Another Weekend with the Parents

Hope everyone had a fun yet restful weekend as I did. I kept fairly busy entertaining my parents who are leaving today but also got to catch up on some sleep.

Friday was nice and low key with some dinner at Texas Roadhouse so the guys could get their steak fix. This place always impresses me with how quickly the food comes out and the prices are very reasonable.

On Saturday I got a bunch of cleaning and laundry done before taking my Dad out to Lee & Rick's Oyster Bar which has been around for 65 years in Orlando serving some of the best oysters. The restaurant is the true definition of a hole in the wall but you know it's a staple in the community when you pull up and there's BMW's and fancy cars parked outside even though it's not exactly located in safest part of town.

After lunch we stopped off at Sportstown (another hole in the wall) to hang out for a bit and play some games. The place was a ghost town so we pretty much had access to all the games and K and my dad played a couple rounds of pool. The rest of the afternoon was spent watching the UCF game at home and relaxing.

On Saturday night, we picked up my mom from the airport (she was in Puerto Rico for a convention most of the week) and we all headed to Carrabba's Italian Grill for dinner which never disappoints. The sunset was also amazing that night!

The rest of the night was relaxing. K and I watched Dark Places with Charlize Theron which was written by the author of Gone Girl. The movie was quite slow but the plot takes a twist at the end which I thought was quite interesting although K didn't care to watch the rest and fell asleep. The movie has an average viewer rating but that's what you typically get from Redbox.

Sunday was spent shopping all over town with my mom. Seriously, I'm half her age and can't keep up with her shopping agility. I was done after 4 hours...

Back to the grind today!

I enjoyed having my parents here visiting for the past two weekends but it's always nice to get back into the usual routine and also eat out less!!

Joining the lovely Biana for her Weekending linkup.

Weekend with the Parents

This weekend was pretty busy with my parents in town and we also had our first taste of Fall weather which was perfect for some outdoor fun. On Friday night, K and I wanted to take my parents to somewhere new and different for them so we chose Izziban Korean BBQ and Sushi restaurant. They have a cold bar with different salads, seafood and sushi and then you pick different meats to cook on the grill in the middle of your table. It was a nice time catching up with them and we left overly satisfied and ready to crash.

 

On Saturday the four of us headed to Epcot's Food & Wine Festival. Unfortunately the lines were insanely long for most of the good food and drinks so we opted for the shorter lines and had some drinks in Norway, Canada and Africa.

We saw the Reflections of China movie which my parents really liked.

 And then listened to a really good band in the UK that played songs from Oasis and several other bands.

Since my mom's side of the family is Canadian, they enjoyed exploring Canada and of course had a drink there. If you follow me on Instagram (emilyalisonb), you might have seen my photo from the telephone booth in Canada. I guess they're not just a British thing!

Then we went to the Eat to Beat concert featuring Starship which was perfect for my parents since their music is from the 70's and 80's.



  Finally we settled for some dinner at Chefs de France which was amazing! We had some escargot as an appetizer and shared a bottle of red wine over our meals.

On Sunday, we headed to Wekiva Island. After my mom saw the pictures of our recent trip there with Kate and her husband, she wanted to go check it out for herself. We also took Lola along this time since we figured out it was a dog-friendly place. It was a nice Sunday afternoon relaxing by the river.

Joining the lovely Biana for her Weekending linkup.

Weekend Festivities

I hope everyone had a great weekend and is ready to tackle this week. My weekend was pretty busy although Friday was fairly uneventful. K and I just went out to a small Mexican restaurant close to home for some dinner and had a quiet night at home after that.

On Saturday we headed to Animal Kingdom to go on some rides and have lunch in "Africa". Our season passes were blacked out for summer so we're now able to make use of them again.

 We started off doing the Kilimanjaro Safari and got to see lots of animals and then had lunch in the Harambe Market. The food was so good!

After lunch we rode the Expedition Everest rollercoaster which left me shaking. I almost didn't go on it but sucked it up and the verdict is that I'm a big chicken. The older I get, the more I become terrified of rollercoasters.

  Last we saw the Festival of the Lion King show which was surprisingly really good and entertaining even though it's probably geared more towards children. K and I both agreed it was much better than the Cirque Du Soleil "O" Show that we saw in Las Vegas and paid a pretty penny to see.

After Disney, we headed to International Drive to meet up with some friends for a joint Bachelor/Bachelorette party. We started with dinner and drinks at Brick House Tavern across from the Orlando Eye and then ended the night at Tin Roof bar with some live music and dancing.

Sunday was all about relaxing and getting caught up with blogging and house cleaning before my parents arrive this week. 

How was your weekend?

Joining the lovely Biana for her Weekending linkup.

Wekiva Weekend

Weekends just go by way too quickly but thankfully I was able to catch up on some sleep and rest so I'm ready to take on a new week. Friday was a relaxing night with some Italian for dinner and we watched Hot Pursuit from Redbox which was medicore but good enough for a quite night at home. Some funny parts but the typical 3-star movie. 

On Saturday morning bright and early we headed to Wekiva Island to meet up with Kate and her hubby for some outdoor fun. We finally had a day with no heavy rain in Florida so took full advantage and even managed to get a slight tan.

After several hours in the sun we headed to Graffiti Junction to grab some dinner and drinks.

The rest of the night was spent relaxing at home with Lola.

Sunday was my day to catch up on stuff around the house (laundry, recipes, cleaning and weekly food prep) along with blogging and my online photography class.

How was your weekend?

Joining the lovely Biana for her Weekending linkup.

Weekend Rest Up

The weekend was perfectly relaxing and I got to catch up on some much needed sleep so I don't have a whole lot to share. We were supposed to go to Ft. Lauderdale to visit some friends but decided against it since we traveled to New Orleans last weekend and really needed some downtime.

On Saturday I finally got started on my digital photography course (online) which I can already tell is going to be intense considering my schedule is already packed full with work and blogging. Later in the day we went downtown to celebrate my girl friend's birthday.

K and I got some Thai food for dinner and the rest of Saturday night was spent watching the UCF game at home and snuggling with the wrinkly girl.

Sunday morning was rainy which was perfect for sleeping in. The rest of the day was spent blogging, food prepping, watching football, and cleaning. I did a couple hours of the photography class and also Skyped with my best friend. We just got the photos from her wedding back in February which I love although I absolutely hated how the makeup artist made me look like a drag queen.

So thankful for the relaxing weekend before more busy weeks ahead. How was your weekend?

Joining the lovely Biana for her Weekending linkup.

The Draft Weekend

I got home from work on Friday to a baffling piece of mail. A card addressed to me and the return address was also my home address. So I opened the card and it was signed with my husband's name so I laughed and said "why did you mail me this?" Not realizing that it wasn't even K's handwriting. Anyways let's just say his friends are joksters. And football season is important. Like rules their life important! I got the memo anonymous sender (Ahem... MJ!).

K and I then headed out to Ale House for some dinner and spent the rest of the night relaxing at home which was perfect after a crazy busy week.

Saturday was all about K's live fantasy football draft which the guys do every year. They come from near and far to set up their football teams for the season. It's a big deal for them and the ladies come to help out and hang out.

I'm not a football lover. Probably because I didn't grow up in the US and wasn't raised with it all around so it's not something that's in my blood but I'm married to an extreme football lover and appreciate it for what it is. Plus beer and good food, right? I'll never be a party pooper and have always enjoyed football parties even though I don't sit on the couch watching it myself.

 

 

 It was a fun day catching up with the girls and all the new babies while the guys focused on building their teams.

On Sunday we met up with some friends for lunch at Twin Peaks which is right across from the Orlando Eye on International Drive. It's a cool spot to watch sports and have a couple beers.

After lunch we stopped at World of Beer on the way home to take a friend visiting from San Francisco out for a drink. I tried a flight of wheat beers and waited for the rainstorm to pass.

The rest of Sunday was spent at home doing my usual blogging, laundry, and food prep routine plus entertaining our visitor. We just grilled some steaks and corn on the cob for dinner and hung out.

How was your weekend?

Joining the lovely Biana for her Weekending linkup.