Weekending 101

The Park:
We hit up the park early Saturday morning...it was too chilly to stay for long, but Newbie had a blast showing his Daddy-O how he can rock it out on the slides.

A Wedding:
One of the Hubs' good friends got married on Saturday, and we had the great delight of celebrating with the groom and BEAUTIFUL bride.  Seriously.  The bride's dress was gorgeous and she was breath-taking, making the whole thing all the more fun because who doesn't love a fantastic choice in bridal gowns? We had a hard time finding a sitter for a wedding our entire family was invited to, so Newbie tagged along.  He did really well, but as soon as everyone stood up to welcome the bride, I panicked and swooped him out of the sanctuary because we were dangerously near the end of our cheese and Goldfish supply, rendering me helpless in the event of a mid-ceremony meltdown.  Newbie explored the weeds growing up through the pavement while his mama craned her neck around the church window to see and hear what she could of the wedding. 

(The chocolate fondue was a real hit with Newbie.)

Trip to Grandad and G-Mama's
Since we were in the neighborhood, after the wedding we went over to G-Mama and Grandad's house for STEAK NIGHT.  We ate like kings.  And it was good. Newbie dug into some chicken and avocado and though he was in Heaven. Yum.

Baby Birds
I love babies.  G-Mama had a nest of baby Cardinals resting in one of the bushes on the side of the house, so we crept down to take a peek.  They were just as fresh as could be, barely a bit of down on them, and their sweet little beaks as tiny as a crumb.  I got in as close as I could without disrupting the branches and snapped this shot of a wee one in the midst of a yawn. 

Church
I'm a pansy and have avoided the church nursery like the plague for the past year.  Partly because I thought it literally might be teeming with the plague, and partly because I've never left my little man with anyone but his Daddy-O or his grandparents because I am a wimp with a capital "W".  But we miss getting the full-on church experience without having to exit early for diaper changes or meltdown control, so yesterday was the big day.  Unfortunately, Newbie only lasted for half the service before our number shot up on the paging screen and the Hubs had to go rescue our teary-eyed little man. I am so grateful to have such an awesome set of nursery volunteers and children's ministry staff, because I loved that they paged us as soon as he started to lose it instead of letting him cry for the rest of the service.  LOVE. Knowing they'll call us if he needs us totally put my heart at ease for trying again next week. Even though he ducked out early, we're counting it as a success because a) he made it half way through without freaking out, and b) his mother didn't have to be resuscitated after dropping him off. 

The Gardens:
After church, we zipped on over to the gardens for a picnic lunch and some family fun.  We spent the afternoon playing in the big sandbox and walking the grounds while Newbie napped in the stroller.  It was so much fun to spend a quiet afternoon outside with my boys, and the sunburn I came home with was just an added bonus. We had to buy our first bottle of baby sunscreen on our way to the gardens, (we just kept him out of the sun altogether last summer) and I'm adding babies lathered in sunscreen to my list of favorite smells. *LOVED* the sunshine we had yesterday.

A Great Recipe:
Last night I stumbled upon two fantastic recipes, and I just had to share:
Southern Living's Southern Sweet Tea
Super delicious Peanut Butter cookies that I made last night and almost entirely demolished in an hour. SO good.  And quick. And easy.

May Flowers:
Technically, this isn't from this weekend, but if a fantastic weekend flows into a fantastic Monday, I figure its worth noting. =)  MY TULIPS BLOSSOMED!!!!  Wahoo!  I've been waiting on these lovelies all month, and they finally, finally obliged.  Newbie and I made an adventure of skipping his morning nap to go explore the blooms and cut some to bring inside for a bouquet. 

Then I really went May-flower-crazy and went to work cutting out some magazine clippings to display on our chalkboard in the playroom.  Newbie is making so many connections and is so in-tune with his surroundings, that I wanted to jump on the chance to enhance his learning by sharing more flowers that we can take a look at throughout the day.  He has already noticed them and had a blast pointing at them while I named their color.  It is such fun to watch him explore and learn!

Partners in Crime:
Again, a Monday happening rather than a weekend happening, but these two just had to make the post.  Check out Newbie's latest trick:

Opening Opie's kennel, climbing in to grab his blanket, pulling it out, and watching Opie try to shred it to pieces.  Hey, if that's how we get our Monday afternoon jollies, I'm game...better he feeds him the blanket than the puzzle piece and the plastic hot dog bun that were on the menu last night! 

We're laying low today and finishing up laundry and getting the house put back together after having neglected it for a good three or four days in the name of weekending and family fun! But there's lots on the agenda this week including Newbie's tumble class, a return trip to the gardens, and plenty of fun in the 60+ degree sunshine forecast for this week...we might even go for a sneak attack DQ trip in there somewhere. (A "sneak attack" being when you trick your common sense- the one thinking about the up-coming swimsuit season- into thinking a small vanilla cone dipped in chocolate is a really good idea.)

Wishing you all a blessed Monday and some May flowers!