A Quiet Day

I would like to move this evening from typing in the dark and listening to the hum of the dishwasher to snuggled up in bed, in my pjs, watching a romantic comedy (which I hardly ever indulge in b/c it is so rare that you actually find a good one. But when you do...). So let's see.

Today was a real hodge podge. We went swimming at the river, where we saw no fewer than three snakes in the water, My reaction prompted a well-meaning, hippie friend to politely remind me that this is part of enjoying nature; "sharing with the animals."

On the way home from the river we were... and I mean this SO in earnest... almost rear-ended at 50mph by one of those enormous mud-derby trucks (which was apparently not noticing the car in front of me had stopped to make a turn). It was one of those times when your chest almost explodes with your racing heart and then you spend the next several hours looking at your kids and wondering where and what you would be doing at this moment if that truck hadn't squealed dramatically out of the way just in the knick of time. (This is similar to the moment last week when my sister was with the kids on a walk and an Explorer started veering toward them on the side of the road and swerved out of the way just in time. Yikes.)

Then Kevin popped in the door a few hours early and declared that he was taking us out to the buck-fifty and pizza. Girl said, "and ice cream?" and he said, "of course." So we spent a very happy afternoon NOT cleaning the house, as previously planned, but gallivanting all around town in the super-heat, watching Monsters Vs. Aliens and eating tofutti cuties in the back yard (and picking veggie from the garden: more cherry tomatoes, summer squash, romaine lettuce, and our first cucumber).

I created a peanut-butter-and-jelly smoothie for my kids this morning.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Smoothie

2 frozen bananas
1 (-1 1/2) cup vanilla almond milk
3 T peanut butter
1/2 cup frozen blueberries (or strawberries, grapes, or raspberries)
1-2 T pure maple syrup
1 t powdered vitamin C, optional

Puree until everything, including fruit skins, are smooth. Adjust milk and berries to taste and for consistency.

Enjoy! And good riddance.