Friday Favorites: Birthday, Beach, & Baking Fun

 I think this week is one of the best weeks I've had in a long time!  We celebrated 4th of July with the whole family, I started celebrating my birthday, our furniture finally arrived, AND I got in my first beach trip of the summer! Despite some rain every single day we did have long patches of dry and sun where we squeezed in a hike, a kayak ride, and other outdoor time.  

I just loved my 4th of July nails!  

Alec and I made all sorts of lovely food for the weekend-- key lime pie, lemon blueberry trifles, fruit salad, and a tossed salad.  Alec made whipped cream in 3 different colors (the trick is to add the food coloring to the cream before whipping) so he could make an American flag decoration on his pie and make the trifles more festive. 

Though it was a very cold and rainy day on the 3rd we still had our family's 4th of July cookout; thankfully it was moved to another house with a big back deck that kept us mostly dry from the rain. The kids didn't care as they still went in the pool and hot tub and even tubing on the lake.  They played games and went 4 wheeling and Ian loved these remote control vehicles so much (that one family brought) that he's decided to buy one himself.

Us ladies mostly gathered around the fire pit with a few blankets too!

We spent our afternoon on the 4th at the cottage; it was still a bit cool but at least the rain had passed.  We had a small cookout with most of the local family members in attendance trying to use up the leftovers from our party the day before.  The kids went tubing and we saw the boat parade go by; a fairly new and cute tradition on the lake. 

 

While most of the local fireworks were canceled or postponed due to the bad weather we had all weekend we still got to see some fireworks on the lake as many people set them off (illegally!).  I love that I can watch them from inside the house and not get eaten alive by mosquitoes! 

My husband and I went on a nice 2 hour hike on Monday.  The trail was a bit overgrown in sections and wet/ muddy in others but we made the best of it and it felt so good to be up and out after two day of just sitting, socializing, and eating. 

It may look like we're hiking in the brook but this was actually the trail; it's just really wet here

You can't tell but this IS the trail; in fact my husband's head is buried in the greenery..

See him when I zoom in on that same photo?

We went to the movies to see the latest Fast  & Furious movie-- while it was not my favorite movie, it was fun to be back in theaters. 

The younger boys and I spent a day at our friends' summer rental.  They rent a house right on the ocean each summer.  We walked down to the beach for a bit but rough seas and strong winds had us heading back to their house for a picnic lunch and a game of cards instead.  We stopped for homemade ice cream on the way home... a perfect summer day!

I loved the baby birds nesting above the door and all the beautiful bright blue hydrangeas everywhere.

The view from the house was definitely a favorite!

I couldn't believe they went in and tried body surfing; it was so cold and the surf was so rough.  We decided to hang out in the lagoon for a bit instead.

We sat on the deck for lunch enjoying the view and watching the cormorants while the boys all went inside to play cards until it was time to go.

My sister sent me this beautiful bracelet in the mail for my birthday!  It has such a sweet sisters inscription on the inside too.  

My husband and boys surprised me with a top water kayak!  I have been wanting one ever since I tried out Ian's and they found me the perfect blue/ purple one.  I was so surprised since kayaks in general are so hard to find this year.  Ian and I took it out on a ride first thing the next day and I love it!

My mom and I spent a wonderful day shopping the outlet stores and enjoying lunch at Ruby Tuesdays. We hit some great sales too; Vera Bradley was 50% off with an additional 30% off everything in the store and they allowed me to use my 25% off birthday coupon too taking the 25% off my most expensive item.  

My  birthday gifts from my mom and my mother in law

 

The living room furniture we ordered in March was finally delivered.  The room looks so great with matching sets that actually allow us all to fit in the room (and sit!) at the same time.  

Alec made some chocolate stuffed croissants and a chocolate/ raspberry cake this week.  They were amazing!  

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