Yesterday was family and friends day.  We were so happy to spend the holiday celebrating our nations independence with such wonderful people.  Early in the morning we took a long drive to Brown’s Berry Patch to pick cherries and blueberries–we went with some great friends and my mom and stepdad were able to make it too. . . it was a pretty good halfway point between our houses, actually.  I’ve never tasted better cherries in my life.  They were seriously delicious.  And the blueberries were a big hit for Carter, who enjoyed squatting and picking them for a long while (though NONE of them made it into his basket–so you can imagine where they were all going).

And last night, we had the time of our lives.  We are so in love with our backyard.  Between the pool, the slip and slide and the swings we have hanging from a tall tree, everyone was in their glory.  And to put a cherry on top, we borrowed a projector from one of our friends, set up one of my large white backdrops and watched a movie in the backyard “on the big screen” with all the kids.  They stuffed themselves silly with popcorn and you can tell everyone was so happy.  We found that we really had to wait until it was fully dark though–so it was a late night for all.  But totally worth it 🙂

Also, I found that it’s not all that hard to eat healthy while having a get together–as long as everyone brings something a bit on the healthy side.  Everyone brought their own meat to grill–and I made myself a homemade black bean burger, which actually turned out delicious.  I ate it with no bun.  We had fruit and veggies, so I was all set.  It actually wasn’t too hard to pass up the potato salad, the brownies and the cake.  Let’s hope my Superman-like resistance to temptation lasts for another three months.  Here’s to hoping . . .

Can’t wait for our next gathering!