A Beautiful Weekend

Some weekends, you just have the perfect amount of events, family time, good weather and great food that by Sunday night you collapse into bed with a smile on your face.  This past weekend was one of those.

On Friday night, we went out to dinner to a restaurant at which Mr. JT himself has dined.  The food was delicioso, as Dora would say.  The kids got to spend time with their favorite babysitter/big sister who is home from Franciscan for the summer.

On Saturday we woke up and I made some banana pancakes, followed by a family walk.  Our family walks consist of Declan in a stroller (pushed by me), Xander in a stroller (pushed by Phil), and the other four kids all on scooters.  After we completed our 3.5 mile loop, we got in the car and headed out for strawberry picking.  We got sidetracked on the way there by our parish's car wash - how could we say no to smiling kids from the youth group begging us to pull in?  We had The Beast, so Phil gave an extra donation to compensate for all the extra surface area.  Then it was off to the strawberry field:

"Mom, take my picture."

The hard workers.

More lookin' than pickin'

Summer Perfection.

My sweet strawberry picker.

Proof: Declan was there too.

Say strawberries and cheese!

It was lunch time when we were done picking and the strawberries hadn't filled their tummies, so we went to their favorite ice cream spot (it's their favorite because they give HUGE servings) and had ice cream for lunch!  We drove by a house for sale on the way home that was built for a family of 11 (8 girls 1 boy!!) just to covet it from afar, as it is listed for $464,000!  I need to move somewhere that has cheap houses. Oy vey.

We went home for showers/baths and rest time, after I had cut Phil and Xander's hair, then to Mass at 4:00 where JP and Andrew served.  Xander narrated his way through Mass and said hi to the people he knew on the way up to Communion.  After Mass we went grocery shopping with everyone in tow, because that's how we do.  We first swung by the prepared foods area and got some chicken tenders for the kids to eat.  I took Xander, JP and Andrew with me and headed to the produce.  Phil took Declan, Eamon and Maggie and headed towards the dairy.  We met up somewhere amongst the baking ingredients as I was picking up the goodies to make Phil's favorite pie for Father's Day.  

On Sunday, after Declan had 10 hours of uninterrupted sleep (!!) I fed him, then went for an early  and loooong bike ride where I spotted 7 rabbits on the bike path (yes, I counted so I could report to Xander).  When I got home, Phil was making eggs and hashbrowns for everyone on Father's Day, just another reason I love him so much.  We ate, and he left with Andrew and Eamon to head to the 5k race they were running.  I finished up wrapping his presents, did some laundry and then headed out with the other kids to go cheer them on.  We completely missed Andrew, who had run ahead, but were able to spot Phil and Eamon!!

Phil is the handsome specimen looking at the camera and Eamon is next to him giving a big WOO-HOO.

Eamon was so cute, and started sprinting after we yelled his name.  We just got the official times this morning, and Eamon ran his first 5k (at age 7) in 30:16, 9:46 minute miles, and Andrew ran his second 5k (at age 9) in 24:48, 8:01 minute miles.  They did uh-maz-ing.  Before they all took turns jumping in the shower, I made them come back outside for a photo:

Phil: Don't worry guys, Mom will crop out our feet.

We met up with my parents for brunch, and treated my Dad and my Baby Daddy to a yummy breakfast.

Waiting outside so they could set up a table for TEN!

After brunch, we went home for nap/rest time and then back out to celebrate Father's Day with a cookout at my parent's house.  One of my sisters and one of my brothers were able to come with their families and all the cousins had a basketball game vs. the adults.  I made strawberry shortcakes a la Pioneer Woman from all the fresh strawberries we had picked and they were soooo good.  Try them.  Before I knew it, it was the kid's bedtime and we rushed back home for baths and bed to end a wonderful weekend.  If I could toast to this weekend, I would say "To many more!"