Ah, Lego we meet again. It has been way too long.

We just got back from visiting my sister Kerrie, brother-in-law Steve, and my niece and nephew! We had a great time. I couldn’t post last night because I didn’t have an internet connection.
Many a Lego battles were fought…and some beer for thirst quenching.

It’s funny, as a girl who used to LOVE Lego, I don’t ever remember wanting to make it into a battle with ‘good guys’ and ‘bad guys’ and guns and ships. I used to build school houses and homes and airports, which were mainly just places to put my Lego PEOPLE so I could make up stories, names, and long, confusing plots. A place where my Lego mom and dad could make babies and start a family. I was all girly like that.
However, I am proud to say I held my own with this new kind of Lego game. I was kicking butt and chewing bubblegum as Eric says.

Although my sound effects could be drastically improved. It was a bit embarrassing.
Hummus and pita chips were consumed for battleship energy.
Eric is pretty much a Lego champ. I was jealous.
Eric and Steve say hi!

My sister and I forgot to get a picture together in all the excitement of gushing over cooking magazines…!

I enjoyed a couple brewskis over the course of the afternoon. Beer is so refreshing on such a hot summer day!
Shelby is a snuggly cute kitty.

For dinner, Kerrie made the most delicious vegan chili I think I have ever tasted!

Sadly, she did not use a recipe and has no idea what amounts she threw in! Now I know where I get it from. ;)

However, I can tell you her secret ingredient was canned PUMPKIN! I am stealing this idea the next time I make chili. It tasted awesome and you couldn’t detect the pumpkin at all. It is a great way to sneak in another veggie, especially when serving the kids! I had two bowls of it…mmm it was awesome.
Garlic bread with olive oil and spices..


and a salad on the side.

For dessert we enjoyed Ultra Fudgy Brownies!
Eric wanted me to take a picture of his bowl. :)

I had one too just without the ice cream. My nephew couldn’t believe it when we told him there was avocado in it.
After the kids went to bed we turned into crazy party animals and drank some tea.

Kerrie put the clock up so you could see it was only 9:45pm and we were all zonked. We used to have some pretty crazy parties back in the day, but I think we are getting old!

The tea was awesome and of course, no hangover this morning which is always a good thing when a little friend creeps into the room at 6:30am to see if you are ready to play yet. ;)
Eric and I are off to the conservation park to meet up with a couple friends and go hiking! The weather is just gorgeous today. Enjoy the rest of your weekend and I will be back tonight.
LEGO! Oh you have taken me back lol!! I used to be so jjealous of the boys I knew who got to play with lego..I always wanted some!
Have a great day :)
Good call on Eric’s part; his plate looks dee-licious!
I am definitely going to have to try those brownies… I am headed to Whole Foods today, so i’ll have to add those ingredients to my shopping list!
i LOVED playing with legos, me and my brother always had it spread all over his bedroom floor. lol
pumpkin in the chili, i will have to rememeber that!
Oooh. You just brought back fond memories of my PINK lego set. And you thought you were girly? :)
Hehehe vegan desserts are the bomb! Oh legos, I am pretty sure I just stacked them- not sure about these battles…
Aww Lego! It reminds me of a camping trip with my family when I was younger. Good times!!
I wasn’t much of a Lego fan- I was more of a Lincoln Log girl (anyone remember those??) haha
And I haven’t made chili in *forever*. I bet the pumpkin makes it nice & thick!
Have a great rest of the weekend :)
Organic BEER?! never seen it in my life, but I wish I could find some out here!
It looks like good eats and good company. Enjoy your sunday.
Looks like you guys had an awesome time!
That looks like so much fun!! Especially the cooking magazines part… that’s my kind of bbq!!
I’ve got great memories of Legos. When I got chicken pox as a kid my dad bought me the pirate island set and we spent all week putting it together while I made my recovery.
ah, legos! i was more of a barbie/mylittlepony/gem&theholograms/carebears kinda girl. hahaha. i never knew what to make w/legos. hahahahaha.
and tea at 945…sounds like my kind of night! :)
Oh how I adore garlic bread. I could eat the whole bowl – I swear. And I would take that over dessert. Well maybe not…that depends on the day.
Hey! We have that same monkey-head-scratching mug from pier 1, and another similar giraffe mug. It makes tea drinking so much more fun :)
i never had legos growin up…but i loved going to play with them at people’s houses!
have fun hiking…i can’t wait til it cools down JUST a little bit and it’s perfect weather all the time :)
I am *definitely* going to put canned pumpkin in my next Chili..thanks!
Cute kitty btw =)
Last time I was visiting my best friend we were home on a Saturday night drinking tea. We looked at each other like we are so old, when did this happen.
I used to absolutely love Lego when I was a kid. Good times!
I was always more of a Barbie girl than a Lego girl, but I loved making up plots too. :D
I’ve seen a few chili recipes that call for pumpkin and I’ve been wanting to try them!
I add pumpkin to my chili and nobody ever knows! :) I also add cinnamon – that people ask me about… :)
I was just talking about chili today… it’s getting to be that time of year!
First videos with subtitles now star wars legos!?! I think our male partners were a match made in heaven? :-) LOL
i TOTALLY played the same imaginary games with lego! i was all about making houses for lego families, having them go on adventures, renovate their home, go to school…ah, good times!
that’s the best part about playing with my nieces: i get to play dolls, lego, puzzles, do crafts…of course, the excuse is i’m just entertaining the girls!
Can’t go wrong with an evening full of Legos!! ;) And a bit random..but that ape cup with the arm is so freakin cute. :P
I used to LOVE Legos. They made a great house for my huge Barbie collection! :)
I loved legos growing up – we had a ton since I have 2 brothers!
Looks like you had fun- must have been all the lego-playing that tuckered you out early :) Heehee. I was much like you in my lego-playing as a child… especially the over-complicated storylines, hah!
I am an old lady some nights too (ok, most nights) and go to bed pretty early. I totally agree, beer is perfect on a hot summers day!
The garlic bread looked AMAZING, and I’ve heard of canned pumpkin in chili before, not sure where though. I can’t wait for you to try it out to share the recipe :)
I’m happy you were able to enjoy your break. :) And I have a feeling the days of Lego wars will come my way soon enough. We just found out on Thursday we are having a boy. :)
That’s so great that you were able to sneak in some pumpkin and avocado!
I added canned pumpkin to my chili the last time I made it and it was insanely good! The pumpkin gives the chili such a thick, hearty texture. That chili looks delicious!
I love lego!!! I still have my K’Nex – did you ever get into those? My Mum took the Legos with her when she retired and moved overseas.
I’m going to try pumpkin in my vegan chili next time I make it. Sounds good!
Lego! That takes me back. My dad and I used to buy boxes of it at garage sales and spend hours building stuff. I don’t remember making up stories though. We had so much lego that at one time dad and I were considering buying one of those huge standup tool boxes to store it all. I also had a huge tonka dump truck that I transported stuffed animals (and a few dolls), dirt and lego in. Not so much of a girly girl…
I’m totally with you on the legos – I built houses and such so my lego people could have families!
That is such a great idea for a secret chili ingredient!! I’m sure it kind of thickened it up too!
ps: i have that monkey cup. I. love. it.
LOL. I did the exact same thing with Lego as you! Cmon, I’m the only girl in my family, so nobody would teach me how to play Lego wars. So I played Lego “build a car and put a guy in it and make him a house”. :D
I meant that there are only girls in my family. I have a sister 8 years older :P
Thanks for sharing the pumpkin in the chili idea. I’m always looking for ways to use pumpkin after Halloween. I like to use the whole pumpkin after carving it so I season and bake the seeds while passing out candy, then cut up the pumpkin afterwards, boil, puree and freeze. The only ideas I had last year was pumpkin pie a nd pumpkin soup and I ended up tossing a lot of it. Now I’m excited because I’ve got the V.O.O pumpkin pie for breakfast, the pumpkin pie pudding and now chili! Thank you!
Looks like a fun time!
Oooo — pumpkin in chili?!?
Can’t wait for your recipe :)
love this post!!
mostly because my
husb and i met up with
friends at a hollywood bar
on saturday night.
we all left by 9:45.
then we drove down
crazy hollywood blvd listening to
“love songs on the coast”
and i insisited we
blast phil collin’s “groovy kind of love”
on the stereo.
was awesome.
then we stopped for vegan ice cream.
no hangover.
i like getting older ; )
I made your brownies last night for a friend’s birthday – they are AMAZING! We used brown sugar since it was all we had, and it worked really well! :)
Glad you had a nice visit… Lego and all with my good friend Kerrie :)