Chocolate Festival

We headed to Topeka for the Annual Chocolate Festival. We almost didn't get to do the inside portion of chocolate tasting but we came back later and was able to get in. We came home with some delicious chocolates and even some popcorn from a local popcorn store.

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookie

I made Oreo stuffed chocolate chip cookies and this guys got to have an Oreo covered in raw cookie dough. He was in heaven!

Orange Beach, Alabama

We took a dolphin cruise one afternoon. We saw some dolphins but they didn't come far out of the water. Apparently they were being shy this day because normally they are seen a lot. It wasn't a total disappointment since we got a couple of hours out on a boat.

We headed to the beach after a long, cold, dreary winter. In hindsight, we shouldn't have gone to the beach at the beginning of summer. We ended up pretty burnt except for little brown bear Maddox. But it was still time well spent! The waves were crashing and it was music to our ears. The boys enjoy the rafts but they seriously spend hours and hours and hours throwing their bodies into the waves, burying themselves in the sand and using their hands to dig and build in the sand.

Blue Angels Practice

We were pretty close to Florida so we made a quick run over to Pensacola to watch the Blue Angels practice. We went through the museum first and the boys got to climb into several inoperable planes, jets, etc.

Mississippi

The next day we traveled from the very top of Mississippi all the way to the very bottom of the state. We stopped in Jackson for lunch at Pig & Pint for more bbq and the boys got to play some Jenga. Biloxi, MS has a Hard Rock that James and I had not been to so James got a pint glass and the boys picked out some more pins.

Memphis, TN

Our first stop on vacation was Memphis, TN. We went to the Bass Pro shaped in pyramid. There is an elevator in the center that takes you to the top where you step out and look over the city. Maddox was actually nervous and stayed near the doors. He didn't want to step out on the platform and look over the railing.

Our next stop was downtown Memphis. We got some bbq at Central BBQ and then headed to Beale St. The boys picked out pins at Hard Rock. Hard to believe it has been almost 18 years since James and I were at this Hard Rock. It was Memorial Day, a Monday, so Beale St was pretty quiet. We had plenty of photo ops with guitars and wall murals though.