Finally feels like summertime :)

This past weekend just screamed summer.  Perfect timing, I suppose, with Friday being the first official day of summer and all!  The weather tried to ruin the good times, but I feel like we all persevered, and made the kick-off weekend of Summer 2013 a very memorable one!

Here’s how my family & friends celebrated…

What better way to end the workweek than with a Friday afternoon backyard BBQ in honour of one of my fave little girls??

My niece Neve turned ONE in style – sporting a snazzy bathing suit while she played with her pals at her new water & sand table, and we all chowed down on BBQ’d burgers & dogs, salads, fruit, chips & of course… birthday cake!!

Nevie LOVED her first taste of cake, and even stole her friend Grace’s piece! ;)  She was absolutely adorable as always, and was just a  real superstar all evening long.  Happy 1st Birthday, baby girl!

 

After Neve’s party, I met up with my friend Brenda, and we made our to my cousin Donna’s for “Wing Night at the Wingnut’s”.  We hung out on the porch, chatting, laughing, and listening to great tunes, enjoying the warm evening & celebrating the arrival of SUMMER!!! :)

On Saturday, I was up early to go for a jog/walk, and then spent the rest of the morning doing another closet-purge (seems I have to do them every few weeks now!), before getting ready to head out to Lindsay’s for an afternoon bridal shower in honour of Amanda.

 Photo stolen from Lindsay’s blog

I spent a great couple of hours visiting with the girls, enjoying delicious snacks, and showering Amanda with gifts & good wishes! Her wedding is less than a month away now, and it was obvious that she’s getting VERY excited for her big day :)

After leaving Lindsay’s, I went straight to Brenda’s to meet up with her and Sarah.  The plan for the evening?  To head out to the Market in Ottawa for dinner, drinks, people-watching, and to see friends of ours who play in a cover band.  Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t really co-operating, so the “strolling around the Market” part didn’t really happen.  We opted instead to head right to Fatboys Smokehouse - the restaurant where the guys were playing – for dinner and to hang out there for the evening.

We had a blast!  We stretched out the food over the whole evening – everything from deep fried dill pickles, onion rings, fried green tomatoes, sausages and cheese,  french fries, a Chicken Club wrap, deep fried Oreos, pecan pie, and even a brownie WITH BACON ON IT.  I kid you not.  (And it was pretty good, too!)

It was our first time being out to hear The Young Bucks – we’ve seen Randy, Troy, Rory & Mitchell play in several other bands over the years, but I was excited to see them now, together again and doing country and rock covers that were right up my alley.

We also dragged Brenda’s son – and my Godson – Cowan along with us to Fatboys, and I had so much fun hanging out with him too.  Hard to believe my boy is graduating high school this week!  For those of you who have been following my blog for awhile, you’ve seen pictures of Cowan here before.  Brenda just recently sent me a picture she found of us when he was just a baby… Check out the comparison from then til now…

 Circa 1997

Saturday June 22, 2013!!

All I can say is… WOW! hahahaha!!  We’ve come a long way, buddy!!! ;)

It was so much fun to just hang out with Brenda, Sarah & Cowan, trying crazy things off the menu, listening to great music, and visiting with the guys in the band too! 

And that brings us to Sunday.  It was our annual church Sunday School picnic at the Alary Farm, and though the skies were overcast, we gathered to worship in the muggy outdoors, enjoy delicious food, and had an awesome time playing games like potato sack races and egg races!

Nancy leading worship in a relaxed setting :)

My buddy Tanner!

Potato sack race… it appears my butt is getting whooped by a bunch of kids!!!

Nancy & the Sunday School kids, who presented her with a plate with all of their fingerprints along the edge – as a gift for her Ordination.  She was also presented a quilt from the whole Congregation.  Congratulations again, Rev. Nancy!

After such a fun, busy weekend, there was no better way to cap it off than with a relaxing trip down the Ottawa River on Jeff & Kerry-Lynn’s pontoon – and I got to do exactly that when she surprised me with a text that afternoon asking if I’d like to join them! Of course, I gladly accepted.  I LOVE being out on the water, and it was my first time on their boat.  The skies had cleared, the sun came out, I got my first sunburn… but man, it was worth it!!

Seriously… could it have BEEN a better kick-off to summer?!  I really don’t think so… GREAT times with family & friends, and so much to celebrate!

Unfortunately, the only problem I had this weekend was sticking to my “healthy eating ways” – and that was reflected on the scales this morning.  For the first time in months, I had no weight-loss to report on my weigh-in day.  In fact, it showed I have gained 1 pound.  But you know what?  I wouldn’t trade that pound for any of the great food & fun I had this past weekend!!  And I was proud of myself for sticking to my work-outs, jogging on both Saturday and Sunday, and getting several strength training sessions in, too.  As I always say… you win some, you lose some!

Hope you’re all having a fantastic Tuesday… and CHEERS TO SUMMERTIME!! :)

Linking up with Impulsive Addict and Shawn for Talk To Us Tuesday…

…as well as with Stacy Uncorked for Random Tuesday!