September Weekends!

Even though it's mid-September, Fridays still hold hope for stringing together a few warm, sunny days. And while it did pour buckets all day Saturday (we were considering getting an ark), Sunday was really nice.

We've started our weekend on Friday with  "French Night". We had stopped doing them over the summer since we (Neal...) cooks outside a lot when the weather is nice and the evenings are warm. Also, we are usually pretty casual in the summer and French Night is almost always served on china in the dining room. So I was very happy on Friday when he pulled out his apron, tied it around his waist, and headed for the Wolf!

For our inaugural dinner, he served fresh haddock dipped in an egg-wash, a wonderful risotto (Italian, we know, so he added a few Herbs of Provence!), steamed snow peas, salad, and a fresh french baguette. We played Edith Piaf from the iPod and had a wonderful evening!

On Saturday, we got up and had our lattes at the kitchen counter. Later in the morning, the Warren's arrived and we headed to the Cape to visit for the day. It was raining pretty hard so there wasn't too much traffic going down. Andrea and Liv came with us but Drew had to go back home to work. Gramma and Grampa were so glad to see little Liv!! She charmed them all day long - she was the hit of the visit.

Because it was raining so hard, we couldn't take Liv outside though she really wanted to go.

 But her mother had packed well for the trip and so she played in the house really nicely all day. Andrea even found some Elmo-stuff on tv, which she really liked.

 But most of all, Liv loved, loved, loved all of Gramma's shoes and tried on many different pairs. What was interesting is that whenever she went into her closet to get a different shoe, she always came out with a matching pair - never just 1 shoe and never 2 different shoes, always a matching pair. What a smart kid. And she had a great time!

It was great day and I think everyone had a good time!

On Sunday, Matt and Amy had invited us to their house for breakfast. Peggy and Tom Kloempken were in town for Jack's Christening on Saturday. It was nice to see them again and have a chance to visit with them a bit. And, it was Matt and Amy's 3-month wedding anniversary! Can you believe it? It seems like just last weekend we were all playing around Boston's Back Bay in fancy dresses and suits!

Matt and Amy have done a lot of work on their house. They recently pulled out all of the big bushes in front of the house and put in some smaller landscaping. Also, they are having a new brick walkway put in out front. When we arrived at their house on Sunday morning, the contractor was working on the walkway. Tom was out front talking to him. We later learned  that Tom was actually trying to escape from the contractor but was unsuccessful! Matt pointed out to Neal some of the landscaping they had planted in front of the house on the right side.

Breakfast was wonderful - homemade French toast with Vermont maple syrup, beautiful fresh fruit tray, bacon, bagels and cream cheese, muffins, mimosa's - everything was very nice. We ate in the dining room and with the shrubs gone from in front of the window, the sun came shining through. They had a big crowd for breakfast - 9 all together if you count Jack. And even with a house full of company, a big meal to prepare, cook and serve, dishes to clean up and parents to entertain, Aunty Amy always seems to find time for the kids.

When we got back home after breakfast, we did some chores around the house. We had really been gone most of the weekend so we hadn't been able to get to our regular weekend 'stuff' - like doing the laundry, emptying the dish washer, vacuuming the kitchen, etc. So, I did all that stuff on Sunday while watching the first Red Sox game (Yeah Sox!). Meanwhile, Neal started to pull out the bushes in front of the house. He has wanted to get to this since Dave finished the home theater. We're concerned about getting water down stairs. To limit the risk of that happening, Neal wants to regrade the gardens around the perimeter of the house so the rain flows away from the foundation. Next Spring we'll plant some small landscaping, too. Another goal of this is to get as much natural light as possible through the new larger windows we had put in the basement.

While Neal was working out front, I had to go grocery shopping. Since we only needed a few things and it was such a  beautiful afternoon, I decided to ride my bike over to Stop & Shop in Reading. What a great way to go grocery shopping - it was such fun! Since I can only carry one bag on my bike, I had to be very selective about what I bought. My grocery bill was only $17.67. Talk about a win-win, huh?

We ended the weekend much like we started it. Chez Neal created a wonderful supper - fish casserole with fresh shrimp and haddock, served it with fresh vegtables, hot french fries and, of course, a loaf of bread! Bon Appetite!

All in all, it was another great weekend! I hope you all enjoyed your weekend, too, whatever you did!