ANDRUS-R-US: A Perfect Weekend

My first official post on this blog begins with my first official date with Mike. And so our love story begins... and continues...
I am back-tracking with this new blog, because we are actually preparing for a wedding now, and the whirlwind of the past 6 months has made me quite a bit behind on blogging. But I don't want to forget all the amazing memories we have made thus far, so I am attempting to put them all down on this new blog.
Mike and I joke about our first date, because he was fortunate enough to meet my entire family, my kids, and even my ex-husband all on our first weekend we spent together! And he still stuck around, which meant to me he was a keeper for sure! He not only fell in love with me, but fell in love with my two princess daughters (and how could he not?). They could tell he was the missing male in our family right from the start. Avril was smitten by Mike right from the get-go, and McKel was a little slower to give her heart away (very typical McKel), but after spending some quality time with this guy, McKel joined the rest of us and welcomed him in to our family.
After spending hours and hours in captivating conversation, and since we both love being active and out enjoying the sunshine, we decided we would go for a hike up the canyon. I had the bright idea of taking Mike to go see the wind caves. After driving through the canyon for over an hour in search of the wind cave trail, we decided to throw in the towel and abandon our trail search. We instead found a nice walking trail and talked and talked more as we walked. I am trying to remember all the little details of our first weekend together and mostly what comes to mind is the wonderful conversation, which I'd been craving for entirely way too long. We just connected.
Sunday we thought we would enjoy the perfect weather and pull out the bikes. We were so excited that we both shared a love for biking as well. We took the girls in the bike trailer, brought some picnic items, old bread to feed the ducks, and we were set! The girls had such a blast. They kicked off their shoes and wiggled their toes in the freezing water. McKel has quite the arm, she would throw the bread at lightning speeds directed straight at the ducks. I think they were afraid of that tough little girl, and rightly so...McKel is just full of strength.
We enjoyed our PB&J sandwiches, soaked in some rays, and fed the ducks until I thought they could eat no more (which wasn't the case, ducks apparently never tire of old bread). It was just what Mommy needed, after feeling alone and sad for what seemed to be an eternity. It really was the most perfect weekend... filled with so many smiles. It was the weekend that ended the years of sadness, and opened the door to many future years of joy.

Here is Avril enjoying her PB&J. I remember she had like 3 sandwiches that day! Growing girl... she just glows with that adorable smile. Love her to pieces.

Mike was helping McKel with her throwing skills. White pants?? Bad idea for muddy little girls... actually probably a bad idea anytime for McKel ;)

Avril and Mike doing some duck-watching. McKel climbs rocks in the background...

Just look at this cutie pie! Yup, this is how you turn white pants in to brown...

Happy to be out in the sun...

Love this shot... such a splendidly gorgeous day out!

A mama and her baby ducklings out for a swim :)

These are genuine smiles, so happy to have found a best friend :)

Here we are trying to match the bride and groom faces on Mike's shirt. Think we did a pretty stellar job!

After our bike ride/duck feeding adventure, we were invited to have some authentic Adrian-grilled food over with the Adrian, Arlene, and Britt Parkinson crew. The girls just so cute I had to take some shots of them....