Act 3; Scene 2: A Park in the Mountains with Dear Friends...What Could Be Better?

This is where we went this weekend for a picnic lunch

Can you believe the colors are already changing?! It's crazy. 

Here are some of the awesome things that happened at the park picnic:

New best friends (even if they don't know it yet) got to hang out  

We got to visit with our dear friends visiting from Florida, and they have a baby! Haha but they do look cute holding him. Tommy looks so long in this picture!

 Thomas contemplated his sports options with Terry

William decided he did NOT want his picture taken (but Annie looks gorgeous)

Long separated crazies reunited

All in all a very awesome day at the park up the canyon. And you know what? We stayed for five hours. FIVE HOURS. And Tommy was an absolute champ the whole day.

...Today not so much, but yesterday he was a complete champ.

Hope you had an awesome last weekend of summer!

Act 3; Scene 1: ...And Into Another Year

We made it to the beginning of year 3!

As I think back on this year of marriage bliss, my foggy sleep deprived brain can only think of a few things that have/will really shape our lives from here on out:

 and

...I think that sums it up for now.

And here is how we celebrated our special day

Candlelight take out!

Thanks to Mike, who works at Carrabba's, we got a delicious Italian meal right at home. Robert provided the beautiful bouquet.

 Robert ordered sausage and lentil soup, chicken bryan, and you can see our yummy chocolate cream dessert there in the middle

I ordered salad with scrumptious Italian dressing, tilapia--to die for! and a pasta side

Yum Yum!

It was great to be able to enjoy a nice dinner while Tommy napped. 

Here's to us!

And here are a few pictures just for your (and mine) enjoyment:

Turtle hat from Grandma Svedin. So cute!

Sportin the beach look

Act 2; Scene 54: Shopping Cart Hypocrite

One of my biggest, hairiest pet peeves is about shopping carts.

You know how when you go to the grocery store, and you're driving around trying to find a good place to park amidst the hundreds of other parked shoppers, and just when you find a great spot and you turn the car to park it and wham--there's a shopping cart in the middle of the spot right in your way?

So then of course you get made and drive to another open spot (seemingly open, that is) only to find another used cart parked right in the middle of the yellow parking lines.

Really, it's not until the 3rd or 4th try that you can actually find a spot that isn't taken up by someone's used shopping cart. 

The other day, there was a parking spot open right next to the stalls where you are supposed to deposit your carts after shopping. May I repeat--right next to. And guess what was in that parking spot?

Yup.

And then on the way into the store, myriads of dejected and deserted shopping carts are strewn all over the parking lot and store front in various areas. I always take a few back to the stalls on my way in and out cursing under my breath the whole time (not real curses, no worries).

This makes me so mad. Really, what is that hard about simply taking your cart a couple of extra feet or yards to the shopping cart stalls? Do we really have to be that lazy? Is it too much to ask to walk that far? Do you need an app so that your iphone can take it back for you?

A few days before I had Thomas (so I was 9 months pregnant) I was out in the parking lot putting carts into the stalls so that I could park, and frankly because it was annoying me. And I thought, So this is what it comes to? Leaving your cart for a 9 month pregnant lady to put away for you in the blazing sun?

Well folks...I have a horrible confession. I am now a shopping cart hypocrite.

Yesterday I made an outing with the baby, to a store I will leave unnamed (which store has aggravatingly small carts so that I couldn't fit the baby carrier inside one...). I had purchased a few things and the cart was overflowing due to the awkward shape of one of the purchases. I unloaded my things into the car, hauled the heavier than heavy (how will I manage it when Tommy's even heavier?!??!) baby carrier into its car seat position, and then looked at my empty cart. 

Hmmm. 

No cart stalls in sight for the abnormally small cart. I looked at the cart, and looked in the back seat at my baby. I then carefully placed the cart at the curb next to the parking spot in the most out-of-the-way position I could manage, got in the car, and drove home. 

To my chagrin. But really, what exactly was I supposed to do? Total hypocrisy, I thought. I have a little more sympathy for people leaving carts everywhere, because they probably have like 5 kids in tow. 

But I still don't think all of those carts left in parking stalls are due to new mothers.

Act 2; Scene 53: First Date Post Babe

We did it.

After 5 weeks and 5 days, we went on a date, sans the babe.

Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa McFarland.

And this is what we did:

Went to a show, of course. 

Thanks to our Pass of All Passes, we got free tickets to see Fiddler on the Roof at the Scera, about 5 minutes from our house. Perfect. 

We went with our dear friends, Lauren and Dustin

It is always fun to be outside in the summer for a show! 

But.....rainclouds started looming

About a half hour into the show, the clouds opened up and started sprinkling us with rain drops.

Everyone huddled under blankets to stay dry.

They stopped the show due to a wet stage (even though it had only been sprinkling for a few minutes very lightly). The show would resume when (if?) the rain cleared up.

waiting for the rain to clear up

 The clouds looked rather relentless, and we all thought it was going to get worse instead of better. And of course delaying the show meant lengthening the show which meant us getting home later which meant Grandma and Grandpa tending a potentially grumpy baby longer...we were beginning to freak out a little bit.

Fortunately, the weather gods smiled down on us only a few short minutes later, and we got to see the rest of the show.

We were bleary eyed, and the show was so-so, but we had a good time.

Now...when's the next date? Grandma? ;-)

Act 2; Scene 52: All Centers Love Ice Cream Cones

This one will be a quickie. 

Here's a little video that I caught this morning during "tummy time."

So close to smiling. Can't wait to see that more often!

Also can't wait to get that kid an ice cream cone--and one for me, too!