After a fun & relaxing weekend with my family I’m feeling energized and ready to tackle the day. Last Thursday & Friday Marc was in Buffalo, NY for work travels and a golf tournament so I was home with Ava and Cooper until early Saturday morning. While I didn’t like having Marc gone I did catch up on housework, computer work, and sleep.

Friday night was a very low key night.

Ava and I took a trip to Bruce Park to play on the playground.

She had so much fun and I loved seeing her smile the whole time she was playing.

After we got home my mom and brother stopped over to keep me company and we hung out and chat, until 10pm rolled around and I decided I was ready for bed.

Saturday morning we got up bright and early, I took Cooper for a long walk and then we headed to the YMCA for Ava’s Soccer Kick & Play program.

The program is for 12-24 month old kids and they alternate between soccer kicking and play time. It’s a great program that helps with hand eye coordination, balance, listening, communicating and play time skills.

We look forward to the next class next week.

After class Ava was wiped! She had a snack and then took a nice long nap. Marc also napped with Ava so I took advantage of the sleeping house and ran about 10 different errands around town! In the afternoon we headed to our neighbors house for a play date and then Marc and I had a date night dinner at Barcelona restaurant.

It’s our go to date night spot. The service is great, the food is awesome and it has a great atmosphere.  We love their tapas!

We started with the Spinach & Chickpea casserole & meatballs. (MY FAVORITES)

Plus some calamari, smoked trout pate,

& broccoli rabe.

We also indulged in some red wine.

It was a great date night and we left with full bellies!

Our Sunday morning started off similar with a long family walk and then we made a trip to Trader Joe’s. Is anyone else obsessed with that place???? I literally could buy every item in the store. I had to hold back from some purchases but I love all their stuff.

Our evening was spent hanging out with our neighbors on our porch while our daughters played until bedtime! It was a great weekend.

What was something fun you did this weekend? 

Are you a pumpkin fan?

Friday I did get some food prep in… Chicken crusted parmesan, fresh cut pineapple (because I eat 2 a week!), & bran muffins w/ applesauce. Not a whole lot of preparation but it helps!

Let’s start with a little recap of my weekend. Friday night Marc and I headed to Barcelona on Greenwich Avenue for dinner. We love their tapas and I couldn’t wait to dig in.

We ordered 6 tapas.. crispy brussel sprouts with siracha sauce, garlicky broccoli rabe, butternut squash with pepitas and manchego cheese, steak with truffle sauce, albondigas (beef/pork meatballs) and duck meatballs.

My favorite were the butternut squash and brussel sprouts. They were AMAZING. I might go back just to get those 2 again. I love that Barcelona’s food menu changes with what is in season. They always inspire me to try new things and also experience new flavors to cook with. I have re-made some of their dishes and have even incorporated them into our weekly dinner menus!

Saturday morning I was super excited to head to the YMCA to practice my Group Power workout with a couple of the instructors. It felt great to run through the routine!  I got a pretty good workout in too. I can’t wait to teach it next Monday.

Saturday night was fun… we headed to my best friend’s sons 1st Birthday party.

On Sunday morning, we quickly got Ava ready and headed to Rhode Island for our niece’s 2nd Birthday. Yes this weekend was packed with kid parties but so much fun. Our niece is SUPER cute, and just loves Ava. She even held her, how cute!

After a crazy busy weekend.. I thought I would make today just as jam-packed. I am now off to practice the Group Power workout at home while Ava is napping! Then I am going to head to Target to get fun baby stuff for Ava to bring to daycare with her next week, and lastly take Cooper to the dog park for some play time.

Have a great day!