Weekend Update

Such a lovely weekend.

Perfect weather. Lots of outings. Good food. Outdoor dining.

What else could we ask for?

Friday evening was an overdue girls' night out. Mom, Casey and I went to dinner in Levis Commons and then to see Bridesmaids in the theater. I got a Farmer's Market Pizza half-off appetizer (as my meal) and I laughed my butt off at the movie. Happy girl.

Saturday morning started with a library trip with both kids. I love going to the library on the way to anywhere because this is what happens on the remaining drive:

Silence. And "reading". :)
From there, we made our way to the zoo to see the new baby elephant. Oh my, is he ever cute!?
Please excuse no make-up on me.

First stop is ALWAYS the giraffes. So says Will.

Hmm... not sure what lead to this goofy expression, but she was so content in the Ergo while we walked the zoo and I wanted to snap pics of both kids during our visit.

Awwww! Isn't the newest zoo resident adorable?

He was telling me how elephants use their trunks. :)

Checking out the hippos and crocodile. They were indoors today.

Rhinos!

Cooling off in the stream in Nature's Neighborhood.

This is the first time I've ever taken the kids on the playground at the zoo. We usually don't even walk by... ;) It's a bit of a challenge keeping an eye on two if they dart in different directions so the rule was: they had to stay together!

Will was very good about keeping Sophie in his sight.

Following our zoo trip, we continued our frequent ritual of stopping off at Wixie Bakery for donuts. Half dozen to go. Three sprinkled for the kids and I. Three others for daddy. :) (He's spoiled.)

Lunch and nap followed and then we joined a large group of friends and their kids for a cookout and party in Genoa. The kids were lined up playing "Red Light, Green Light".

Sunday was a bit of a lazier day. Craig and Will went to a brunch at the nursing home to visit his Grandpa. (Grandpa stays in the independent living facility.) Sophie took an early nap and Will returned in time for a short nap before our afternoon plans. The kids and I were out the door to visit another new farm for cherry picking (post coming shortly) while Craig met some friends at the quarry to play basketball.

The evening was just beautiful. (The whole weekend was really!) And I did most of our dinner prep outside while Craig and the kids played in the yard.

Don't worry. Those were soft balls and he was just chipping a little while the kids used their own toy golf club set.

We ate dinner outside (menu to come in my dinner post) and it could not have been a more beautiful evening.

Sunshine. Not too hot. No wind. Simple summer dinner menu including our fresh picked cherries. No worries if the kids made a mess. Just perfect and relaxing. I wish dinner could be like this EVERY NIGHT!

Saying grace... except for instant-gratification-Sophie.

The last of our strawberry popsicles.

Sharing a piece of apple cake that my mom dropped off to me.

{Mom and I have this unspoken agreement where we share portions of anything that we make that is exceptionally tasty or that we have an abundance of. Coincidentally, it always comes at the perfect time so that I have an impromptu apple cake for dinner or a cup of veggie soup to put in my lunch bag the next day. In turn, she gets to try all of the new things I make that my family turns their noses up to. Love you, mom!}

Post popsicle... Sophie demanded a bite of my apple cake. :)

She's lucky I'm nice...

Drinking out of daddy's water jug from his basketball game. Eew. She wouldn't put it down.

We were feeling very carefree this night. Can you tell? LOL Kids were messy after dinner so we just let them strip down and run around naked before plunking them directly into the bath tub.

And so I leave you with this:

She was trying to pee like her big brother. LOL I know, I know. What are we teaching them, right? Well it does feel very freeing and exhilarating to be naked outside in the summer when you are a kid. I remember.

Cheers to a beautiful weekend!