now that it’s summer and we’ve had a string of sweltering hot days, ellie and i have been spending more time in and around water. the kiddie pool out back, local parks with water features, even just washing the car … you name it, we’re doing it. grandpa even cleaned out the hot tub this afternoon (aka “ellie’s pool”) for everyone to enjoy! so, in honor of summer, here are a few pictures from the water activities we’ve been engaged in lately.

our backyard



val vista park

ellie’s definitely a water baby if i ever saw one. next up, swim lessons!

while we wanted to dedicate a post to each of the following events, we’ve procrastinated so long that the idea of catching up one post at a time is somewhat overwhelming. so, let’s do it in a more efficient way … a recap of recent events in one great big post :) going back in time nearly a MONTH and starting with:

jon and maria’s wedding day

maria and her bridesmaids looked beautiful, and ellie performed her flower girl duties with grace and poise. she even sat through the hour-long greek ceremony without so much as a peep! even i have trouble sitting still for that long ;) ryan looked handsome as ever as one of jon’s groomsmen, and we had a fabulous time at the reception <3

memorial day

we spent a lovely memorial day at the san ramon art & wind festival with the ginns, followed by an afternoon barbecue at their house. the food was delicious, the weather was beautiful, ellie fell a little bit MORE in love with her uncle matt and a great time was had by all :)

niles canyon train ride

we went on a train ride with the amador mothers club through niles canyon. it wasn’t as cool as the steam train in tilden park because it was a great big amtrak-style train, but it was still a lot of fun! we even got to eat lunch on the train. good times with amc and the blanchard girls.

carmel

the weekend following memorial day we were lucky enough to be invited to stay overnight in carmel with the ginns. ellie had more fun with matt and alyssa than she did with us! we had dinner at mundaka and when we got back to the cottage, alyssa served up a most delicious dessert. it was yet another fabulous time with our favorite fellow marrieds.

emily’s graduation party

my cousin emily graduated from college! she now has her bachelor’s degree in nutrition and is going on to do her internship at fresno state. she eats so healthily it’s inspiring, but not so much that we’ll stop eating our fair share of junk food ;) she had a lovely afternoon barbecue to celebrate her achievement and it was nice to spend time with family we haven’t seen since christmas. congrats, ems!

lindsay wildlife museum

another amc outing, we spent a very warm summer morning at the lindsay wildlife museum in walnut creek. we saw birds and bears, reptiles and rodents and other animal species native to the bay area. it’s a very neat place, and it was even more fun going with michelle, tara and the girls. we took over quizno’s for lunch, all nine of us, and it a fun time was had by all.

and those are a few of the things we’ve been up to the past few weeks!
(ahh, that feels better…)

with love from the lacks <3

on friday evening of memorial day weekend, we met jon, maria, their parents and the rest of the wedding party for their rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. they were to be married the next day at the greek orthodox cathedral in oakland, so montclair’s italian colors was the perfect place for dinner. it also happens to be where we had our own rehearsal dinner back in 2007.

the church was sooo pretty inside. the rehearsal was quick and smooth, and the kids did great. walk from the back to the front when mommy says go. piece of cake! especially for ellie, already a two-time veteran, a real professional :)

grandma shirley was nice enough to tag along with us so she could take ellie home and put her to bed while ryan and i went to dinner. after all, saturday was a big day and we wanted to make sure she had a good night’s sleep. so home they went and to dinner went we!

we got super lucky and scored prime spots next to the betrothed <3 dinner was delicious and so was dessert (blackberry sorbet!), and the company wasn't too shabby either. so many nice folks and so much love in one room. what could be better?

already feeling so honored to be a part of jon and maria’s special event, we left the restaurant full and happy, ready for the big day to follow. thank you for a lovely time, guys <3

up next: the wedding!

every few months my best friends from holy names (nine-EIGHT!) and i get together for dinner, and ever since orielle chose angeline’s louisiana kitchen last november, we’ve all tried to beat it (or at least match it) in deliciousness. we’ve come close, but haven’t hit that goal yet.

since our first time at angeline’s we’ve tried barbecue and seafood at sandra dee’s in sacramento (brandi’s pick) and mediterranean food at la mediterranee in berkeley (elizabeth’s choice). both were FABULOUS, but angeline’s still holds the top spot as everyone’s collective favorite.

of course MY turn to pick a restaurant came about immediately following the hectic week of ryan’s florida trip and knee injury and doctor appointments et cetera, so i didn’t have time to even think of a place that could possibly compete with angeline’s or the other restaurants we’ve been to in recent months. so! we went to black angus. you can’t really go wrong with a menu full of fried appetizers, juicy steaks, cold cocktails and drool-worthy desserts, can you? of course not :)

nothing compares to angeline’s (yet), but we had a fabulous time together as always. love you, girls!

a few weeks ago, on one of the very few warm, sunny days we’ve had in the bay area this spring, ellie and i met michelle, audrey and kate at the zoo. it seemed like every school in the east bay decided to take a field trip there that day, so it was PACKED. we skipped the camels (because, let’s face it, camels are boring) and in an attempt to avoid the crowds we didn’t even make it to the lions or tigers. as a result, we got down to the children’s zoo and grassy area pretty quickly, where we decided to sit down and have a picnic lunch.

after lunch the girls (well, the two who can walk) spent a long time running back and forth across the grass together. this was kind of a breakthrough for ellie, a girl who has ALWAYS had sensitivity issues with personal space, loud noises nearby and the like. i was so happy watching them, i could have cried.

good times look like this:

after lots and lots of running and laughing, michelle suggested we go see the fruit bats. apparently the oakland zoo has fruit bats! how had we never seen them before? anyway, those guys are huge. they hang upside down all the time and their wings look like rubber. they were fun to watch, until two of them got in a fight and then we were like, “ummm BYE-BYE, BATS!”

thanks for sharing a super fun day at the zoo with us, girls! can’t wait until next time <3

last weekend (mother’s day weekend, the weekend we spent mentally preparing ourselves and ellie for not seeing each other for almost two weeks, the weekend right before ryan left for his trip and got himself that terrible knee injury, yes, the weekend before that big mess we’ve talked about so much on facebook i don’t even want to write about it here, now, at “the happiest place on the internet”), we shared a date night with the trapps <3

first we had dinner at the always delicious casa orozco and then we saw water for elephants, a film i think all four of us would recommend. while the animal abuse scenes were a little too gut-wrenching for my emotional stability, it was a wonderful movie and now i feel like i MUST read the book, and should have done so years ago.

in more important news, our dear friends flo and brian (and little miss baby trapp, name still undisclosed) are moving to texas for brian’s new job shortly after baby girl is born, so flo and i decided we MUST get together for one more date night before they go. lack/trapp get-togethers are always so much fun and it’s hard to express in words how sad i am that they are leaving. still, we’re excited for them as they embark on their next big adventure(s): moving to texas AND a new baby. so exciting <3

we love you guys x 1,000. truth.