A couple of weekend aces

Our weeks have a tendency to border on monotonous--work is, well, work, and once we get home, life revolves around what we're going to have for dinner, what errands we have to run, and how much we can cram into the evening before the girls have to get ready for bed. Once they're asleep, we finish up our other chores and relax until I pull myself off the couch to figure out what I'm going to wear the next day so it can be ironed. Sometimes, our weekends can be a bit monotonous, too--what errands need to be run, what meals we're going to prepare, what groceries we need to buy--but the last two weekends, I think the Serrano family deserves a pat on the back for knocking those 48 hours together out of the park.

Last Saturday, we ran to Target, to Costco, and to the Mexican store in the scary part of Peoria that sells the. best. tamales. ever. The girls were so very well behaved at all our stops (cupcake goldfish never hurt) that it made a surprise we'd been planning even more special: after lunch, we took our first trip to the pool in town.

I was apprehensive--the last time I'd been in a bathing suit was 2008, and two babies and six years later, things just don't look like they used to. But Josh was supportive and at the end of the day, I knew I needed to get over myself, not just for the girls, but for me too. It was a great decision, because we had a fantastic time.

After the pool, we came home and relaxed, and Josh made pico de gallo, rice, and Serrano beans to go with our tamales--a great end to a great day.

On Sunday, we ticked another item off the summer bucket list and had our first family picnic. We went to the park at the top of Grand View Drive, where we'd had Elaina's one year pictures taken, and spread out a blanket and had our lunch.

Trying out the self-timer--sort of successful!

After lunch, the girls played on the equipment, ran the bases, and were visited by a ginormous wild turkey that appeared out of nowhere.

Running the bases

On our way home from the park, we stopped at Big Lots to get a big jug of bubbles and found some other summer accessories as well.

The girls played in the pool for a bit, and we blew bubbles. When that fun was finished, we came inside to relax, and we made a lemon sorbet to welcome summer even more.

As we finished dinner, a strong storm was blowing into the area, which made for some beautiful clouds.

The rain came down in sheets for awhile, but the storm wasn't destructive or long. The sun came out as the girls were taking their baths, so we pulled them out of the tub so they could see it, too.

This weekend was just as spectacular. Mom and Dad came up on Friday afternoon, and they accompanied us to the Claud Ellen Days carnival. They always make it a point to come up for Claud Ellen Days, if for nothing else to spend time with the girls and go to the parade. But this was the first year they made it to the carnival as well.

Because I am awesome at documenting things, I took zero pictures of my parents with the girls.

That aside, the girls had a great, great time. It was such fun to watch them. This was our fourth year going, and each year they enjoy it a little bit more. I will be so sad when they are old enough to go without us.

Arcadia got to come, too

pure joy

Later, when the girls went to bed, Mom made a copy of the genealogy she and my aunt have been working on. Honestly, I find it all so fascinating. On my grandpa's mother's side, we can trace the family line all the way back to a man born in 1668 in Ireland. And there are some pretty awesome names in there, too: Minerva, Newberry, Eliza. My favorite belonged to my great-great grandma's sister: Columbia Ann. (You can guess how quickly Josh nixed that as a potential name should we have any more daughters.)

I scanned some more pictures and am so thankful we have them--I know most families don't. I attribute it to the fact that our family is relatively small, and that the old farm house my grandma lives in is the same house where my grandpa was raised, and where his mother was raised, and who knows how many generations back were as well.

My great-grandmother, Nettie as a young woman

My grampa as an infant

Yesterday, Josh and Elaina got up early and bought donuts for all of us for breakfast, and we took Mom and Dad to Picket Fence to look around (and so they could meet Miss Stephanie). Then I took Mom and Dad to Peoria so they could look at getting a new camera. It was a successful venture, and we brought lunch home and relaxed a bit before it was time for the parade.

We met Rita downtown and settled into our seats and sort of noticed how quiet it was. Well, that's because the parade started at 1:00, not 2:00. Womp, womp.

This says it all.

All was not lost, however. Since missing the parade had been my mistake (but seriously, when do parades ever not start at 2:00??), we took the girls back to the carnival for two rides and a chance to play one more game. Elaina got a blowup dolphin, which she accessorized when we came home.

Rainbow dolphin

Mom and Dad left not long after, and this time the only tears shed were mine. (They are leaving for Kenya with Rachel, Lips, and Nehemiah next week. I have been vacillating between being so excited they get to go and dreading their absence. Usually I am about 60/40, but when they pulled out of our driveway yesterday, it was about .0000005/99.999995. Only four more weeks til they're there and back, right?)

Today was a wonderfully lowkey day.

After a few weeks' absence, we made it back to church, and I got a few pictures of the girls in their matchy-matchy outfits (thank you, Zulily).

Still haven't figured out how to get them both smiling and looking at the camera at the same time...

Chasing a butterfly

After church, the rest of the day has been filled with relaxation, playing, and reading (just shy of halfway through Gathering Blue, the second book in The Giver set, and it is already amazing). And to top it off, Josh made quadruple berry preserves which are, for the record, amazing.

Strawberry, blueberry, black raspberry, and red raspberry

All in all, quite a successful four days, indeed.