A Whirlwind Weekend

The boys and I (sans Andrew) took a little trip this weekend to surprise my friend Amy, and see my old roommate Lindi before she moves to Texas. It was a last minute decision, one that I am VERY happy with because we had such a good time. Although the fear of traveling in a car alone with my boys for at least 7 hours almost paralyzed me, I can now say that, 'it ain't no thang'. We Staceys be road trippers again (despite being on hiatus for the past 6 months).

I told Luke the day before we left that we were going to go see his friend Will. I forgot that Luke isn't so great with understanding passages of time yet so the phrase 'not until tomorrow' didn't really register with him. He sobbed every time we got in the car and ended up somewhere other than Will's house. For this reason, I said nothing for the first 4 hours of our trip. I didn't want him to be disappointed every time I had to stop the car. But around the 5th hour Luke informed me that he was done watching movies and wanted to get out of the car now. Tears and whining ensued after I told him that we weren't getting out of the car for a while. So I broke down and confessed that we were on our way to Will's house.

Luke: "We go Will's house?" [pause to let it register] "YAY!!"

He didn't make a peep the rest of the trip and when Cam started crying he consoled him with, "Don't be sad Cammy, we go Will's house".

The next two days were a blur...

A Cafe Rio stop (nice to see them in the East). Amy, you are so brave for suggesting we take the boys inside. You could have been Joan of Arc to me in that moment (but she wasn't dressed up as a man or anything :)).

We packed into the minivan and did some sight seeing...

The reunion of these two best buddies was sweet to say the least.

The Naval Museum

I think this was after he got in trouble for getting too close to the water. Gotta love the fro.

 Every evening (well only two evenings since I wasn't there long) we went to the neighborhood park and let the boys play until dusk.

Then we went home and threw them in the tub to thaw out...

Thanks McAllisters, for letting us destroy your peace for the weekend...

[I didn't get any pictures with Lindi (college roommate and coolest person in the world) but it was SO good to see her and way too short]

Veggies

We made these vegetables the other night and they were so good. Who doesn't need a little inspiration to make eating vegetables more fun? The magic is in the combination of these particular veggies (so don't leave any out) and, of course, the seasoning. Found it here.

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 medium carrots (about 3/4 pound), cut into 1 1/2-inch thick circles
• 1 1/2 cups Brussels sprouts (about 1/2 pound), halved
• 4 cups red bliss potatoes (about 1 pound), cut into 1 1/2-inch thick slices
• 3 medium parsnips (about1 pound), cut into 1 1/2-inch thick slices
• 1 cup sweet potatoes (about 1 pound), cut into 1 1/2-inch thick slices
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried rosemary
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Grease an 11 by 17-inch baking sheet pan with extra-virgin olive oil. Place vegetables in baking sheet and add the dried herbs, salt and pepper. Toss well, evenly coating all the vegetables with the seasonings and oil. Add more oil if the vegetables seem dry

Spread the vegetables evenly on a large baking sheet. Place on middle rack in oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes.

There was also this thing called Thanksgiving...

I can't believe I forgot! Here are some photos of our Thanksgiving with the Staceys. 

Grandkids help Grandpa feed the pheasants

The kids found a branch stuck in the air and had some fun with it. 

Boys can entertain themselves for hours with piles of leaves.

This picture was accidentally shot a little late but I decided to keep it because this is how I always think of Ella. Her blonde hair blowing in the wind and she runs off to the next activity...

And of course a friendly game of flag football

When we got back from visiting family, we spent Saturday morning having one last hurrah with the McAllisters before they left. We thought Luke would love this "House of Bounce" filled with giant inflatables. As soon as we walked in he squealed with excitement and jumped off to climb up to the first giant slide. 

NOT!

No, instead we walked in and Luke dragged his near lifeless body to the soft cushions and lounged around, whining for about an hour.

Reece having fun:

Luke:

  

Little Duke having fun:

Luke:

Will having fun:

Luke:

Finally as things were dying down a little, he caught on to the whole "this is the coolest place ever" concept and spent the last 40 minutes or so having a blast. Maybe he was just having a shy day? Maybe he was sad because he realized this was the last real play date with his best friend? We'll never know.

 (I know, essentially the same picture, but he's just such a cutie!)

We also jumped the gun that weekend and found our perfect Christmas tree. I really loved our Christmas tree. We only got rid of it this past Thursday. I think I could have kept it up all year.