Britta's Wedding, Mother's Day, Dad's 60th and Memorial Day Camping

We have been pretty busy this month. 

All good stuff. Here's some of what we've been up to...

Britta and Eddie's Wedding

My cousin Britta got married! Here are all the b-maids and maid of honor, Kim (next to me).

Beautiful bride!

 

My date :)

The newlyweds cutting the cake

And apparently that is all the pictures I got of the wedding. Too bad, everything was lovely. The lack of pictures must have been the combination of being in the wedding party and being sick during the wedding and ceremony. Lucia had a wonderful time with her grandma Debbie that weekend but I didn't get any pictures of that either. Once I finally tried, Lucia was crying to get the camera so it didn't really work out.

Mother's Day

The cousins hanging out behind the pastor's pulpit after church (one of the twins is missing). Way too much action to get a clear picture.

The newest mom-to-be in our family! Anne is due in October.

We had a great lunch with my family then headed to my grandparents place. All the kids (and they're parents) headed to the pool. Lucia is getting more comfortable in pools and had a great time.

(Even though you wouldn't believe she is having fun by her non-smiling face.) Also, I managed not to get a picture of us together on mother's day, oh well.

Some randoms...

Lately Lucia has really been warming up to people very quickly. Seen in the above picture when she was whining and begging to be in Janine's lap even when she was already holding Zeke.

I am amazed I can ever get pictures of Lucia these days. She wants to hold the camera so bad every time she sees it. I have lots of pictures like this one.

My Dad's 60th Birthday Party

Setting up

Surprise! He was so surprised that he didn't really say anything and had a dazed/glassy look on his face for a while. Mission accomplished. He thought he was going to be babysitting.

 

I guess the bed outside reminded Lucia that it was her bed time. We thought it was a fun idea for seating.

Sorry Darlene!

Another one of our fun seating ideas was a couch under the the swing set.

The bluegrass band we hired was great!

Lots of good food

The guys enjoying the band

The drinks station

We even used our dad's wagon without him realizing we took it

Blurry but cute desert signs

Gwen had some fun on the monkey bars/couch arrangement

And Sonia ended up falling asleep on the bed. She said she didn't want to leave until everyone else did. Plus, the mattress actually was her mattress anyway so she was a little stuck.

Always good to end the night with a fire. Sometimes its the best part.

Almost the whole fam (missing some of the kids). What a great family to be a part of.

And it was so fun to celebrate our dad with family and friends!

Some more randoms...

On a walk to the park by our place. Usually when we're walking past someone on the sidewalk, Lucia waves to them, staring until they walk by then she quick turns to walk the same way as them. It's pretty funny and people don't really know what to do with the awkward stare-down.

Memorial Day Weekend Camping

Apparently very busy on her phone

Cute little Zeke

Manu and Lucia

Already good friends

Manu's hulk pose

Ashley and Lucia

They actually rode like this for a while

Our attempt to take a picture of all of the kids on the camping trip. It will be fun to watch this group grow and grow up.

Lucia was giving Zeke a kiss. We'll have to keep this one for the wedding :)

It was a great weekend, as usual. The weather could've been better but all in all a good time was had by all. I wish I took a picture of the sweet canopy concoction I made over Lucia's pack-n-play to keep the heat in (yes, it was that cold). Lucia's wing of the tent just keeps getting better and better. She loved being outside all weekend and getting to take off and go exploring wherever she wanted. And it was wonderful for us to spend time relaxing and having fun with dear friends.

Back to Food...

I realized that I kind of stopped posting my fave/own recipes. I don't know why because I haven't stopped cooking. In fact, I have made many blog-worthy dishes lately, many that I wish I had written down. Here are a few that I want to remember.

 A muffin and a biscuit...

 I like making food for Lucia. Store bought food tends to lack options and then gets boring. Plus, not always so healthy. I like to have food on hand too since Lucia eats fast, like double-fisted-get-it all-down-as-fast-as-possible kind of fast. 

These two recipes fit the bill.

Cheesy Corn Biscuits


The Recipe (basically from the side of a can of corn)

• 1 can corn
• 2 cups Bisquick/pancake mix
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup shredded cheese (I used cheddar and queso fresco)
• pinch salt

The Method

1. Mix ingredients until soft dough forms
2. Drop dough into biscuits on parchment lined baking sheet
3. Bake for 8-10 minutes in 450 degree oven

I give them to Lucia plain but for us I made a scallion, Parmesan butter to schmear all over it. Definitely worth the extra effort.

Oatmeal Yogurt Camping Muffins

The Recipe

• 2 1/2 cups oats
• 1 cup yogurt (I used peach flavored, but if you use plain yogurt then just add some sugar to sweeten)
• 1/2 cup apple sauce
• 2 mashed bananas
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda

The Method

1. Combine yogurt, apple sauce, bananas, baking powder and baking salt
2. Add oats and fully combine
3. Pour into muffin tin
4. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes (or a little less if making mini muffins)

The reason I call them camping muffins because they were my ingenious solution to Lucia wanting to eat first thing in the morning when camping last weekend. And it worked well! (besides the shrill screams when I would leave the tent to go get them). I thought they were not the best tasting muffin I have ever eaten but who cares...Lucia loved every last one of them and they're healthy. Check and check. You could use 2 eggs instead of apple sauce but I prefer to not have to worry if the muffins are fully cooked when I leave them soft for easy eating (plus Lucia reacts to eggs).