Good morning! How are you guys doing today? My parents arrived in town in the late afternoon on Saturday, so we’ve been thoroughly enjoying quality time with my mom and dad over course of the past two days!
Our Friday night was pretty low key, which was all I wanted after a rather emotional day. One of our very close friends got some bad news on Friday that left us heartbroken as we fluctuated from feeling tearful and sad to upset and angry and, eventually, hopeful and faithful.
Ryan and I decided to spend our Friday night as a family of four (Sadie is clearly a family member!) and headed to a local park to talk while enjoying the some fresh air. We also wanted to push Chase on the swings again since he seems to be loving them more and more these days. Once we made it home, we ate dinner, put Chase to bed and ended up climbing into bed rather early ourselves.
Saturday
After we woke up and ate a quick breakfast of eggs and avocado toast, Ryan drove to the gym while I headed into the backyard with Chase and Sadie for some outside playtime. Chase has really been into tug-of-war lately and finds it hilarious, so that kept him entertained and giggling for a while… “for a while” being 5 minutes which is “a while” in baby time these days.
Ryan made it home from the gym in time for me to make the early boot camp class, so I headed off for a metabolic conditioning workout while Ryan took Chase and Sadie for a walk around the neighborhood.
Eventually we all ended up back and home and while Chase napped, we did laundry and a few other things around the house in preparation for my parents’ visit. And then it was time for our first Father’s Day adventure of the weekend!
Chase and I took Ryan out for waffles at Cast Iron Waffles, a new restaurant in the area, since we know Ryan’s love for Belgian waffles runs deep. The restaurant offers a handful of specialty waffles in a casual order-at-the-counter environment, so it was a perfect spot to bring a baby and grab some delicious breakfast fare.
The cinnamon roll waffle was fantastic (I requested whipped cream which does not normally come with it, but was a welcomed addition) and the size was perfect in that we didn’t leave left the restaurant feeling overly stuffed which is kind of how I anticipated feeling after eating Belgian waffles! We will absolutely be back!
After a quick grocery store run on our way home, Chase was ready for his afternoon nap, so after I nursed him and put him to sleep, I wrapped some Father’s Day gifts and did some work on the computer while Ryan tackled some yard work. And then it was boat time!
(Side note: Do any other parents out there ever see pictures of their babies and think the photo looks nothing like their baby? That’s how I feel about Chase in the above picture! Maybe it’s the hat? I swear that doesn’t even look like him!)
The weather this weekend was unbelievably gorgeous – sunny with little humidity – and we spent a few hours out on the lake enjoying the upper 70-degree temperatures.
By the time we made it back to our place, my mom had just arrived in town from Raleigh (she was there helping my aunt after surgery) and Ryan headed off to the airport to pick up my dad while my mom and I played with Chase and fed him before we could tell he needed a little cat nap to tide him over until bed time. He was up again before the guys arrived back home and we spent the rest of the night grilling out and lounging in our backyard.
It was so wonderful to have everyone together!
Sunday
Sunday was Father’s Day and I felt like quite the lucky girl to be able to spend Father’s Day with both my dad and Ryan! My mom and I did our best to make the guys feel extra special and kicked off the day with breakfast on the patio before heading out on a quick walk with Chase and Sadie.
I made baked steel cut oatmeal and a frittata and there were no leftovers, so I’ll consider the meal a success! Over breakfast, we had the guys open their gifts. I outfitted my dad and Ryan in some new gym apparel and also gave them framed pictures from Chase, among other things. I had Chase wearing a hat my dad wore as a baby in the photo for him and I tried my best to pose Chase with the letters D-A-D in a frame for Ryan.
Let’s just say the D-A-D themed photo gift looked a lot more picture perfect on Pinterest but since I took the pictures with my iPhone and did my best to work around a crazy dog in our backyard, I’ll consider them a success.
Here’s a lovely outtake for you featuring our favorite furry lady who clearly wanted to be included in the gift:
We spent the rest of our Sunday on the boat, eating oven baked fajitas for lunch and relaxing around the house before ordering Thai takeout for dinner.
It was a great Father’s Day and I’m looking forward to two more days with my dad before he heads back home to Florida! (My mom left first thing this morning for Raleigh to help my aunt with her surgery recovery again this week.) I hope you guys have a great week!
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I’m so glad you had your dad there this weekend!! Love the fajitas and may make them for dinner 🙂 The pictures of Chase turned out adorable!
What a fun weekend and special to have your dad and Ryan to celebrate! My dad was in town as well and it truly made the day extra special. I’m sorry to hear of your news and send my best to your friend.
Where did you get Chase’s swim shirt??
It was a gift from my parents and my mom found it at the Janie & Jack outlet!
Looks like such an awesome weekend, Julie! I love your bathing suit by the way! 🙂 Nothing better than fajitas and family. Have a wonderful day!
That waffle look so amazing!!
Looks like a great weekend with your family. Nothing beats quality family time.
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That sounds like a great weekend–so great you were able to see your dad on Father’s day this year. I think those photos turned out so cute–i think the not so perfect pictures like that are the best.
What a fun weekend! And so nice you got to celebrate with your dad and hubby. I am Loving the pics of Chase holding the Dad letters, so adorable!
Love the look on Chase’s face in the picture with Sadie — rather indignant that the dog is photobombing his picture!
What a lovely weekend! Well, minus the bad news on Friday. You had much nicer weather than we’re having in SoCal right now – it’s going to be 109 today! And our A/C is broken…
Prayers for your friend. Loved the dad photos. Even cuter than if they were perfect. Can we have your recipe for the baked fajitas? Enjoy your family time.
Hi Mary! Thank you so much for the prayers. <3 The recipe for the fajitas is from Juli Bauer's Paleo Cookbook, but you can find the recipe online here: http://fitfullydelicious.blogspot.com/2015/10/oven-chicken-fajitas.html
Love Sadie’s life jacket! Ha! I need one for our lab…her fat butt sinks to the bottom every time!
I love the outtake pic! Chase is looking at Sadie like she is trying to steal his thunder. Priceless!
I absolutely LOVE how active your little family is, Julie! You guys do such a great job keeping Chase stimulated and keeping life interesting :).
So happy to see that you guys all had an amazing Father’s Day weekend :).
I hope everything turns out okay for your friend – bad news is never easy. I’m so thankful to have my little boy to help keep me happy and positive during difficult times. Sounds like you were able to still make the best of your weekend with family. Thai food sounds amazing, I haven’t had it in quite some time and I may need to fix that!
Thank you, Christine! I definitely hugged Chase extra tight this weekend. <3
ha ha, those Chase pics always bring a smile to my face. what a ham! I hope whatever’s happening with your friend improves, or heals, or something good comes out of it. A huge silver lining would be a blessing! Looks like a nice weekend with your family, though, it’s nice you got to celebrate with both the big dads in your world!
Thank you so much, Kim! I hope so, too. <3
That “Dad” picture of Chase is so adorable! It sounds like an awesome weekend with your family!
So sorry about the bad news on Friday. Thinking of you and your friend.
And I think the “DAD” frame is completely adorable – iPhone photos or not! Totally saving that idea for one day in the very-distant future 🙂
I’m so sorry about the bad news that your friend received. 🙁 I am glad that the rest of your weekend was fun for you though. 🙂 I can’t get over how cute Chase is and how big he is getting. 🙂
Hoping that things are better for your friend or that they will get better in the very near future! Your weekend with the family looked so peaceful and relaxing – there’s nothing like family time! Love how you all spend so much time outdoors!
Thank you, Steph. <3
Julie, I have enjoyed your blog for a long time! Your joy for life always shines through your posts. You love leading an active lifestyle. Did you learn that from your parents?
Thank you, Lynn! Yes, my family has always been a pretty active family! As kids we played outside A LOT and definitely did a ton of camping, exploring and outside games as a family!
Such a cute idea for the dad photo. Makes me want to give my hubby a late gift. I might!
Can you post the recipe for the baked fajitas?! That looks do yummy!
The recipe is actually from Juli Bauer’s Paleo Cookbook, but you can find it online here: http://fitfullydelicious.blogspot.com/2015/10/oven-chicken-fajitas.html
Looks like a fun weekend, and that’s an adorable photo idea!
Happy late Father’s Day! I bet you had an amazing time with your family! 🙂
Praying for your friend!!!
So glad you all had a wonderful weekend 🙂 Your D-A-D photoshoot was such a cute idea! I’m sorry to hear about the troublesome news. Praying for you!
xx,
Rebecca
What a great weekend you all had! Love the dad pics, I tried that once (I have 3 girls) when the girls were little. it was a total and complete disaster. I cried, lol.
So sorry about your friends…prayers to them.