Family Fun Week!

I seriously could have blogged every single day this week because we’ve been up to so many fun things!

But because we were busy having so much fun, I didn’t have any time to sit down and blog about it :)

It started on Monday when my sister-in-law and her two kids came into town from Rhode Island.  They came by the house in the afternoon for a visit and to meet Miss Avery.  We had a great time catching up and Grace got to play with her cousin Adeline who she absolutely adores!

That evening we went over to my Aunt’s house for the annual Pierogi Day.  It’s a tradition that my Grandma started years and years ago and a couple of my cousins are dedicated to keeping it alive.  They make hundreds of delicious pierogies every year and we all get together to feast on them.  Grace enjoyed her first pierogies, but even more than that she loved playing with her cousin (actually my cousin which I think makes it her second cousin) Micki.  They had a ball playing with Micki’s tablet, reading together and watching part of a movie together cuddled up on the floor.

On Wednesday morning we met up with all the ladies on Andy’s side of the family for a fun coffee date at Morning Glory.  Boy is that place charming!  It’s a quaint little coffee and pastry shop nearby and it had such an ambient setting with a fireplace and beautiful breakfast offerings.  Grace enjoyed a chocolate milk from home along with her lemon poppyseed muffin and I had a soy chai tea.  We had fun chit chatting with all the girls and Grace loved playing with her cousins.  We took up the entire front section of the place!

After the coffee date, some of us made a trip out to Somerset Mall for the afternoon.  We loaded up with more coffee from Starbucks (after all, it had been several hours since our last coffee drinks! lol) and we browsed around, mainly spending time at the Lego store and Build-A-Bear since we had 7 kids in tow :)  Grace had a lot of fun playing in both stores, but Build-A-Bear was definitely her favorite.

Especially since I’m a total sucker for that place and would probably buy her a “bear” every dang day just because it’s so stinking adorable to watch how excited she gets to go through the whole process!

On our way home from the mall (after feeding Avery in the parking lot!) we stopped by my old office to visit TeeTee (my sister) and Uncle David.  Grace had fun running around the conference table and snacking on chocolate covered blueberries and Avery had fun being out of her carrier for the first time in hours since she slept the whole time we were at the mall.

We headed home with happy hearts and hungry bellies so I whipped up a vegan dinner for us (Zucchini Chickpea Tomato Curry over brown rice) and we collapsed into bed with smiles on our faces.

I wanted to be sure we saw my sister-in-law and the kids again before they left on Friday so Thursday morning we gathered for another coffee date.  I may be having a love affair with Starbucks Soy Toffee Nut Latte….wow is it good!

The Starbucks near us is really tiny and almost all of the tables were occupied so we all crammed around a two person table until the ladies beside us left and we could spread out.  It was so nice to see everyone again and we girls always end up laughing hysterically which is balm for the soul.  I joked with my local sister-in-law that we are turning into the “Fabulous Housewives of Harper Woods” with all of our leisurely coffee dates and shopping trips.  I wish my R.I. sister-in-law lived in Michigan so we could all get together regularly.  Spending time with family is one of my most favorite things to do.

My oldest niece texted us about going out for lunch, so we packed up our stuff and headed over to National Coney Island for lunch.  I’m so glad my girls are such troopers when it comes to being out and about.  Two separate people came over to tell us how well-behaved the kids were while we were visiting at Starbucks.  As a mom, those compliments totally make my day.

That evening after dinner, Andy’s parents came by for dessert.  I whipped up an incredible batch of vegan cookies (recipe coming tomorrow) and we sat around chatting while Grace entertained us.  She’s such a ham and loves to see her Mimi and Poppa.  We even talked about the possibility of a beach trip this spring or summer which has me all excited about visiting South Carolina!

On Friday afternoon we headed out to spend the night with my mom.  Grace LOVES going to visit Grandma (and her toys!) so she was happily running around the house Friday morning gathering things that we needed to pack.  She’s growing up so much and has become an excellent helper.

My brother came by to see us while we were there and mom and I had fun talking and gobbling up a big bowl of her homemade garlicky guacamole along with some chilled Pino Grigio.  Grace played with all of Grandma’s toys and Avery did her usual eat/play/sleep routine like a champ.

We had oatmeal with raisins, coconut and cinnamon for breakfast and lounged around talking and playing on Grandma’s iPad.  Grace’s potty training is still coming along slowly but surely and she’s recently had a fear of going #2 in the potty, but after a bit of a battle (1.5 hours) and a good bribe (a chocolate chip cookie and watching Kipper on the iPad) she went #2 in the potty!  We were all very proud and I think she was proud of herself  too.  Too bad she went #2 in her pull up after church today instead of using the potty :(  I’m learning that this process is a few steps forward and then a few steps back, but she wants to keep at it so I’m following her lead and trusting that eventually it will all fall into place.

I hope you all had a great week too and have been enjoying your weekend!  I’ll be back tomorrow with an incredible vegan dessert recipe!