Lia's last day at St. Rita's Preschool!

Bitter sweet for us, Lia's last day @ St. Rita's! 

At dinner, she discovered a little person in her broccoli!  ;)

Family Photo Shoot in Eden Park

 

 We had a lot of fun at our family photo shoot this evening! 

Lia had her polka dot dress on and thought I should wear mine also!  ;)

Memorial Day Dinner Downtown!

What an AWESOME night and dinner we had tonight!  Here Frank and Lia overlooking the river, Smale Park. 

Ok, so walking through this soon became running, and no longer dry... 

so FUN getting WET...who cares??? 

Oh yea!  You know thankfully we have towels in the car b/c this was not planned! 

After the fountains Mommy & Lia ran the maze!  Lia is still wet. 

 

 Lia took mom's phone and took these pictures of mom and dad!

We had an AWESOME night!  Thank you Cincinnati for the entertainment!  :)

Grailville Local Festival

Lia and I went out to Grailville for their local festival.  We caught an AMAZING band there....Jeremy Pinnell and the 55s. 

We met our friends Missy, Will and Chris.  They had local grass fed burgers and local ice cream - and local beer too! 

Will goes to school right across the street so after the festival we went to check out the playground there.

Yummy meal

Here's another one of our meals that Kelly got also.  Lemon Thyme Salmon Pattie with Lemon Dill Aoli and Cinnamon Brown Basmati Rice with Cashews, Raisins and Peas.  Also delviered but not pictured was a salad of my fresh spring greens, including kale, arugula, lettuce, chard and beet greens.

Tennis!

Such a good sport my daughter is!  Today (a hot day) I took her to Oakley tennis courts after school so I could hit against their "wall" in the courts.  I brought her balance bike and her scooter to keep her occupied but after a while it was a bit much for her with heat from the sun, so we packed it up.  She had a smile the entire time.

Dinner at Jerry Randolph's!

 Jerry took this picture.  Lia LOVES Jerry! 

Here is a shot from his neighbor's water feature. 

And Jerry tood this one of us.  I wish we would have gotten a picture of Jerry OR the delicious meal he made for us....besides the awesome sprinkles and chocolate syrup on top of brownies for dessert.

More food....a favorite breakfast food.....Banana Pancakes

It started with the Jack Johnson's song "Banana Pancakes" which I used to sing to Lia when she was a baby.  We love that song!  I used to sing her to sleep with it.  It got me thinking about making the pancakes....and I've been making them ever since!

Lia loves them and I always make a double batch so that I have them ready-to-go in the freezer for breakfast (or whenever).  Today I decided to get out my

 heart ♥ shaped pancake molds to make some special ones for her.   

It is truly amazing how awesome a ♥ shape can make a 4 year old feel! 

A New Adventure in Cooking....Personal Chef

This counts as the 2nd meal delivery to my friend Kelly this week.  She has hired me to provide her with 2 home made meals per week.  She is not only extremely busy at her job, being the President of her family business, but an avid runner who doesn't always have the time to prepare meals every night. 

 This week she already received a favorite of mine:  Salmon and Edamame Pasta Salad, and she raved about it.  Today she will come home to Lamb Lettuce Wraps with Tomato/Cucumber/Mint/Pine Nut Salad and Roasted Red Pepper Hummus Sauce. 

These wraps were FANTASTIC.  I will be making them again!!!! 

Kelly has really provided me with the opportunity to help her and

 to help & challenge me into preparing special meals!

My girl Lia (who does NOT eat lettuce) gobbled the lettuce wraps up and asked for.... MORE!

Because Kelly is special, and always generous (besides being my first paying customer - THANK YOU girl!) not to mention a friend, she will be getting some added bonus items.  Today I am delivering along with the lamb wraps a special cocktail:  Cucumber Lime Gimlet made with cucumber juice (left over from making Tzatziki), lime, mint, gin, and a little bit of sugar.

 Sooooo refreshing!!! 

Honestly the taste of summer.  I could not detect the gin.  Thankfully all I had was enough cucumber juice for 2 - one for Kelly and one for me!  Otherwise I could have had more. I gave Lia a tiny sip and she wanted more.  No way little one!  But I could make an NA version for her!

Dinner with Joe and Michelle

We invited our tennant, Joe to dinner, along with his girlfriend Michelle.  We had a really nice evening and enjoyed these 2 beautiful people.  Lia took this picture.  :) 

Pretty cute shot if I say so myself.

Frank was funny.  He told me "you better make something REALLY good because I am ALWAYS bragging about your cooking to Joe".  So what to make?  I decided to go with a summerish favorite - Greek Lamb Burgers.  I served them with roasted green beans and (something new) a warm Greek Potato Salad from one of my many many many Greek cookbooks.  It was actually a delicious choice.  Thanks Joe for taking these pictures!  Almost always I FORGET to take a picture of the foods I make, especially when it's something SPECIAL.

Served for dessert - Blueberry Gateau with Vanilla Ice Cream.  I wish I could say it was home made ice cream, but not made by me.  Thanks to Connie for the delicious recipe and to my friend Diane b/c these blueberries came from when we picked them on her farm last Fall.  We're so happy to have Joe as a tennant.  We made the right choice with him and I think this couple is pretty happy with the choice they made with eachother!  ;) 

Lyle Lovett!!!

Frank and I stopped for a quick bite at the Metropole and got this photo -

 because a friend suggested that we find the the yellow Penquin. 

We've seen him at the Taft before, actually front row. 

We had good seats but not quite like that time. 

What a great performer and musician!!! 

 I am so happy Frank shares in my appreciation of my favorite musician of all time!  :)

Derby Party @ Laughery Creek (Schner's Place)

We all (everyone!) had SO much fun at Schner's Place this weekend!  It was a Derby Party so Frank INSISTED I bring a hat to wear!

Nick's been telling us about this place for years and inviting us.  We finally made it!  And glad we did. Here is Nick and Debbie.

Silly Schner - time for the races!

No pictures of the Scamp but that's what we brought and where we slept.  Thankfully too b/c towards evening (before bedtime) it began to rain.  We held out in the woods and by the fire for a while but were thankful for the dry comfy place to sleep.