because we've done it many, many times!). We got up the next morning and had cinnamon rolls and packed our bags, while Shelley and Lamar got ready for church. We hit the road around 10:00, and didn't get poor Henry out of the car until we got home at 3:30. 🙈😂 We fed him lunch in the car and he slept and played the rest of the time. 

Eating puffs and playing the guitar 😊

I should mention my proudest accomplishment of the weekend; convincing Shelley to start a blog! Go visit her here. Her blog, Cuddles and Crayons, is adorable, and she's going to post lots of good stuff!

We had the best time in Hattiesburg and we can't wait to go back soon! Thank you, Shelley and Lamar, for having us! 😘