Back to life....back to reality

Well it's back to work tonight after being off for a week. It's tough to get back in the swing of things, especially for us because we work nights. I hate to even think of going back! Ugh. I am also guessing that when we get back, that I will be on overtime...again!

Oh well! It is what it is, and I have to work to be able to do fun things like I did while I was off....

I went to my family reunion.

We had a great time, as always! After all of the kids took a swing at the pinata and couldn't break it, they brought in the big guns! (I honestly think my cousin Nicole broke it a little before me!) That's me taking a whack at the little caterpillar pinata. I busted it wide open and the kids left with a ton of candy! And of course, my silly little guy had more fun with the broken pinata!

Then there were some great prizes at the raffle. There was a frog that quickly became the "Oooh I want that" prize at the raffle! Man, everyone wanted the ceramic frog! We bought several tickets to try to win it, but it didn't happen.

Thanks to my Great Uncle Ralph, who gave my son some tickets, that fabulous frog is nestled next to my rose bush beside my house!




We went to the factory outlet stores and did a little shopping.

I picked up a cute card game for my son and his friends to play. Mostly we looked and dreamed....didn't really spend too much. It was a beautiful day and had a great time. I can shop, not buy a thing and still have a great time!

We did buy a couple of cool drinks to quench our thirst! I even let Slimey get a "big guy" drink at the coffee shop.

Yeah, that kept him hopping all day long! He had a cookies and cream something or other! He loved it, but thankfully didn't finish the whole thing!

Another day, we took a little trip to a local park to see the barn owl who lives there.

Here is Oliver the Barn Owl. I am sorry for the poor picture quality, but Oliver was behind glass and it was hard to get a clear shot. The girl working there offered to let me go back where they feed him and try to get a better picture, but I didn't want to get her in trouble, or disappoint Oliver, who probably would have thought I was there to feed him.

Although we couldn't feed him while we were there, we did donate money to buy Oliver a yummy mouse to enjoy later for dinner.

While we were there, Slimey also got to pretend he was a butterfly!

That put us in the mood to go for a walk on the butterfly trail next to the owl barn. We saw lots of pretty flowers......but not many butterflies!




Then at the end of the trail, while I was busy taking pictures, hubby and son spotted a butterfly!

We took one day and went to Pittsburgh.

We love going to "da burgh" or "the big city" as my little one calls it.

I love the buildings...I get great pictures every time I am there. I love the sights, sounds and smell of the big city!

We went to a cupcake shop ( are you surprised?) and I had a rose flavored cupcake! Yum!
The store had trouble with it's credit/debit system and hubby had to walk down the street to an ATM. For his trouble, the man at the shop said we could have a free cupcake! Momma likes! I enjoyed another rose cupcake....free tastes so delicious!

We headed to the Strip District which is rows of shops and ethnic grocery stores. I love shopping there! While we were there, we found a little garden tucked away in an alley that belonged to St. Patrick church.....

Then in the corner of the garden, surrounded by ivy.....

Very beautiful indeed!

Then after leaving the serenity of the garden, we went back out into the busy city and drove past the site for the new arena where the Pittsburgh Penguins will play....

Things are moving right along!

Back at home, things are moving right along in my garden!

Just look what I picked this week alone!

Wow! What a bounty!

We made pickles, peach preserves (peaches bought at a local farm) and zucchini bread. For lunch I had...you guessed it...fried zucchini! How many ways can I eat zucchini and cucumbers? I guess I am going to have to find out!

We also went to several yard sales and went swimming two days in a row! What a vacation! I am so sad to see it go and have to get back to work...but we haven't checked that lottery ticket hubby bought a couple of days ago......ya never know! LOL!