Blueberries

We had a great weekend with my brother and his wife.

We drove out to an authentic Nicaraguan restaurant that they had found online. They had already gone there Friday and liked it so much that we went with them again Saturday. My sis-in-law had a taste of home, and she loved it. We all enjoyed it, lots of fruit juices we've never heard of and good food. They even had an assortment of dessert pastries (she got one of each). It was great to see her getting to talk to people from her own country. It is on the other side of town but I think they'll make it over there whenever they are in town.

Later that evening, we went to pick blueberries - a first for all of us. We followed the farm's advice and waited until the evening to go. I'm glad we did since it was still hot. We each had a 5lb bucket and at first my goal was just to cover up the bottom of it, but it is relaxing to select and pick them (and eat as many as you want as you go!) and there were SO MANY that it would be easy to fill up a bucket. None of us filled up our buckets, but we picked almost 13lb (not counting how many were in our bellies). It was a fun activity, and such a deal. You pay for what you put in our bucket, and pay only $1.50 per pound, quite a deal compared to this week's grocery ads for $2 (or more) for 6 oz of blueberries. I can see this outing becoming a tradition.

We made blueberry pancakes for breakfast today and will be eating fresh blueberries all week and frozen ones this summer.

Relaxing Holiday

The rest of our weekend was much more relaxing. My parents and sister came up on Sunday and spent that night and most of Memorial Day with us. We had a great time visiting and catching up, and were able to celebrate both my mom and sister's May birthdays with a dinner out (and my dad's banana pudding for dessert). We also played dominos and Phase 10 (card game) and had a great homemade lunch on Monday. We never went to the pool, it was just too hot, but saw that plenty of people in our neighborhood did.

For lunch Monday, we made a recipe I'd gotten from HungryGirl last week and we had for dinner on Friday - we love it that much we had it twice in one weekend. On Friday we didn't make the avocado cream sauce, but we did on Monday and I recommend you make it...so good I could eat it with a spoon. Its very refreshing, perfect for summer. Here is the recipe:

Grilled Go Fish!

Ingredients:
For Tacos
2 tbsp. lime juice
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/8 tsp. salt
Two 4-oz. raw tilapia fillets (or other flaky white fish)
Four 6-inch corn tortillas
1 cup shredded cabbage or dry coleslaw mix (we skipped this, just had lettuce instead)
1/4 cup chopped tomato

For Avocado Cream
2 tbsp. mashed avocado
2 tbsp. fat-free sour cream
1/2 tsp. lime juice
Dash garlic powder, or more to taste
Dash chili powder, or more to taste
Dash salt, or more to taste

Optional topping: fruity salsa

Directions:
Combine lime juice and spices for the tacos in a large bowl, and mix well.
Add fillets and evenly cover both sides of each with seasoned lime juice.
Let marinate in the fridge for at least 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine all ingredients for avocado cream in a small bowl and mix well.
Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Spray a grill or grill pan with nonstick spray and bring to medium heat.
Grill fish for 5 minutes, and then very carefully flip.
Grill for 3 more minutes, or until cooked through.
Set aside.

Heat tortillas on the grill or grill pan until warm and just slightly toasted, about 1 minute per side. Plate and spread evenly with avocado cream.
Break fish into pieces and evenly divide among tortillas.
Top with cabbage, tomatoes and, if you like, some fruity salsa. Fold and enjoy!

MAKES 2 SERVINGS

God Bless everyone who works in the medical field....

Our Saturday evening turned out much differently than expected. We went over to Kevin's brother's house to get to see some cousins who had come in town from Kansas City, and finally meet their little boy - he is such a cutie! We had a good time visiting with them and watching all the kids play. When the evening was winding down (pretty soon after we got there since the kids were wiped out from swimming), K's brother (Keith) and cousin decided to throw the football around one more time, and Keith went to catch a pass and landed HARD on his shoulder. He had dislocated it, so we rushed off to the Urgent Care center nearby. They were open but had already locked the doors. I knocked on the doors til someone finally came and they said that we needed to go to the ER, so off we go (why were they closing early??? arg - reminds me of when I was trying to help my little sis and the first urgent care place we went to WAS closed) . We got to the ER and he was triaged and taken back immediately. Things slowed down from there since he was one of 30 beds. We tried to keep his mind off it by making him laugh and talking to him but I know he was in a lot of pain, even with pain meds. Once he got an x-ray and they knew exactly what they were dealing with (had to verify there were no fractures and what angle it had dislocated), they were able to put it back in place and then just had to keep him for observation. When he woke up from those meds he didn't believe us that they had already fixed his shoulder. Kevin and I were able to see the x-rays (and the big bump on his shoulder) and it was obvious that something was not quite right. All told we were there about 3 hours, and then he got to go home and sleep in his own bed. He'll take it easy the rest of the weekend.

His wife had stayed home with the nephew and we kept her updated, we even had a phone in the room that she could call - handy since our reception was not very good in the hospital. I have to laugh that we were taking camera-phone pictures and they were loaded to facebook today. A whole different way to share news and stories.

He half-jokingly told us he wanted us to fix his arm, just to make the pain go away. I don't think I could do it even if I had to and am so glad we have people who are trained and can help when we have something wrong with our bodies.

We were very glad we were able to help, after all that is what family is for!

Here is hoping the rest of our weekend is LESS exciting!

Memorial Day Weekend

When I got home from work on Friday, there was a small flag placed at the end of each driveway in our neighborhood. It was a small, but significant, reminder of why we have a holiday each year at the end of May. All the flags really were a beautiful sight. While we tend to think of BBQ, graduations, pools and the beginning of Summer this weekend, I'm reminded to think of all the men and women who have served and died for us to have these freedoms.

Camping

We had a great time camping this past weekend! We went with Kevin's brother and family, including our almost-5-year-old nephew. They had found a great place to camp, Wolf Creek Park on Lake Livingston and found the best spot in the park. Its a larger spot so you have more space between you and the other campers and at the back is a little trail through the woods to an open field, making a great place to run and play - especially nice since it was the one place we could let our dog off-leash. Poor thing, he did not have as much fun, being tied up the whole time. He managed to eat through one leash, but then found himself tied up with a rope. You can't feel too badly for him though, he was with us the entire weekend and had lots to sniff and explore.

This was the first time I've been camping in over a decade, and it was quite a bit different from when I went with Girl Scouts. There was still a hike to the bathrooms, and I remember why I had to wear socks and shoes, flip-flops may be comfortable but they are not easy to walk up and down hills in, and I kept finding all the ant piles. I did not miss dunk-bags or sharing a tent with a bunch of other people. I do wish I had brought a lantern, we had a flashlight but even the kiddie lantern was brighter. I want one - its safe since its made for kids, so i won't have to worry about burning myself and puts out a lot of light!

It was hotter than we'd like, but not too bad and even pleasant enough we got cold during the night (I was thinking Kevin was crazy for wanting to bring a blanket, but was glad we did).

Each evening, we took showers and the showers were not really clean - they're basically outside so there are dead bugs in them and you had to push a button about every 20 seconds to get water to come out, but it was hot water (scalding in the boys' case) and it felt so good you did not care what the shower looked like. It was the best shower I've taken in a long time just because it felt so good to wash off and cool off. We also had a fire each night, I love campfires...

It was nice to be out and away from everything and just get to spend time with family. Except for Hurricane Ike, this weekend was the longest stretch of time we've spent with our nephew, and much better circumstances. He has quite an imagination, always making up stories and loves following his Uncle Kevin. We had a great time with everyone, and were able to have some camping staples - s'mores, all cooked by our nephew. He liked to roast the marshmallows but wouldn't eat them, and had a sno-cone at the store in the park....I cannot remember the last time i had a sno-cone, and it was a good one!

We'll definitely go back, when its cooler....