The partying continues

Kyle’s parents came this weekend!  They haven’t seen the kids since we visited them in Idaho 6 months ago so I’m glad they got to spend some QT with their grandkids.  They arrived Friday afternoon, when Kyle was still gone, which was a big help for me.  We had a crazy busy Friday morning before they arrived – with gymnastics classes and a Pinocchio puppet show accompanied by the Davis HS symphonic orchestra.

Breakfast of champs…fueled for lots of trampoline and bars and balance beam action.  Their oatmeal (steel cut) had mashed banana, raisins, hemp seeds, chia seeds, coconut, and maple syrup. I had some of the banana business.

The show was so amazing.  I was teary eyed with nostalgia about my own high school band experience (such fond memories).  P has the musical gene for sure and soaked up every second of the performance.  I don’t think he breathed from the second we sat down until the end. Because it was a kids production, the conductor introduced every instrument to the kids in the ausdience – first with the orchestra and then with the band – having each section’s first chair play a little solo to showcase their instrument. Each played a fun little tune that young kids would enjoy – like the Harry Potter theme song, Star Wars, and such.  P knew a few, V knew one (the piano played twinkle twinkle).  I loved it just as much as they!  Neither kid even minded that we were soaking wet (from the umbrella-less sprint around the block to get to the theatre).  It was raining SO HARD all Friday long.  I was totally freaking out about the weather for P’s party and checked the hourly weather forecast on my phone app no fewer than 20 times a day.  All weekend long. Anyway, the Pinocchio portion of the show was decent.  It’s kinda a weird plot, no?  P had lots of questions afterwards…but I tried to focus mostly on the music.  He got to go down and see the instruments up close after the show and the conductor even gave him the baton to try out with the trombone player.  🙂  What a cool thing.  I hope we can attend more concerts like this.  It was the perfect (free!) rainy day activity.

After we got home I stripped them out of their drenched clothes and fed them lunch so they could get some zzzzzs before Kyle’s parents arrived.

We spent the afternoon playing inside and then ordered sushi take out for dinner.

Huku just opened recently in our part of Davis, which is VERY lacking in decent restaurants (well, most of Davis is, to be honest), so I was excited to try it out.  We ordered a bunch of rolls and when I went to pick them up I saw some friends about to go in an eat there too. They had a good number of people there and take out orders lined up so I was happy to discover it seems to be doing well so far.  Hopefully it will make it!  After the WF closure, I’m nervous about local businesses!

Fantasy roll

“My favorite” roll

Temptation roll

An interesting take on the rainbow roll.  The fish was silky soft.

Futomaki (x2)

Salmond skin roll and spicy tuna roll.

 

The fantasy and futomaki rolls were my favorites.  Super delish.  But all the sushi was EXCELLENT.  This is officially my new favorite place to order out from in Davis (because we do that a whole 5 times a year! ha!).  I’m very likely to do this more often though.  And it’s close enough to walk to when the weather is nice, so that’s a big big deal.  YAY!

And we had leftovers too!  Hellooooo Saturday’s lunch! 😉

Kyle’s parents brought chocolate, which we busted into as soon as I got the kids in bed.

Sweeeeeet.

Of this bunch there are really no losers.  I couldn’t pick a top spot actually.  The Alter Eco has crispy nuggets in it that are divine.  The Lily’s is coconut bliss with their creamy stevia sweetened chocolate that I know and love.  But then there was the Ghirardelli’s that I probably ate the fastest. Cabernet flavored!?!?!  I NEVER expected to like this the way I did.  It’s like subtly berry flavored which doesn’t even sound good to me as I type it here, but you just have to take my word for it’s deliciousness.  I would buy all three again in a second!

Saturday morning I got to RUN!  Outside!  By myself!!  Kyle was home and I enjoyed every second of his help like never before.  I miss him too, of course, but co-parenting is like 1000 million times easier.  Especially when your husband is the most amazing dad.

Breakfast was a fend for yourself situation.  I had leftover pancakes for the kids, Kyle’s parents had eggs and bacon, Kyle had strata, and I had the last of my banana bake with cashew butter.

 

A while later we went to P’s first tee ball meeting (!!!) at our friend’s house.  This is going to be the cutest thing ever.  It’s all about fun, obviously, since they are 3-4.  They don’t keep score, each kid bats once per inning, every hit is one base, and the last person to bat gets a home run!

Go rockies!  Ha.

Lunch face plant.

After they ate, Kyle’s parents took P to Sac for Disney on Ice.  The birthday boy was very excited.  While V was napping, I made blueberry cake.  I baked it almost all the way, and then added blueberries on top for the last bit.

I also made blueberry icing.  I made it the same way I always do (solid portion of canned coconut milk + powdered sugar), but added in black and blueberries to make it blue(ish purple).

It looked like blueberry yogurt, but once it hardened in the fridge it looked like frosting.

Ta-da!

Kyle and I did a bunch of other party related errands that afternoon, and then went to Sac to meet the others post-Disney at Firestone Public House.

It was basically a sports bar, so I bought right into the theme and went with fish n chips.

Fried food has a drug like effect.

 

I packed an SB+J for little man.  He was soooo happy to see me and tell me all about Lightning McQueen.

Since he didn’t nap, by 6:45 he was really starting to fade.  We had a near meltdown all the way home, but managed to bath, brush, read, and get lights out without any tears.  Close call!

I set up crock pot steel cut oats the night before, so I had not much hands on cooking time in the morning. Kyle and I alternated workouts again, and then we all ate.

We were so very fortunate that the skies cleared up for a few hours that morning, and we were able to go to the park as planned.  The idea of 66 people coming to our house was a little much.

My sweet boy.

He liked his blueberry cake so much, and apparently so did everyone else.  Who know, maybe blueberry cake will become a thing?!?

The turnout was great considering how gray and gloomy it was leading up to the party, so it was hard to talk to everyone, but P got to blow out candles and hear everyone sing to him, and that’s really all he cared about.  The party was “no gifts” and I’m very glad about that, because now I don’t have to deal with finding homes for 40 new toys that he will play with for 5 seconds.  Not to mention the time it would take to write all those thank you notes. I’m a big proponent of the no gifts policy and feel like simple parties are the way to go!!!  I will hold off on the bounce house / clown / facility rental extravaganzas as long as I possibly can.  All he wants are sticks, which – I don’t know if you knew this or not – are free at your local park!  😉

Leftovers!  I dug into these as soon as we got the kids down.  My fam came over after the party for a quick sec but they all had PM plans and skedaddled pretty soon thereafter.

I added greens to make myself feel better.

My aunt and uncle sent P this marble set and I will admit, I am just as into it as he is.  We have played with it for hours since he opened it.

P was over excited and wasn’t falling asleep so after V woke up we gave up on his nap and headed to Costco.  Not my fave way to spend the weekend, but at least we were productive.

Sushi bowls for the babes (rice, raw zucchini, and tofu with tamari) and sushi leftovers for the adults.

Can you believe how much is still left even after 4 people went at it?

Plate number one.  Kyle and I both went back for a bit more, but there are STILL some rolls left.  I’m definitely saving it for a mid-week treat.

I wasn’t hungry for dessert, but still went to chocolate town.  Oof.  I really need to get my serving sizes back on track after looking back on this kinda gluttonous weekend.

More marble fun!

Pancakes for breakfast (the above plate are the leftovers I packed up for the next day).

Another breakfast bake for me because the last one was SO GOOD.  The ratio of almond flour to NuNaturals oat fiber is PERFECT in this one.  I’m going to need more NuNaturals soon. If you haven’t ordered some yet, you really should.  It’s super easy to bake with and is essentially like calorie free food.

I don’t like the WF cashew butter as much as the TJs one, which is just as well since I won’t have access to the WF brand anymore anyway.  TJs is saltier and therefore way more addicting.

We went to a friend’s house on Monday morning as a family because Kyle had the President’s Day holiday off.  It rained all morning long so I made some comfort food for lunch.

Noochy macaroni.

They asked for more and more and wound up having three servings and finished the entire amount I made!  No leftovers at all. Well, ok then.  Appetites have returned!

I made a huge salad with the classic combo (broccoli slaw, shredded brussels, kale, cabbage) and Brianna’s poppyseed dressing, avo, pepitas, cranberries, and mac nuts.

I had another cup of mac nuts on the side and an equally massive portion of baby carrots that went undocumented.  I definitely felt stuffed at the end of the meal, but that seemed to be the MO of the weekend.

It’s all one big party weekend so if you can’t celebrate with delicious food then what’s the point?