Friday Favorites

Well this is a bittersweet Friday...the last Friday of Summer Vacation. My crew goes back to school on Tuesday. We had the best Summer and to be honest, I think we are ready to get back into a routine. I would just like to do so while keeping the warm weather.😉
As always, I am linking up with three of my favorite blogging friends, Erika, Narci & Andrea .

Boston Day 2!!!

Hey friends!! Ok, so on Tuesday I shared Day 1 of our trip to Boston. We saw a little history, did a lot of walking and visited Fenway.

Boston Day 1

What's Up Wednesday....August Edition!

Well here we are...the last Wednesday in August and the last few days of Summer Break! I know a lot of the country is already back into the school routine, but we are over here searching for the last few days of Summer Vacation!

Today I am linking up with Shay. Mel and Sheaffer for What's Up Wednesday... August Edition. 

 A fun monthly post where we answer these questions....

Our Boston Getaway Day 1

Hey friends! So last week, the kids and I jetted off to Boston for a whirlwind trip with my parents and sister. The reason behind Boston....My sister, Emma loves Donnie Walhberg. And so since Boston is his hometown, she is loves all things Boston. We planned a quick trip to Boston for her birthday gift. She was so pumped to see her plane ticket to Boston on her birthday!

Our only issue was she thought for sure part of the package was meeting Donnie.....

Something New for Your Family Table Week #30 Chickpea "Chicken" Salad

Happy Monday my friends!! I have a fun recipe to share today. So in my quest to eat more plant based meals, I stumble on this recipe for a chickpea based "chicken" salad. I grabbed the ingredients to try it out and it is amazing! I just tried it last week and have already made it twice! 

Friday Favorites

TGIF!!!! We had a full week around here! A super fun trip and packing in some more Summer fun before school starts. I am honestly wiped out from this week, so my favorites are short and sweet today. Grab some coffee... I know I am probably drinking some as you read this and check out a few of my favorites from the week.
As always, I am linking up with three of my favorite blogging friends, Erika, Narci & Andrea .

one

My most favorite thing from this week was our trip to Boston! Paul was travelling to Nashville for work and it was just the kids and I along with my parents and sister. We packed all we could into our short time there and loved every minute of it!!! Ill share lots more details in a few posts next week.

My bag was the best ever!!! It was perfect for travelling, not too big and not too small and had great pocket placement! Under $25... you need this bag! Even on day trips with kids it's just perfect!

two

We had a great Summer weekend last weekend....

Ella danced at the Fair and we were sure to get something fried and something on a stick! Because I believe those are two fair requirements!

We spent Saturday at my brother's and the kids had a blast playing with their cousins.

We hit the drive-in on the way home, where Ella and I somehow ended up in a hula hooping contest, while the boys played mini golf. We treated ourselves to some ice cream after showing off our skills!

Then Sunday we enjoyed the day on the water. Paul did some waterskiing

and the kids looked for fish!

three

I love reading book reviews and I shared mine this week. If you missed it, you can check it out here.

There were some good ones I read last month!!!

After a full week of travel for all of us, we are ready for a low key weekend around here!!! And I guess it's time to start getting our act together....it's back to school in 10 days!!! 

Have the best weekend friends!

See you next week, there is always room for one more at our family table.

xoxo

Genevieve

Summer Book Review

Hey friends!! So I usually have a recipe to share on Mondays, but well... it just did not happen! I don't know where the last week went and I had no pictures of dinners or recipes, so I moved to Plan B for today's post.
It has been a minute since I shared some of my reads with you! Funny thing, I love Summer reading, but sometimes I find I actually read less in the Summer, because we are so busy doing all the Summer things! 

I love reading on the beach, in a hammock, poolside, on the boat or by the fire. 

Here's a peek at a few of my recent reads!

one

My Dad gave me this one and I really enjoyed it!

 A quick reading thriller that is perfect to read over a weekend. Ella is on a train ride when she overhears two men flirting with some younger girls and something doesn't feel right. She doesn't say anything, only to find out the next day that one of the girls is missing. A year later she is still missing, Ella is overcome with guilt and someone is threatening her. As Ella struggles to make up for not speaking up that fateful night, all sorts of secrets come out.....and everyone seems to be watching Ella. 

two

 I love Nancy Thayer books in the Summer! I have read a few from her, and grabbed this one at the library.

Carly suddenly loses her husband Gus and is left widowed at a young age with 2 young girls She is struggling to keep her house and begins to run it as a bed and breakfast. Her in-laws are less than thrilled and she keeps running into her husbands best friend......so I'm sure you can guess what happens! It was a fun, light Summer read!

three

This book seems to keep popping up on blogger posts and social media, so when I saw it at the library I grabbed it.

Alexa Monroe gets stuck in an elevator with a handsome doctor who is in town for a wedding. Turns out his date cancelled and Alexa agrees to be his date. They have a great time and both want more, but they live in two different cities and the doctor is a confirmed bachelor. A fun book about a whirlwind romance.... just be warned it maybe a bit R-rated in some parts, in my opinion!

four

Elin Hilderbrand never disappoints me. 

Meredith is Silver Girl, a woman who had it all, until her husband was indicted on a ponzi scheme and she lost everything and everyone. She reaches out to her childhood friend Connie, with whom she had a rift with a few years ago and has spoken since. She has no one else to turn to and Connie comes to her rescue. Each of the women try to rebuild their lives and their friendship. It was a great story about a lifelong friendship that truly never dies. 

I just got a new stack to read and am halfway through this one....

and I am struggling to get into it, but keeping with it!

If you missed my other reviews...

January Book Review

February Book Review

March/April Book Review

May Book Review
June Book Review

2017 Favorite Books

Have a great Monday! See you soon, there is always room for one more at our family table.
xoxo
Genevieve

Friday Favorites.... A Few Early Fall Favorites

Happy Friday friends! Back to blogging this week after a break for the beach last week! We had some fun family time away....

If you missed my recaps, you can catch up here.

Fun at the Beach

Our Visit to the Toronto Aquarium

As always, I am linking up with three of my favorite blogging friends, Erika, Narci & Andrea to share a few of my favorite things!

Fun at the Toronto Aquarium

Hey there Wednesday!! So yesterday I shared some of our beach fun from last week. We had a few rainy days and decided to take a day trip to Toronto to check out the aquarium. It has been recently redone and we had heard some great things about it, so off we went! We got our tickets and I thought they were so cute. We each had a different sea creature. I am such sucker for detail like this!

Ripley's Aquarium of Canada

Our Trip to the Beach!

Hey friends!!! We spent most of last week up at the beach with some good friends! It was a low key week with a fun day trip thrown in. Here's a peek at our trip in pictures😉

First we had to drop off Maddie. She spent the week at a farm, living her best life with lots of furry friends!

And then we loaded the car. I think we brought nearly everything we owned. It took me two weeks of collecting, buying and organizing things for a one week trip! 

The kids were in there somewhere!! 

First we had to get through two baseball games with Luke and then we could officially start vacation! 

Canada is just a hop, skip and a jump from where we live. The toughest part of getting there is usually traffic at the border.  

We unloaded a few things and headed to the water. Ella was happy to stretch her legs! 

Our first full day was beautiful and we spent the day with our toes in the sand! 

And eating all the snacks!! 

We had a big clambake for dinner. One that was thrown on the table... no plates or utensils required! 

It was a beautiful sunset! 

The next day brought lots of waves and we made full use of our boogie boards. 

We even had a quick visit from some of our friends! 

Every night we had a fire. 

And our friends introduced us to spider dogs.....

The next couple days brought a lot of rain. So we spent some time in the cottage reading.... 

And played lots of Uno!! 

We took a day trip on one of the rainy days to Toronto and visited the aquarium. I'll share more on our Toronto fun tomorrow!

The sun came back out on Thursday and we took our reading back to the beach! 

Ella and I worked on building a mermaid in the sand. 

And Luke built a fort by the water.

We all played in an awesome cornhole tournament. Luke and his partner made it to the championship! 

We had a great time. Love doing the beach with this crew!

Don't love coming home to all the laundry!! 

3 more weeks until school starts! Keeping the Summer fun going until then!

See you tomorrow....there is always room for one more at our family table.

xoxo

Genevieve