weekend

We spent this past weekend up north at my in-laws. Chris' brother's family was also there, which made the kids have that much more fun. :) We also got to see our dear friends, Matt and Jana, for the last time before they move out of state. We had LOTS of fun and got plenty of relaxing in.

A game of Monopoly...right before our enormous barbeque. :)

 

The kids always beat the parents for early wake up times. They know they can head straight into grandma and grandpa's room to watch TV.

 

One last picture before our friends left... :(

 

The morning we were to leave, Kendall woke up not feeling well. She was pretty lethargic the whole way home.

 We did have to make one stop on the way back to the Crocs Store. We buy the kids a pair each summer and it's the best investment as they wear them every single day!

 

Yesterday Kendall stayed home from school because she still wasn't feeling well. I made sure I came home for lunch for some snuggle time. She still wasn't 100% this morning, so I took the day off :)

syrup

*Full disclosure: the number of homemade/healthy snacks coming out of my kitchen has decreased since I began working full time. There are a few things, however, I have continued to make time for. One of them is homemade pancake syrup. It is just too easy, tastes better, and is so much cheaper.  

Homemade Maple Syrup

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

1 cup water

Bring to a boil and reduce heat for 8-10 minutes. Turn off the heat and add 1 tsp. maple flavoring.

*On Saturday we took a bike ride to an ice cream shop :)

*This was such a sweet sight to come downstairs to this morning. The kids had woken earlier (surprise, surprise!). I came down to the two of them just chit-chatting away. I wish I had known before they saw me because I would have sat on the stairs and listened. :)

*It had been a while since we made our desert trip. Barnes and Noble and Costco today!

hike

The past couple of hike dates we've had have ended up with Cameron and my dad going for a bike ride instead. I've just been too pooped at the end of the week. This time I didn't want to let "pooped" get in the way. :)

We hiked out in the desert, our favorite.

 

Fellow hikers, in general, are aways really friendly. Here we are discussing our trail with someone we met. He ended up giving us his map. :)

 

 

We were dead tired by the end of the hike, but it sure was fun and totally worth it. :)

Today we had my mom and dad over for Mother's Day. Chris BBQ'd carne asada and made a declious meal for everyone. The kids made me the sweetest cards and I felt very loved. 

Now the week begins...but only 3 1/2 weeks to go!!!

8

I'm tired. I'm tired of getting to work early, never taking a lunch, then coming home and working more. I'm tired of thinking about my weekend, trying to decide when I can squeeze work in. I want summer. Now.

Okay. Enough complaining. My favorite girl on the planet turned 8 last Sunday. The day prior we met Chris' family for a production of, "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" (at the theater in Victoria Gardens). It was very cute and she loved it.

We next went out to dinner at Lucille's. I was teased for getting a garden burger at a restaurant known for meat, but I didn't care and their sweet potato fries were the best I've had. :)

On Sunday, we started out with her breakfast request: Waffles with AS MUCH whipped cream as she wanted. :)

After church we headed over to my parents for lunch and her request, lemon meringue pie. I had never made one before. It was very labor intensive, however it was quite the hit (my dad gave it a 10.1!!).
 

I think our little girl felt very special. :) I just love her to bits.

legoland

Today Kendall's class took a field trip to Legoland. We decided to make it a family day and had such a fun time. We spent the whole day with both Cameron and Kendall's good friends (and their parents), who happen to also be brother and sister.

Kendall and her little friend spent most of the day like this. So incredibly precious.

Legoland closed at 5:00 p.m., which was right during rush hour. We hit quite a bit of traffic, but we broke up the trip a little with a yummy dinner at Pat & Oscar's.

Such a fun day and WELL worth taking a day off work!!