Weekend's End

It is Tuesday, but somehow, it feels like my weekend just ended AND like it's Wednesday. Strange. My parents left bright and early this morning-- so bright and early that I didn't even hear them leave. Either they were in stealth-mode or I was fast asleep. It was a wonderful weekend with the family. We went to Meson Sabika on Friday night for dinner. My goodness, that place is delicious. I'm 100% certain that I could easily put away 50 (or more) of their bacon-wrapped dates. Oh, they're good. Mike, my dad and I went to see UP on Saturday morning. Loved it. My parents and brother had a wedding in Wisconsin that they attended over the weekend, but they returned Sunday night, and Monday was a great day. We went to Einstein's for a little breakfast. Then, after Riley went down for her nap, my mom, brother and I went out to Home Depot to search for some landscaping material for the front of our house. Really, our house has been somewhat of an embarrassment to our street-- bare in front except for the weeds. Thus, as we strolled, looking at the plant-life at Home Depot, I got pretty excited, despite the fact that this was my first gardening adventure, and I know next to nothing about plants. (No, I take that back; I do know that I've successfully killed every indoor plant I've ever had. Not a good track record.) We loaded up on a few shrubs and some perennials, and back to the house we went. At this point, Riley was awake, so we set up a blanket and some toys in the yard, and the whole family started to weed and prune. I bet Brandon didn't know that when he came to visit, he'd be enlisted to do manual labor. :) After the weeding, we set the pots out to see how they looked. They were a little sparse, so Moom (not a typo-- we refer to her as Moom), Riley and I trekked back to the Depot while the boys started to digging. When we returned, they had everything in the ground. What talent! We added a few more plants and-- voila!-- done. I couldn't wait for Mike to come home.

It's amazing how good it feels to be productive. Seriously, this felt like such a great weekend. My list of "accomplishments" probably seems pretty minimal, but I'm pretty proud. :) I mean, Mike got the lawn mowed, I baked some gluten-free, egg-free bread, an allergen-free pie crust, we have flowers, and I got to spend quality time with the family. Imagine what I could get done if I always had this energy and motivation (and the cooperation of Riley)!

Enough of our boring exploits, though. Here are some pictures...

Riley and Granddad, looking pretty stylish

Riley models in front of the new landscaping.

I can't wait till everything fills out and fills in!