Today…

Outside my window: it’s pretty nice out right now but we’ve been getting a lot of thunderstorms lately. The other night we looked out the window and saw a beautiful rainbow right outside our balcony (pictured above) which we thought was kind of amazing because it was still storming. Typically I thought when you saw a rainbow it was after the storm but this one was right in the middle – also in the middle of sunset which added to the pretty.

This weekend we: celebrated Fathers Day. I got Dan a robot duck kit that he assembled with MM – he tells me that technically it’s not a robot, more of a machine, but they still had fun assembling it and MM thinks it’s basically the best thing ever. I also got Dan a Little Critter book to read with the kids and Craig Ferguson’s newish book American on Purpose. Love him.

I also: made Dan his favorite chocolate chip cookies, which finally came out normal and I’m able to now say that the secret to my chocolate chip cookies is using melted butter, contrary to what my recipe actually says – all those times I was lazy and melted it to make mixing easier, that was what made them so good.

I just finished reading: Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan last night. I’m really enjoying this series. I still feel like the main character sometimes seem a little, um, stupid or maybe just dense? But I love the story, the occasional comments on environmentalism and the Greek mythology references. A great series so far, overall.

We’ve decided to: start seriously house hunting. We spotted a house the other night that seems worth looking into and we just feel the timing is right – we contacted a Realtor that a friend recommended and we’re going to see if it’s feasible and start looking at houses. Cross your fingers.

In The Kitchen:

• Monday: chili dogs
• Tuesday: Spaghetti
• Wednesday: Tomato and Black Bean Quesadillas
• Thursday: Steak and Cheese sandwiches
• Friday: Penne a la Betsy

Some other links I think you should click:

• 20 Simple and Practical Kitchen Hacks for Everyday Cooks at Simple Bites
• How to Make a Mocha Frappucino at Savory Sweet Life
• Out of the Ordinary Travel Ideas at Real Simple
• Why Having a Toddler is Like Being at a Frat Party at Suburban Snapshots
• Summer Reading: Great Book Series for the Whole Family at Ohdeedoh

One last thing I want to tell you about before I go: Saturday night we took a walk to a small playground we like and some friends of ours met us there so our kids could all play together. It was really nice having kids MM’s age that I like there for him to play with instead of him playing alone or with god knows who. You can’t control everything in life but sometimes it’s nice to arrange a play date with some kids that don’t make you cringe. I’m hoping the house we get is in the same neighborhood so we can continue walking to parks to play with these friends. So nice.