Bakin Friends - MAY

Happy Friday, friends!  It's Bakin Friends reveal day...yeah!  This month's secret ingredient was STRAWBERRIES!  I used to never touch strawberries, but after I got pregnant a couple years ago, I craved them like crazy!  I would eat cartons, yes plural, in a day!  I certainly don't love them like I did when I was pregnant, but they have become a part of my regular diet :)

There is something about their sweet, yet somewhat tart flavor that reminds me of a SUMMER!  

This month's treats were brought to me from Dawn over at Butter and Sprinkles.  She is super sweet and REALLY talented.  She sent me some loaves of Strawberry bread and let me tell you, the second I opened up the package, I could smell the delicious Strawberry!  I literally scarfed down half of one of the loaves right there on the spot.  Don't judge!  The bread was totally moist and oh-so tasty!  

I put the other loaf in the freezer so it wouldn't spoil and will probably bust it out this weekend!  I'm actually surprised it's lasted in the freezer this long...out of sight out of mind, maybe?!  

I apologize for not taking pictures of the packaging {it was totally adorable} or of the 1st loaf in inhaled.  I WILL take pictures of the other loaf and post them along with the recipe, which, of course, I left at home today.  Clearly, I can't function without caffeine in the mornings.  

Thanks again to Dawn for the amazing treats!!

If you'd like to join for JUNE, please send me an email at: leahmarie.mackenzie@gmail.com for details &/or to sign up!  

**Please note the deadline to sign up for JUNE is June 5th; matches will go out on June 6th!**

when you're TWO...

…you can go out in public looking ridiculous like this:

…kisses heal everything!

…hanging out in your "under garments" is socially acceptable!

…it’s fun to play dress up; or at least wear Mom's heals!

…your “puppy-brother” is your best friend {and yes, Hannah is a GIRL}!

…walking your “baby” is a MUST.

…you’re okay with driving a plastic car.

…it’s quite all right to eat whip cream with a spoon {WAIT, WHAT?}

...it's still considered "cool" to take selfies with Mom & Dad ♥

Memorial Day & Parks Review #1

Happy Monday Tuesday, friends :)  I love having an extra day to hang out with my family and relax.  Although, I didn't lose sight of the real reason we had yesterday off.  I made a point to take some time to think of all those that have {& currently do} serve for our Country.  There are some amazingly brave men & women who risk their lives on a daily basis for us.  Thank you, to those men & women...you're bravery & hard work do not go unnoticed or unappreciated.  

We had a really fun weekend!  We spent a lot of time outside and really enjoyed the gorgeous weather!  It's finally getting nice outside...Spring is HERE!

We were able to enjoy some really nice bike rides and even visited 2 new parks!  

Saturday, we visited Pearl Park.  

It's about a 4.5-5 mile bike ride from our house.  And it's a gorgeous one!  The trees were absolutely gorgeous on our bike ride!

I love biking around our neighborhood, lakes and the many trails we have.  I'm not a big fan of actually biking, but I sure do love to check out the scenery :)

The gorgeous-ness makes biking worth while!

The park was awesome, especially from the eyes of a certain little 2.5 year old ;)  There were lots of slides, swings and sand.

 But, Dafney's favorite thing of the whole park was this little hut that had a table and bench on one side and was open on the other.

Seriously, she could have played in this little hut all day!  There's a little bench & table on the other side, so she had us sit there while she "went to the store to get us food".  Kids and their imaginations!

After playing for a while, we had lunch.  Nothing fancy, just some fruit, goldfish and good ole' PB & J's!

On our bike ride home, we took a mini-detour to the Grand Ole Creamery for some dessert!  

We shared a scoop of Cookie Dough Ice Cream.  And it was AMAZING!  It was definitely not your typical DQ soft serve or Ben & Jerry's!  

By the time we made it home, Dafney was fast asleep!  She was ready for a nap and we were ready to relax for a couple hours!

After a much needed nap by all of us, we were back outside!  Since it was so warm out, we decided to set up Dafney's water table that she got from the "Easter Bunny"!  And, just as the "Easter Bunny" suspected, she LOVED it!

Hubby and I ended the wonderful day with a little bonfire!  

Sunday I decided I wanted to try my hand at a breakfast pizza.  It was pretty good, but there will definitely be some tweaking next time {and a recipe for YOU}!

It was the perfect "fuel" for another bike ride and another new park!  This time, we hit up a park in Richfield called Veterans Park.

It was another really nice bike ride and really, really, really nice day!  The only "complaint" I had about this park was that it was not shaded, which in turn made the slides, swings and sand SUPER hot - to the point that Dafney didn't even want to play very long.

But, before things got too hot, she did do a little swinging...

And some climbing...

And balancing...

And running...

And even some sliding...

To her defense, it was pretty toasty out and without any shade, the plastic was HOT!

On our way home, we stopped at one of our favorite local places to eat, 3 Tiers for some lunch!  It's an adorable little cafe and their food is awesome!  It's definitely one of our neighborhood "go-to" places to eat!

His:

And Hers {shared with the Kiddo}:

...followed by LONG naps :)

Monday we decided to take a break from the biking and parks and took a train ride to the Mall of America!  Dafney absolutely LOVED riding the train.  In fact, she cried the whole walk home, begging us to go back to the train :)  I see some more train rides in our very near future!

It was such a fun weekend...I was sad to see it end.  Reality was definitely knocking at the door this morning...UGH!  But, on the bright side, only 4 work days until the weekend!  Hope you all had a great weekend, too!!

Latte with Leah #4

Hi Friends!  It's time for another Latte with Leah!  You know the drill, grab your favorite drink and settle in :)

~ Last night, I finally made it to the Blue Door Pub with some of my girlfriends.  I'll just say, it was worth the wait!  I've heard about some of their more famous burgers, like their Jiffy burger {burger topped with crunchy PB, bacon, a little mayo and pepper jack cheese} & their Blucy {a burger stuffed with bleu cheese and finely chopped garlic}.

I was a little less adventurous than my girlfriends and opted for the Bangkok Blucy: mozzarella cheese soaked in coconut milk with some pickled veggies on top and a coconut dipping sauce on the side.  

It was amazing and I give it two very enthusiastic thumbs UP! Seriously, give it a try; you won't regret it!

~ Can we talk about the hilarious things that kids, specifically a certain little 2 year old, say?!  I love how honest kids are...unless of course, you're out in public and, let's just say a rather large man walks by and that certain 2 year old says in her very best outdoor voice "OH NO, HE IS SO BIG"...true story.  I quickly thought to myself, I hope he's also very def {horrible thought, I know...and for the record, I obviously didn't really hope he was def}.  Here are a couple more of my favorite things that D's said lately:

• "I have an itchy butt"...TMI?  Nah, not when you're 2, in fact, I think this is considered to be cute?!
• When asking Dafney if she needed to go to her room when she wasn't listening to me, she said "no, do you need to go to YOUR room, Mom?"...ugh, someone could have told me the sassy-ness started at 2.  Although, going to my room sans child was highly appealing.
• We were eating fish the other night and I made one {large} piece for each of us.  Dafney finished hers and asked for more, so I told her I only made one piece for each of us...her response "I'll go call Papa for more fish".  We've had fish many times at Papa's and he never runs out...oops!
• Dafney was eating the last of her pears and I mentioned that we didn't have anymore {hmm, am I sensing a trend?!} and she said "you & Dad can go to the store to get more, I'll stay with Hannah"  {*Hannah is our dog}.  WHEN is it legal to leave a child home alone?  I'm guessing 2 isn't the magic number?

Seriously, she kills me...she's so funny and her personality has really come through over the past few months!  

What funny things have your kids said lately?

~ This video makes me so happy ♥  Watch it.  Now.

~ I recently made my first {& certainly not last} purchase from The Vintage Pearl.  If you haven't checked out their site, you really should.  I've always admired their adorable pieces and have wanted to order something for a while, so I finally pulled the trigger!

I decided to get something that would have some meaning to me, so I went with a simple necklace with a charm with the letter "d" on it {representing Dafney, obvi}!  I thought about even getting a letter "b" for bean, but thought it might make me too sad.  Maybe some day down the road.  I love the necklace and love that I can wear something that has meaning to me.  

~ I am really, really, really looking forward to having a looonnngg weekend!  We actually have nothing planned this weekend!  We're hoping to get to a new park and a bike ride or 2 and maybe even a picnic, but otherwise, we're just going to spend time together and enjoy the nice weather!  What are your plans?  

Have a fabulous weekend!

Biking, Swinging and Sliding...OH MY!

Happy Monday, Friends!  Hope this finds you all well rested and ready for another week!  This past weekend was really nice! Hubby, Dafney & I spent LOTS of quality time together – totally needed!  Friday morning Dafney woke up complaining about her ear hurting.  Of course, the stellar Mother that I am sent her to school anyway.  Around 11:30, I got a call from Daycare stating she had a slight fever and was just wanting to lay around {so NOT like my child}.  I gladly left work to go pick up my sick baby!  I was able to get her into the Dr. at 1pm.  And, sure enough, she had a pretty bad ear infection.  I felt terrible for not listening & believing her.  Mother.Of.The.Year.  

She was so tired afterwards that she fell asleep on the car ride home and didn't even wake up when I took her out of the car and changed her diaper before laying her down.  She had a really nice nap and woke up happy as can be!  Thankfully she never got a high fever and even better, she was EXCITED to take her medicine {say, what?!}. Seriously, who’s kid is THIS?  We all just rested up & relaxed on Friday night.  

Saturday, we got a bit of late start, but since Dafney was feeling better, we took her to the Children’s Museum for a couple hours. She had such a great time!  

After a much needed nap, we went for a family bike ride down towards the lake to visit the Lake Nokomis Beach/Playground. There is a decent beach and a small playground.  Dafney LOVES going to play at the park, so we try to get there as often as possible.

{source}

Sunday was gorgeous!  But, {shame on us} we spent most of the morning/early afternoon inside, cleaning, Skype-ing and baking.  However, after Dafney’s nap, she asked to go to park and we obliged!  We ALL needed to get outdoors to enjoy the beautiful weather!  This time we biked to a different neighborhood park.  It was SO much fun!  

Since Dafney LOVES the park so much and we live in an area with so many great bike trails & parks, we decided that this summer, we want to visit a new park every weekend {weather permitting, of course}!  We're excited to try explore some new places and have some quality family time this summer!!

I hope to take loads of pictures and blog about each park!  So check back...especially to those that are in this area &/or plan to visit sometime this summer!

~ xoxo ~