We got to see Baby Goofy for the first time!

We also started potty training. Right in the middle of the house.

He has done really well with it! He had peeing in the potty down in about a week. Poop is a different story, but that's always been a hot mess for him.

I turned 27! I spent the day in the rain keeping score at a softball tournament benefiting an old teammate's mom. I had a lot of fun and loved every minute of it. When it was over, it was time for cake. Danny special ordered an apple cake from a lady in town and it was delicious and so rich. I couldn't even eat dinner.


On my actual birthday, Tucker and I went to Target where we had our first public pee accident. We happened to be there to pick up his reward for doing so well with potty training. We still got the toy so he didn't think he was being punished for having an accident.  Thankfully we had just arrived so I didn't have to abandon my cart. We got it cleaned up, changed clothes and went on our way. I now know that "I want to go home" really means "I need to pee right now" Tucker stayed all night at my moms and I ate my weight in (cooked) sushi for dinner.

Tucker stayed with my mom since Danny and I were leaving the next day for our adults only camping trip with my BFF and her hubby. We went to the Indiana Dunes for 3 nights. 

The first night we visited the beach and climbed up a dune and it was then I realized how out of shape I had gotten over the summer. 

The next day we took the train into Chicago. 

We walked. Visited popular landmarks.


Walked to Dylan's Candy Bar. They had champagne gummies and I could have spent a fortune in there.


We ate at Giordano's for lunch. So freaking good. We have one in Indy but it just seems to taste better when you're actually eating it in Chicago.

We walked some more.


Visited the Navy Pier.

And walked back to the train. In case you didn't catch that, we walked a lot. 10 miles to be exact. I was noticeably wore out at the end of the day!

We walked a lot less the next day and went shopping at the nearby outlet mall since it was raining and we couldn't spend the day at the beach. Danny did what any man should do while his wife is in Coach.

We had a great trip with our friends! They have a little boy who is about 18 months younger than Tucker. Hopefully we can bring the kids one day!

That was August!

We had a nice time, stayed way too late, and left without our kid who went home with Danny's sister and our nieces for the night. I'm starting to wonder if he likes us.

Now onto July.

Danny started his new job on July 3rd. That day we had a family reunion for Danny's side and Tucker had his first sleepover at our house with his cousin Libby. I took them to dinner at the Mexican restaurant.

We decided last minute to go watch fireworks in town. It was rainy so we weren't sure if we'd go or not. I took them in their pj's because I'm the best.

Side story: The 6 year old decided last minute that she had to pee. We ran to the school to go to the bathroom, Tucker decided he needed to pee on the toilet too (we hadn't started potty training at this point) which was interesting since he was wearing a diaper and in order to pee on a toilet while wearing a diaper you basically have to get naked. The floor was wet and muddy and it was just quite a show. As we walked out of the school the fireworks started. I carried BOTH kids back to the car so they could face the fireworks and actually see them, we moved our chairs to sit by my brother and got to sit for all of 5 minutes before the "grand" finale.

Danny worked overtime on the 4th. Second day on the job and was already working OT. We had a cookout at my brother's with my family and our friends before going to our traditional fireworks show.


The next weekend was the big one: the weekend I found out I was pregnant. I had a negative test on Saturday and was really bummed about it, especially since I felt like I was going to get sick at any moment. When I was still feeling nauseous the next day, I decided to pee on one more stick (I've lost count of how many sticks I've peed on in 2016!) and the faintest of lines appeared! It was so faint Danny couldn't even see it. In true Erin fashion, we found out right before we were heading to a birthday party. Life goes on!  It was darker the next day, so I felt good calling the doctor get the ball rolling. Due to my miscarriage last year, I wanted to get everything checked out ASAP. After one round of bloodwork, my OB put me on Prometrium (progesterone) and then after the second blood test she upped my dosage to 2 pills per day so I feel less crazy about calling so soon.

I almost lost my life driving home from Illinois.

I prayed to God for a good hour and a half on the drive home and am so thankful that nothing bad happened. There was a long stretch of time that I couldn't see anything other than the tail lights of the car in front of me. It was one of those storms where you're afraid to keep driving but pulling over is dangerous too. I white knuckled it all the way home. After the storm, I stopped and walked around a Target to calm down. Not kidding.

We went to a family picnic for my mom's work. There was an awesome play ground and I stuffed myself silly. Tucker was the center of attention.

We learned during fair week that Tucker kind of hates rides.

Unless he is with Daddy.

At the end of the month we went on a camping trip to Maumee Bay State Park in Ohio. We stayed for 3 nights and we had a great time!

We spent the mornings at the beach. 

We explored the area in the afternoon so a certain someone would take a nap. 

We had a great time collecting shells in the evening. *Please ignore Tucker's horrible haircut. I didn't do it and the normal girl didn't do it. It bothered me the entire time we were gone!

And we ate plenty of smores! We changed our camping neighbors life when we gave him a smore made with a Reese cup.


The was July! It was a fun one.

Here is how the conversation regarding my gift went:
Me: Do you care if I paint the living room for Mother's Day?
Danny: Do I have to help?
Me: No
Danny: Go for it baby.

It was a lot of work, but I love painting. I mean, I get paint all over trim (even with taping everything off) and all over myself.


We've also been wanting to rearrange the furniture so we did that yesterday. I am so glad we did! Since we don't have cable or satellite, we can move our TV where ever. It really transformed our living room and the entire house. 

After my painting, we packed up the camper and I took off to the grocery and Danny headed to the campground. We took off way late for Danny's liking, but its fine. Everyone survived, beer and rum were drank (Whole30 exceptions) and Tucker eventually went to sleep. Danny went to bed early because he had to teach Saturday and I figured since they were both out I may as well go to sleep too.

Saturday it was just Tucker and I. We got up and watched Mickey Mouse while we ate breakfast.

We met my mom for some shopping and lunch. I need shoes for my brother's upcoming wedding (weren't bought) and have been on the hunt for summer work shirts. Old Navy was having an awesome sale on women and kids clothes so between the sale and my rewards, I made out like a bandit: 4 shirt and 2 pairs of shorts for me and a few tank tops, 2 pairs of shorts, 2 sets of pj's and shoes for Tuck. $80! I saved $179. I love Old Navy! However, I do have to return one pair of my shorts because they are too big and Tuck's shoes because nothing was tried on since we shopped like this.


Tucker and I went back to the campground where we went to the playground 3 separate times. We were pretty far from there too. Diesel joined us for one of our trips. This big guy will be 6 on Saturday! 

Also, did you know roads need mowed too? Don't try to tell him that is not true. 

I was able to convince him to sit in our lounge chairs. It lasted for 90 seconds. Can't stop, won't stop.

I invited Danny's mom to join us for dinner for Mother's Day. It worked out because Tucker was up her butt the entire time. He was so excited to show his Mamaw his camper. Once she and Danny showed up I couldn't pour a margarita fast enough. Skinnygirl Margs went down like water. I forgot how delicious those are.

Sunday we got up and went to Bob Evan's for breakfast, with all of Noblesville, IN. Next year we'll be going to O'Charleys since they do brunch at starting at 10am and serve booze with it if you want. Why is going out to eat with small children a Mother's Day thing? I saw at least 3 moms dealing with tired hungry toddlers. I'm included in the 3.

I told some poor mom with an 8 month old that I would pay money to go back to the age her little girl was. No lie. Once we ate he was fine. Tucker is the portrait of the word "hangry" sometimes and makes no exceptions for holidays. Even though he ate yogurt and had a couple drinks of my Shakeology less than an hour before.

After breakfast, we loaded up the camper and while the boys headed home I went to the grocery store to get food for dinner and the week. Planning a whole30 meal plan on the fly like that wasn't as hard as I thought.

My mom, brother and his fiancé came over for dinner. We made lemon lime chicken (minus the skewer part), potatoes and peppers in foil, and paleo apple crisp for dessert. The chicken and apple crisp aren't whole30 approved because of the honey, but I don't feel bad. It was all healthy and all delicious. I would make the apple crisp again.

It was a long, tiring, and fun weekend.

The 2.5 hour drive took about 3 with the camper. We stayed at the Brown County State Park. From the park entrance to the campground entrance was another 3 miles. Then it was ANOTHER 2 miles to our campsite...which was about 3 site away from the very end of the road. We have a way of picking the last spot/house at the end of something. We did this on our honeymoon in Gatlinburg too. After we got set up, we headed out to dinner. One of my dad's golfing buddies owns a golf retreat in Brown County that has a golf course, condos that you can rent, banquet hall and a restaurant. We ate at the restaurant that night, The 19th Hole Sports Bar & Grille. It was pretty good!

Saturday was a fun day. It was rainy all day, but still enjoyable. After we leisurely ate breakfast, we headed into town to explore and eat lunch. First, we drove around the park and enjoyed the view from the top of the hills. We found a little lake and walked around it. In the rain and mud. It wasn't too bad though.

We ate lunch at Big Woods Pizza. Big Woods Brewery is down in Nashville, and there is a restaurant with it. The owners opened a pizza place right across the alley. It was THE BEST pizza I have ever had. We seriously considered ordering some on Sunday to take home and eat for dinner. I'm guessing it wouldn't have made it home though. We shared a Flight (I've deemed this the best way to enjoy booze while at a restaurant since it was only $7 for the 2 of us), an order of breadsticks, nachos and pizza. No wonder my pants don't fit this morning. Danny got Pulled Pork Nachos and I got the Artichoke Delight pizza. It was so good. Okay, I'll stop talking about the pizza now.

After lunch, we decided to walk some of it off and shop for a few. We got started on Tuck's birthday and Christmas shopping then headed towards my next favorite part. The winery. I love Brown County Winery wine. Love it. Whenever I hear that someone is going to Brown County, I almost immediately hand them cash to pick up a few bottles of me. By a few I mean a minimum of 4. And now this will be me for the remainder of the year... or 5 weeks since I have 5 bottles.

Next stop: Bear Wallow Distillery. We didn't know this was here until we saw the sign, which I'm glad we did because this was a fun place! They had moonshine shake ups in a variety of flavors and a few other drink specials. I enjoyed a peach shake up and Danny had an apple something. It was at this moment that I realized what I want to do when I retire, other than travel, and this is work at a winery or distillery. Preferably a winery for obvious reasons.


So a recap of Saturday: brewery, then a winery, then a distillery. My kind of Saturday!

After almost driving into the next state thanks to my navigational skills, we headed back to the camper for a fire and dinner. We had lobster ravioli (they were in the frozen section of the grocery store) over zucchini and tomatoes. Wrap it all in foil, put them on the grill for about 12 minutes and dinner is done! I've got some many good camper-camping recipes that I'll have to make a post dedicated to those.


Sunday after we woke up we headed home. We missed our babies a lot! But only one (the four legged one) missed us. We had to bribe Tucker home with bubbles. And the promise of pizza for dinner, which he had to eat in the car.


I had such a good weekend with my husband. I can't wait until we get away again next year!