Our weekend.

We had a lovely weekend.

It started off with Michael coming home from school to take us on walk.

We headed off in the direction we usually go but noticed up ahead that there were 2 rather large scary dogs so we opted to go another direction. Well as we headed in that direction we saw another dog. Thankfully this one was smaller.  So after a moments hesitation, I realized that if needs be (like if it was attacking one of us) I could kick that little dog right out of the way, so we continued on. It was so fun walking through the neighborhoods and talking about what houses we liked, what houses houses we didn't, what we want our future home to look like, and where we want to live and such.

I love talking about stuff like that with Michael. It's fun to dream and plan for the years to come.

We stopped at the playground because Olivia loves them. Michael loves them too. He told me that when he was little he liked to pretend that he lived in a fort (the playground) which was surrounded by lava. Of course meaning that he had to leap around and swing across things so as not to fall in the lava. He told me he still thinks of them that way.

Upon arriving back home I made a delicious homemade mushroom soup served with French bread.

We bathed our little Olivia who was exhausted and put her right in bed.

I made apple crisp and of course ate mine with cream all while cuddling and watching The Proposal with my boy.

That show definitely never gets old.

Olivia learned a few new things this weekend that I wanted to quickly jot down before I forget.

She now says watermelon- "va va ma ma" and when you ask her what her name is she will say, "yiya". When she farts she will look up at you with a smile and say "farp." (Haha I wonder where she learned that from:) She learned how to read her first book and thinks that every number is two. (I will get it on video.)

She's absolutely adorable.

On Saturday we woke up and Michael of course watched some of the Tour Championship and then headed off to school to study.

When he got home we decided to drive over to another park by Willamette University and play there for a while.

On the way, we stopped at a little yogurt place called Froyo. I've been really missing my Tutti Frutti but did not have high expectations for this place. When I walked in and saw that they had fresh peach, sweet coconut, and pomegranate raspberry flavors I literally let out a little shriek. Sure enough they tasted just as good to me as the Tutti Frutti flavors. I'm in heaven now and will be a regular customer.

The park was huge and we forgot the stroller so we spent most of the time chasing Olivia all over the place. We kept hoping that she would just run straight on the path but of course she has her own agenda and preferred to venture to both the right and left of the path to look for the "nuts" (squirrels).

They had a cute little playground that had a fake rock cow. She would not go anywhere near it. I think she thought it was real. She loved going down the slide all by herself and honestly could not have been happier.

For dinner we had fried egg BLTs with crispy oven baked potatoes.

Michael and I spent the evening switching between Men in Black and Jurassic Park.

Which made me so grateful that we don't live in a world full of aliens and dinosaurs.

Of course I will admit that at the part in Men in Black when they are in the mortuary and they open that guys head only to find a mini green alien, I did tell Michael that I wished I could have one as a pet.

It was so tiny and cute in an alien sort of way.

Sunday was a little more hectic with Michael spending some time doing homework and me trying to keep the house picked up and make dinner all while chasing Olivia.  Who seemed extra stir crazy.

I am pleased to announce that for dinner I baked my first ever salmon and it turned out amazing.

Since we don't have a grill, I've been trying to master the art of baking and broiling our meats.

While watching Cupcake Wars I made a few dozen pumpkin snickerdoodles. 

And after taking my first bite, decided that I would make some sort of pumpkin treat every week.

I'm honestly in love with anything and everything pumpkin.

I also was able to finish the book Heaven is Here by Stephanie Nielson.

It was so beautiful and reminded me of the importance of family and cherishing every second here on Earth.  Even the crazy busy mom moments.

Anyway now that I've rambled on forever, here are a few pictures.

 My apple crisp with cream,

 Me and Olivia enjoying every single bit of our frozen yogurt.

 Michael chasing a squirrel and Olivia watching.

 Trying to find it after dad chased it up the tree.

 She loved picking up every stick she saw.

 Mid-run.

 This cute boy was just a bit pooped after chasing Olivia all over the entire park.

 So excited!

Temporarily contained so that I can work a few minutes on dinner without the pantry being emptied and my walls being covered with sweet Olivia drawings.

I'm so grateful for beautiful fall walks, yummy food and yummy frozen yogurt. I'm grateful for inspiring books. But most of all I'm grateful for my cute family. I feel so blessed.