High Five for Friday

It's been a few weeks since I've kept up with the Friday High Five. We've had plenty going on, I just haven't taken the time to blog about it.

Here's the quick highlights of this week:

1. Last Friday Jesse had an eye exam at my school's clinic. He loves Indian food, but it's not my favorite, so we don't eat it often.  I like to try new things, but I also don't like to order something from a menu and be disappointed by it. Thankfully an Indian restaurant downtown, Sitar, has a lunch buffet that we went to on our way to his appointment. I was delicious! Any culture that eats every bite of food with bread is doing something right, in my opinion.

2. Every Sunday through the summer the Magic City Jazz of Birmingham does a free night of jazz music in one of the parks across town. We've gone to three of them so far. It's nice to get outside and relax with friends. You're not expected to be quiet, so you just get to laugh and talk with friends with some awesome music in the background. Or be like us and take games like Phase 10 or Uno!

3. Jesse hung his hammock up across our little porch this week for the first time. He's had it quite a while, but hasn't had the chance to hang it yet so he decided to give it a try on our porch railings. I was concerned at first, especially when we both got in it together, but it's holding nicely. He's been out on the porch reading and relaxing quite a bit this week. I tried it out one day after school before he got home and was asleep in about 10 minutes! It's the perfect nap spot (and nap-inducing spot)!

4. Number four is for the 4th of July! My mom's side of the family gets together at her sister, Vera's, home each year. While our hotdogs and hamburgers got rained out, we had a delicious pot of chicken and dumplings, ham, potato salad, broccoli salad, and baked beans. And of course just as many desserts! Most of the family was there, and it was SO good to hang out with them for the day!

5. My parents, already nearby for the 4th, stayed with us last night and today. We drove downtown to watch the fireworks with them and our friend Mike. One of the big fireworks shows in Birmingham is done from the Vulcan, which sits on top of a mountain overlooking much of the city. It made for a great view of the fireworks! We also did a little shopping and eating as usual while they were here.