Ahhh, Saturday.

Abe was a gem of a husband and let me lie in bed until 9:30 this morning. I feel: happy! energetic! in love with my husband, my children, and life! What a difference sleep makes!

As a result of my sky-high mood, I dragged my husband and kids all around today. They are all pooped, and I feel like I could yet clean, read a book, bake a plum cake, and, of course, blog. In the interest of my exhausted husband’s bedtime, though, I will probably just blog and clean (the kitchen).

So after I got out of bed, we went for a long walk/run to City Creek Canyon.

Right before we loaded the kids in the jogger. They spent the better part of the day in their jammies.
Right before we loaded the kids in the jogger. They spent the better part of the day in their jammies.
The entrance to the really part of the canyon. Right before this picture, a bunch of joggers/dog owners/bikers swarmed past, and Abe observed that they all smiled at the children and remarked how children generate so many smiles in the world simply by being children. So true.
Right before this picture, a bunch of joggers/dog owners/bikers swarmed past, and Abe observed that they all smiled at the children. He then remarked how children generate so many smiles in the world simply by being children. So true.
I LOVE the sunflowers along the road to the canyon. I took a picture of the flowers with the state capitol in the background. Of course, my limited photography skills and the phone camera do not convey the prettiness of the tangled, leggy flowers, the breeze, the sunshine, and the happy yellow petals.
I LOVE the sunflowers along the road to the canyon. I took a picture of the flowers with the state capitol in the background. Of course, my limited photography skills and the phone camera do not convey the prettiness of the tangled, leggy flower stems, the breeze, the sunshine, and the happy yellow petals.

We then walked to the yard sale of our friends, Joe, Candice and Cole. They are moving to Saint George, and we will miss them so much! On a happy note, though, the weather was PERFECT for a yard sale. Lydia loved seeing Cole, and she even got to use his potty. =)

We then went home and I improvised lunch. Yesterday I just happened to have roasted a spaghetti squash and made pesto with the sincere intent to give it all away, but I never got around to giving anything away. Today we became hungry ones in need of lunch, and so yesterday’s good intentions flew out the window.

Spaghetti squash with pesto I made yesterday (with one hand! Mary, I think I mentioned, is going through a don't-put-me-down stage. I felt very self-satisfied after managing to wrangle the skins off the garlic cloves--single handed, without a knife.)
Spaghetti squash with pesto I made yesterday (with one hand! Mary, I think I mentioned, is going through a don’t-put-me-down stage. I felt very self-satisfied after managing to wrangle the skins off the garlic cloves–single handed, without a knife.)

Then we put down the girls and I took off for my happy place, the farmer’s market. When we first came to Salt Lake, I disliked how big the market here is. Back in Hyde Park, we had a small market and I knew where to go for what. However, I have stopped moping about what I miss and instead have started to embrace what is here. The variety turns out to be quite welcome, and the bounty of September produce makes me happy to be an eater of food.

I bought a ton of exquisite little tomatoes from the market today, only to discover the eggplant chard lasagne I wanted to make called for fresh tomato sauce. It felt wrong, but I cooked them for ten minutes like the recipe said. We'll see if this was the world's worst mistake or not.
I bought a ton of exquisite little tomatoes from the market today, only to discover the eggplant chard lasagne I wanted to make called for fresh tomato sauce. It felt wrong, but I cooked them for ten minutes like the recipe said. We’ll see if this was the world’s worst mistake or not.

And then the pictures stop. After the market, we cleaned the house while the kids napped. I also got a head start cooking a lot of that farmer’s market produce. Then we packed up our children and headed for the pool at a nearby community center. We spent an hour there, and (I kid you not) Abe spent most of that time bribing Lydia to go down the big slide with him. This tentative little soul (she takes after me) wouldn’t budge until finally we announced it was time to go. She had a choice: either slide down the big slide with Abe and earn a trip to Coldstone, or get out of the pool and go shower. Guess what she chose?

We then used a Groupon  to eat dinner at a Sushi restaurant on State Street. Remember how Mary is teething and super duper picky right now? Well, it turns out she loves Japanese food. She could not get enough of everything, and I was so relieved to see her finally eat something. The service was so fast (appreciated when you have hungry children in tow) and the food was delicious. Oh, and Lydia is better at using chopsticks than I am. I don’t know how that happened. She referred to them as “my chop.”

Then it was off to Coldstone. I distinctly recall days in my former life when I felt torn between my love of Coldstone’s birthday cake remix and my desire to reduce caloric intake. On those such days, I would do the following: drive to Coldstone, eat a sizable serving of birthday cake remix, and then eat nothing else until the next day. Such a day was not today.

Then home, and guess what?!! I think I might have time yet to read a chapter in The Reluctant Fundamentalist, a book I checked out at the library a couple days ago. If so, I am so excited. I’ve sneaked reading the first chapter, and I am hooked!