Happy Weekend!

We're wrapping up a great weekend!  The kids and I came home Friday night, and we just picked Daddy up and headed into College Station for a family movie date.  (That's another post for another day...it was Noble's last movie for a while.  And yes, I'm sighing.)  When we sat down for breakfast yesterday morning, we agreed that we would a) stay in Brenham this weekend and b) not worry about getting LOTS of stuff done, but just focus on getting a couple of things done.  So, we did...and we did!  

I won't bore you with the details, but we did get a lot accomplished this weekend even though that wasn't the goal.  Most importantly, we got Sami moved into the big yard (wait 'til you see what they did to her house!!) and we got the deck spiffed up and yes, sanitized so we're ready for outdoor meals again.  We pretty much literally spent the whole weekend outside, which was lots of fun.  Noble still loves his swing, and Kayci has introduced him to jumping rope.  Well, he's not so good with the jumping but he does love to follow her around carrying his own jump rope.  

James cut down the two big trees (or bushes, we're not sure...all we know is that we and everyone we know has "almost" gotten hit trying to pull out onto Stone St.--the things were a hazard.  And ugly.)  in the corner of the yard, and the random trees in our side flower beds.  We had fun yesterday making a few trips to the dump to take the trees and a load of old Sami hay...I don't know why going to the dump is entertaining, but it is.  Our next "big" outside project is going to be tearing out all 4 flower beds around our house.  We're going to take every thing out, including the lumber edges, and rebuild them from scratch.  Our goal is a more organic shape and to choose plants that we actually LIKE.  We'll also replace the trees with a bed in the corner of the yard, but that might be more decorative grasses, etc.  We'll see on that one.  

I guess the point of the post is, we've had a great weekend.  We were accidentally productive, and it feels good to have our outside back.  :)  I thought about Grandpa a lot this weekend as I worked on the deck...he'd be happy that I FINALLY cleaned out those gutters!...and got it in tip-top Grandpa shape.  It's hard to explain how I feel--this weekend I've really missed my Dad, but I felt close to him, too, doing the things that we used to do together and doing things "his" way.  James and I have talked about this a lot, about how sometimes when we're doing something we can just hear him talking us through it like he always did.  Those times are both painful and joyful, and I think that's a good way to sum up a lot of what I felt this weekend.  

Summers around here mean time spent outside and of course, time spent eating outside.  We try to eat fresh food as much as possible during the summer, which is time-consuming but so satisfying!  Yesterday our wonderful neighbors gave us a bag of veggies from their garden, and we paired their tomatoes with our basil for our first-ever Caprese Salad.  It was gorgeous AND delicious...this one's a keeper!  

GoGo, Angus and Adam came out for lunch today, and we had a nice afternoon just hanging out with them. After they left, we headed to the Aquatic Center. Tomorrow both kiddos start swimming lessons, which will be fun. I hope! Either way, I'm sure we'll keep you posted...