Memorial Weekend Starts with Impromptu Date Night

It feels like we've been especially busy lately so, heading into the long weekend, we made a decision to try to have some quality family time together. Then Matthew got invited to go spend the weekend at the lakefront cabin of one of his classmates - to which Karri and I agreed (Matthew is very excited and will, no doubt, have a ball). They plan to leave this morning (Saturday), so we had tentatively planned for a family dinner on Friday night... until Victoria, who had spent the afternoon at a friend's house, got invited to stay for a cookout with a few of her other friends' families. Shortly thereafter, Thomas called to see if he could have dinner at a friend's house and hang out with his buddies before his 7:30pm basketball practice. Then Matthew got invited to go to the pool with a few of his classmates... You get the idea.

All this to say that Karri and I ended up having a nice (though brief), impromptu Date Night dinner at home. She had planned a delicious meal for the family of steaks, baked potatoes and salad - good, simple, delicious, and something we don't do very often. I mixed up a couple martinis, we dimmed the lights and lit a few candles... great stuff.

Table for 5... 4... 3... 2!

Of course our solitude didn't last long. Matthew called mid-meal to ask for a ride home. Shortly after I brought him home and we had quickly finished our dinner, Victoria called for a ride. While Karri went to pick her up and I cleaned up the kitchen, Thomas arrived home from practice. Karri stayed to have a glass of wine with our friends and the boys and I were in bed by 10:30. Karri and Victoria were home minutes later.

The modern 'Family Night' I suppose.

We send Matthew off in an hour. Karri and Victoria are making a batch of cookies for them to take. I'm intent on getting some yard work done today before the forecast rains arrive this afternoon. Thomas is playing in a basketball tournament this weekend and has 2 games tonight. No rest for the weary. Regardless, we are looking forward to a fun, long weekend - whether together or not!

Cinco de Mayo (belatedly)

3 posts in 24 hours... I think I'm back.

Just a quick note (and a few pictures) about our celebration of Cinco de Mayo on Sunday. Our dear friends, Jana & Roy, who live just up the hill from us, invited us to their house for a small fiesta with a few other friends.

It was a gorgeous Spring day and Jana & Roy have an amazing view of the Puget Sound and the Fauntleroy/Vashon ferry - so I grabbed our camera as we headed out the door. I'm glad I did.

The view from the deck - ferry dock in the foreground, Olympic Mountains in the distance.

Ferry headed from Fauntleroy to Vashon Island

Cheers to my girls!

Love that view

Karri and Jana have known each other since their first mom's group when Thomas and Ellie (Jana & Roy's oldest) were 2 weeks old. The kids are 15 now - and classmates at Seattle Prep. We used to live around the corner from each other (still in West Seattle), but both moved about 13 years ago. Still neighbors... just a little further apart.

Jana and Karri

Roy loves to give Matthew a (good-spirited) hard time

Lifelong friends - Ellie & Thomas

Our friend Jim, whose wife, Amy (who was returning from a girls' weekend)
was also in the Mom's group (with daughter Shea) with Karri and Jana

Our friend Jon (his son Blake is same age as Thomas, Ellie and Shea)

Karri made fresh guacamole and salsa. Roy was pouring margaritas that went down way too easily on sunny, warm (82 degree) day. And Jana cooked up some delicious pork to go with fresh tortillas (you know how I love those!). It was a feast. What a great day!

Weekend Miscellany

A random, but fun end to the weekend...

Matthew went to a dance on Saturday night. Thomas had his buddy Axa spend the night, as his parents were out of town for the weekend. Karri wasn't feeling well, so was in bed early (Victoria too) while I waited up for Matthew to get home.

I ended up watching 'Almost Famous' - a Cameron Crowe movie about a 15-year old rock critic in the 1970's. It's loosely based on Crowe's own childhood - he wrote for Rolling Stone magazine when he was a teenager, covering the Allman Brothers, Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Neil Young and others. The movie had some odd parts but, overall, I really liked it.

We had a mostly lazy Sunday morning. Karri decided to go to the local urgent care center to get the seemingly inevitable sinus infection diagnosis and a prescription for antibiotics. We're hopeful that will get her healthy soon. I took Jack for a walk/run, then came home and made pancakes for the kids.

For some reason, I got the crazy idea that I was going to make chicken and sausage gumbo to have for dinner during the Super Bowl. I'm not a cook. I've never made gumbo before. In fact, the only soup/stew I think I've ever made has been out of a can. It just sounded really good, I thought the kids might like it, and I was hoping to give Karri a break and keep her out of the kitchen for the day. Our Cook's Illustrated cookbook had a recipe that sounded delicious and not too tough. So once I cleaned up after breakfast, I headed to the store with my shopping list.

Matthew was itching to get outfitted for lacrosse so, while I shopped, Karri took him to Sports Authority to buy some  equipment. A friend has loaned us some equipment that their son has outgrown, but we still needed a few other items. Fortunately, they were able to find everything (we think) he needs. Matthew is very excited!

All geared up and ready to go

I came home and got to work in the kitchen. It was a little stressful at times but overall a fun experience. I had definitely never browned flour in the oven before and was pleased that I did it without starting a fire (seriously)!

I served it up during the 2nd half of the Super Bowl. Everyone said they liked it... but they could have just been trying to not hurt my feelings. I have to say though that it was pretty tasty.

Chicken and sausage gumbo

A fun cap to the weekend.

Leftover Heaven

Saturday afternoon we got caught up watching some of the college football rivalry games, then decided to have a casual dinner with some of the Thankgiving leftovers.  Oh man.  Sometimes I like the leftovers even better than Thanksgiving dinner.

I picked up a loaf of fresh sourdough bread and some havarti cheese, and Karri grilled up some amazing turkey sandwiches.  I loaded mine up with lettuce, avocado, cranberry sauce and dijon mustard. I'm pretty certain it was the best turkey sandwich I've had in a long time.