Friday Favorites: Hello June!

Weather wise we had a beautiful introduction to June and I was so thankful for that.  With all the protests, riots, and looting going on in the world (even near our little corner of it) I was incredibly thankful for our escapes into nature.

Ian woke with a sore knee and that mixed with our cloudy skies meant no hiking on Friday.  We cleaned the basement instead.  Evan and I took a quick run to Target and then Alec and I settled down for some painting.  I painted a new slate for our garden while Alec put a sketch he's been working on on canvas.

In the late afternoon the sun was trying to shine through so the younger boys and I chanced a hike at the dam. We hiked for nearly an hour and just could not get over how quickly everything turned so lush and green!  (of course that made all three of us cough and sneeze as our allergies wen't nuts)

For dinner we grilled up some steaks and served them with rice pilaf, broccoli, and salad.

Saturday morning I whipped up my dilly potato salad and set some chicken in an italian herb marinade to cook on the grill for dinner.  I wrote up our weekly menu and prepared a shopping list before heading out to do another grocery store trip.

I spent much of my afternoon lounging outside reading a book soaking up the warm summery sun.  It was fabulous.  We've had lots of fun watching the birds too and saw our hmmingbird feeder getting lots of attention.

Even though only Evan and I were home for dinner (Ian and my husband went fishing while Alec went swimming and boating) I still cooked up the chicken and corn on the cob to go with our potato salad and tossed salad.

Sunday was absolutely beautiful-- sunny, 60, and windy so we headed out on a hike.  We tried a new trail at Buffumville.  It was a 6ish mile loop right near the water and it took us just over 3 hours to hike.

We stopped to get ice cream afterwards and we were rather happy we could sit at picnic tables outside to eat them.

For dinner I made homemade mac and cheese with fish and salad; the younger boys ate leftover chicken in place of fish.

Monday I stopped at Target to return one of the dresses I picked up on Friday (I REALLY need stores to open their dressing rooms back up-- I feel like I am returning 1/2 of every order everywhere I am getting clothes from).  And then we went for a hike; it's amazing how different some of our favorite hiking places look with all the trees in full bloom.

We grilled up some chicken kabobs and served them with rice for a summer stir-fry.

We worked on cleaning up our beach Tuesday.   Ian used the excavator to flatten out the beach so we don't have as a dramatic of a drop off as we did.  We raked the sand, scooped up old leaves/ seaweed and blew all the sand off the patio.  After lunch the younger boys and I headed to our library to pick up books curbside and then went on a nice walk/hike at the dam that we'd never tried before.  It was a pretty trail that led right out into the water.

Once home I cooked up some bacon and we had BLT grinders with chips and salad for dinner.

It was beautiful and sunny out on Wednesday but with rumors of rioting and looting in the area I wanted to just hang out at home.  I whipped up a chicken broccoli and rice casserole for dinner first thing in the morning while the boys went with their grandmother to pick up breakfast from Dunkin Donuts.

 I read my book and enjoyed my breakfast outside; staying out most of the morning and then watched the younger boys swimming (at a neighbor's).

It was a real cloudy afternoon so we stayed inside other than a quick walk to get the mail.

It was beautiful out on Thursday. I ate breakfast outside again and convinced the younger boy to go out on a kayak ride with me.  Ian stayed home working out in the field using the excavator.

My husband was working real late and wasn't home for dinner so I kept dinner nice and simple with burgers, hot dogs, salad, and homemade butternut squash fries (for me)/ french fries (for the boys).  We even ate outside!

Linking Up With: On the Edge, Fabulous Fridays,