A Weekend in the Windy City

A Weekend Away....

6 hours in the car for a trip that should have taken 4...1 missed wedding ceremony...1 hell of a reception....1 beautiful bride....5 old friends together again....met 1 "new" boyfriend (loved him)..... 1 30th birthday celebrated (not mine, Kristina's)....Visits with 3 Chicago friends (Katie, Jillian & Teague)...2 hangovers...1 trip to Ikea....LOTS of fun!

Jeremy & I--we missed our girls, but had a blast!

"Kron", me, Becky, Molly, Michelle & Kristina

"Itchy Pants"

The girls got some quality time with Grandma & Grandpa Ash this weekend--The Children's Museum, McDonalds, Sunday brunch, park, etc. Thank you so much for allowing us the time to get to Chicago to see friends! It started before their weekend, the girls had a few bites last week, but I'm afraid to report, they are covered in chigger bites. I discovered after Addy kept saying "itchy pants" last night and not knowing what she was saying until I did a diaper change and they had all appeared. Poor thing. So, much to my husbands dismay, we may be in need of a little indoor play and no more dresses when we play outside for a while. Off to the store to stock up on benedryl.....

Addy, always concentrating on the task at hand...
Grandma Jody, Lilly & Addy

Lilly throwing the sand at the children's museum

Grandpa Dave and the girls he adores!

Thanks again!

I scream....

you scream...we all scream for ice cream!

We are off to Chicago tommorrow for celebrations--wedding & 30th birthday of 2 close friends. Addy & Lilly's plans?--Weekend with Grandma & Grandpa Ash...nothing but fun all around!

Bloghop...favorite recipe

I'm going to try participating in this bloghop today, just for some fun! Here's a fav recipe in our house.

Potato-chip crusted salmon

What you'll need: 1 side of salmon (this recipe is for 3 lbs, but you can do less or more), fresh ground pepper, 5.5 ounce bag kettle cooked potato chips, lime for zest, 1/3 cup chopped dill and 2 tbsp. olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 F, line a baking sheet with alumninum foil. Lay salmon, skin side down on the sheet, season with salt & pepper. Crush potato chips, lime zest and dill in a bowln until the chips resemble bread crumbs (you can also bag in a ziploc and have your kids help you crush). Mix in olive oil. Then coat the salmon with a thin, even layer of crumbs, pat gently so they stay put. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until chip coating is browned. Use 2 spatulas to transfer onto a platter or plates.

Enjoy!

Start here with your content.

Summer Fun Continues...

We've had a streak of bad luck around our house that sounded something like this: broken car (check), wrecked car (check), broken washing machine (check), broken internet (check), broken cable tv (check)...I could go on, but I won't, because no one reads this blog to hear about those things. So instead I'll talk about the many parks we've visited (check), the gymnastics facility open house we attended (check), our pool jaunts (check), playdates (check) and our pure-all-around FUN summer we've been having with Addy & Lilly!

Lilly never wants to swing for long, she'd rather explore, but this day was an exception...

Addy Grace--seriously the giggle on the swing should be bottled up and sold...

Friends + Park = FUN
On a rainy day, we headed to a local gymnastics center--soft mats, rope swing into this cushioned pit of soft squares and trampolines were just what Addy needed!

Lilly cautiously watched her sister attempt everything first, but quickly followed.
"Hey mom, can dad install some of this stuff in our basement?"