This past week has been a celebration of food, family, and successes! From setting up  “Chopped” at my kitchen table for my girls (they had only been bugging me to do this for a good part of the summer), to visiting our favorite local mango spot twice,  to having  family and friends over for dinner, to watching my 5 year old conquer bike riding, this “close to the end of summer” week has been carefree and fun!

For our lunchtime session of “Chopped”, I gave my girls pickles, baked red potatoes, leftover taco meat, and a red pepper. They HAD to use each of these ingredients, but were able to use additional items from the kitchen. Aleyah’s creation was a semi-hollowed-out potato stuffed with meat and topped with melted, grated cheese and red pepper slices topped with chopped carrots and pickles. She also added a slice pf pita topped with hummus and pretzel pieces.

Anna also made the same meat/potato combo, but she made a carrot, pickle, and red pepper salad, and then asked for grapes and  bananas to make a fruit salad as well. Another prime example of the creator eating AND enjoying their own creation!

Every summer we take the scenic drive up to our favorite mango spot. There is a family that has mango tress galore on their property and sell to the locals during the summer. For $20 we get a large bucket of various mangoes. The free samples were gnawed upon by my children until there was just a sliver of soggy mango skin left. We have been enjoying fresh mangoes as well as mango smoothies throughout the week!

All of those mango smoothies have paid off because my Anna took to the streets with her bike and her Daddy this week and successfully rode her bike for the first time! I love how kids beam with confidence when they are victorious in accomplishing this rite of passage. Two down and one to go before we begin to build family bike riding memories- can’t wait until all five of us can hop on our bikes and go!

The highlight of our week was spending time with out-of-town family. Our Sunday night dinner, our visit to the zoo, and even a simple trip to Sam’s Club topped this week. Thank you Uncle Chris and Aunt Wendy for coming- we love you!

All of these activities would mean little without my loved ones beside me. Take the time this weekend to enjoy the carefree summer routine- spend it with the ones you love doing the things that they love. There are no regrets in savoring these God-given moments!