First Trip To Marbles! (And Other Fun Weekend Happenings)

We had a busy, busy weekend!!! We usually never have plans, but this weekend, we were jam-packed every day! On Friday night, Laura, Caleb, and the girls came over. We went simple and had Pizza Hut delivered. So much fun as always with our good friends!!

Cozy in the Cozy Coupe!

Friday night, Shelley said she was coming up Saturday! Robbie was off Saturday, too, so we had plans to take William to the Marbles museum downtown. We had never been (ridiculous, I know!) and couldn't wait to try it out. We grabbed a quick lunch at Chick Fil A once Shelley got in town and then headed to Marbles! Conner and William LOVED it!! They had so much for them to do, and even stuff for bigger kids, that were way too advanced for them (hello, real saw and drill). After a while at Marbles, we had to take Robbie by his store to do something. The great news is, as we were pulling out of the parking lot, he came out and said he didn't have to do anything, so we took advantage of it and headed to Pullen Park. It was super hot, but we rode the carousel and the train, and then played on the swing set and slide! Conner and William loved the park! William is still going on about the choo choo! We had a great dinner at Outback, and some froyo at the place by our house, and then came on home. The boys had fun in the bath together, and both passed OUT from exhaustion as soon as they hit the bed! We had so much fun with Shelley and Conner, and can't wait until they come back!!

Reading EW, waiting for our company!

Slidin at CFA!

Even Dada went down!

Playing with Conner in the Marbles entryway!

Driving the ambulance

Roarrrr!

Playing in the vet office

Mowing! The lawnmower was a hot commodity and everyone wanted it!

Fixing lunch!

Choo chooooo!

Climbing to the top of the pirate ship!

This slide was William's favorite! He went up the steps, and down the slide about 10 times!

Hey Mama!

Peek a Boo!

Shelley and Conner on the carousel!

<3

Clapping when it was all over!

This picture is hilarious!!!

Riding the choo choo train!

Shelley and Conner on the train!

Sleepy boys on the way home!

Sunday morning, we got ready for church. William and Conner had their breakfast, and some train table playtime. William and I headed to church, and Shelley and Conner ran some errands before heading back home. After church, we met Erica and had lunch. Erica came up to return some baby stuff she borrowed for Jackson, and stocked up on clothes and new toys for him from William's closet! ;) We had a yummy pot roast dinner at home, and then Erica left us to head back to EC! We had such a busy couple of days, and it was so fun having people visit us and play!!

BBQ Pork Tenderloin!

Are y'all tired of my food posts yet?! Ha! I love when other bloggers post a good recipe, so I'm sharing the good news! This pork was super good and easy! It will definitely be added to our list of regulars!

BBQ Pork Tenderloin (source: http://eclecticrecipes.com/bbq-pork-loin)

Ingredients:

1 pork tenderloins (about 2 pounds)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 cup BBQ Sauce

Directions:

Heat grill to 375° - 400°. Pat pork tenderloin dry. Combine all dry spices and and sprinkle and rub over pork tenderloin. Spray pork tenderloin with non-stick cooking spray and place on hot grill.
Grill tenderloin, turning once during the cooking process. When pork tenderloin is almost done, baste with BBQ sauce.

Almost done!

After slicing!

Sooo good!

It was SO good! Moist and tons of flavor!! Hurry and make this! We had some baked potatoes and corn on the cob so we served those with it! And of course...no blog post is complete without a couple pictures of sweet William....

William loves corn on the cob!

William enjoyed a snack of popcorn while waiting for dinner!

Sweets For My Sweet!

William has a sweet tooth! The funny thing is, he will be begging for something when he sees it (rice krispy treat, cookie, ice cream, etc) and then gets his fill of it in 2-3 bites! But you would have thought he could eat a whole BOX of cookies by the way he was acting, haha! Anyway, thought I'd share a couple funny pictures from his latest adventures in sugar-land!

Sunday after church, we went to the Farmer's Market for lunch. I am obsessed with their BBQ chicken, it is my fave!!! Well, with every meal ordered, you get a little scoop of banana pudding for dessert. I always offer some to W, and this day he just said "forget this!" and took the whole bowl when I wasn't looking, and helped himself! It was sooo funny and he was so pleased with himself!

How could you get mad at THAT?!

Mama treated us to Goodberry's the other night and we decided to let William have his own kid's cup. (First time ever). He was so fascinated with the fountain that they have, and running around talking to other kids/dogs, that he hardly ate his ice cream until it was a puddle. Even then, he wanted to stand up holding it at the fountain, you know, like he is about 10 years old?!

So excited about the fountain!

Yum!!

Beef and Broccoli (In Your Crock Pot!!!)

Y'all. I love my crock pot. It is SO easy to just throw everything in there and let it work away. Last night, I made beef and broccoli in the CP. It was soooo good. We loved it! It was a little spicy, and just perfect! We served it over rice. I swear I took a picture, but now can't find it on my phone. William probably deleted it. ;) Anyway, it was awesome and super easy (I started it when I went home for lunch) and will definitely be added to our rotation!!

Here's the recipe!
Beef and Broccoli (source: http://feministhousewife.wordpress.com/2011/06/11/30-day-blog-challenge-days-10-11/)

Ingredients:
-1 lb beef  (we used stew meat)

-1/4 cup soy sauce

-2 T white wine (if I don’t have this on hand, I’ve used some water)

-2 T apple cider vinegar

-1 T brown sugar

-2 t sesame oil (I didn't have this, and couldn't justify the $8 price tag for 2t)

-2 cloves minced garlic

-1/2 t crushed red pepper flakes

-1 bag thawed broccoli florets

 

Directions:
- Add liquid ingredients to the crockpot
-Stir in garlic and spices
-Add meat, toss to coat
-Cook on low for 6-8 hours
-30-60 minutes before serving, add entire bag of broccoli, cover and cook on high
-Serve over rice

After dinner, we headed outside to play with our neighbors again! William is so random, he went and sat on Jessica's front porch and was reading a book, and then went in Christie's garage to get a broom and dust pan, while everyone else was running around playing! He is such a mess!!

Cleaning up!

Wait a second, can I climb in?! Ha!