Happy Birthday, George!

Yesterday we celebrated George's 28th Birthday!

He had to work most of the day but did make it home in time to enjoy our biweekly Copeley BBQ in our backyard. There was a great turn out and we had a good time being with our friends. When it was winding down, I brought out George's cake so we could celebrate with everyone.

I had asked George a few days earlier what kind of cake he wanted and he replied "Tiramisu". I originally said he had to pick a different cake because tiramisu is flavored with coffee, but after thinking it over and with encouragement from my sister, I decided to go ahead and make it. With de-caf coffee. So it doesn't count, right? Right?

I found a great recipe online for a cake that looked delicious, so I printed off the instructions and got to work. It took two days, but in the end it was worth it! George helped out with a lot of the prep, too. It's always fun to do cooking experiments together.

I love this picture.

We were singing to George here. And for the record, that's root beer in his hand. If you're a root-beer-lover, try Virgil's. It's hands-down some of the best root beer I've ever had.

Right before you serve the cake, you pour hot ganache all over the top and it melts through the top disk of chocolate and fills the hole underneath with gooey chocolatey goodness.

My ganache apparently wasn't hot enough and the chocolate disk needed some encouragement to melt. I'm stabbing the top with a spoon here, much to the amusement of everyone looking on.

Ah. Success!

Cutting it was a hassle because of the hard chocolate on top. 

Can I just say "Yum"?

It was really good! I would definitely make it again, but next time I'd make it in a 9x13 cake pan and skip the hard chocolate on top. Too much hassle and too hard to cut.

Happy Birthday, George! Thanks for being the amazing husband and father you are. I'm so glad I get to spend my life with you. Every year that passes just gets better and better! I love you.

4th of July--Part 3

Since we got rained out on the 4th of July, we decided to celebrate on Tuesday, the 5th. 

The day started out the same as most. Our neighbors came up to the park and we spent the morning talking while the kids played together. All the rain the night before washed out some huge earthworms and the kids sat for probably 30 minutes watching them and digging.

They were pretty big!

Lance, Bennett, Caroline, Lucy, and Cameron. Where was Jude?

Oh yeah. He was pretending to be a baby. He loves baby carriers and will play with the buckles and climb in and out of them for 20 minutes at a time. 

That evening, we celebrated Independence Day with the Elmers and Smiths. George was still working 6 pm to 2 am and so missed the festivities again. Sad! Being a nurse myself, I knew George would miss some special occasions as a doctor, but now it's actually happening. :( The price we pay, I guess.

I froze blue and red Kool-aid and used those as ice cubes for Sprite. Red, white, and blue drinks!

They were a big hit with the kids.

We also did s'mores, thanks to the Elmers who let us use their fire pit. I attempted to build the fire, but it failed pretty miserably. Good thing Aric was there to rescue it. I don't know why they don't teach girls how to build fires like they do the scouts. It's a good life-skill to have.

Jude tried his hand at roasting marshmallows and did a pretty good job with a little help.

Eating the s'mores was a different matter. He was more interested in the skateboard and spent most of the evening rolling around on his tummy.

Lance ate a s'more, which surprised me because he almost never does, but was more interested in the fire than anything else. He's a pyro, just like his mama.

One neat thing we did with the s'mores was make them with Reese's peanut butter cups. Sounds strange, but they were sooo good!

As it started to get dark, we broke out the sparklers.

Jude was excited to hold one and thought it was pretty neat.

Lance and Killian sparring with theirs.

And then for the real show: FIREWORKS!

The kids were really excited as we set up and had a hard time sitting still or keeping a safe distance away.

Watching.

Jamie with her two kiddies, Bennett and Lucy.

The men lit the fireworks while the kids picked out which ones they wanted next.

Jude wasn't too sure what to think about them and spent the whole time running away while watching and then running back again, saying "Oh! Oh! Uh oh!" He wasn't sure if they were supposed to be neat or scary and I think at the end he found a good medium and was able to enjoy the show.

Lance and Killian manning the fireworks station.

Lance and Jude.

It was such a fun night with our friends! It was pretty late by the time the kids got their baths and were in bed. Life doesn't get much better than this! The only thing missing? George.

4th of July--Part 2

Our 4th of July day started with Lance being picked up by his dad for a few hours. They got to go mountain biking on a local trail. Lance is getting to be amazing on his bike and really enjoys riding with his dad.

About to begin the trail!

Looking good, Lance!

They found a silk worm (maybe and inch worm?) attached to Lance's shirt and stopped to take a picture.

Lance is a pro!

After biking, they ate lunch at Lance's favorite restaurant "China King Buffet" and then watched "Transformers 3" together at the theater. Lance is a lucky boy! What a fun day!

When Lance came home, we celebrated the 4th in true American style with a picnic. Some friends of ours invited us to their picnic on The Lawn at UVa and we couldn't resist! The only problem? It was raining! Luckily, there are covered walkways surrounding the Lawn (people actually live in little one-bedroom apartments on each side of the lawn) so we spread our blankets on the brick and tried to stay dry.

George was working 6 pm to 2 am that night, so got to come say hello to everyone then make a quick get-away to the hospital.

Yummy food! Even our picky Jude thought it tasted good.

Lance with the Elmers and Vedomskes.

Corn dog! You can see how hard it was raining behind Lance. The storm was right above us for a while and we got to enjoy lightning and thunder with our meal.

Jude--not too sure what to think about all the rain.

It finally cleared and the kids enjoyed bubbles and jumping in puddles.

A balloon toss. Lance and Killian were partners and did a surprisingly good job catching the balloon.

Most of our group participating in the balloon toss. The Taylors, Vedomskes and Elmers were there, along with our family and some of Kaycie Taylor's friends from work. It was a fun group.

Jude wanted in on the action, too, but couldn't quite figure out what to do with the water balloons.

And of course it wouldn't be the 4th of July without sparklers!

We were planning on doing s'mores later that night and shooting off our own set of fireworks, but because it was so wet, we decided to wait until the next day. Let the celebration continue!

4th of July Weekend--Part 1

The 4th of July was a lot of fun! We spread out our celebrating over a few days and packed the weekend full of activities. George is doing a Pediatric ER rotation and is working strange hours, so it was tricky finding a time when he was not only home, but awake. 

Saturday July 2nd, we took a family bike ride to Chipotle for lunch. It was our first time breaking out the trailer for Jude.

I thought he'd be more excited because he LOVES bikes and always tries to ride Lance's, but this was his face every time I turned around. Maybe he was just upset he didn't get to petal his own bike.

Lance thought it was great fun and did a good job staying close and following directions.

Lance enjoying his favorite thing at Chipotle--a burrito with rice, chicken and sour cream.

The missionaries came in for lunch and sat right behind us, so we had them take our family picture. 

Biking back to our apartment was a bit harder, seeing as it was uphill almost the whole way, but we all made it in one piece and are excited to do it again sometime.

Later that day, we went to the splash park with our friends the Elmers and the Smiths.

George and Aric like to talk about what rotation they're on and the different cases they're following.

Jude is getting more adventurous by the day and loved the water!

The daddies with the kids.

Lance taking a snack break.

Aric Elmer having a water fight with his kids Jayden, Britton, and Killian.

Lance joining in the fun!

Jamie Smith and her little girl Lucy.

Jude and Mommy enjoying the water together.

I love these families! Honestly, it is so fun living close and being able to spend time with them.

Jude being a crazy. As usual.

After the splash park, we went to Red Robin with the Elmers to celebrate Killian and Kendall turning 6. It was an awesome day--one of those days that leaves you completely exhausted but happy. A great start to our holiday weekend.