Where to begin?

We are finally home, after an interesting weekend.  While there was some down time with swimming in the lake and playing card games, there was also some stress.  My sister is doing fine.  She is still on bed rest in the hospital, but every day she holds the little man in her belly is another day he gets stronger.  The other strange twist on this weekend is that my mother, who was helping take care of my sister's 3 year old while she is in the hospital, fell while she was at a restaurant with my dad celebrating there wedding anniversary. Apparently there was water outside the bathroom door and she slipped and fell.  She has torn a muscle from her hip bone which actually broke a piece of the bone off with it.  Just typing that makes me hurt behind my knees.  So, both my mother and sister have been in the same hospital over the weekend...weird stuff.  All of this led to not so much sleep on Saturday night due to the text messages of distress starting at 3:50am and the concern of my mom needing surgery the next morning.  Luckily, she will not need surgery, but unfortunately, it will take a long time to heal and now my sister is short the help. I guess this is the good side of having a bigger family, we can all pitch in to help out. So, I may or may not be heading there at some point to help. At any rate, we are back to moving in the right direction. Now if everyone would just stay put, we will be in great shape.


Now, where to start with my stuff...
Friday night was such a great night!  I went to my first blogger meet up at Season 52! This was the perfect spot for a healthy blogger meet up!  Everything on the menu is less than 475 calories and caters to dietary restrictions. I had the seasonal market vegetable plate with almond tabbouleh, roasted peppers, carrots, asparagus, mushrooms, tomatoes and golden beets. I had never had roasted golden beets, but lets just say I am going to get my hands on more soon! Absolutely amazing! I, sadly, did not take my camera with me for the occasion. Luckily Em, sent me a picture of the group! Thanks Em for coordinating such a great evening. It is so comforting to hang out with people who share a similar lifestyle as me. We automatically had so much to talk about!

From left to right we have Emily (who came in from Boston), Laura, Lee, Tyler, Me, Anna (reader), Em and Tina.

The boys tubing! My in-laws live right on this lake. I wish I could own a place like this!

We got up early on Saturday morning to head out to my in-laws house.  This was the last chance for the illustrator to see daylight for the next few months. We had not been there since last winter and we really wanted to go visit them before the summer was over. I did not take my camera to the lake so the only shot I got was on my phone of the boys tubing. The had a blast and I was so happy the weather cooperated! The illustrator and I took some time to float around the lake and enjoy the outdoors. It was very calm and relaxing until we got a visitor...a SNAKE! Anyone who knows me, knows that I am deathly afraid of snakes!  This scared me the heck out of both of us. I was out of the water in a flash and the illustrator got out so fast, he cut is toe and leg up on a rock. After looking around, I am pretty sure it was poisonous, that is my story and I am sticking to it. Since I did not work out the past three days, that moment was enough cardio for one of those days (probably all 3)! Holy crap, I still have the willies!

My first meal there was a salad! I know, shocker! My mother-in-law stocks me up on vegetables when I go visit her. This is my salad bowl when I go there. I LOVE retro bowls! My lunch upon arrival was fresh romaine lettuce, fresh Tennessee tomatoes, my stash of Spicy Falafel Chips and a boat load of hot sauce! Perfect start to the weekend! I pretty much ate the same thing with variations throughout the weekend. I also have a favorite oatmeal bowl, but again, did not take the camera out for the rest of the weekend. Sometimes you just have to step away from the camera. Besides, mine is pretty large and now I want a smaller point and shoot to carry with me just for fun stuff. Any suggestions for a good one?

Now we are home and it is time to get back into the groove of normal life. I am baking a batch of oatmeal cereal for the week. I am also ready to start playing with some summer produce. I hope to get to the local farmer's market tomorrow afternoon to get some goodies...you have to support the local farmers when you can! Hopefully the next couple of weeks will go by a little slower for the boys since it is almost time for school to start up again!

So, what did I miss over the weekend?  Any suggestions for point and shoot cameras?