Girls Weekend 2017

My most favorite weekend of the year!!!! A weekend spent soaking up my family, laughing, and eating way too much!
The first annual Johnson Girls Weekend in Shreveport...

The second annual Girls Weekend at Mimi's house....

Last year Kellye and Aunt Bonnie joined our original little group at Mimi's house, and this year we added Kathy, Alisa, Traci, and Teresa! So I guess it has become more of a Johnson, Finn, Bullock weekend. No matter what you call it- it's a weekend full of fun and memories made.
This year we chose Grapevine as our destination and Taron took the lead on renting us a house. She did a fantastic job!!
On Wednesday night Taron drove to my house so that we could get an early start on Thursday to enjoy the whole day!
We got up early the next morning and started packing the car. That is when I realized that the Oklahoma crew had loaded Taron's car FULL of their stuff so that they could all fit in one car to come down to Texas. That was all fine and dandy....except that we had to put their stuff, Taron's stuff, AND Kathy's stuff all in my car to get to Grapevine!!! And---if you know Taron and I well, then you know that we don't travel light. Ever. For any reason. So- we put our brains, college educations, and unbelievable packing skills together and made it work! We left no space unfilled. In fact-when we got to pick up Kathy, we were pretty sure this was going to be how we had to ride to Grapevine...

Thank goodness we made it all work and found Taron a place to sit. Our other option was tying her to the top of the car! I know what you are thinking....How many weeks are they going to be gone?? 3 days. Only. 3. Days.
So we made our way to Grapevine, stopped for some wonderful Mexican food, then went and found our house. We walked in, and it was beautiful! As we were snooping around and checking the place out we got a little surprise. There was someone there! OOPS! It was the manager of the property and she was just watering the plants, but I'm not sure who was more startled- her or us!
We unloaded the car, and unloaded...and unloaded...and- you get the point. Then decided to run to the grocery store to save time later on when everyone started to arrive. By the time we got back, the Oklahoma crew had arrived!!!
I never waste an opportunity to get a selfie with my Mimi!

I was so thankful that Kathy was able to join us this year!

Luckily we didn't scare her off. She stuck around for the whole weekend and beyond! Hey- if you can deal with this clan for a whole weekend, you can survive anything!

Because....I have a selfie stick problem.....

It didn't take us long to get comfy and settle in!

Everyone needs an Aunt Bonnie in their life!
And a Taron and Alisa, too!

These cousins of mine- they are pretty awesome! We were so excited that Alisa joined us all the way from New Jersey this year!!

Hi Aunt Susan!!!!

Sister cousins...that's what they call themselves. And I love it!!

It took the whole day for everyone to slowly arrive. We made a big pot of chicken spaghetti and salad for dinner, and everyone ate as they arrived.
We kicked off the weekend with our tradition of watching Father of the Bride!

The funniest part about our movie watching was that this house didn't have a dvd player! Seriously! So Aunt Susan and Alisa had to go buy one!
As the night went on, everyone arrived one by one. Aunt Bit, then Theresa, and finally Traci around 11pm! It was a late night, but a fun night!
The next morning required lots and lots of coffee...

There were only 2 bathrooms, so we had to improvise to get dressed. Some of us gathered around a large mirror in one of the bedrooms.....

 some of us used portable mirrors, and some of us shaved our legs in the kitchen sink!

Whatever it takes! This group can adapt to anything!
Finally we all managed to get dressed to head to downtown Grapevine! And since we were dressed....it was time for pictures!!

I sure hope these two ladies know how much they mean to me. They are always in my corner. They listen to me. They support me. They love me. They are amazing.

The original FIVE Johnson Girls' Weekend attendees!!!!

All of the Johnson girls! Blessed I tell ya- I am so blessed by each of these women!

Kellye, Traci, and Mimi
Look at those beautiful smiles!

A little Mother/Daughter love

If only we liked each other in this family... :)

The beautiful Bullock girls!
Kellye, Traci and Theresa

And since we were all dressed....a group photo was in order!

I need a longer selfie stick....or maybe someone needs to take my selfie stick away from me! LOL!
I only took about 30 pictures to get a good one....

We all migrated towards downtown Grapevine to check out the sights. Have you ever tried to keep 11 people together while shopping??? It's no easy task! Thank the Lord for cell phones and texting! But despite that....we had a great time!!

The three of us should not be left unsupervised! 

Nothing says fun quite like a mirror selfie!

Shop till ya drop! That is our motto

We would have bought these....if they had gone over our heads!! LOL! How dare they only make them in children's sizes.

Nothing is simple with this crew- including a little lunch. Table for 11 please!

Mimi and Aunt Bonnie were in charge of holding this bench down and guarding our bags while we finished up.

I can't tell you how much I love these two!!! Cousins by chance, Friends by choice!

From downtown Grapevine we moved on to the RV park where Aunt Rosie and Uncle Walt used to work/live. The park planted trees in their memory a few years ago, and since the whole park had flooded we wanted to go and see if the trees were still there.
Sure enough they were!

Mimi and Aunt Bonnie with Aunt Rosie's tree and stone.

See.... I'm not the only one who shouldn't be left alone with the selfie stick!

But I may need an intervention....

 Why did I take this??? Who knows! LOL

"Mimi, if we hold the camera way up in the air and look up to take our picture....we only have one chin and look younger!" LOL
I absolutely love this lady. And she has gotten much better at just looking and smiling when I point my phone at us....It's been a work in progress.

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Mimi and her granddaughters. We are the luckiest 3 granddaughters ever.

I would give anything if Aunt Rosie could be here and join in on these family weekends. She would be the life of the party...no doubt. 

That evening we decided that Chinese delivery was a must! Because who doesn't love Chinese in their pajamas?!

We enjoyed our dinner and several movies that evening. Pretty sure I slept through the last movie completely! Having this much fun can wear a girl smooth out! But you know who didn't sleep through the movies??? My grandmother and great aunt....who are both over 80. Seriously. How do they do it?? They can out last me any day!

The next day we got up and didn't really have a plan. Some of us wanted to go to Grapevine Mills, and some wanted to hang out at the house and relax. So we divided and conquered! We had plans to get dressed up and go out to dinner that night, but decided that we were all ready for some down time, so we voted to eat leftover Chinese and chicken spaghetti and have a relaxing night!

I can only hope these two understand how much I love and appreciate them!!

There was a game of cards going when I got back from the mall- so obviously I got in on that as soon as I could! Because.....Canasta!

 And the rest started a game of dominoes. I kind of think we need a whole GAME day next year! I love hearing the sounds of laughter coming from all over the house. It fills my heart so much. 

Dominoes!

Never a dull moment with us around!!

If only we liked to laugh and have a good time.....

And after we ate- we decided that a nice, friendly game of spoons was in order.....HA! NOT!! There is nothing nice or friendly about spoons in this family!!

We'll call this the BEFORE picture!

See that pretty table cloth above?? It met its demise shortly after this picture was taking. We are all super thankful that the table held up though!!

See.... I'm not the only one who needs a selfie stick intervention!!

97 pictures later and we still don't have a decent one of us all....LOL

Aunt Bonnie cam

Then it got real....

Just grab the spoon Bit! Not the table cloth!!!

Poor table cloth....It had no idea what it was in for!
We tried to repair it.

And some of us got carried away with the tape...

Laughing so hard they can barely pass cards!

Aunt Bonnie was in charge of keeping score.

OH- It's so sad when you loose!!!

This wasn't even the "after" picture!

Some people say there is no crying in baseball....but no one said you can't cry in spoons!

Mimi eventually took over for Aunt Bonnie....I think we scared her.

This is how most of the game looked....someone going ACROSS the table for a spoon!
That poor table cloth was a gonner by the end of the night! But fun was definitely had by all!
The next morning it was time to pack up and head home. We were all sad to part ways...but also so thankful that we were able to be together for yet another wonderful weekend!
Pictures were in order before we all loaded up.

I love this group of women so much! And I will treasure each memory we get to make together.

Even the ones where we pull each other's necks back to look younger (just like in My Big Fat Greek Wedding!)

The Johnson Girls!

From this point- it got a little wild!
Something was mentioned about the "Bend and Snap" from Legally Blonde. And Taron demonstrated! Which led to her making Alisa do it! Which led to Mimi and Aunt Bonnie demonstrating for us all! Yall- there was not a dry eye in the house! We had tears rolling we were laughing so hard!! Then the rest of us did it in unison!
I need to find a way to up load the video because it was the highlight of the weekend!!!

After we were all done bending and snapping- Dad, Byron, and the girls showed up to help us load up (because we had more people than car space!) and we headed to lunch!

These two were excited to get to join in on part of girls weekend.

Cousin Saddle picture- because why not!

Not sure why I bent down....becaise I look like a midget!

And before we knew it- it was time to say our good byes and part ways. It was a WONDERFUL weekend! Another one for the record books! Now we get to plan girls weekend 2018!