Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Welcome Back Summer!

Memorial Day Weekend is considered the official kickoff to the summer season and this one went by in a whirlwind of activities.  We spent the weekend with family and friends and enjoyed tons of good food and gorgeous weather. 

We started our weekend Thursday with our middle daughter's graduation from Preschool.  She's getting so big now!  

Friday night we re-instated our  "Family Fun Nights". Now that summer is here and our Friday nights are finally free again it's time to relax and get back to spending some quality time as a family.    We usually have some sort of homemade pizza- Stromboli, pizza, or bagel pizzas. This week we tried something new: Pizza bake. My oldest daughter wanted to help make dinner so Daddy helped her cut the veggies (onion and green pepper) and I had her put all the toppings on.  This came out like a deep dish pizza and  I will share the recipe soon.  


Saturday morning dawned beautiful, sunny, and warm so we headed out to our Farmers Market on the River.  This was our first  weekend being able to go to this market and we were excited to see what goodies we could find. 




All of our favorite vendors were there again this year, including the flower vendor I love. She grows the most beautiful flowers, and you can either buy a premade bouquet, or put together your own.  Cat and I decided to put together a bouquet for our dining room.  She has a really good eye for color!

When we got home we checked out our own garden and harvested some of our own homegrown broccoli, which we included in our dinner.  I have never seen two little girls so excited about broccoli before!

The kids played on the patio with the Little One's new water table while my husband and I sat near them and relaxed.  Oh, and we tried out a new beer, which was quite good.  It may be my new summer favorite.  

I was playing with my instagram too.  
 My husband had gone down to our local fish market in the morning and picked up some fresh salmon to grill.  When I say local, I mean the building is practically IN the water! It's a small, hole-in-the-wall place but they have the best fish we've ever had.  We tried a new method of grilling it: we put the fish on thin slices of lemon right on the grill.  It worked like a charm and was amazing!   To go along with the fish we grilled some squash I had marinated in some Merlot Vinegar and Olive Oil, and made up some rice pilaf.


Sunday the plan was to take the boat out for a while.  We got a sitter, and my husband and I were going to go float around on the river.  However, instead of this being our afternoon view:
View from the boat when we went out a couple weekends ago with friends

 This was our view instead:
The joys of boat ownership- sometimes they break.  So instead of spending the day on the water, we spent the day at the Marina working on the engine ( my husband is teaching me about boat repair and I am actually finding it interesting), and cleaning the boat inside and out.  We weren't too disappointed about the change in plans- at least we got to spend the day together, working side by side in the sun.   We ended the evening having an unplanned cookout with my best friend and her family (Since she had been the one to watch our girls for us all afternoon).  I made buffalo wings, burgers, pepperoni rolls, potato-less potato salad, baked beans, and oatmeal raisin cookies. The best part about dinner was I had made most of it that morning so when we got home all we had to do was fire up the grill.  Everything else was ready to go.  I'm pretty sure that's how dinner is going to be made all summer- in the morning!

What better way to  officially welcome summer than by spending it on the beach?  Memorial Day Monday we packed up the kiddos, picked up my best friend's daughters, and went down to our local beach for an afternoon in the sun and sand.
Enjoying a Capri Sun Water in the shade.  

She's not too sure of the water yet, we're still in the debating stages of getting in or not.  

We ended the weekend with a cookout with my parents, and roasting marshmallows.  

Now that summer is officially here ( and I have the sunburn to prove it!) we are going to be spending a lot more time outside and on the beach. 

 How was your Memorial Day Weekend?  


6 comments:

  1. I'm glad I make your blog so much! LOL support local business and put the name and city of this wonderful fish market girl!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm just sad I didn't think to take any pictures from Sunday evening. Oh well... I am sure there will be more summer BBQ's!

      Delete
  2. aww, preschool graduations are so sweet. i didn't have one, but i love looking at the photos of my husband's (though i obviously wasn't there!). :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I had vague memories of mine. Apparently they dressed us like ducks in little paper costumes.:-)
      My older daughter went to the same preschool and I'm glad the graduation is classy. Very short and sweet but they treat the kids like miniature graduates. It's so cute.

      Delete