Much fun and a lot of sun was had this past weekend. There was a swim meet on Saturday morning that lasted forever, but it was at "home," the kids swam well, and Cora had a fantastic time eating everyone's food and clapping for all the races.
I went home around noon to put the snack stealer to bed and then the meet went so long the big kids had to remain at the pool while James coached his lessons, so they didn't get home until nearly 4 (after arriving at 6:45 a.m. for warm-up). The big kids were still going strong, super pumped about a friend's birthday party at 4:30, but James walked in the door, said hi to me, and then walked to our room and appeared to hit our bed and fall asleep at the exact same time. Shoes on, hat on, and seriously dead asleep. I left him a sticky note in the kitchen with our location and proceeded to the party. We got home at 7 and he'd just woken up. Cora was in her diaper, some beads, and water shoes, so he knew everyone had had a great time.
On Sunday we went on a long family walk, he got to swim (for fun, in an indoor pool, though I still don't know how he craves more pool time), and during a magical hour while Cora was napping, I even got in the pool! My new bikini needed a test drive, so I got my full body pool float, kindle (in a ziploc bag for water safety), spa water, and bluetooth speaker playing my beloved Tween pandora station and floated about while the kids marveled at how I was "almost swimming!" They were so proud of me.
Then Cora got up and DEMANDED to be in the pool by banging on the glass windows in the sun room and pointing vigorously. She allowed for an outfit change and then walked right in the steps. This is my only picture because I had to immediately grab her when she walked off the second one and spent the next 30 minutes cheerfully trying to drown herself. She had the BEST time. It was adorable. And terrifying.
Which pretty well describes Cora.
When not swimming, we have been doing a lot of eating. Our menu for the week:
Sunday: steak (for James and me); chicken sausage (the Costco one with roasted red peppers and spinach for the kids because they don't appreciate steak); my new favorite salad (leafy green lettuce, finely sliced green onion, sliced snow peas, cucumber, mandarins, sesame ginger vinaigrette- so good!); bread.
Monday: Pesto Chicken Salad Sandwiches, chips, fruit. Sandwiches were awesome and Cora ate two bowls of the pesto chicken salad.
Tuesday: Skewerless Shish Kebabs (large diced chicken breast, pineapple, red pepper, purple onion tossed with TJ Soyaki sauce and spread on a baking pan and broiled for 10 minutes, served over rice, so delicious and so quick and easy!)
Wednesday: Tacos (though Claire was concerned they were not on Tuesday)
Thursday: Crockpot Red Beans and Rice; corn bread
Friday: Out! Somewhere with margaritas
Saturday: 4th of July Pool Party! We're hosting. I'm making this BBQ shredded chicken and serving it with Costco's pretzel buns and my mom's famous Vermicelli salad (plus fruit, veggies, and chips supplied by friends). You need this pasta salad recipe, it's so different and so good and goes with all BBQ and Cookouts:
Glenda's Vermicelli Salad
1. Break 1 (12oz) pkg of vermicelli into 2" pieces. Cook, rinse, and drain.
2. Add and marinate overnight in the fridge (I put it all in a gallon ziploc, works great):
1 T Accent
3 T lemon juice
1 T seasoned salt
4 T oil
3. Add the rest of the ingredients below and let set for several hours in the fridge:
1 chopped green pepper (about 3/4 cup)
1 c. sliced celery
2 small cans sliced black olives
1/2 c. chopped onion (I always sub one bunch of sliced green onions; I like the milder flavor)
1 c. mayonnaise
Everyone who has ever had it loves this salad. Our friends are bringing fruit and other sides and then I'm thinking about making dessert, just to make sure we have enough (James and I have high expectations when it comes to dessert quantities)- does anyone have a favorite 4th of July or summer dessert recipe? I'm not big on fruit in dessert (no pies!) which seems to dominate the 4th of July offerings, but am open to delicious suggestions!
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and Friends
1 hour ago