Tilden to start

I can’t put into words exactly why this weekend was so awesome, but it really was THE MOST FUN I’ve had in a long time.  It was relaxing and mellow and I got to hang out with friends and family, including my sisters and their husbands and my kids and husband A LOT without any schedule or agenda.  It felt super indulgent.  I think being away from home but still in a super familiar place (my parents’ house) contributed.  But my parents weren’t even there!  So it was like a mini vacation!?

Pool lyfe.

Saturday started off drizzly, oddly enough, since it ended up close to the triple digits by Monday.

I ate this tahini cookie on the way to Tilden.  It’s a regional park with hiking trails and botanic gardens, and a bunch of other stuff (amazing views of the Bay Area!).  I grew up going pretty frequently since we were so close and my parents have taken the kids, but shockingly I’ve been with baby P once!  It has a train ride, merry go round, and baby animal farm, which is all the kiddos want to do.

Oh hi there Mr. Cow.

You have to bring your own celery and lettuce to feed them.

We came prepared, obvs.

They had such a blast.

After all our food was gone, we went to the park right next to it and the kids played until they were ready for lunch.

We had promised the kids a picnic, but it started drizzling again, so we drove back to my parents’ house where the weather was a little better and set up an outside picnic that pleased them to no end.

They ran themselves ragged adventuring in the backyard which led to awesome naps.

My friend Hong promised me some Vietnamese food.  And some Korean kalbi ribs.  And in turn, I made teriyaki sauce from scratch for grilled chicken thighs and rice. It was a random feast, but we tied it together with some Asian sides…

Check out our banchan situation of seaweed, cucumbers, edamame, fish sauce, fermented carrots, and shrimp chips.

Meat!

She fried the shrimp chips in front of me and I was so in awe.  I always thought frying things was an exercise in fire safety, but it was the simplest looking thing ever!  They poofed up the second they hit the oil and then she just pulled it out and went on to the next.  One by one.  I’m inspired to try it, but maybe she made it look so easy because she’s a pro!?  And I’ll burn the house down…hmmmm…I’ll have to work up the nerve.  There are a few leftover that she left me, so let’s see how brave I can be.

Anyway, dinner was amazing.  The slaw she made was so light and delicious.  You are meant to scoop it up with the shrimp chips and then drizzle some fish sauce on top.  She made her own fish sauce guys!!  She’s amazing.  Kyle even liked it and it was slightly pickled!  And there was cucumber!

The kids basically ate every shrimp chip they could get their hands on, so I’m glad they’re getting some culture since I’ve exposed them to next to nothing when it comes to Asian cuisine.  The peanut allergy is to blame for that.

SO GOOD.

My friends had to leave the next morning, so we were back to a party of four.

I made almond milk because there was none to be found and I didn’t feel like going to the store.  I didn’t have a nut milk bag though, so it was a bit chunky.  Oh well.  Still good with some maple syrup and decaf.

Kyle took the kids to the park while I soaked up some solo time.

We hit up my home away from home (Whole Foods) for lunch and I got MY FAVORITE salad from the salad bar.

I just noticed it says Glass Onion Catering on that recipe card.  No wonder I can’t find the recipe on the WF website.  I’m going to have to track down that recipe because it was even better this time than how I remembered it. Or the version I recreated.

We got back home just as my sister and Chris were arriving!  Yay!

I fed the kids first, and then took my food outside to enjoy in the sun.

I added candied walnuts on top, and seriously packed this salad in.  You can’t tell how amazing it is from the photo, but there is magic in that 9 grain combo of brown rice, brown lentils, wheats berries, oats, barley, black lentils, rye berries, green lentils and buckwheat.  Plus the kale and slivered almonds and feta and lemon vinaigrette!  It’s SO GOOOOOOOD you guys.  I want it for all my lunches.

Home made telescope spying on Auntie Laura.

After the kids woke up from their naps we went to Danville to my sister Marie’s house for a Memorial Day party.

She was dog sitting Kona because my parents are traveling yet again.

Look who suddenly got to be all buddy buddy.

Me and my girl <3

Dinner came from Dan’s favorite restaurant, Kabab-burger.

I had seconds and thirds of the hummus and falafel.  No surprise since Mediterranean food is my jam.  I made the kids try hummus again but they don’t like it!!  GAHHH!!!  It’s seriously a problem for my hippie heart.  I don’t understand it.  Sigh.  At least they ate the rest of the stuff – even if they thought the falafel balls were meatballs.  😛

Lazy long nights.

We finally made it back to my parents’ house that evening and despite eating a ton at the party, I still had a hankering for something sweet.

Luckily the freezer had some New Barn organic almond milk ice cream in it.  Woo hoo!

We stayed up watching American Ninja Warrior USA v the World that night.  Those people are insane!

Look what my sister made the next morning.  Ok, ok, it was from a can.  Oddly enough, I didn’t feel like cinnamon rolls and went the savory route with eggs.  Identity crisis!

This kid is a gem.

I left my phone inside for the rest of the day but Kyle got a few of us.

The weather just kept getting better and better and even though the pool was pretty cold, being in the sun made it necessary to stay at least somewhat submerged.

We went BACK to WF for lunch and I got the exact same grain salad with kale and feta and almonds.  My stomach was being so good this weekend!  I felt as close to 100% as possible for my gut and that’s a huge deal after weeks (PLURAL) of this heinous flare thing.

He was sooo happy to draw the Queen Frostine card.

Miss V living her best life.

Sadly, we had to make our way back to Davis eventually.  But not without making trip number THREE of the weekend to WF – this time for groceries AND dinner.

And that’s we did our long weekend proud.