Sunday, June 22, 2014

a good weekend.

Weekends are so much fun in the summer.  There is always something going on in Mason City!

FRIDAY

We got to go visit Kerri and baby Reese!  Here they are...doesn't it look like Jude is protecting her?!  And they're holding hands...this was so adorable I was almost in tears over it!


I fully intend on using this in the future when they're preparing to go to prom together...


Just so much cute.  Look at that beautiful little girl's face.  I can't get over it!


We went to one of my favorite restaurants, The Quarry, to hang out with our friends Loni and Riley and baby Everett (a play date for Jude!).  Friday Night Live was going on in the nearby park, so we listened to the live music and had some of the famous tapas.  I LOVE this place...the food can't be beat and the atmosphere is beautiful and relaxing.  We ordered wings, artichoke feta dip, edamame, fried pickles, and mussels.  Amazing!

I left after an hour and hopped over to Trinity to sing for a wedding rehearsal.  Oh wait--first I realized I'd forgotten my guitar and iPad, so I went home to get them, THEN I went over to church.  On the way into the church I almost fell over in the parking lot because I was wearing heels.  I hadn't worn heels since Christmas.

Here are the dads cuddling the babies!


The rehearsal went quick--it was more like a sound check--and I went back to the Quarry.  
Here we are, the mamas with our boys!  


*Sidebar* Loni and Kerri's babies are both stars in this post.  I adore having so many girlfriends that currently have new babies or are expecting babies.  When we were all pregnant this winter, I had them over for a Pregnant Party.  We ate an embarrassingly huge amount of food, drank fruity mocktails and NA beer (which tasted like JUNK, yuck), watched Baby Mama, and talked about all things pregnancy and baby.  It was so fun.  Now, a lot of those babies have been born, and the rest of the gals still expecting are in their third trimesters!  I think we should have a big huge baby playdate to celebrate all these new little sweethearts... :)

Jude lasted until about 8:00 in the humidity and wind, and we headed home.  I love coming home early.  I love doing the "bedtime" routine with Jude.  It doesn't happen every night, but it is so precious and I am excited to make it routine as he gets older.  Bathtime, pajamas, nurse or pacifier, swaddle, bedtime story with Daddy, rock, and sleep.


SATURDAY

Saturday was a BUSY day.  I was a little worried about trying to do everything with Jude's unpredictable schedule.  Luckily, Tom's folks came over and spent the day with us and that made it a million times easier to fit everything in.  I was able to shower AND do makeup and hair all before we left!  Hallelujah!

First stop: GREEK FEST.



 I look forward to Greek Fest every year.  It's like a holiday in Mason City!  It takes place in the parking lot of the beautiful Greek Orthodox Church.  There is music, dancing, AMAZING food, and a fun atmosphere.


I snapped a few pictures of the dancers.  I loved watching the kids dancing with them.  I was wishing I hadn't worn super uncomfortable flat shoes...the dancing looked like so much fun!

But the main event, ALWAYS, no matter what, is ...

THE FOOD.
OMG.


First:  my staples, Spanakopita and Dolmathes.  I could have eaten more and more boxes of dolmathes.  Oh they are so good.  They are grape leaves stuffed with meat and rice, covered in lemon cream sauce.  Spanakopita is a phyllo dough/spinach/feta creation...mmm.  They were both perfect and FRESH.


Next: Tiropita!  These are phyllo and cheese triangles.  They're one of Tom's favorites and they were delicious.


Third:  Baklava sundae!  I was starting to feel very rotund at this point so I think I managed a couple bites.


Finished off with an authentic Greek diet pepsi.  LOL.

It was so hot outside.
Jude's pants didn't stand a chance.

We decided to head home after realizing it wasn't much cooler in the shade.

Next on the agenda was the WEDDING!


I love hearing our talented music director, Kim, play piano.  It makes the waiting time before the wedding starts, go much faster.


The memories of our own wedding come flooding back whenever I do a Trinity wedding.  This church is so beautiful.



After the wedding it was time for Tom and me to head over to Clear Lake for date night with our friends Adam and Kati, and a few more of their buddies that were back in the area.  We went to Sips for some food and a drink on the patio, then over to Lake Time Brewery.

I only took two pictures during our date night.  Here is the first:


Tom and I ordered a flight.  Since I'm nursing, I'm only comfortable with a few sips here and there, so this was absolutely perfect...I could taste four different beers and share with Tom.  I don't remember all the names of these, but I liked the one second from the right the best.  That one was called "Rusty Rudder" and it was a brown ale.


So then THIS happened.  No, I didn't drink the entire 4 oz of porter all by myself.  I did, however, DROP THE GLASS AND SPILL IT ALL OVER.  It was all over me, all over the table, and all over Adam's friend Matt whom I had just met.  And this is coming from the person who can only have a little bit to drink!

People shouldn't go places with me.  Seriously.


We came home to this.  :)  Back in his cradle, of course.  The crib will happen eventually...but this is just too precious.

SUNDAY

Today I had the rare treat of playing in the worship band at Covenant WITHOUT a single bit of my singing voice in the mic.  I used to play bass there all the time, but I've been worship leading for the past couple years which means it's either guitar or piano with a microphone for me.  Today I got to be a part of the rhythm section again and it was so much fun.  It was nice to not have to sing.  I love leading, but I also love to be a part of the fabric once in a while.  It was fun. 

My parents came over in the afternoon and helped us clean up the house for another SHOWING...maybe this one will be "the one?"  I AM SO HOPEFUL.  We've had a ton of showings ever since Jude was born...and it's time and a half for one of these potential buyers to be a real buyer.

Mom and Dad had to get some cuddle and smile time with little man, naturally.  Jude just loves my mom.  It's so sweet.  :)



Have a wonderful week, everyone!  Since it's Monday, which is Man Candy Monday, I'll leave you with this...


This was taken during our honeymoon, before we went to the Cubs game.  I just think he looks really hot in this picture.

Cheers! 
Love, Betsy

3 comments:

  1. Not to get technical, but as young as they are, isn't it more of a "lay date" than a play one? :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love the pictures Betsy!

    ReplyDelete