Life Lately

On Labor Day we took a two hour walk, run, and hike as a family. It was beautiful weather and a lot of fun. We need to do this more often. We brought the double Bob stroller with us, but Ellie was out the entire time and Summer, most of the time. Ellie and I ran together for at least 10 minutes at one time and at a few times Summer joined us. It was great to run with Ellie and Summer by my side. When I was pregnant with Ellie I would think about doing this one day with her. I'm glad she enjoys running at age 4!

After our hike we had lunch, then went to the pool until dinner. Ellie swam underwater for the first time! The past week or so she started dunking her head under and Monday she put the two together. Up until last week she would only swim with her head out of the water. I didn't want to push her into doing it when she wasn't ready. I am so proud of her and I know she is so proud of herself. We will definitely keep up with the swimming and get her into lessons during the year so she will be free of the puddle jumpers for next summer.

Summer started saying mommy and daddy last weekend. Except she emphasizes the words and says "mom-mee" and "dad-dee." It sounds so cute, but I also love when she calls me "mama." She is saying so many new words these days I can't keep up anymore. She loves to say "watch!" and "weet" (wait!) and "me!" (of course). One of the funniest things she says is "not!" She means to say "Ellie is not doing it," but she shortens it to just "not" instead of "no." We don't correct her or Ellie with anything they say because we love the way their minds think and speak. It won't stay this way forever. 

Ellie is all about saying when she will do things in terms of weeks or ages. For example, "when I'm 6 I will sleep in a bed all by myself all through the night." And, "in 17 weeks I will do ballet."

This week they filled up their Happy Jars and I rewarded them with a trip to Toys 'R Us for a new toy. Their limit was $20 each and they both picked out $10 toys (works for me!). Ellie picked out two new My Little Ponies and Summer chose a mermaid baby. They were very excited!

Sunday night for dinner I had homemade pesto sauce in the fridge so I used that to make pesto pasta (the girls favorite). I also made shrimp kabobs on the grill. The girls love seafood and Ellie couldn't get enough of the shrimp. For dessert, I had ripened peaches and have been wanting to make grilled peaches all summer. I finally was able to make them before the girls got to them first. I looked on Pinterest and found a ton of recipes.
Grilled Brown Sugar Peaches

I washed them first, cut them in half and removed the pit. I sprayed our grill and heated on medium high heat. I first placed the peaches skin side down for about 5 minutes. Then, I sprinkled brown sugar on the flesh side and flipped them over for another 5 minutes. The results were amazing. So delicious! Would have been even better with vanilla ice cream, but also may have been too filling. I had a half of a peach with the brown sugar and it was so satisfying! 

I wanted to share a few things I bought from Trader Joe's. There are so many goodies in this store my list could go on and on of my favorite items. First, these mini pancakes are perfect for busy or quick mornings or for a snack. Summer loves them. I am addicted to these pita crackers. My Mom just informed me yesterday that they also have a whole wheat version. These mini ice cream cones are kid-sized. I try not to have one since it's never just one. They are perfect for the girls. Instead of the ice cream I will eat a few of these trail mix cookies. They are so good!

This cold brew coffee caught my eye. I haven't been drinking coffee lately, but find myself needing something some mornings when I don't get enough sleep. Sunday afternoon I had a late cup (1 part coffee to 2 parts skim milk) and I had trouble falling asleep that night. Yesterday morning I had another cup early in the morning and I felt jittery the rest of the day. I've never felt that way from coffee before and maybe it's because I haven't been drinking it. It is really good though. If I have another cup I'm going to do a half part and see how I feel. I'm not going back to drinking it everyday. I was drinking so much last winter and when I cut it out completely I had headaches at first, but believe it or not I had more energy, my mind felt clearer, and I felt better. I don't feel like I need it everyday now, but I like the taste of it.

I'm working on our summer recap post and a few house updates. Check back soon!