4th of July Weekend

Wow....we had an amazing 4th of July Weekend! It was full of fun from start to finish so get ready for a lengthy post.....and you thought people expecting a baby didn't do anything fun anymore!

Friday night my sweet husband offered to pick up the groceries and cook dinner for his sweet wife....that is an amazing gesture....not that he offered to cook but that he offered to cook for someone who doesn't really "cook" that often for him....it is usually a Bertolli kind of night or leftovers from the one night I did cook situation in this household. This was a real treat!

Orie wanted Mexican which pre pregnancy I would have been all over but during pregnancy sounds gross.....we compromised with shrimp quesadillas....shrimp sounded incredibly exciting! He made a delicious meal and we spent the evening chatting away and enjoying each other's company.....also making our plans for the rest of the weekend.....

Saturday I was up very early....what's new.....and Orie slept in a little bit. Then we were off to Top Golf so Orie could "practice" aka inflate his score during the day time! It was a perfect morning. I have never been to Top Golf in the morning and I have never played downstairs....it was really fun. The chairs downstairs are AMAZING and were way better than that sorry excuse for a chair last week....I had a nice misting fan blowing on me that at some moments felt like I was under a waterfall and other moments was just refreshing! Orie hit some great balls and managed to leave with just one new blister. About halfway through he took a glove out of his bag that looked like it has been in that bag for 100 years....I asked him where his brand new gloves (that I gave him for Valentine's Day were?).....no response to that question.....I can tell you where they are....still in the Dick's Sporting Bag hanging on the coat rack in the laundry room - untouched and unused! Oh Orie....

For those of you concerned about my "safety"....specifically Carie....I did not play all morning with Orie...I only hit a few balls and it really wasn't too hot....so have no fear! We sure had a good time though! I am also a much better shot pregnant....must be that center of gravity thing!

morning time at Top Golf...ahhh....peaceful....

Orie getting ready....


and a swing....

the old glove....at least he's wearing it I guess...

my awesome fancy chair....so comfy....

Afterwards we went to Target....not for shopping but for an Icee.....you see they are the only place in town - that I have located - that sells real Icee's....not Slurpees (which are not even close to an Icee...sorry Texans).....it was HEAVEN....they even sell Blue Raspberry which is just magic....I have indulged in this guilty pleasure a few times this summer and loved every moment of it! I think Orie thinks I am crazy that I would drive to Target, walk in, visit the food area and order an Icee....again - SO WORTH IT! It was very refreshing after our Top Golf morning. Don't worry...Orie wasn't left out....he got an iced coffee from Starbucks!

That afternoon Orie offered to wash my car for me....it was a nice gesture...especially since he poured a drink out the window all over the side of my clean car the other day....not a pretty sight once it dried! I of course offered to help him too and we had so much fun outside. My car has never looked better.....

We also decided to test out the sprinkler system because I haven't heard it kick on lately....sure enough...it wasn't on for some odd reason....so Orie fixed that and ran through each station which Grace loved.....she is a sprinkler fanatic (does anyone remember the post about the sprinklers in Carl Shulz Park in NYC....?) I am not sure our grass gets any water if she is out there when the sprinklers are running! I had fun spraying her with the hose too....she did not have fun with this! What a magical afternoon!

That night we got all pretty and went on a date for Orie's birthday to Sushi Axiom....don't worry....you didn't forget his birthday....it was last September! He got a gift certificate to Sushi Axiom and we were finally able to use it....Orie loves sushi and I am not really a fan so anytime we think about going he suggests something else so I will like it too....what a nice husband....this time though I said nope...we are going to eat sushi! It was such a great evening....the restaurant is a little NYC ish and Orie said the sushi was AMAZING....I enjoyed the great company, the atmosphere and another wonderful date with my husband. Happy Birthday Orie!

Sunday we got up and went and got iced coffee from White Rock....we took Grace (they give her a treat which makes her day!!!) and on the way home we kept her windows down so she could go on a squirrel hunt. There are squirrels all over our neighborhood and they just hang out in everyone else's front yards....she goes crazy when she spots one. This time she had her paws on the window and I really thought she would jump out for a second.....so that was the end of that! Orie says she did almost jump out of his car one time....oh dear! When we returned home we noticed that a pesky bird (he must have been friends with some of those squirrels) left his business on my freshly washed car...boo! So we washed that part off again and then decided to wash Orie's car. It has never looked better either! We washed his inside too....it was awful...that boy is sloppy sometimes!

After another afternoon outside I was due for a little nap....which I took without a problem and it was great....however when Orie woke me up it was 5:00....this was the start time for his boss' 4th of July party....woops! We showered and got ready in record time and were at her house in our Patriotic best by 5:50!

The party was so much fun! It was a family party and they had a jump house, fishing in the UP pond, a catered taco dinner, ice cold Shiner Bocks, the ice cream truck for dessert, a festive 4th of July drink (champagne, cranberry juice, and fresh berries....I had one with sprite instead of champagne and it was delish!) and lots of other adorable touches! Orie's boss is always so nice to include us in their parties...they have some nice friends and we really enjoyed our evening! I especially enjoyed choosing my dessert from the ice cream truck....literally the ice cream man's truck was parked in their driveway for the party....I chose a push pop with orange sherbet, lime sherbet and raspberry sherbet flavors....it was so refreshing....Orie first chose a bomb pop but they were out so he had to go with a Watermelon version of the bomb pop instead....I don't think he had much to complain about though!

After the party....I pretty much showered and crashed...I think Orie might have put on a movie but I really can't remember. Gosh it was a fun day !

It's not over yet....we had all day Monday for some fun! Actually....Monday turned into a work day but a fun work day to say the least!

It all started with some pesky weeds in our front bushes. They just wouldn't die and I was really not having fun trying to pull them out. So I enlisted Orie for some help. We decided we would pull the weeds out and then get some wood shavings/mulch for the beds....simple enough right?
Well, two trips to Home Depot later....we now have.....

weed free front bushes and beds....beautiful mulch in the bushes/beds.....a chopped up old tree stump in our front yard now has new soil and fertilizer on top of it.....

isn't it beautiful?

flag flying high...with some nice new mulch underneath....

this was what started the project....it used to be surrounded by a bed of weeds....

we have rocks in our backyard bushes and around the air conditioning unit....

this project started because of the mud around our air conditioner....it transformed into rocks for the whole back of the house!

i really like the way it looks and hopefully the yardmen will STOP blowing stuff in my bushes now that they are so pretty!

and that AWFUL bush by our back door is GONE!!!!!

Ta-Da!

This is how the bush removal project went down....gosh I wish I had a pic of the whole bush before he hacked off the top of it. It was so ugly and grew like crazy. We HATED it....however....on this particular day it was Orie's idea to remove it...thank the Lord....because if it had been my idea on this particular day with the way it went down - Orie would have KILLED me!

the bottom of the bush....some pesky roots underneath there.....

this is what those darn roots did to our new awesome tool.....Orie hacked at it forever.....

the bush...more affectionately known on this day as the devil....it WAS NOT coming out of the ground

seriously...it did that to our brand new tool.....

when something doesn't go as planned....you improvise....and when you're from Louisiana you learn how to improvise pretty well.....

Orie was so proud....

I drove...and look....no more bush in the ground!

it was awesome! we laughed hysterically at our accomplishment!

We also have new wood blinds on our back door (I was so sick of those pesky neighbors...yet again!)....

aren't they fab?

William's swing is assembled....

Orie smiling for this project.....it was technically before the bush incident...

assembly in progress...

almost finished....

and there it is....a Fisher Price little lamb swing!

and we have a new possum to join our family! Grace was out front with us during the weeding and mulch installation and she was going crazy on the front porch. I assumed it was the lizard that I saw on my way out. I finally walked back to see what she was doing and she was in our bushes. I knew she had found something so I stepped up the steps to look down and see what it was and this is what I found.....

a possum playing possum.....

I immediately got Grace away and wondered if it had bit her....thankfully no...even though she has her rabies vaccination and the possum was small it would not have been good....and....gross.....Grace was not happy about going inside the house after her find but since there was no hope of her leaving it alone we thought that was the best place for her. After she went inside I got a better shot of the possum....he stopped playing possum and decided to just take a rest....

little possum just resting....

this is how close he lives to my front door....I hope he doesn't decide to come inside one day....

What a day.....!

Orie and I kept saying over and over again what a fun weekend we were having.....we really do love eachother's company to an extreme....we think it's because in NYC all we had was each other so we better have fun! We hope your 4th of July weekend was full of fun, family, friends and a little bit of patriotism!