Cheers to our Independence

'Merica Tank

You know you had a great weekend, when...

• You're actually looking forward to Monday so your body - aka liver - can detox.
• You've consumed so many Coronas, you're confident the Mexican economy is going to have a great second half of the year.
• You were too busy playing with your kiddo and hanging with your family & friends out in the sun to take part in ANY of the great sales going on all weekend. Unless you count the fact that Hy-Vee had an 18-pk of Corona for sale cheaper than the gas station. So you bought two.
• In your morning TRX Cardio Bootcamp class, you can barely hold a plank for 15 seconds. Let alone drag your knee up to your elbow in that same position. #nothappening
• By the time you make it to the Starbucks drive-thru window on your way to work, your hand - and arm - are quivering as you accept your Venti Iced Coffee because you need caffeine that badly. And it actually takes you three tries to spell caffeine. Even with spell check.

And now for a recap...and the pictures. There are a lot of pictures.

Friday 
Friday consisted of working from home with little man plopped under his teepee during back-to-back movies. Wouldn't you know on the morning he could've slept in - lord knows he never wants to get up on school days - he wakes up right before 6am. Hence the movies. All the while, whipping up some festive treats for our friend's BBQ later that afternoon.

As you all know I'm a whiz in the kitchen, so getting this out of me, was nothing short of a miracle.

Yep. I dyed noodles for our pasta salad, which consisted of three pots of boiling water at the same time. That's the most action our stove top has seen since, well ever. Ok. I realize boiling noodles in food colored water isn't a feat, but it's me we're talking about. (Although I'm not sure these were worth the effort, especially since I let the water boil over the pots so much that it ruined our stovetop. And I haven't heard the end of it from Nick...)  I also made chocolate covered strawberries and mini s'mores - jumbo marshmallows on a stick, dipped into dark chocolate and then crushed graham cracker. Does anyone else use other people's parties to whip up your own favorite treats? I definitely do. It's like a green light to eat what I want so why not ensure I have some things I actually like. =)

The backyard party was a blast - little man was actually the oldest kiddo there. Love watching him playing with his cousins and our friends' kids. We ate, watched the kids swim, played yard games, chilled and took in some fireworks. It's a tad bit different than how BBQs used to go - meaning less kids, more shots - but I'm a pretty big fan of the way things are these days.

Saturday 
We got an early start and packed up for the day/night at my sister's cabin along the Missouri River. My parents met us all there and we immediately decided to beat the heat and take the boat out. I'm pretty sure this was Cruz's first time on a boat....but I don't actually remember. Is that bad? Let's just go with it. He was a bit hot and cold with the whole experience. And let's be honest, it's not like we were boating on a beautiful lake - the mighty Mo is pretty dirty and with all the rain we had to dodge floating trees and other objects that I'm not sure should be floating in rivers. We were only able to go down a few miles before we stopped at a sandbar and let the kids jump out and play in the mud - well, not my kid, I was a bit nervous to let him out of my sight and there was no way I was jumping out of that boat away from the cooler. Kidding. Sorta.  

It was a great day - just relaxing, letting the kiddos play in the dirt and run around the entire campsite, swimming, watching Cruz man wow with his wiffle ball skills, grilling, eating, drinking, sitting around the campfire. Until I did my ol' "well I guess Cruz is tired, I better put him to bed' where fell asleep myself, while everyone else hung outside until the wee hours of the morning. #lame

Sunday

We packed up and headed out somewhat early - it was nice to get home and unwind but the weather was just too nice to stick around inside so we pulled out Cruz's fish pool from last year (p.s. disregard the pool pic from last year...I didn't get any but the pool is just too cute not to share. Right?) I pulled my lounge chair right up to the edge so I could dip my foot while getting some color on my pale bod, while Cruz man walked around telling me the pool was for a baby and squirting me with a hose.

And that, my friends, is what makes a pretty kick ass weekend. Hope you all had a great one...and if you also food colored some noodles this weekend, please do tell! =)