Birthday Weekend

Rob and I just returned from a weekend away (without the kids) to celebrate his birthday!  Here are some of our pictures.  We had gorgeous weather, and aside from the lady at the ice cream shop, we didn't see one person!  Pure bliss. 

best part of the day - coffee on the deck

the newly finished facing on the cabin addition

breakfast - local peaches with fage and honey

hiking

searching for cell phone signal

top of the hill on our hike

hors doeuvres - smoked salmon spread with crackers

dinner: crabcakes, green beans, roasted potatoes, parmesan tomato, baked peach

dessert - soft serve!

we saw lots of deer on our drive home from the ice cream shop

Sunsets and Such...

As promised, I will share some of our better pictures.  The great thing about taking lots of pictures, is the likelihood that some of them will actually be flattering!

We had beautiful weather in Florida - the afternoon thunderstorms would hit around 4:00pm and then cool the air and create the most beautiful lighting and sunsets imaginable.  I haven't edited any of these pictures, the colors are all natural and even though we didn't coordinate our outfits, I think some of them turned out well!

White Chocolate Truffles with Lemon

I'm not normally a white chocolate kind of girl - but after I tried this recipe, I was pleasantly surprised. This is the perfect little bite for entertaining and you can totally freeze these for a few months and then pull a few out as needed.

I found this recipe on pinterest and the ingredients number in the single digits.  Like, five.


 

 

White Chocolate Lemon Truffles

• 1 cup white chocolate
• 5 Tbsp. salted butter
• 3 Tbsp. heavy cream
• 1 tsp. lemon extract
• icing sugar, for dusting

1. Melt chocolate, butter and cream over a double boiler or in a microwave. Stir until smooth.
2. Stir in salt and extract. Allow to cool slightly before covering with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 2 hours or until firm enough to handle.
3. With a melon baller or small spoon scoop out mixture and form into 1 inch balls. Toss with icing sugar to coat.
4. Store covered in the fridge for up to one week. Freeze for longer storage.

Beach Pictures Gone Wrong

With the facebook craze still going strong, vacation pictures are popping up everywhere.  I'm guilty as charged: I just downloaded 22 of our better pictures.

Our first night on vacation we walked onto the beach to watch the sunset and could hear some guy screaming at our kids.  His family was trying to take a picture (in their matching white shirts and khaki shorts) and were annoyed our kids were in the background.  Rob very quickly marched up and reminded him that they were set up right in front of an entrance to.a.public.beach.  Anyhoo.....

As I was poring through my pictures to post on facebook - you know, the ones where I look thin, the kids have a nice smile, and we all look our best, I was reminded of this.  A past post where I reminded myself that a picture, while certainly capturing a moment in time, rarely tells the whole story.

So, I thought I'd post the misfits.  The pictures where the kids were annoyed.  Where I look hideous.  The awkward photos I probably should have deleted.  Because, guess what - that's real life. 

hideous, right?

bad attitude central

still grumpy

probably bossing Kate or Emma around

no clue what I'm thinking here

look at Josh and Jonas posing

then there's this winner

weird, just weird

I look horrendous here - the hair, the fake smile, everything. blech.

is Emma trying to get away from us?

I have had nightmares about this picture since I first saw it.  yuck.

So, there you have it.  The beach photos that look more like real life than the carefully posed, matching all-smiles profile pics.  Not pretty, is it? 

We did manage to take some decent pictures.  We have at least 120 sunset pictures (yawn), and about 57 of Josh doing a 360 on his skimboard.  I'll spare you.  I do promise, however, that I'll post some good pictures soon.  It's kind of like when you want to "get the taste out of your mouth".