Now that Christmas is Over...Weekends Are...

Now that the Holidays are over we are getting back to normal life and as much as I love the celebratory parts of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's, I'm glad it's over.

I'm ready to get back to a routine and bring some structure back into our household.

So, this past weekend we got started on that.

We got all the Christmas decor packed away and kicked off 2015 with a Carolina win in the NFL Playoffs!!

It's pretty exciting around these parts as the Panthers haven't made it this far in a LONG time!

Last year we made it to the playoffs but lost the first game.

Our neighbors  Bryan and Shannan were gracious enough to host us for a watching party.

So, we got dressed in our blue and black and headed a few doors down.

For the first time I made bacon and brown sugar cracker bites.

I used different crackers than most people but they were delish even if it did stink up our house!

Shelby really liked them!

Lu and Keith joined in on the fun too.

Bryan made sausage joes and homemade fried pickles.

DELISH!!

Perfect tailgate food.

The Panthers won and we will take on the Seattle Seahawks this Saturday!

Sunday rolled around and it was another dark, dreary, rainy day.

We knew we had to get out of the house to do 'something', so I looked at the site, Charlotte on the Cheap, and discovered all the free stuff for kids to do in town.

Charlotte has an amazing children's library that also has a children's theater and so many interactive things for kids inside.

I've been there for work and we took our nephew there once, but this was Shelby's first visit.

She loved it!

After the library we ate lunch Uptown and discovered that the Levine Museum of the South was free that day.

None of us had ever been through it, and we happened to be eating next door, so that was our next stop.

I wasn't sure what to expect but we all really enjoyed it!

A lot of Charlotte history!!

Starting with the cotton and textile mills.

 I'm telling you, very interesting.

 Then you walk through old school main street Charlotte and visit shops, old barber shops and more.

 Ending with the banks and an actual replica of the building that Brad works in.

Shelby thought that was pretty cool!

Overall, something fun and cultural to do with the family.

Do I wish we would have had more time to read everything?

Yes, but not with a 2-year old!

HAA!!

Hope your 2015 is off to a great start! I'm looking forward to many more fun family filled weekends ahead!