Chicago weekend

This past weekend the family headed to Chicago for a long weekend.

We went to see a Cubs baseball game.





In very hot weather.



We attended my family reunion at a fun little park.
We had fun playing games like Bags, Frisbee, baseball and one of the little cousins even brought a pinata.













Got rained on 6 inches in one night.



Enjoyed some of our favorite Chicago food: Vienna hot dogs from Gene and Judes and Italian beefs from The Spot.









Played lots of Scrabble and Farkle.



Swam in the hotel pool and took some rides down the hotel halls.



It was a fun weekend of activities and visiting with relatives.
I love visiting Chicago!

summer salads

This last month or so I have been trying to exercise more and have also have been trying to eat a little healthier. It is not always easy especially with our crazy schedule- but I do know that I feel so much better and I have more energy when I put healthier food into my body. And the older I get I find that to be even more true!! :)

The past few weeks I have been trying to make a few new salad recipes for dinners and each one has been so delicious. Plus, a salad always sounds so good in the hot summer weather—which we have been having a lot of this summer.


Lime and Cilantro Chicken Salad
(This recipe is from Nordstrom's Cafe and is my all time favorite salad!!)

Dressing:
1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoons pureed chipotle chile's in adobe sauce
2 Tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup canola oil
1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Salad:
3 ears corn, grilled or roasted (2 cups)
1 1/2 pounds chicken breasts- seasoned with salt and pepper, cooked and sliced
1 1/2 pounds plum tomatoes, diced
1 pound mixed baby greens
2 cups Jack cheese, shredded
1/2 cup roasted red bell pepper, chopped
3/4 cup sunflower seeds
fresh cilantro

For the dressing: Combine all the ingredients in a blender or food processor.

For the salad: Remove the corn from the cob. Combine the remaining ingredients. Toss with the dressing and sprinkle with the seeds and cilantro.

Delicious!
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Greek Grilled Chicken Salad

This recipe I found on a (new-to-me) food blog and the salad was AMAZING!!! So Good- the whole family loved it- good! I will definitely be making this again!!

You can find the recipe here at Aggie's Kitchen.
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Another recipe I made was Pioneer Woman's 
Asian Noodle Salad
I thought for sure I took a picture of this---but for some reason I can't find a picture. This was a great salad- but when I make it again I would probably add some sliced grilled chicken and also cut the recipe in half---it makes a ton!!! But it is so good- the flavors are amazing!!
This recipe can be found here.
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And with all of the great vegetables in season right now I can't wait to try some more new salad recipes!!!

scenes from summer

I cannot believe that more than half of the summer is over already! Summer always goes way too fast!

Here are some pictures of a few things we have enjoyed so far this summer.

*Time in the back yard.












*Enjoying smores at a campfire.


*Lighting bottle rockets.


*Fireworks on the Fourth of July.


*Beautiful flowers (and vegetables and fruits) at the local farmer's markets.


*Walks around 'the lakes' and time at the Rose Garden.






*Trying new recipes like these Jalapeno Poppers from Pioneer Woman.


*Time relaxing.


*My car flipped 100,000. (I know- exciting stuff here!!)


*Shopping withTyler for college.


*A night listening to Blues at the MN Zoo.


It has been a fun and relaxing summer so far and I am hoping the rest of the summer proves to be a lot of the same!

a collection??

Today was a great day. I did a bunch of errands, took the dog on a 4 1/2 mile walk, and came home and did a bunch of cleaning- which my house totally needed! :)

When I was cleaning Drew's bathroom, I went to close a drawer that was partially open, and I noticed this...



And I am wondering why?? Why a 12 year old thinks this would make a good collection in a bathroom drawer??

But I must admit--it made me smile! (And that doesn't happen often when I am cleaning bathrooms!) :)

frisbee

Today was one of the hottest days that I can remember in a very long time here in Minnesota. And we had some really wild weather today too, with a possible tornado touch down in our town. Last I heard it was 94 degrees- which is hot- but it was the humidity that made it almost unbearable. The dew point was 78, which made it feel like 110 degrees! Yikes! I normally love the heat, but even this was too hot for me, so I completely wimped out and stayed home tonight from Drew's baseball game. (Bad mommy:)

So since there was no baseball tonight I thought I would do a post about another sport- Ultimate Frisbee.

Tyler's latest passion this spring and summer has been a totally new sport to him- and he absolutely loves it.

We went to see his last tournament and I took a ton of pictures. I am not sure I understand this game- but it sure was a blast to watch!



I love their homemade jerseys!















After the second game, the other team grabbed a keyboard and guitars and sang a song to Tyler's team...something about losing I think. Very funny!!



This is such a fun, laid back sport and so refreshing after all the years of traveling and varsity sports we have been involved in. The kids were having so much fun- and that is really what sports should be- fun.

blueberry picking

It seems like forever since I have blogged. Life gets so busy sometimes and it is sometimes hard to find the time to blogging but I still have been taking a lot of pictures-- so I think soon I may do a "summer review" post just so I have a memory of our summer so far.... (Summer is going way too fast!!!)

So I am just going to jump right back in and start blogging again---because I miss it!

This past Friday, Drew and I loaded into my car and went to pick up my mom to head to Wisconsin for some blueberry picking. This is the 3rd year in a row that we went to this beautiful blueberry farm- and I think I love it more each year we go! It is a little bit of a drive to get to Maiden Rock,WI, but it is so worth it! It is such a scenic drive on some quaint country roads, which just adds to the beauty of the day.

This year Drew and I picked 15 pounds of blueberries. (We were hoping to pick a couple more pounds this year but it was so hot that we stopped at that.  There is always next year :)

After several hours of blueberry picking, we stopped for some lunch in Red Wing at the historic St.James Hotel.

Look at that cute little rooftop patio.

Then home to freeze the berries and to do some baking.