Marme's Here!

My mom arrived Wednesday afternoon and will be here for 6 days.

 We are all pretty excited.

Weekend Happenings

Hello, friends. How was your weekend?

 Mine started on Friday morning with a visit from one of my best friends from high school, Alysa. She was driving from San Fran to Santa Barbara and popped in for brunch with her friend, Amanda. 

What is it about seeing old friends that is good for the soul?

 Of course the boys went right in to showing off, Monkey-see-Monkey-do style.

 And Bennett took Lys down to Carmel Beach to prove his Sea Turd status.

 It was too short of a visit, but worth it for sure. Miss you already, Lys. Come back soon for a whole weekend!

Friday evening we met our friends Cassie, Drew and Baby Soph for a beer, then came home to put the boys to bed and have a relaxing evening with our DRV.

Saturday morning at my house looked like this: Trains, playdough, Army football on the computer, Auburn football (ugh, let's not talk about it) on the TV, and o look, there is me in the mirror (this will be the last time I show up in this post).

After some naps (by all of us), we headed down into Carmel to a playground C found on a tourist map. He has been talking about it for weeks and gave us the very specific directions. It was a little underwhelming when we got there, but I think his pride in navigation outweighed the lack of equipment. 

 Plus, swings make everyone happy. (You saw this picture I posted yesterday, right?)

 Afterwards, we walked downtown and got the boys some ice cream.

 And played makeshift musical chairs in a courtyard.

 Saturday night we experienced our first little Earthquake (nothing too serious, just a shaky house for a few seconds) and Sunday morning made it to mass at 11. Right past our church, there has been a pumpkin patch with bounce houses set up for the past few weeks and every week C begs us to go. This week, we caved.

 And we made one little boy very happy.

After that we went out to lunch at Compango's Deli in Monterey. We met the owner, who happened to be named Bennett, and he asked us what B's middle name was. After we told him, he pulled out his driver's licence and there it was Bennett Paul, just like our boy. What are the odds? He then gave us free cake. Obviously, we will be going back.

Sunday involved more naps, an 11 mile run for Kev, the park with some friends and then this moment. 

On Friday, Alysa asked Cullen if he likes his brother, his response? Um, yes. He's my best friend.

Can't ask for more than that, can I?

Weekend Update: Mom Left, We Found Sun (Shocker)

My mom left early on Saturday morning (you can see her re-cap of the trip HERE) and later that morning, we headed out to Carmel Valley to catch some sun.

The end of the cloud.

We started with a hike through Garland Ranch.

Father of the year, right here.

We found out that Cullen gets bored with hiking as quickly as his Mommy does.

And then went down to our secret Carmel River entrance. Apparently B is as solar powered as the rest of us.

 Saturday evening, we had a BBQ with friends (under some heaters) and I took zero pictures, then Sunday morning we {tried} Church. It was a good thing that the homily was about how life is supposed to be hard and if it wasn't hard, then we wouldn't need faith. Deacon Warren might have been talking right to us as we were trying to contain squirmy, shrieking Bennett. If anyone has tips for getting a toddler to enjoy Mass, I am all ears.

After two boys took 3 hour naps (and maybe one Mommy and one Daddy dozed off on the couch), we drove up to the Moss Landing Produce Stand and realized we have been paying way too much for our fruits and veggies at the grocery store.

For $35 we purchased 8lbs of oranges, 2 jalapenos, 7 ears of corn, a pineapple, organic romaine lettuce, two packages of raspberries, 3 baskets of strawberries, 6 tomatoes, 3 large avocados, bananas, 3 large zucchini, 10 kiwi, a bag of cherries and 4 apples. Ah-Mazing.

 Then we drove down to the beach and found an Army ship in the harbor.

Sunday night we grilled some artichokes (recipe to come!) put two boys to bed and watched a little TV. A night relaxing Sunday for sure.

And now we head back into the week, the best week of the year: college football starts on Thursday! Are you as excited as I am??

How was your weekend?

The Perks of Being a Marme

You think crazy is cute.

You love doing puzzles.

You teach boys about Jello-O.

You get to be one of the girls.

You have wine for lunch on a Thursday (while looking fabulous in a new top from a childless-shopping trip with your daughter).

You are easily suckered into buying a new toy by a toddler seeming to say "please".

 You babysit while daughter and hubby go out on a much needed date.

Thank you, Marme, we are still glad that you are here. (And sad that you are leaving Saturday morning.)