// ONE //
Our days during the summer literally look like this: wake up, eat breakfast, walk to the park, play in the splash pad, walk home, play in sandbox, eat lunch, nap, eat dinner, sleep, repeat. The kids are big fans of routine.
Because I’ve been out of commission lately, I decided to mix things up a bit and make a splash pad at home. I’m not sure why I haven’t thought about this before because it’s so simple. But, yeah. Water sprinklers.
The kids had so much fun. They ran through the sprinklers. They slid down the slide
And when the water station changed, they moved on with it. They even had fun with the smaller stations that water the flower beds. Plus, as Mr. L pointed out, there sprinklers keep the mosquitos at bay so I don’t have to worry about loading them up with bug spray. AND they were clean at the end of it!
// TWO //
My sweet aunt and uncle surprised us with a visit last weekend. We had not seen them in forever and were so happy to spend time with them. My aunt found these two books for the kiddos:
These books are fabulous! Little L and The Dot had tons of fun looking at all of the animals in The Water Hole. The illustrations are beautiful. And on each page there are these little frogs that wear sunglasses and bowties. Little L searched for them as the story progressed. The narrative is very simple–“one rhino,” “two tigers,” etc., but the illustrations are so intricate that the book is enjoyable for both parents and kids.
Tap the Magic Tree is another wonderful book. I love the book because it is interactive and only 2D (I can’t tell you how many pop-up books my kids have destroyed!). As you read, you help the tree grow by tapping the flowers, shaking the tree and then you can start the process over again. Such a great idea for a book and so much fun.
// THREE //
On Sunday, we checked out cars at Cars & Coffee for a Cause, which is a car show that the local car club hosts every first Sunday of the month. Car enthusiasts are welcome to come look at the members’ cars, and a percentage of coffee proceeds go to charity. Little L is OBSESSED with cars, but we suspect it is his obsession with Starbucks cake pops that keeps him coming back. Either way, we had fun and saw some really neat classic and performance cars.
// FOUR //
One of my favorite restaurants in Houston is an Italian restaurant in The Rice Village named Prego. I haven’t been since before having the kids, and even though it is one of my favorite restaurants, I can speak to only the Zuppa di Pepe soup that they serve there. I have never ordered anything else because the soup really is quite filling. And I’m sort of thinking they might serve bread or something like that along with the meal.
Anyway, the last time we went I was pregnant with Little L and realized that my reclusive nature would take a drastic turn for the worse after having a baby and that I may not have the soup again for a long time. So I went to the grocery store, bought tons of red bell peppers and poblano peppers and set to cloning the soup. At this point in time, I have no idea if my soup tastes anything like the soup from Prego. But my soup is delicious. Seriously.
We were trying to come up with ideas for dinner, and Mr. L remembered this soup. It was so good, we ended up making it twice for dinner this week.
Unfortunately this picture that I took when I first made the soup does not do the soup justice:
But here’s the recipe in case you want to try it out too. It’s not low-calorie by any means, but it is low carb.
- 4 red bell peppers, charred under broiler, skin and seeds removed
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 white onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed through garlic press
- 1 can chicken broth (14.5oz)
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 5 poblano peppers, charred under broiler, skin and seeds removed
- 6 tablespoons butter
- ½ white onion, chopped
- 1 rib celery, chopped
- ½ can chicken broth (half of 14.5oz can)
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- Prepare the poblano peppers (place whole peppers on a foil-lined, rimmed baking sheet and heat under broiler until charred—I set the timer for 7 minutes and keep rotating them and resetting the timer until all sides are charred; let peppers cool; remove skins and seeds). Chop the peppers.
- Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.
- Place chopped onion and celery in the saucepan and sauté approximately 10 minutes, until onion and celery is tender.
- Add the poblano peppers and ½ can of chicken broth.
- Increase heat until broth and vegetable mixture comes to a simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes.
- Turn off heat. Using immersion blender (or batches in regular blender), blend the broth and vegetable mixture until creamy—you may have to add a little cream here if it is too thick to blend, but don’t over-blend once you add the cream. Stir in heavy cream and salt.
- Prepare the red bell peppers (place whole peppers on foil-lined, rimmed baking sheet and heat under broiler until charred—I set the timer for 7 minutes and keep rotating them and resetting the timer until all sides are charred; let peppers cool; remove skins and seeds). Chop the peppers.
- Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat.
- Place chopped red bell peppers, onion, and garlic in the saucepan and sauté approximately 10 minutes, until onion is tender.
- Pour in the chicken broth. Increase heat until broth and vegetable mixture comes to a simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes.
- Turn off heat. Using immersion blender (or batches in regular blender), blend the broth and vegetable mixture until creamy. Stir in heavy cream and salt.
// FIVE //
I’m so so so excited that these little aprons came in for the kids! I purchased them on sale at Williams Sonoma. They were less than $7 each, so a fantastic deal. I wish I had bought a few more because these would make the cutest birthday gift for a little kid.
And we had a very happy Fourth of July. I didn’t take a lot of pictures because it poured rain the entire day, but we had a memorable day together.
Happy Easter!! 
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