Landscaping before and after!

The landscaping on the yard was completed last week and we are very happy with the way it came out. Here are the before and after pictures!

BEFORE!

AFTER!

Thank you Tomasi Nurseries!

One of my favorite Summer Desserts!

Its just about blueberry season and in anticipation of having plump, juicy local fruit available, I grabbed a few pints (6 to be exact!) at the local grocery store to make one of my favorite summer time desserts!

Blueberry Crisp a la Mode!

I first made this dessert about 8 years ago and it has been a hit ever since! Super easy, sweetened with lemons its a great make ahead dessert for company. Click on the link above for the recipe. 

We Raised a Ruckus!!!

This Saturday, the Marshfield Fairground was transformed into a 4 mile military style obstacle course known as the RUCKUS!!! For all of you 5K fans, this is a race you should consider next time it comes around. My whole family, including AJ and Jack, ran in different waves this weekend and we all had a blast! The first half of the race was a trail run with lots of obstacles and even more MUD. I actually fell face first into a big mud pit coming out of a tunnel! The second half was all about climbing high and hanging out! Monkey bars, rope walls, ranger bars, and an 8 ft wall were just some of the obstacles to conquer before crossing the finish line.

After Jim and I finished our waves, the kids headed over to the Mini-Ruckus, complete with walls, tunnels, and even a mud pit. They were so proud of themselves and went through the course at least 4 times!

We finished out our run with a free Harpoon, what true runner doesn't end a race with a beer???

Thank you Ruckus for an unbelievable day and the best birthday in a long time!



Fun and Easy Place for a Birthday Party!

If you are anything like me, your child's birthday is a moment of excitement and joy, but also a little stressful when it comes to planning the party! This year for AJ's 7th birthday party, he requested a bowling party. We actually did a bowling party for him before, but he was too young and it got a little out of control. (Picture bowling balls thrown like baseballs!) But now that he is older and his friends are older, I decided to give it another try!

This time we went to Boston Bowl Hanover and I was really pleased with the way it was run. We had about 16 kids at the party and had one party organizer that helped with the bowling and ran the party. She was phenomenal! The kids had a blast and the best part, I only had to show up with the cake. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING was included in the party package. Bowling, pizza, drinks, paper goods, arcade tokens, socks, it even included the goodie bags for the kids. AJ was thrilled with the party and all the kids seemed to have a great time. At the end of the party AJ was given a bowling pin with signatures from all the kids, he loves it and has it up in his room as a memento! I would definitely recommend Boston Bowl for parties! If you have your party during the week you will get everything for a reduced rate!!

One of AJ's friends hit the "JACKPOT!" over 700 tickets came out!

Fabulous cake from Veronica Sweetcakes in Marshfield!

Landscaper Decided!

As I mentioned in my last post, the landscaping has started at our house! If you read Let the Landscaping Begin! you would know that we had 3 different plans to choose from. All of the plans offered something that we loved and the decision was very difficult, especially because each landscaper put so much effort into their presentation. But in the end we had to make a decision and the plan we chose was plan #2.

Plans by Steve Tomasi of a.j. Tomasi Nurseries

The landscape company that did the plans was a.j. Tomasi Nurseries in Pembroke. Our landscape architect, Steve Tomasi did an excellent job incorporating the style of our neighborhood with our existing landscape. He was also the only architect to include a retaining wall and his plans were drawn to scale which made us feel really comfortable that there wouldn't be any surprises once the landscaping started. This combined with the fact that Tomasi is a local company with many years of experience and a 2 year guarantee on all the plants gave us confidence that we had made the right decision.

The entire job will take about 1 week, so its not quite done, but here are a few pictures of the progress. Before and after photos to coming soon!

The stone wall begins!

Pretty birch trees.

We LOVE our stone wall!

Tomorrow the mulch will be delivered and the job will be done.... for now! I'm already dreaming of ideas for the backyard!