Summertime in the backyard

Finally, is summer really here in Indiana? I don’t want to get too excited, we could have a blizzard next week. But we sure are loving it.

California: A teaser

Listen, I know you’re all anxiously awaiting my racap of my trip to San Francisco (right?) but I just keeping getting reminded that technology is not my friend. I mean, I want to include photos from my phone but then I really don’t want to email each one individually (so I tried 3 at a time and that didn’t work). Then I remembered that Sprint has some photo viewer online and there has to be some way to access them. After 30 minutes of on online chat with someone who doesn’t do great with English I have ended up with one empty photo album.

Anyway, who says you need a whole book and step-by-by analysis anyway right? So here’s a bit of the trip:

Look at happy Emily showing us the streets of San Francisco! It was a good thing she was perky because after some morning car problems and barely making our first and connecting flight it was a little stressful getting there! (Note to self: Do not attempt this journey for 3 more years with kids.)

We cleaned up and went to our 9 p.m reservation at Flour and Water (by the way, that is 12 a.m. Indiana time, which is approximately 4 a.m. in mom-with-a-1-year-old time. Evidentally though if I’m surrounded by friends, booze and world-class food I do not feel the effects of fatigue.

Seems like everything was smaller portions there. Which is fine by be. Honestly, I do not NEED a burrito to be as big as my head.

They didn’t have the bone marrow topping Emily had once posted about, but some of our toppings included leeks, egg emulsion and pea tendrils. Who knew?

Maybe Emily can remind us what this is. All I know is chocolate + sea salt = delicious.

She is probably explaining it right in this picture.

What can I say? We love taking pictures of ourselves.

And here we are later at a bar after dinner. I think it was 6 a.m. at this point.  Impressive, huh?

To be continued …

Target’s summer shoes

I feel like I owe it to Target to give them a shout out for all their great summer shoes. For all the great bargains they’ve given me, the least I can do is tell my millions dozens of readers about them.

First, I’ve been eying these little cuties for a while:

However, and I hate how old I sound when I say this, I think I need something more supportive.

So, I bought a pair of each of these:

They have a little more padding and a very soft sole.

And of course there are some sexier styles I would like …

But let’s be honest, I’ll probably be in my backyard or at the zoo more than anywhere else this summer.

Oh yeah, vacation!

Vacation was so good. I forgot what a real vacation is like. I mean, don’t get me wrong, we take fun family trips, like camping, and going to waterparks, and a recent trip to the Indy museum was very awesome. But if you’ve ever camped or taken kids to a waterpark I don’t think a word you would use to describe your time would be relaxing.

I feel totally recharged. And I feel like I am appreciating my kids even more.

I asked Ella what her favorite thing about the week was while I was gone and she said “you coming home.” How sweet it that?

She had a blast while I was gone though, don’t be fooled.

I’ve been searching the photos from “daddy’s weekend” – which is what Steve calls it and they had a pretty good time. A pirate birthday party, a trip to the zoo, a couple nights at grandma’s house. I think they had as much fun as I did.

I guess I’ll just have to go again next year, since it all went so well.

(More on my trip as soon as I can find the time, I promise!)