another busy weekend in the books! i'm still kind of shocked with how much fun we've had this summer...what with being farmers and all. 

granted...my farmer has changed up his schedule a bit. he'll be out of the house, sometimes before 6 am. then, he'll come home before the gals go to bed. and he's usually back out either just before their bedtime or just after...and he'll continue working well into the night. sometimes 11 pm. sometimes 2 am. 

same schedule on the weekends...unless there is a fiesta birthday party to attend, of course. 

weekend rewind

it started off on friday. the gals and i were bopping around outside. the flower beds (if you can call them that) out front needed some serious weeding. as we were weeding we came across the most giant caterpillars. not cute fuzzies...huge, green...basically small, fat snakes. so gross. they were all over the weeds that needed pulled...so, instead of pulling weeds, the girls and i just poked at them with sticks. we were all appropriately freaked out. i have no idea what kind of giant moth those caterpillars are going to turn into...but i hope they don't decide to flap around the house.

i swear...i don't know what i would do with boys. they probably would have carried those things into the house and i would have lost it.

anyway...after we were done with the tiny snakes we headed down to the garden to check out the goods. the cherry tomatoes are coming in like crazy. we have at least six, cute pumpkins...and one fat zucchini. i immediately thought of zucchini bread. but as i went to harvest said zucchini...

i heard a hissssssss.

that's right...another snake! (you can read about my first, terrifying snake experience here. it was wrapped around some of the lettuce. i grabbed both girls and high-tailed it out of the garden and vowed to chop the entire garden down. i wasn't growing a haven for reptiles. 

after the snake scare we decided to bring our farmer a snack. i had been trying to get ahold of him to see if it was a good time to head his way but no answer. the gals and i loaded up and went anyway. as it turns out...it wasn't a great time for a visit. it never is when it comes to giant machinery, overloaded semis, and managing a giant farm operation. my farmer gets at least 50 phone calls a day...not counting the 2390 times i call him.
regardless, my farmer was jazzed to see his two best gals. we loaded up in the combine and got to work. unfortunately, when it comes to combine driving, both gals want to sit on farmer's lap and both gals want to drive. after about 25 minutes of fussing and crying...we ditched the farmer to drive in peace.

on saturday my farmer informed me that we were going to be able to make it to a fun, little birthday party...but he'd have to work all night when we got home. fine with me! let's go get some margaritas! was all i could think.

so...i put the gals in matching dresses AND matching pigtails! that's right...sawyer enjoyed her first, teeny-tiny piggy tails and i just die at the cuteness.
we made it to the party, the girls ran around like wild animals, and we enjoyed the very best carne asada tacos and i enjoyed three too many margaritas. why why why do i do this to myself? 

sunday was so damn painful.

but you know what wasn't painful? my gusto to make that zucchini bread. i was hungover and i needed a treat.

so...sunday morning i marched down to that garden, snakes-be-damned. i weeded for about 15 minutes...with acute awareness and hyper-sensitive hearing and then decided to snag the zucchini and tomatoes. the girls were super jazzed and immediately ate all the cherry tomatoes...and then we got to work on the bread.
i realize now that this zucchini grew too long. the seeds were huge and i ended up having to core the center...but it still produced about four cups of glorious, shredded zucchini for our bread. 

i followed this recipe. the only changes i made - whole wheat flour // double the cinnamon // no nuts...we just didn't have pecans in the pantry. oh! and i always bake for 15 minutes less and then check obsessively until it reaches my desired "done-ness." there's nothing worse than over-baked baked goods.

later that day, while farmer was still working, the gals and i took a much needed nap and prepped chicken and corn for the grill. 

the marinade recipe i used for the chicken is a huge win in this house. it's sooooo good and i highly recommend! find it HERE!

after dinner my farmer headed back out. i got the girls in bed...and then did nothing. and it was glorious.

here's to a great week and looking forward to - the bachelorette finale, a winery tour, another hangover, and my sister's arrival!