As if I ever need an excuse to light the charcoal, we had friends over twice this past weekend for a barbecue. Saturday welcomed Peter, Andrea and Michelle and Sunday Caswallon, Peter and Andrea. First time around we did burgers and hot dogs and second time it was grilled corn and pizzas. Lucky for me that Andrea commandeered my camera otherwise I would have no photos to share at all. She also brought chocolate fondue and her latest experiment, arugula pesto.
Michael bought a charcoal chimney for the grill and I really love it. So much better and just as easy as lighter fluid. We have since decided that we need to add grilling to the menu throughout the week and that we much prefer eating on the deck. We left our kitchen table out there (with a tarp in case of rain.) When the budget allows we will buy a picnic table but this works for now.
If you want to indulge your voyeur side, I’ll point you towards the flickr set I made with some of the photos. I particularly love Ivy trying to ride Damian’s petal-powered tractor. She seemed to puzzled that her little legs didn’t reach. This coming weekend I will have more om nom barbecue moments as we are taking the grill to the seventh annual Pagan Campout (thinking about taking my gauge and taking bets on how much rain we’ll get this year, yay camping in a rainforest.) Friends, bonfires and kettle grills, I couldn’t ask for more.
Having children gives you a bit of an odd sense of time, I cannot imagine a time without Damian and at the same time it seems like he was only born yesterday… But he just turned two yesterday! If a picture is worth a thousand words then I’d love to direct you towards the flickr set that I made for his party pictures, cuz that’s 59,000 words. Way more then I have the time to write right now (children rampaging, dishes to do, laundry to wash and fold, house the clean, dinner to make. It’s Monday!)
A few of my favorite though:
The Cake (I am so proud of this, the first “fancy” cake I’ve ever made.)
Ivy with her new hat!
I can’t decide which is my favorite of Nathan.
Damian’s new favorite ride, taking it for a test drive outside after I finish the aforementioned list. Right now he is piling all his wooden blocks in it with the help of…
… the grabby claw hand! Honestly I think everyone played with this thing. I’m loving Damian’s new spiky haircut, thank you Shannon!
And for a rundown of gifts (linked to the ones I could find being unwrapped/played with not already shown in this post.) Hope I didn’t forget anyone!:
What a list! I know birthday’s and spoiling come in the same baskets but holy molly! And you should have seen the wrapping paper carnage! With all the new toys & excitement bedtime almost two hours later then usual too. Damian seemed to really enjoy his big day, and his joy never fails to bring me happiness, so it was great!
Happy second birthday my Mr. Little Big Brain. I love you and I can tell lots and lots of others do too.
We spent a couple days this past weekend at Shannon’s family’s vacation home on lake Coeur d’Alene. Can you say BEAUTIFUL? And not just the location, in fact in rained on and off most of the time, it was the company that really made it magical. The lovely Shannon was there of course and our newly befriended Michelle (shall I mention 200 feet of rope was involved with her?) The ever amazing Andrea and Peter were there too (looking hot in orange no less!) and of course Michael, Damian, Ivy and me.
Yes, we can easily transition for from rope to knitting. Shannon learned the new skill from Michelle. By the time we left she had finished a washcloth and two dish towels I think. Ivy was her usual bubbly self, she turned 6 months old there, can you believe it? The night was a little rough on Damian, I think it was darker and quieter then he is use to, but beyond that he was so well behaved and we almost went without incident the whole time (an hour before we left he decided to throw himself in the snowfed lake, BRRR!)
(Running into the lake in 3, 2, 1… Maybe he felt the need to fetch the stones he was trying to skip?) After the initial cold shock panic, quick exit of all his clothing and swaddle in a warm towel, he was just fine. Resilience, he has it.
It was a slow weekend filled with lots of laughter, good food, more laughter and maybe a sprinkling of PMS for spice (hello thing I haven’t had since before Damian’s birth…) But slow living is good living in my opinion. Nature + Food x Knitting + Friends = Perfection
The lake was also kind enough to share some of it’s tiniest beauties for me to add to Graceful Symmetry. (The one of the tiny violet wildflowers is my favorite.) I have lots more beauty from the lake over on my flickr and both Shannon and Michelle posted about the weekend too.
(Speaking of slow living, the summer edition of Rhythm of the Home is out. So many inspirational and seasonal ideas, love it!)
