Weekend Basics

Hola from sunny Cancun, Mexico! As mentioned in Friday's post, we hopped on a plane to spend this week as a little getaway — and from the sound of it, we picked the right week! Our friends and family have been sending us photos of the snowy weather in Richmond today, so we are feeling extra grateful for this time together in the sun.

Outside of soaking up the sun, swimming in the ocean and getting a few poolside naps in, we've been busy over the past couple of weeks and thought it would be fun to share a some of the highlights in today's extended weekend basics post.

Last weekend we celebrated Brandon's 19th birthday. I was still trying to get used to the idea that my son and youngest child had just turned 18 — man this year has flown by. For fun, you can see some pics of a much younger version of me with the kids in this post.

He was able to drive home for the weekend from JMU, so I made a home cooked dinner and Mary made another set of Baked Alaska for dessert. They'd gone over so well for my own birthday, we both thought it would be fun to make again, and introduce to Brandon.

In house news, we've mentioned needing to tackle some larger home repairs — part of the roof job has already been crossed off this list. Next on the list has been re-pointing the brick mortar walls in some key areas on our exterior walls (no that is not me on the ladder):

We hope to return soon with a full update on the progress of this exterior restoration, but are most excited it's underway this early in the new year.

In other "house" news, we also power watched the entire second season of House of Cards in a few days after the Netflix release. It's quickly become one of our favorite guilty pleasures. Have you been watching?

Before heading out of town on vacation, Mary snapped this new favorite shot of Basil intent on chasing his favorite ball:

For those local to the area, we've enjoyed taking him over to Bandy Field lately, where there seems to be a little more freedom to run and play. It's a great space to check out if you have dogs or just want to go for a nature-filled walk in Richmond.

Though enjoying our sunny getaway, we're already missing our favorite furry family member. Our doggie daycare posts photos of the dogs each day on their Facebook page, which we always get a kick out of seeing each day. By the looks of it, he's soaking in a little sun of his own and doesn't seem too amused by the snowy weather today.

With that, we'll sign off from sunny Mexico, leaving you with a view of the sunsets we've been enjoying so far this week:

How was your weekend? Is it snowing where you are today like it is back home for us? We hope to bring back some of the sun upon our return.