no pickles in the bath tub

...to continue where we left off yesterday. The kids were napping and Matt was mowing lawns..... The next significant and yummy thing was dinner. We had grilled tilapia with cherry salsa and Texas two-bean salad. Matt said this was delicious. Instead of grilling the tilapia I baked it. (Matt was busy mowing lawns and I didn't want to fire up the charcoal grill myself...some things I'm not ready to learn.)
After dinner we went outside in the front yard to play. We attracted the attention of Mr. Mike and his kids, big Tyler and Tera and also Joshua and David from across the street. The boys all played together while the girls (Lauren and Tera) dashed off upstairs into Lauren's bedroom. They were so cute together. As I was eaves-dropping I heard them making high pitch doll voices and they were interacting with each other more than I've ever witnessed before. It was sooo cool! Here's a couple pictures I was able to take.

I even got a picture of all the boys playing downstairs. Yes, that's my Tyler flopped down on his tummy because I asked him to look at the camera. Go figure.

Later that night we invited Mr. Mike and his Tyler and Tera to stay to watch movies. We set the kids up in the spare bedroom in the basement while us adults watched "Lars and the Real Girl" in the main room in the basement. We weren't too sure how kid friendly this movie would be just by reading the title and summary. But it ended up being suitable for the occasional pass through made by a kid in the need of some attention...juice...snack...or whatever.
Since Lauren and Tera played so well together I invited Tera to go with us to Dixieland Fun Park on Sunday. I thought it opened at 10am so we got there about 10:30 only to find out it opens at 1pm on Sundays. So as not to spoil a good outing we found a nearby park and played there and had our lunch of peanut butter and honey sandwiches before heading back out to Dixieland. Here's a shot of Tera and Tyler peaking out of a tunnel at the park. Tera was a big daredevil at the park and I think she encouraged Lauren to try new things. It was a lot of fun and the tree cover and occasional breeze made it bearable too.



At Dixieland the girls went on a couple of rides together. Tyler, Tera and Daddy went on the boat ride and they got to squirt water on Lauren and I who opted not to go on the ride. Here's a picture of Tera and Lauren on the "race car" ride (as they called it.)

After doing the outside rides we went into the kid's maze in the air-conditioned playroom. Everybody had a blast here and time flew by. Finally Tera and Lauren were showing obvious signs of "having had enough" so we decided to call it a day. Tera rode in the stroller out to the car and Lauren cried the whole way...she wasn't ready to go yet. Poor girl. She only had to fret for a few minutes as her and Tyler were both asleep by the time we exited the parking lot.

After we dropped Tera off at home we put our kids to nap and I started to prepare Matt's Father's Day Feast. He's such a good Daddy that I wanted to make a meal for him that had some actual RED MEAT in it to enjoy his special day. Of course I wanted it grilled on the BBQ (so he had to grill it) but seriously...it's the thought that counts right?!

While the food was cooking Lauren presented Daddy with her and Tyler's 2nd father's day gift of the year to him. At church last week she made Daddy this and today I traced Tyler's hand to add his signature to the gift. (Tyler didn't hold still long enough but you get the point.)


For dinner we had Grilled Steak Sandwiches w/ Goat Cheese and Arugula, Twice-baked Potato Bites and Green Beans with Cider Vinaigrette.

It was sooo good. The bread I used for the sandwich was a bit tough but the potatoes and beans were to die for. I will definitely make this again but next time use a home-made egg bread for the steak sandwich. I can't wait. The heat wasn't quite miserable enough to keep us inside so we enjoyed our dinner on our new patio furniture on the back deck. We hope all you special Dad's had a wonderful Father's Day today. (it's a bit bittersweet for me since this is the first since losing my own father last August.)

P.S. to elaborate on the title of today's post....during bath tonight Lauren informed me that she brought some pickles into the bathtub. (I have no idea what made her say this as she absolutely DID NOT bring any pickles into the bathtub.) Tyler got a complete kick out of this. I told them that the new rule was that there would be "No Pickles In The Bathtub". This (for some unknown reason) brought out big big laughs from the both of them....and this phrase has been on my mind ever since.