Our Weekend - the one before our Anniversary

Y'all this weekend totes rocked! We were chock full of all the things and got quite a bit accomplished as well...one can never complain about crossing things off the list ;)

My weekend actually started early on Thursday.  I worked on Thursday and Thomas took the girls over to visit with his parents for the night...I had an extremely rare evening all to myself.  It's been a while since I've slept at home alone all by myself and I have to admit that I didn't hate it!

Thursday night I finished up my "naptime project" that I've been working on...shutters for the windows on the back side of the house.  I got them all put together and then just needed to wait for Thomas to get home to hang them up.

On Friday, I got to sleep in until about 7am and then I got lots of things completed...it was so easy without little toddlers at my feet the whole time.  I finished up the laundry, washed all the bedsheets (and made all the beds), vacuumed the house, mopped the house, cleaned/organized the kitchen, watered all the plants and even made a wreath to go on Finnley's door.  I got all the supplies at Michaels and it is my new favorite thing!  I also got to catch up on some TV and then Thomas and the girls finally got home around 1:30 in the afternoon.

We went out for an early dinner to pizza and it was so good.  Totally my kind of pizza: pesto sauce, goat cheese, chicken, sun dried tomatoes and cashews!! So freakin good.  Of course Ellie wasn't a fan because there was no pepperoni or red sauce but Finnley adored the crust, so we'll call it a win.

After dinner we made the rounds at Target and ToysRUs where we scored this adorable Shimmer and Shine (Finnley's favorite) mini backpack for Finnley on clearance for just $1.98!!! and Finnley has barely let it out of her sight since.

It was finally cool enough for us to attach the shutters when we got home and y'all I can't even remember what this part of the house even used to look like...all I know is that the difference these make in giving the house a "finishing" look is unbelievable.  I love it so much that I'm hoping to build two more sets for the front of the house before the end of the summer!

On Saturday we  made a trip up North to a new Zoo to celebrate my nephews birthday!  Ellie and Finnley had so much fun checking out all the new animals (Ostrich and Hippos), while I had fun catching up with my sister.  The kids got along great and watching Ellie walk around the zoo with her little cousin hand in hand was the sweetest thing ever!!

there was a boy who had his face painted like a Gorilla and this ape was not amused , he seemed to be very angry and not pleased with a Gorilla being so close!

obviously this girl gets overjoyed at the thought of going on the carousel!

After our trip to the Zoo we decided to try out a local burger joint that routinely has a line down the road...we somehow were able to time things just right: got one of the 8 parking spots in their free lot, got the last booth inside, and were only the 3rd group in line to order our food!  Y'all our food at Red Mill Burgers was so good!  We shared a bacon burger, fried mushrooms, and fries and then we each got our own milkshakes: chocolate for him, peanut butter for me.  Totally worth the wait and I would for sure go back...as long as the stars align again for us ;)

After the Zoo and lunch we headed back home where both girls fell asleep in the car...we were able to transfer one but not the other.  So Ellie and I got ready to head to one of my former students' wedding (with Bitty in tow).  They're high school sweethearts and a solid couple in my book.  Their wedding was so much fun, totally them, and totally laid back...there were ping pong tables, a whole area for the kiddos, basketball, volleyball and a giant slip'n'slide down an incredibly steep hill.  We got to take a hay ride from the parking lot to the ceremony where another former student of mine joined us and it was so nice to catch up with her.  Ellie so enjoyed the ceremony asking me after each bridesmaid "is that the wedding girl??" finally the bride walked down the aisle and then Ellie was all wondering when it was going to be time for them to kiss.  Once the ceremony was over Ellie was interested in checking out all the games, she loved the ping pong, the kids toys and then there was the talk about the water slide and she could barely contain herself...thankfully I had some extra clothes in my car and we changed her out of her "wedding dress" and into something that could get grassy and dirty. She was super excited about the whole idea of the water slide, then it was her turn and she chickened out, then she fell to peer pressure and made her way down and I had to carry her kicking and screaming to the car when it was time for us to go home!!  So glad she loved the waterslide...maybe now she'll dunk her head in the pool?  Needless to say that all weddings from here on out are going to pale in comparison because I can pretty much guarantee that there won't be a giant water slide.

On Sunday we headed out to a playground that is right next to a golf course that they used for the PGA US Open.  The views are spectacular despite the smokey haze we've been experiencing here in the western PNW lately.  The girls loved the playground and so did we, it's definitely going on our return to list!

I have finally decided on my cruiser bike and picked it up in the afternoon then we hooked everything up and went on our very first ever Family Bike Ride!!  If you read my post a few weeks ago I didn't mention Thomas weight loss journey...he's lost around 60 pounds and a great deal is to tracking our calories but also to his dedication to running and cycling, so having all of us out enjoying one of his passions was a high point to his weekend and I loved it too...so this might become like a family thing!!  The girls did fantastic, I loved having them hooked up to my bike for a majority of our ride because I loved listening to Ellie talk and then sneaking a look back every now and then and catching them holding hands!

We ended the night with books and songs and night night kisses...then Ellie joined us in our bed around 1:00am because she's going through a "phase" right now where apparently she doesn't know "how" to go to sleep nor can she sleep by herself because she "might" get scared at some point....this is four.