"We're camping"

(2010)

The 3rd annual Long Family Vacation was a succuess! We got to Manhattan Saturday and talked and hung out with my dad, his girlfriend Kelly, my brother Tony, his girlfriend Heather, Amber, and Aiden before we had to meet with the cake lady. After meeting and trying some cake, we officially decided to use Creative Cakes and Cookies. I had never tried fondant but I knew I wanted it as our frosting because it's smooth and pretty. It has a chewy taste but luckily she said she puts buttercream frosting underneath it so you taste it as well. Saturday afternoon Amber, Aiden and myself went to a graduation party and then ran some errands. Poor Aiden was a trooper all day but then his fever came back so they headed home early.

Sunday, Derek and I went to a church we thought we might use for our ceremony (First Presbyterian). It is a beautiful church from the outside but it's pretty small inside so I don't think we are going to use it. We are still on the hunt for a church! After church, we changed and headed out to Milford. It was cloudy that morning but it cleared off and was perfect weather. Amy, Josh, and the kids got there and we headed straight to the beach! Since Aiden still had a fever, Amber decided to let him nap before heading to Milford. When they arrived, they met us down at the beach. That night we grilled out, had a couple drinks, and us adults just chatted by the fire after the kids had went to bed. Monday we fished, hung out at the beach, and layed on a big blanket in the shade, ate smores, and just relaxed! Tuesday was cloudy so we left earlier then we had planned. Overall, it was a very relaxing and fun vacation. "We're camping" was our favorite phrase. Anytime the kids would get dirty, and something gross happened to any of us, we would use camping as our excuse to just let it go! I was sad we didn't get a picture as a whole family since Amber and Aiden left early Monday since he still wasn't feeling good and all the family was always fishing or golfing during the day! Here are a couple pics...

Pax working on a sand castle (so sad I didn't get 1 single picture of Aiden)

Helping papa get the fishing poles ready

Harper taking a nap down at the beach

Relaxing under the trees

Heellloooo 4 day weekend :)

I have been waiting for this weekend for the like 5 months! We decided to stay in KC tonight and sleep in our own bed but will be heading to Manhattan in the morning. Tonight we enjoyed a beer on the deck when we got off work and then headed to Jack Stack Barbeque

I'm not a huge fan of barbeque food but Jack Stack had the most AMAZING cheesy corn. I could have ate a bowl of it like the picture above! Next time, I am just getting the corn and their fries.

Tomorrow we are heading to Manhattan. We are supposed to meet with the lady that is going to make our cake. I am going to sound like a picky eater but I'm not a huge fan of cake either! Since I don't know what I want the cake to look like yet, we are just going to try the cake and see some of the cakes she has done. From her website creativecakesandcookies.org, it looks like she is VERY good.

Sunday is when we head to Milford lake to "camp" with my dads side of the family. When I say camp, I mean brand new log cabins, AC, plasma TVs with cable...you get the picture. This will be the 3rd year we have went and we all have a blast. We go fishing, hang out at the beach, golf, we have big dinners out on the huge deck, and then we sit by the campfire and roast marshmellows and chat. It's not Mexico or anything but it's nice to get away for awhile. Pictures to come next week!

(2008)

(2009)

I caved in...

(All of our most recent pics either have one of my nephews or niece in them so this will have to do. This is my sweet nephew Aiden)

I didn't think I would do a blog until I was pregnant or had a baby because not much goes on in my life but I decided with wedding planning, summer activies, etc I would go ahead and start a blog. As most of you (who am I kidding, 2 people will probably read my blog...Amy and Amber) Derek and I will be getting married April 30, 2011 in Manhattan. I want this blog to be my way of remembering all the little things that went into planning our big day and the activities we do together. I am so excited to become husband and wife and to start a family together.

To get started, the details for the wedding are FINALLY starting to come along. At first, we were going to get married in KC but after having a hard time finding a venue and not wanting to spend a fortune on the venue itself, we decided Manhattan was looking better and better. I am from Manhattan so both sets of my grandparents still live there as well as my dad and sister Amber (until September anyway) so having it in Manhattan made sense. Plus, Manhattan is a lot closer to Dereks families then KC so that's a bonus. The only thing I was not looking forward to in Manhattan was having the reception at the same place EVERYONE has theirs (Houston Street or the Alumni center). After hearing that Colbert Hills has just opened up a Clubhouse, I knew that's where I wanted our reception. We would be one of the firsts and it is beautiful. So the reception venue is booked, DJ is booked (Complete Music), photographer is booked (Meysenburg Photography) and we are going to visit a lady that might do our cake this Saturday and also checking out a church on Sunday. 4 things down, 1 million to go...