friday frenzy: a giveaway, good fun, great food, and a rain jacket

Happy Friday, Lovelies! I feel like the week has absolutely flown. I suppose that has something to do with all of the chaos that I've managed to pack into just a few days this week. And now, I'd like to tell you all about it...

{ONE}
On Monday, I shared our weekend fun - Little L finally got his first pair of shoes, the husband and I actually sat down and watched a movie without children, and I launched my very first giveaway on the blog! Please, please check it out and enter to win an amazing planner from EYCStudio.

{TWO}
I spent my first night away from Little L. Actually, it was two nights. My group at work had a retreat in the Covington/Cincinnati area Monday thru Wednesday. Fortunately, we were able to mix in a little fun and a whole lot of food with our work. 

Our first evening in town we visited the Newport Aquarium and dined at Mitchell's Fish Market. The Newport Aquarium is by far the best aquarium that I have ever been to. I did manage to snap a few pictures of the things I found the most interesting.

Tiger Shark

This shark gives me the heebie-jeebies - look at those teeth!

Big-Tooth River Stingray

I thought the stingray was absolutely beautiful. I have never seen one like it before.
 

Matamata

I seriously love the name of this little guy's species - Matamata. Such a catchy word. And he's the coolest looking turtle I have ever seen!
 

Upside-Down Jellyfish

I absolutely despise jellyfish, but couldn't resist being drawn to these guys. They are so pretty...

 
And, I guess I'm only half a tail when it comes to comparing myself to Mighty Mike!
 
For the entire trip, I completely ignored Weight Watcher's and splurged unashamedly. At Mitchell's Fish Market, I feasted on crab cakes, shrimp, and salmon.

 
{THREE}
 
On the second day, we squeezed in a little time to be daring and went zip lining at the Creation Museum. As we climbed the first tower of stairs to get started, my heart seriously dropped into my stomach. I was definitely going through with it, but I was super nervous. After the first zip, the nerves were completely gone and replaced with nothing but fun! Check it out, I'm a natural, don't you think?

By the way, do you see the building in relation to how high we were?
 

 
We ended the day consuming some of the most amazing food. We crossed the river into Cincy and ate at the Morelein Lager House. My steak was perfect and the S'mores dessert was incredible.

 
Can I just say how smitten I am with this little corner of the world? I am already planning a trip with the family. Little J would have so much fun at the Aquarium and the Creation Museum. Plus, we can grab a Reds game, tons of good food, etc. 

{FOUR}

We celebrated our 8th Anniversary this week. Eight years of being married to my best friend. I am truly the most blessed girl in the world. For fun, we watched our wedding video for the very first time. Little J watched with us and loved it so much that he even asked to watch it again. I flipped through some pictures from the wedding and remembered just how much I loved my dress and my amazing hair. Everything about that day was perfect. Ignore the blotches on the black and white photo - sadly, it aged.

  
{FIVE}
 
Did you happen to notice the jacket I was wearing in the zip line pictures? Since it was raining that day and I had no real desire to become soaking wet, I picked it up at Dick's Sporting Goods beforehand. I have gotten so many compliments on this rain jacket. I love the bright color for Fall, and it's perfect for the weather we're having right now - steady rain but not yet cold, just cool.

That about sums it up for me. Information overload, I know. So, I'll kindly remind you to enter the giveaway before the end of the day on October 4th and visit Jill at EYCStudio. 

Have amazing weekends!

I'm linking up with April|Five on Friday, Erika|Friday Favorites, and Amy|Oh Hey Friday.

~Trista~

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