First Vegan Restaurant, First Wagon Ride

Hello and happy Monday to you! I am up early this morning because last night's planned post just didn't happen. We actually enjoyed a long weekend because Terry had Friday off, and we took full advantage.

Friday morning we all took a long walk and hit the store for some essentials, and then once Marshall went down for his nap I headed out for lunch with Jenn, who is still patiently awaiting her little boy's arrival. We celebrated her due date with lunch at Cafe Gratitude, a new-to-me vegan restaurant. When I told Terry I was going to a vegan restaurant, he said, "Well, that's something I never thought I'd hear you say." Ha. True, but actually I really enjoyed our meal. Jenn and I split two entrees--an eggplant wrap and a black bean burger--and I thought they were both really tasty and super hearty. We even skipped the delicious-looking desserts because we were full (which of course I later regretted--always get dessert, Julie!).

Best of all, we are really having fun taking advantage of Jenn's maternity leave and enjoying all this time to hang out!

Originally Terry and I thought of going to the LA County Fair on Friday afternoon, but we decided it would be too hot and probably just a huge hassle with a toddler (it's pretty far from us, and traffic on a Friday would be miserable). Maybe next year. So we hit up Marshall's for a few items (I had a gift card, so we scored a lot of stuff for only $5 out of pocket!) and called it a day. We also intended to eat a Blue Apron meal that night but accidentally forgot the beef in the freezer, so we trooped out to dinner and loved every second. Happy accident, indeed.

We finally made the Blue Apron meal on Saturday for lunch!

Cumin-Sichuan Beef & Noodles

Saturday afternoon, after an awesome three-hour nap from Marshall, we headed up to visit our friends for some UCLA football! First we took the kiddos to the pool.

Marshall got to enjoy his first wagon ride, which was the CUTEST moment ever. He was so happy! (Kayla was a little uncertain about this dude in her wagon, though...) I think Santa might bring a wagon this year...

Then we hung out at Heidi and Edward's house for the game and a delicious meal. They are such generous hosts!

The whole group minus me and Heidi!

Not many photos, but you get the idea. And the game was AWESOME!!! Go Bruins!

We got home late but Marshall did great, even if he was a little tired Sunday morning. We all headed to the park for a little fall fun.

Lovely, right?

Pretty balanced.

And today--since I failed to post earlier this morning--Marshall learned how to climb into a cardboard box. (Here he's signing "more" to ask me to pull him around in the box, which I did once around the living room and was a huge hit.)

Marshall also treated us to an inordinate number of meltdowns today. I wouldn't let him hold the stick, I wouldn't let him bring the stick inside, I didn't feed him fast enough... At one point, the only tool that would calm him down was looking at a photo of the air vehicle Terry works with. The kid was fascinated. Who knew?

And now I'm pretty beat. I walked a TON today--two miles round trip to the park, plus a trip to campus AND a walk to the grocery store. We rounded out the day with a quick yoga session and I'm totally wiped. Off to enjoy some TV before bed! Hooray for fall shows!

Hope you enjoy the last two days of September!