Weekend Wrap-up

It's a smile, it's a kiss, it's a sip of wine, it's summertime, sweet summertime.

Another weekend, another few days of summer soaked in.

Friday I headed to the pool, flipped through a magazine and sipped on an ice tea. I cooked J and I up a quick dinner of fish, cucumber salad, and fresh cut tomatos. Following dinner we went and saw Killers with Ashton Kutcher.

Saturday I again went to the pool while Jason played golf with the boys. In the evening we celebrated our friends Kristin & Eric's son's 1st birthday! It was so cute to see him open presents and taste his first bites of cake.

On Sunday, go ahead and guess... I went to the POOL. Can I just say, it was so relaxing to spend 3 days soaking up the sun, lapping up every moment of pool time. We cooked up a delish meal of Thai Turkey burgers and turned in early.

I'm looking forward to spending next weekend in the sun celebrating America. Fourth of July is one of my most favorite holidays and it is the one I most want to host when J and I start hosting the family for holidays.

Summer Is...

Afternoon thunderstorms that end with bright rainbows...


Flowers blooming everywhere...

Watermelon on the porch...
Lemonade with fresh blueberries mixed in...

A freezer full of Popsicles...

Toes freshly painted dancing in the sun at the pool...

Jumping from the diving board where the best form is judged based on the biggest splash...

Towels drying on chairs following a day of swimming...

My Favorite Macaroni Salad Recipe

From my early childhood I always remember my mom pulling out an old cookbook with a page that was dog earred, and the spine was cracked just so that it would open easily to a page with the best macaroni salad recipe. We made it every so often and although we could have made it in the dead of winter, yet the salad reminds me of summer.

Ingredients:
1 cup elbow macaroni
1/2 cup chopped bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup mayo
1/4 cup cubed American cheese
3 tbsps apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp dried dill
Salt & Pepper to taste

Boil the pasta until cooked. Drain. Mix the remaining ingredients and combine with pasta. Refrigerate 1-2 hours. Serve chilled.

We have eaten this salad two nights this week and it already feels more like we are celebrating summer that it did last week. Check that goal off the list.

A few flowers

Some of my favorite shots from the season so far...

A Little Splash of Summer

Some weekends feel full. Like you were able to live and get the most from those days. This weekend was one of those.

Friday night I finally finished planting all of my flowers. My window box has been empty while those baby birds grew up. With the patio all clean we were able to enjoy popsicles while the night settled in.

Saturday we got up early and headed to the Farmer's Market. I love the Farmer's Market - I wanted to buy all sorts of goodies, but we only got a pound of fresh snap peas. After that we went over to the Greek Fest, and I was so disappointed. The food was not everything I had been dreaming of, and the entire festival just lacked the festival feeling. After feeling let down with the Greeks, we grabbed a Sonic drink and headed to the club pool. I loved spending the afternoon at the club soaking up the sun. I jumped off the diving board just like the kiddos. Then I wrapped out the day by going to a party at my "train friend's" house.

Sunday I ran typical Sunday errands (have you missed hearing this dear reader), and then soaked up some more sun at the nieghborhood pool. In the afternoon I met up with Jason at his parents' house for BBQ and Father's Day celebration. We had celebrated Father's Day with my folks the weekend before. We dined on the patio and it was just so perfectly summer.

School's Out For Summer

Remember the days of youth when the school year was winding down, year books were being passed around and a few months of freedom were around the corner. You could almost just taste watermelon, grilled hot dogs, and drippy popsicles by the time the final class bell would ring...

I miss those days, and this summer, maybe more than most I'm dreaming of being able to soak it all in over the next two months.

I'm hoping that I can really enjoy the summer air and make some time for a few summer must-dos.

• Weekday evening baseball game
• One long lazy day at the club pool complete with drinks and snacks from the pool bar
• Trip to the driving range at dusk
• Movie or concert in the park
• Boat ride (could be canoe or paddle boat to, just a day at the lake)
• Crab Boil
• Make Classic Macaroni Salad
• Go to the pool one hot evening
• Drive with the windows down and the music turned up
• Go Camping
• Take more photos

Here is to a magical weekend, may it be filled with celebrations and summer memories...

And then there were none

You saw what the little morning doves looked like on about day one (June 5), here they are a week old (photo taken June 12):

Here is the entire bird family and the little birds are getting much bigger (photo taken June 16)

Today (June 18) the nest, which doesn't really look like a nest, is empty. The birds have flown away. I'm excited to finally be able to plant in the window box, but part of me feels like an empty nester now.

Hello Birds

Jas and I are thr proud godparents of two baby morning doves. Mamma morning dove decided our patio's window box looked like the perfect nesting grounds. Typically both mom and dad sit on the sit and swap out every 12 hours or so. The eggs take bout 12-14 days to hatch followed by another 12-14 days before the babies leave the nest.

Mamma has taken some beatings from a few storms this week, but she stays strong and sits on that nest.

We think that this photo is from the day or the day after the little babies hatched.

Weekend Hike

This weekend my dear friend Jenny and her boyfriend Chris were in town. It was so good to catch up and have a few laughs. On Sunday we all went to Waterton Canyon per Lauren's recommendation. I will now be recommending this same trail. Get there. It's beautiful.

If Jenny or Lauren just happen to be reading this post - I promise I'll be emailing out the photo files tonight!

Left My Heart in San Francisco

...or maybe just on vacation. Here are a few photos of the trip: