Hi friends!
We are still suuuuper sleep deprived over here and not exactly feeling our best, but some fun weekend outings have lifted our spirits recently!
First up: a beautiful fall hike with friends.
A couple hours in the woods enjoying the fall colors and fresh air was just what the doctor ordered.
Matt, Riese, Wes, and I met our friends Jen and Eric and their two kids for a little hike one afternoon in Hemlock Overlook Regional Park and we all had a blast tromping around in the colorful leaves!
We brought the carrier in case Riese wanted it and of course she only wanted to be in it for approximately 2 minutes. Oh well! She likes hiking a lot more when she has little friends with her to hike with (vs. when it’s just our family and she gets bored and “tired”).
Wes seemed to enjoy himself – he looked around a lot and snoozed some, too.
Fall is my absolute favorite time to be out in the woods. I’m hoping we can make it out for a few more hikes before it gets too cold!
Post-hike we walked over to Paradise Springs Winery which is right next door to the park – so convenient! We got pizza from their pizza truck and had a super early dinner, plus some wine, of course.
As soon as the sun started going down it got COLD so we didn’t stick around too long but it was such a lovely afternoon.
Other fun we’ve had lately is that Riese’s 4th birthday is this week and we had a little party for her last weekend with some of her friends!
My mom made the cupcakes for the party – vanilla with vanilla frosting and purple sprinkles, per Riese’s request. 🙂
This past weekend our big adventure was a trip to the zoo with one of Riese’s little buddies from school and his family. The panda chowing down on some leaves was a huge hit:
As were all the big cats.
We all had lunch post-zoo at Duke’s right across the street from the main entrance. I hadn’t been here since last I went to the zoo (years ago, when Riese was 2 I think?) and it is just as good as ever.
Burger + fries + some salad hit the spot:
I hope those of you that are celebrating Thanksgiving have a nice week!
We are renting a house in Lake Anna, Virginia from Tuesday to Sunday with Matt’s family – we were originally planning to head up to Pittsburgh but there’s not really enough space at the house up there for the whole family now with all the kids in the mix, so we decided to do something different so we could all stay together.
I’m in charge of the cranberry sauce (I’ll be making my homemade cranberry sauce recipe, of course) and also some brussels sprouts.
Maybe I’ll make my Miso and Honey Roasted Brussels Sprouts? Or I may just do them in the style of my Herb & Garlic Roasted Vegetables… we’ll see!
Matt is on turkey duty for the big day!
If you need some more recipe inspiration, check out this post for all my favorites rounded up together: Best Healthy Thanksgiving Recipes.
And be sure to check this post out for the day after Thanksgiving: Recipe Ideas for Thanksgiving Leftovers.
Have a wonderful week, my friends! There will not be a new blog post going live on Friday this week, so I’ll see you back here on next Tuesday with a recap from the Lake Anna Thanksgiving festivities. Until then!
