My Week in Photos // Botanical Beauty, Burgers, and Birthdays!

Happy May, friends!  I hope yours is off to a spectacular start!  As I prep this post it's late Thursday night and while time won't allow for me to put together a typical Five Loves on Friday post, it was too beautiful of a week not to capture and share here!  

So here's my week in photo form...

Love me an in-car picnic at the lake with my loves on a chilly afternoon.  Good food, better view, and the best company is my favorite combo!

Botanical beauty always takes my breath away!  Our sweet family walk and talk at the local botanical gardens this week was incredibly refreshing!

Today is an Extra Special Day!

Today is my sister's birthday!  I cannot even put into words how much I love her!  She was my first friend and will forever be one of my favorite people on the planet!  I was so touched that she wanted to spend her birthday with us.  My parents (aka: the host and hostess with the mostest) threw such a fun party for her and for her daughter who shares the same birthday month.  What a joy it was to celebrate both my sister, and my niece's Sweet 16 too!  I am so looking forward to making many more memories with them in this fresh new year of their lives!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Wishing you a marvelous first weekend of May!

LINKING UP WITH:

Tif, Della, Becky, Whitney P., and Whitney J. 

for High Five for Friday

&

Andrea, Erika, and Narci 

for Friday Favorites

Join me in the adventures to come!

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Five Loves on Friday

Happy Friday, friends!  So glad you could pop by for a visit!  I hope you've had a wonderful week!  If not, hang in there the weekend is just around the corner!  Before it arrives it's Five Loves time!

One  //  A Year of Botanical Beauty

For years now I've considered getting a family membership at a nearby botanical garden.  When we visit each July I always marvel at the loveliness and daydream of taking sweet strolls there more regularly.  Last weekend we attended a festival there and rather than purchasing single day tickets we bought an annual family membership.  I'm looking forward to filling the year ahead with much more botanical beauty!

Two  //  Japanese Ambience Festival

Now for what brought us to the gardens, the Japanese Ambiance Festival!  As a hobby my oldest has been learning Japanese and is very interested in their culture as well.  Over the summer we heard about a Japanese festival in the area and have been anticipating a fun family day at this event ever since!  This festival featured Japanese music, dance, archery, martial arts demonstrations, floral and bonsai displays, games, crafts, and more!

Disney friends, do you agree with my youngest daughter's observation that this bonsai looks like the Tree of Life in Animal Kingdom?  I definitely see the resemblance! 

Three  //  Takeout Tastiness

After the festival we picked up takeout from our favorite Chinese restaurant.  Jason and I have been following the ketogenic (low carb) diet since May (with the exception of vacation and a fun family splurge like this now and then) which made this deliciousness especially delightful!  

Four  //  Hallmark Channel's Fall Harvest Movie Countdown

Sunday and Monday the Hallmark Channel ran a countdown of their best fall flicks.  I loved tuning in when time allowed.  I especially enjoyed #2, the new this fall, Falling for You.  I'm still not sure how my all-time fall favorite, October Kiss, only scored the #6 slot.  Did anyone else get cozy with their favorite blanket and catch a movie or two?  If so I'd love to hear your favorite(s) in the comment section below!

Five  //  Handy Hubby to the Rescue

This little story will serve as both a cautionary tale and an excuse for me to gush over the goodness of my handy hubby (which I'm always tickled pink to do).  Earlier this week while removing the lint filter from our dryer I accidentally bumped something down the lint trap!  Whoops!  My husband took the entire back off of the dryer and was able to get it out, but what an avoidable mistake.  I'm so thankful Jason and his tool bag came to my aid.  Not only did he take care of the problem, he went above and beyond deciding to replace the dryer vent while he was at it!  My, what a guy, Jason! (Gaston has nothing on my man! ;))

Learn from my lesson, friends.  When you're removing lint from the filter be careful with any objects that you may have nearby.  It's always ideal if the back of your dryer can stay put allowing you to run that load of laundry without a tool bag getting involved. :)

Thanks so much for visiting today!  Happiest of weekend wishes to you!

Earlier this week at Chatting Over Chocolate:

Direct Link to Blog Post:  

Trip Report Tuesday - WDW Day 15

Join me in the adventures to come!

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I appreciate each comment, & "like"! They let me know that you enjoyed what you read, which makes it worth sharing! ;)  

Five Loves on Friday // Family Traditions, Movie Recommendation, & Celebratory Scrumptiousness!

Hello, friends!  I haven't shared here on a Friday in a few weeks, but with very good reason.  I've been soaking up the summer with my family!  It's been a beautiful few weeks of quality time in and outdoors.  Many memories have been made while enjoying all of my favorite things about the season - family traditions, holiday hoopla, taking in the beauty of creation, and of course, savoring scrumptiousness!  I hope you've been enjoying the sweetness of summertime too!

Today I'm looking forward to sharing a handful of loves from the past week which will include recapping my favorite July family tradition, Railroad Days!

Railroad Days

If you've been around here for a bit you may know about this family tradition I'm incredibly fond of.  Each July our area a weekend of railroad themed family fun.  Fifteen dollars gains two adults and their children full weekend access to a handful of local attractions which include the historic home of our city's most famous General, railroad museums, a train station turned picturesque museum, and botanical gardens.  (Each of these venues would easily cost my family $40 for entrance any other day of the year so this is an amazing value!)  Guests are also provided with complimentary transportation between each spot. There's something so fun about taking a trolley around our own city while playing tourist!  This is staycation at its best!

Here is a little blast from Railroad Days past...

Railroad Days 2014

Railroad Days 2015

Our traditional Railroad Days sister snapshot at the Union Pacific Railroad Museum over the years...

2013

2014

 2015

 2016

2018

We've been going since the summer of 2008.  These are all the years I had photos available for on our computer.  It's bittersweet seeing the growth and changes over the years!  Oh, how I love fun family traditions and adore these girls!

Okay, on to the loves from this year's Railroad Days and more! . . . 

One  //  Botanical Beauty

One of my favorite things about Railroad Days is spending a morning in the botanical gardens!  There is unending beauty to behold there!

Such a cool train display among the trees there!

                      






















Two  //  American Adventure Exhibit

A gorgeous train station turned museum that's included in Railroad Days hosts a different exhibit each summer.  This year it was the American Adventure.  Upon entering the exhibit each group is given a Life Chart.  You are then sent through a maze to make all the decisions you would face if you were part of the settlers who arrived on the shores of Virginia in 1607.  If your decision turned out to be a good one you would earn more health, food, wealth, or morale points.  If you made a poor choice you'd lose points.  Once one of your beads went below that red "Yer Dead" line it was game over for you! 

The first decision was where you would settle.  This would be followed by other questions like would you like to trade with the natives, what would you eat, etc..

It was explained to us before beginning the maze that we would naturally make wiser decisions in some areas than these settlers would at the time as we know things like you shouldn't eat tobacco or snakes.  To counter the points everyone would gain knowing such things, there were four Wheels of Misfortune.  This is what ended up killing us!

We never miss a fun photo op!  Love my silly family!




"Riding" the train (aka: touring a stationary train from another era)



Three  //  Celebrating National Ice Cream Day

On the second day of Railroad Days we always walk downtown to an Italian restaurant.  The endless pasta enjoyed during this annual tradition is one of my husband and our oldest daughter's favorite parts of the weekend!  However the carbs I craved were of the sweet treat variety!  It just happened to be National Ice Cream Day which was the perfect excuse for our family to share this chocolate chip pocket cookie (this thing packs warm melted chocolate inside) served with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce!  We celebrated right!

Four  //  A Quiet Place

We had been eagerly awaiting the blu-ray release of A Quiet Place which hit Redbox last week.  It did not disappoint!  While this movie did make me jump and gasp occasionally throughout, there was no unnecessary gore or bad language.  I love suspense, yet hate gory horror movies, so this film was perfection in my book!  John Krasinski (also known as my favorite, "Jim" from The Office) was one of the screenplay writers, executive producers, and a lead actor alongside his real-life wife, Emily Blunt.  They both did an incredible job in these roles!  While it isn't suitable for younger audiences, I highly recommend this flick to fellow fans of suspense movies.  There's so much more I'd like to say, but I refuse to give any spoilers away! ;)

Five //  A Long Weekend with my Love

This photo was actually taken at my hometown happy place earlier in the weekend.  Hooray for lots of lake time with my loves!

Jason took a vacation day on Monday extending our staycation family fun!  We enjoyed a nice leisurely day with lovely lake time, chats about vacation and dreams to come.  It was a simple day, very well spent!

Thanks so much for visiting today!  Wishing you a wonderful weekend to come!

Earlier this week on Chatting Over Chocolate:

Direct Link to Post:  Trip Report Tuesday - WDW Day 7 Part 1 // My Firstborn's Sweet 16th Birthday!

Join me in the adventures to come!

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