4th of July Guests

My brothers Boyd and Trent, and our friend Andrew, came to visit for the 4th of July. Unfortunately three days before they got here I started experiencing strong nausea and fatigue from my pregnancy. As a result, I wasn't able to entertain and run around with them as much as I would have liked, but we still had a great time visiting with them and having them here.


Six flags, games, movies, and bowling were just some of the activities we enjoyed.

Story time with Boyd.

Reading Peter Rabit.

Sunday dinner courtesy of Boyd and Andrew. Roast lamb, stuffed tomatoes, and roasted veggies with apples. 

At the Matisse art exhibit.

From the Art Museum 

One of my favorite pieces from the museum.

Blown glass ceiling instillation from one of my favorite artist, Dale Chihuly. 

Watching youtube videos of cows mooing, getting ready for Cow Appreciate Day at Chick-fil-A.

The siblings that dress up together, get free food together. 

Face masks, a movie, and a cheese party!

All the beautiful cheeses. 

Food, Food, Glorious Food!

Whenever Boyd comes to visit we can count on three things:

1. Lots of lounging around/relaxing while watching movies

2. Lots of game playing

3. Lots of good food!



It's time for cooking, baking, and eating!

Boyd's favorite: Apple Dumplings.

Shakshuka, or poached eggs in tomatoes and onion. Courtesy of Andrew.

So yummy! Serve with warm pita bread.

Roasted parsnips, new potatoes, sweet potatoes, and mushrooms with some pink Himalayan salt.

Roast lamb. Via Andrew.

Testing out the  cookbook we got Andrew for Christmas.

Gougère : Cheese puffs

Andrew treated us to crab legs!

Cheese party!

I'm drooling just looking at these pictures again. 

So yummy! These are actually served in hollowed out fruit! Find at a Costco near you. Perfect for a spa night. 

Boyd: the baby food whisperer

Homemade pizza with Great Harvest bread dough for crust. Yum!

Cinnamon rolls

Boyd and Andrew, come back soon! I'm hungry!

Race Track

The last night before Andrew and Boyd left town, Andrew wanted to go out and have one last hurrah. We went to a local track and raced go carts.

Boyd and Andrew went first racing against each other, and I raced last by myself to see if I could beat their times. I was glad that I had the track to myself so I didn't have to worry about slowing down to avoid hitting anyone else.

It was fun! But also a little stressful. Whenever I tried to really press the gas down the whole way, the entire go cart started shuddering. It kind of felt like I wasn't enough weight to keep the car down against the asphalt. So, I would have to ease up until it smoothed out.

I was also scared of hitting the sides because they made a big deal about how it wasn't bumper cars, and if you hit anyone (or anything) on purpose then you were done. I tried to go as fast as I could without losing control or bumping around. I didn't beat Andrew or Boyd's fastest times, but I did get progressively faster on each lap! So, I count that a win for me.

Ready to go!

Watching Boyd and Andrew race. 

Getting the low-down.

I'm so fast, I'm a blur!

It was a fun activity, and something that I would have never done on my own! It was definitely out of my normal comfort zone.

Lucy was pretty disappointed and sad when she realized that she wasn't going to get a turn. (Too short!) But, luckily for her Andrew bought her some Resse's Pieces to ease her pain.

To finish the night we went to Joe's Crab Shack for a yummy dinner.

SeaWorld

Andrew surprised us with tickets to Sea World! Thankfully, we picked a day that was a lot warmer than the one we to to Six Flags on.

We loved all the shows and seeing the animals. Lucy loved the kiddie rides and exploring everything. It was so fun! Zach and I even went on a few rollercosters together while Boyd and Andrew watched the kids for us. I was so surprised how short the lines were! We only had to wait one turn before getting on.

Sweethearts for life.

Waiting for a show.

Zach and Lucy at the top of the net climb. In the summer this whole area has a water park feature to it.

Lucy loving meeting everyone.

Andrew bought a few bowls of fish to feed to the sea lions. 

They even found one squid in the bunch!

Had to recapture our last picture taken here.

Pregnant with Lucy: March 2010

Sea World was a lot of fun, and another place that seems like a year pass would be worth investing in. Maybe after our year pass for the Children's Museum expires we will get a family pass to one of these parks! I like how they both have water parks/features for the summer months.

Children's Museum: Boyd Edition

We met up with Boyd and Andrew downtown and visited the Children't Museum together.

Now that Clara is a little older she made good use out of the toddler explore area. 

Rocking her Christmas presents outfit!