The Extreme Weather Weekend

Our weekend was completely awesome. J was feeling super sick Friday evening because he was still recovering from a virus he had picked up at school. But then, by the time we'd had breakfast on Saturday morning, he was starting to feel better! It was a super hot, sunny day, so we got our stuff together and headed down to the Badi for a relaxing afternoon of reading, swimming and taking in the view. It was pretty much the perfect day.  


I'll probably say this a million times in my life, but once you have a baby, you just don't travel light anymore! It was blistering hot on Saturday, so we were really thankful for our umbrellas. I had my first swim of the season and the lake felt like silk. It was also so disorienting/liberating/amazing to dive in the water without a big pregnant belly! First time swimming since giving birth. Wows! 


Coco got all tuckered out splashing around in the baby pool, which is probably the cutest thing you'll ever see. Sorry I don't have photos, but I wasn't brave enough to bring my camera to the baby pool for two reasons: One, because there are children. Everywhere. And some of them are running and cameras are expensive. Two, because Coco is still quite tippy when she's sitting and I'd feel absolutely terrible if she tipped over while I was several feet away taking her photo instead of sitting right behind her in case she falls. Particularly into the water, even if it is only two inches deep. That's just not a risk a mommy takes! So, for now, no pictures. But I'm sure we'll come up with a team system to get her photo splashing around in there. That is if the weather ever returns to being summery. 


Which takes us to Sunday. My goodness! Sunday was probably the stormiest day of all time. We woke up to hail the size of nickels. Some people will tell you they were bigger than that, but let's be literal. They were not the size of golf balls. Not even close. But they were definitely the size of nickels, maybe with the odd quarter thrown in. It was so loud and scary. I thought - I don't know what I thought - I just woke up in a state of panic and J was already out of bed and on guard and confused and then he said it was hail, so I started to get back into the bed until I saw the ice cubes being hurled out of the sky and then I closed the window and just watched in complete awe. It was scary. Hazardous. It made me glad we don't have a car that we park on the street. It didn't last long (and it was hot out so those ice balls melted quickly!) but I did get one, not very good photo. Yikes.


The pouring rain and thunder and lightning continued all day. So I did what any normal person would do. I baked cupcakes while Coco pushed around on the kitchen floor squealing with delight. Gotta love that girl. She's enthusiastic and can entertain herself to boot. 


Why is it so satisfying to cream butter and sugar together? I can never resist tasting a finger-full before adding the eggs.


Vanilla extract is definitely on my list of goodies to have my mom bring from the States when she visits this summer. Along with a bunch of other things I can't think of right now and really need to start writing down so I don't forget! 


I was a hopeless baker until I got pregnant and heard an invaluable trick from my friend Romy. Her advice: Don't use a timer when baking, just go off of how it smells. When it smells ready, it's done. Infallible!


I've taken to baking everything gluten-free with this flour. So far cakes and cookies turn out perfect. J took a dozen cupcakes to work, we have a few left and the rest went to our wonderful neighbors. So far I've yet to get a picture of one frosted because they're gobbled up too quickly! A sure sign they're yummy. :)

What did you get up to on your weekend? Did you have crazy, night and day weather back-to-back, too? Happy Monday! xo

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