July 29, 2013

Weekend Recap

 

Friday:  We just had Hank on Friday night, and Mica & Tyler babysat for us so Creag & I could go out to dinner before he left for California early Saturday morning.  I was in the mood for Italian, so he took me to Buca di Beppo's.  Dinner was good and it was even better to have a few hours of us time before he left. 

 

Saturday:  I woke up to the horrible news of my Uncle Steve's passing.  As mush as I knew it was coming, this was still a little unexpected because they had just moved him back to Hospice a few days before.  It was hard to tell Hank that morning and we spent the rest of the day trying to have fun & keep our mind off of things.  Hank had his first Exhibition Game that afternoon & I'll talk more about that maybe tomorrow.  I got Skylar & Wyatt back from their Dad at the game & they came home, finally!  I also did a few craft projects Saturday night to keep myself busy.  I may or may not have spray painted everything that we own!

 

Sunday:  The kids & I finally woke up in the same house, so we drove to the River for the day to see my Parents.  We had lunch at McDonalds & then I helped my Mom pick out pictures for Steve's services.  Later on in the afternoon, we took the kids to Rockin' Robins & had Ice Cream on the River. 

 

Let me just say, it feels really good to have the kids back from their Dad & I plan on having them the rest of the Summer.  I wasn't really comfortable with things that were going on, so I had to take charge & get my babies back, where I know they're safe!  They are the most important things to me & I'm definitely glad to have them home!



July 25, 2013

The Rest of Our Weekend; Slacker Style

 

So I had said I'd be back yesterday for the rest of our weekend recap, but I got busy & lazy.  Being a taxi for Football every night this week plus having a job & home duties is wearing me out.  We haven't even eaten dinner before 8PM one night this week if that tells you anything!  So, with that whine session over, let's begin, shall we?

 

Friday:  We grilled out & actually had dinner on the deck as a family of 6!  Man how this felt normal & good.  I really miss having the kids around in the Summer time!  After dinner, we hung out with neighbors & got the finishing touches ready for our Garage Sale on Saturday morning.

 

Saturday:  Skylar was the first kid out of bed, so she set up a Kool-Aid stand & Creag & I worked the Garage Sale.  The sale didn't go well at all, but the kids made enough cash at their stand to buy Dippin' Dots at the pool on Saturday afternoon!  Speaking of the pool, Sammie finally got the courage up to go down the big slide & go off of the diving board!  To bad Creag wasn't there to see it :-(  He had a Fantasy Football Draft & missed it all.  I guess all it took was having Hank there to talk her into it!  After the pool, we met Creag back at home for dinner & then headed to the fair for the evening which you saw in my last post.

 

 

 

Sunday:  We got kind of-sort of caught up around the house and then went to the pool again.  We love our pool days!  We left close to dinner to get Hank to his Equipment Pick Up for Football & had my parents over for dinner.  Of course the chef of the house whipped up an awesome dinner!  We had a large foil pack off of the grill of Smoked Sausage, Potatoes, Corn on the Cob, Onion, Squash & Zucchini & it was sooooooo good!!  We're loving foil packs this Summer.  They're so easy & you can have such a good variety.

 

 

After dinner & dessert, my parents took Skylar & Wyatt back home with them for the week & we were sad to see them go!  School starts back up soon & I cannot wait to have them home!  Side note:  Hank was obviously ready for practice on Monday.  He felt like a big guy in his pads & was asking Creag to push him around in his pads to toughen him up!  He obliged & it was hilarious.    





July 23, 2013

Just Outside of the City Limit Sign

 

 

Saturday, we took the kids to the Kenton County Fair.  It'd been a few years since we've taken them & actually this was the first time to Kenton County's Fair.  The weather was good, and the kids had fun.  The girls were their usual fearless selves, and the boys hardly rode a thing.  We rode a ride as a family & then the girls got in line for another ride.  Hank spotted one of his buddies from football in the same line and actually got the courage to ride.  He stood in line, and got on, but then chickened out at the last second.  I don't know if he'll ever be a dare devil or fearless when it comes to rides.  I guess only time will tell & if he's not, that's OK too.  I'm usually not a ride rider either!

 

 

 

 

There was a Horse Show & Truck and Tractor Pulls that we checked out.  Creag & I both enjoyed watching the Pulls because it brought back good memories from both of our childhoods.  Our Dad's took us when we were little and we both loved it!  Wyatt was a little unsure of them at first, but ended up liking them.  He also loved the Horse Show, but the other kids were a little bored by it. 

 

 

While the girls were riding rides, Creag took the boys over to a game where he won them a little something to keep them occupied.  Guns!  Put your hands up!!  The Start Ship was another ride that caused some fear.  Sky & Sam stood in line, walked on & then walked right back off!  They were unsure of getting stuck to the wall & then moving up & down.  The thing also spun in circles the whole time, fast, so I don't blame them!

 

 

 

 

Besides all of the fun above & the Lemon Shake Up that we had to drink there was also A LOT of pickle sightings.  Because I have Dill kids, that's a pretty big deal and I had to get some pictures!  Creag actually won the pickle that Skylar's holding for her so that's now apart of her bedroom décor.  We headed home before the fair closed down, worn out from all of the fun!  I'll have other snippets from our weekend tomorrow!

 

 

 

 

 



July 22, 2013

Wasting Away Again in Margaritaville

 

 

So my 5th & Creag's 30 something Jimmy Buffett concert last week was a little different than the previous ones that we've been to together.  We didn't really pre-game too much and we sat down on the lawn for the beginning of the show.  This was a first for us, ever!  We're usually the ones that are standing, dancing & singing along.  Instead of all of that, we flipped our shoes off, relaxed & just people watched for a bit.  Either our age is getting to us, or we had just been doing way too much and were ready for a night at home doing nothing.  I'm not saying that the concert wasn't fun, we enjoyed the music & our late night cheeseburger, but there was just a different feel about this one compared to the others that we'd been too.  I'm sure we'll be back next year though, so until then, Fins Up, Parrott Heads!



July 18, 2013

Are You Ready For Some Football?

 

Hank's first REAL football practice was Monday night.  No more Flag Football for him.  He was ready and wanted to play the real deal, tackle football!  Practice started at 6PM on Monday, and he was so excited to get out there and experience this sport for the first time.

 

 

He practiced 3 times this week, each night for about two hours.  He's doing great, catching right on, but he's already pretty tired!  By the 3rd night of practice, I think he was spent.  He has a heat rash on his bottom, which made it a little hard for him to run last night.  Thankfully, he has the rest of the week & weekend off to recuperate & then they start back up on Monday night, with pads!  We're all looking forward to an awesome season & can't wait to see him in his pads, out there on the field, hopefully kicking some butt!



July 16, 2013

Fins Up

 

Tonight, we're going to see Buffett at Riverbend!  This will be my 5th time to see him with the husband and in light of that, I give you the many faces of Buffett....

 

I'm missing the picture from our first show in Ft. Lauderdale, but these concerts are so much fun!  Any excuse to dress up tropical & drink Corona is a good time in my book!  Were you born a Parrot Head, or did you just marry into one?

 

 



July 15, 2013

Snapshots From Our Weekend

 

Friday:  We cut out of work a tad bit early to get home & get ready for the OAR/Dave Matthews Band Concert.  We got to the venue early enough to stuff our faces w/ a Brat & a beer at one of the food vendors outside of Riverbend before going in.  My friend from High School, Beth joined us at the concert & it was great to see her! 

 

 

Saturday:  We got up early to have breakfast at our favorite little spot, First Watch, and then took Sammie to her first Tennis Lesson of the year.  After tennis, we dropped Sam off to her Mom and then got lunch at the Pub & packed up & headed to the River with Michael.  We were expecting to be on the River with the Jet Ski by 4, but a string of events held us back a bit.  For starters, Creag about blew his face off trying to kill a huge spider with starter fluid & a lighter.  No exaggeration...I thought for sure he was going to be sans eyebrows & vision after that one.  Luckily, he was fine and I'm pretty sure he'll never do that again!  Secondly, we find the Jet Ski key, so we spent some time searching for that.  We ended up giving up and just putting the boat in and relaxing on it for a bit.  The River was a bit of a mess, but we enjoyed ourselves to say the least.  I got a little sun, and the boys did some fishing.  We docked the boat at dark & stopped by McDonalds for dinner where we were entertained by a couple of crazies who were obviously on drugs or something.  We laughed our butts off.  I swear it was like they'd never eaten before a changed their order about 20 times.  After that awesome dinner, we then headed to Snappers to listen to Live Music.  The band ended up playing "You Look Wonderful Tonight," and since that was the first song that Creag & I ever danced to and also had our first kiss to, he asked me to dance.  I think I fell in love with him a little more on that dance floor.  During the song, while we were dancing, and looking into each others eyes, with no words just smiles and love I wondered how I got so lucky.  It kind of felt like it was just him & I on that dance floor.  Nothing else mattered.  He told me when we were finished, that he knew from the very beginning of our relationship that he would marry me someday.  I had never heard him say that before, and it meant so much to hear that from him.

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday:  Creag & Michael got up early and went fishing on the boat while I had the pleasure of sleeping in.  They came back to get me at about 10:30 to get some breakfast.  We took the boat into Ripley & parked at the public landing & walked to the little 50's Diner where we like to eat.  After breakfast, we stayed on the boat for a few more hours while they fished & I did nothing but catch some sun.  After pulling the boat in, we packed up & headed home.  After we got unloaded & Michael left, Creag & I went out for sushi, because we obviously never eat at home.  After dinner, we headed to West Chester to get Hank from his Grandma.  It was pouring rain & we spotted a beautiful rainbow!  While waiting on Hank to get to Meijer where we were meeting them, we got in our grocery shopping for the week & then finally headed home with my little one in tow. 

 

 

Football practice starts tonight for Hank and we have Buffett tomorrow night so this week is gonna be jam packed full of all kinds of fun things.  Bring it on!

 



 

 

 



 

 



July 11, 2013

Lemon-Salmon Kebabs

 

 

 

Ingredients:

Salmon Filet's

7-Up Marinade

Lemons, Sliced

Dash of Oregano

1 Eager Helper

 

I found this recipe on Skinnytaste.com, and had to try it!  The prep was super easy, and Hank really enjoyed helping out in the kitchen.  Per the recipe, we were supposed to grill the kebabs, but it was a rainy evening so we decided to just bake them.  Creag had marinated the Salmon the morning of with 7-Up Marinade, so when we got home all that we had to do was cube the Salmon, Slice the Lemons & put them on the skewers.  Hank skewered them & then we sprinkled them with a little bit of Lemon Juice & Oregano then baked them for about 15 minutes.  I cooked squash & a orange bell pepper in olive oil while they were baking & we also served them with Brown Rice.  This was a great, healthy dinner and Hank actually cleaned his plate.  I guess I should have him help in the kitchen more often!

 



July 9,2013

Weekend Recap

 

We picked up Skylar's friend, Lydia, stopped for Ice Cream, made a pit stop for some fireworks on Friday & then headed to the River.  We had planned on spending the entire weekend, relaxing in the sun on our boat & playing on the Jet Ski that hasn't ran in years that Creag just got up & running again. 

 

The rain & mud put a huge damper on our plans, though.  Friday night, we made the best of it in the muddy mess that the River was.  Creag put the Jet Ski in the water & took each of the kids for a short ride in the creek & then we grilled hot dogs for dinner.  After dinner, Creag & my Dad got the camp fire going & set off the fireworks that we had bought on the way down.  The kids did sparklers for awhile & then I swear, between 6 kids, they ate a whole bag of marshmallows making smores over the fire.  My brother showed up late that evening with his new girlfriend, Stephanie, Aaron & Aaron's girlfriend Lauren.  Shortly after we met, we headed back to our house for bed. 

 

Saturday morning, it rained pretty hard to make the mud even worse than it was the night before.  Creag tried out his new Remote Control Boat in the Creek for a bit.  That thing is no joke, it flies!  We had lunch up at my parents & then decided to pack up & head home.  The weather wasn't great, we were all getting antsy and we were running out of things to do. 

 

 

We stopped for Ice Cream AGAIN on the way home because Ice Cream makes everything better...  After we got home, we quickly unpacked & then took the kids to the movies.  We let Skylar & Lydia see the movie Epic by themselves, and the rest of us saw the Great & Powerful Oz.  After the movies, we stopped for a late dinner & headed home for bed.  We were all pretty beat.

 

Sunday, we had a big breakfast & we finally got some really good weather, so we headed to Silverlake for the day.  We spent a good 6 hours there and the kids had a blast.  They ran into quite a few kids they knew from school & a good Summer day in the sun was what all of us needed!

 

 

On Sunday night, we unfortunately had to take Sky, Hank & Wyatt back to their Dad & we came back home to this enormous pile of laundry that will probably take me the rest of the week to get caught up on!

 

 

Last night, Creag got the yard cut & I did some work in the flower beds.  It felt good to get something accomplished.  Tonight we're planning on hitting up the pool.  Hank starts football next week, 5 days a week, our pool time will be limited for awhile so we gotta stick it in where we can!