This week I am on vacation, my parents are visiting from Florida, and we’ve been having a good time visiting and taking little trips around town. This morning I had breakfast with them, then we headed to the Henry Vilas Zoo for a few hours. We went downtown for lunch to try out Five Guys, a relatively new fast food addition to State Street. This place makes a good burger. I will be back and will probably take Michael along next time (he had to work this week, so is only around in the evening).
We stopped by the library to pick up a couple of books I had reserved and grabbed some coffee. Then we decided to go see Toy Story 3. We all enjoyed the movie– I think it does credit to the Toy Story franchise.
Mom and Dad brought us a couple of boxes of peaches that they picked up when they drove through Alabama. This is a yearly (or almost yearly) tradition that started when they first visited me after my move to Wisconsin. It’s hard to reliably find terrific peaches here and the best tasting ones aren’t available in Wisconsin until well into July (they can be iffy, as well). I honestly hadn’t thought about peaches yet this year, so they were a surprise! I’ll be a little sad when Mom and Dad decide to fly up, rather than drive, because that will be the end of the peaches (but it will also allow them to spend more time visiting us, so the trade off is good).
Peaches don’t stay perfectly ripe for too long, so I have been at work eating them, converting them into dessert, and freezing them. I diced up several peaches and made a peach pound cake (to be topped with fresh peaches) tonight. Michael’s dad called (and happened to be on our side of town), so we invited him over for dinner and cake. We’ve been eating out a lot lately, so it was nice to have the energy and time today to bake and cook for my family!
Life is busy and I think vacation is a time for slowing down and doing the things you really enjoy doing. This evening I feel productive, relaxed, and happy– I could get used to this vacation thing.