A Day Out

Yesterday, we spent the entire day at home. Inside. Doing nothing. Because we are all suffering from allergies in some fashion. Today, though, we were all feeling ok and I found a discounted ticket price at the Perot Museum in Dallas. Off we went!

Aaaand, just because...

Quite Contrary

Should've named her Mary instead. 

I want apple juice! 

Hey! This isn't water! 

Play barbies with me! 

*walks off leaving me with Barbie in hand* 

Pick what snack you want me to have! 

I don't want that!  

Don't get me any crackers. 

Wha-a-ha-a-a-a! Where are my crackers?!

*Just did something she wanted to do*

I haven't gotten to do that in a long time!!

ETA: I wish I could stay but I don't!

This is such fun.

Vacationing v2

Annual beach weekend. 

Me, Jess, Mandy, Chris

Tara

Robin, Amanda

Seaweed

Nail polish

Tasty beverages and food that was just ok.

Kindle book and early-to-rise reading sessions and reading from dusk to dark. 

Staying up past my 'bedtime' and still being the first to go to bed. I really trust my gals.  

Late evening stroll/sit/lay on cool evening sand just talking. 

I can't say it how I want to. It was random that Jess invited me into her life about 9 years ago. Then we moved and still kept contact with each other. I can't thank her enough. She is one of my best friends. 

Vacationing

Every summer we go on vacation for about 2 weeks to visit family. Today we took Ivy to the beach. 

It is unfortunate that this time, the seaweed is so bad there is no real beach to walk along or build sandcastles. This area of the beach is no regularly cleaned up. 

So we walked on a nature boardwalk. This was a major feature in my childhood. When I was in elementary school, the 4th grade classes took a field trip to this beach and walked the boardwalk around this marsh. 

A recent hurricane destroyed every feature of this beach/state park - including the boardwalk. It is all very slowly being rebuilt. 

Our nature walk only included blue crabs and a few bird species. My husband saw a young alligator but it hid before I got to see it. 

Best shot of the day here!

Wordless Wednesday

Party Time!

Ivy was invited to one of her dance-friend's birthday party. It was serious business. Ivy had a great time!

Menu Plan Monday May 11-17

I am feeling really run down today. While I was able to sleep in a bit and had a nap yesterday, I am still feeling very lethargic. Sweet Ivy had Daddy's help to make a pretty bead necklace for me for mother's day. We had a lovely breakfast at a local diner, got Raising Canes for lunch for free, and then I made fried shrimp for dinner. Yum!

Sunday - Fried shrimp & corn on the cob
Monday - Nachos or Tacos
Tuesday - Breakfast
Wednesday - Pork chops and rice pilaf
Thursday - leftovers
Friday - Appetizers
Saturday - Parmesan crusted tilapia & couscous

Compared to my: Month of May Menu

Menu Plan Monday @ Orgjunkie.com

Strawberries

My strawberry bush had a few berries ready at the same time instead of one every day. Yum!

Wordless Wednesday: Aquarium Fun

Two Things Tuesday

1. We have a robin's nest in our patio. We have watched her build her nest and feed her young birds. This week, the babies are learning to fly!  It has been neat to watch and show Ivy up close. 

2. Health. It's been bad in our house! Personally, I've been eating larger amounts of food and snacking more than I should. I have been making an effort to eat more fruits and vegetables. Ryan is interested in the Couch-to-5K program. We got out and walked as a family today. Hopefully we can start getting ourselves healthier. My back doesn't hurt so I want to move! 

Menu Plan Monday

This week has two "events". The first is Cinco de Mayo. We normally don't do anything for this but I thought a simple regular menu item would be appropriate for this day - nachos. Yeah, go ahead and laugh. The other event is teacher appreciation week.  I'm not sure how I feel about it. It doesn't really do anything for our menu.

So straying ever so slightly from my Month of May Menu:

Sunday: Grilled hamburgers - BOGO sale on hamburger patties

Monday: Nachos with homemade guacamole. I sauté my chicken with cumin and coriander to give it the Latin flavor.

Tuesday: Chicken salad sandwiches made from a rotisserie chicken

Wednesday: Pork chops and potatoes (packs of pork chops were a BOGO last week)

Thursday: Pizza - and hopefully we will make some extra dough for the freezer 

Friday: Pan grilled tilapia and rice pilaf

Saturday: Crock pot tangy meatballs 

More Menu Plans at OrgJunkie.com

A Little Adventure

On Monday, Ivy and I both woke up feeling horrible so we both stayed home. She spent most of her day laying on the couch in various stated of consciousness. Tuesday, I stayed home with her to make sure she was better. She and I were both pretty antsy so we got dressed and headed out the door!

I gave her the lead and let her direct my driving - left, right, straight. We first ended up at Sonic and we got something to drink. Second, we drove all the way across town to a bluebonnet field. Their peak of the season was the week before but I wanted to see them anyway.

I love bluebonnets! 

After that, it was time for lunch.

She got a silly game with her meal. I interpreted it as an in ca r game of "I Spy" or a type of scavenger hunt. We kept driving around town to see if we could find things on the cards. 

We ended up at a local farm that is home to a fall pumpkin patch. Behind the farm, we found a pasture with three horses in it. We stopped to just stand on the fence and observe them. They're horses. I started clicking my tongue. They all came to visit with us.

We had fun.