Birthday Weekend Fun

Last weekend we celebrated Mickey's and my birthdays with a little weekend getaway to Islamorada.  We're so lucky to have our birthdays one right after the other.  It sure does make for easy celebrations.  

Our trip got off to a rainy start...

There's nothing like a rainy day in the key to make you want a bloody mary...

While we waited out the weather with breakfast, a few cocktails and some window shopping, the boys had a blast back in Stuart with Aunt Abigail and Uncle Scott...

...obviously the weather cooperated for them better than it did for us.  

Thankfully the rain ended up clearing and we got out and did some exploring on kayaks.... 

...and on our bikes.

The boys continued to have a blast with the best babysitters ever...

We are incredibly blessed by Abigail and Scott who for three years in a row now have flown down on our birthday weekend.  The last two they've watched the boys for us and let us have a little getaway.  We are indeed spoiled by them!!

We had lots of delicious food in Islamorada, most of which I didn't even bother to document, but I couldn't resist photos of the paella and carrot cake that were delivered to us by our neighbors at the hotel late Saturday night...

....they definitely know how to help their neighbors put up with their crazy family reunion at the same hotel we were staying at.  :-)  I'm remembering that move for the future for sure.    

We finished up our Sunday morning with one last breakfast at Robbie's before heading back home to our kiddos and their wonderful caretakers... 

...breakfast with the birds never gets old.  It's always hard to leave.  

Abigail and I kept the fun rolling with the boys while the men headed back to work on Monday.  I talked Abigail into a 16 mile cruise around Stuart and Jensen via the bridges and island..

...thank goodness she's in shape and the boys are troopers.  It was much longer than I remembered.

We made sure to stop at the beach...

...and the park...

...we had one climber and one swinger thanks to a broken clavicle.  Hopefully Mason gets the all clear for all activities next week. 

After all that exercise, we were ready for some AC and books... 

...as well as a mellow evening at home with some burgers and family time.

Tuesday, we soaked up our last bit of Abigail time with a trip to Stuart ceramics...

...and some other downtown Stuart fun... 

...which ended with a stop at Kilwins to cool off... 

...we discovered some new favorite flavors we all had to share... 

....I'm sure it was all chemical and dye free ;-)...

...haha.  

It was incredibly fun to get some alone time with my man as well as some sister time with Abigail.  Now we're counting down the days til we get to see them again.  

Fast Boats and Other Fun in the Sun

One of these days, we'll figure out how to have less jam-packed weekends, but for now, busy seems to be the method that's working for us.  It usually results in really good naps too...

...I'd say that's an excellent bonus on a busy day :-)  

Our weekend kicked off with a little fundraising event on Friday night.  I volunteered to work at the Golf For Life Event at Carsons Tavern and had fun selling helicopter ball drop chances.  It was fun to be a part of such a great group of people supporting a very worthy cause.

Our Saturday included a few early morning errands before heading out to the Sailfish Regatta.  We're lucky and live close enough that I just ran there with the boys with the stroller...hence the little snooze pictured above :-)  It was a windy day at the races but we had a GREAT time watching the fast boats from the top of the bridge with our good friends Tom and Sheryl. 

Can you say windblown?? Haha!

All the cranes, boats, and views from the top of the bridge made for some great entertainment...

I'm not gonna lie...I definitely experiences some heart palpitations letting my boys get so close to those railings.  This momma doesn't love heights...

Fun times in Stuart for sure!!

We also hit up the library for Dia De Los Libros on our way home from the races.  What a fun event!  I love our library system and am looking forward to all the fun, FREE offerings this summer, especially the science stuff.  How cool!!

We spent the rest of our evening close to home, with taco and movie night once Mickey was back home.  It was a FUN day!

Sunday morning got off to a little bit of a slower start but I did manage to squeeze in my 21 Day Fix workouts (I had to double up after taking Saturday off...whoopsies!) 

I'll be honest...I love the workouts but am not a fan of the eating plan and as a result have done a terrible job of sticking to it.  Too much measures, counting, color coding, etc....I like the whole 30 SOOOOOOOO much more.  Protein, veggies, fruits, fats, 3 meals a day...EASY!  The one thing I've picked up that will be sticking around as long as I can afford it is the Shakeology.  I finally gave it a try and have made it my new breakfast of choice.  It's definitely a winner!!

Anyways, with the workout out of the way, it was time to headed to the water park for some more fun in the sun... 

These two are really coming around with their love for the water...slowly but surely we're making some progress.  It's fun to watch!

We made sure to get in some snuggles too... 

I sure do love my silly boys!!

We squeezed in some errands after the water park and then spent the rest of the day outside.  The boys took a long bike ride to feed the ducks and turtles AND ride through what they call the "tree tunnel."  It sure is peaceful in there...and so much cooler too :-)  If only all of our streets were that shady :-) 

Before we knew it, Mickey was home and it was time to wrap up the day.  It was a fun weekend for sure.

Mickey's car is in the shop this week which means we get to take him to work each day...which means we're up and out there door at 8...which means early morning trips to the park... 

Today the boys loaded up all their gear in the truck and said they were ready for vacation.  Cuties!!

They also had fun playing with their trucks without any chance of another kid trying to swipe one since we were the only ones at the park that early in the day....

...it's the little things :-)  

The boys spent the rest of their morning with their friends at their playgroup while I joined a friend for a walk, got a car wash, made some soup, finished the rest of my audible book...

(I recommend it by the way ;-)) AND I still had time to squeeze in a quick, VERY SWEATY run.   Summer heat is here folks...time to switch back to early morning runs or forget about it.  Bummer!

Thankfully, the rest of our day is appointment-free.  Time to clean the bathrooms and take a shower before the sillies wake up from their nap.  Maybe I'll even have time to tackle some of my other book...

I'm about 1/4 of the way done with it, and as usual, at least so far, Adriana Trigiani doesn't disappoint.  

Happy Monday!!!

A Weekend Well Spent

I know I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, but we had another great weekend spent  packing in as much fun as possible.  We started the fun on Thursday with a morning stroller run to the park...

...we followed up that fun with a brunch with some friends.  The rest of the day was spent doing the usual Thursday stuff, groceries, nap time, chores, etc.  

Friday morning kicked off with a stop at the library for story time and some bubble chasing fun...  

...we're still on the lookout for a book heavy story time.  My boys just aren't into the songs and finger plays but they sure do LOVE books.  It's not easy to find in story times, including the one I lead.  They're not your typical kiddos so they typical story time doesn't really appeal to them...guess we'll just keep doing our own at home and keep venturing out every once in a while to see if their interests change.  

They did get a kick out of the toys they could play with after story time... 

...at "their" library after we left the other library.  Yes, I gave in and took them to their comfort zone :-)

Friday we tested out a little Pinterest-inspired painting project....

...four leaf clover stamps made out of toilet paper rolls.  It worked!!

We finished up Friday with a nap-time stroller run followed by adult beverages and mexican food at Rancho Chico...

YUM!

We did a little shopping at Target after dinner and found some pretty fun hats...

...I hope I can get them on clearance after St. Patricks Day.  Aren't they cute??

Saturday morning kicked off with one of our favorite activities...

...we built bird houses at Lowes.  The buckets were a hit.  So were the goggles... 

...love my little safety guys :-)  Future scientists??!!

The fun continued as we headed south to Jupiter for a Spring Training game.  I love that we live so close to all of that excitement.  The Cardinals/Nationals game did not disappoint. Our seats were FANTASTIC...

...we caught some baseballs from the players...

...we got in a good dose of star gazing...

...and even got to see the guy from my hometown pitch...

...always cool to see someone from your hometown doing something amazing.   Needless to say, the boys fell asleep in the car on the way home...

 They did finally wake up and we managed to squeeze in a yummy dinner at Duffys before heading out for our last event of the day, the movie in the park...

...Turbo was a cute movie and it was so fun to watch in under the stars in Memorial Park.  There was a great turnout.  I hope the city of Stuart took note of the interest in this kind of thing and continues to entertain us in this fashion.  It was a great family event.

The fun continued Sunday morning with a bike ride to visit the Nina and the Pinta in downtown Stuart.  The boys had fun checking out the ship...

 ...and I tried not to be a total worry wart, thinking they were going to fall off the ship...

....Needless to say, this scaredy-cat kept them close... 

I'm glad we made the effort to check them out while they were docked in our town...

 ...I recommend you check them out if they venture into your neck of the woods.  

Next up was a stop at the park to enjoy the gorgeous day some more.  The tire swing was a big hit on this visit...

...before we knew it, it was time to head back home on the bikes to get ready for the next part of our day, a birthday party for a friend.  The big hit at that party was the motorized four wheeler...

Trying to roll through the sandy soil and pine needles was sometimes a team effort... 

...and the boys didn't bat an eye at the color of the bike.  So cute!

After all that fun, you'd think a nap would have come easily but we had to coerce them into a nap with a little stroller ride...

...works every time.  We even got some time to sit at the coffee shop after our run and talk without interruption while they continued to nap.  I'd say that's a success.  

We finished our day with some snuggle time on the couch, complete with viking helmets...

It was hard to see the weekend end.  We had so much fun.

Today was back to the routine...play group, errands, etc.  We did manage to find some time for some fun at home though too, including bubbles compliments of the party yesterday...

...the boys played with friends and continued to resist arts and crafts.  This was all they managed to make during craft time...

...yet they were very excited about painting the birdhouses they built on Saturday...

...we couldn't leave any spots unpainted.  They definitely keep me guessing.  

I had some fun myself while they played.  I had an extremely successful target trip where I got all this for $35...

...gotta love sales, coupons, and clearance.  4 shirts for the boys, a bag of coffee, a big bag of organic chicken nuggets, bacon, eggs, tuna, 2 eye shadows, peanut butter, relish, tortilla chips, and craisins.  Not bad, if I say so myself.  I love trips like that.  I saved over 50%.  

I also got in a great P90X3 workout this morning as well as a nap-time run thanks to the lovely time change and my boys that want nothing to do with napping an hour earlier than normal in their minds.  I'd say the week is off to a great start.  Time to hit the hay and hopefully finish my book club book before we meet tomorrow night :-)