Blissful Bites Grand Opening!

 

Blissful Bites is a gourmet cupcake bakery, using only the freshest and finest ingredients. Choose from ten amazing flavors and look forward to a new flavor introduced each month! Let us cater your next birthday party, baby shower, bridal shower, or wedding reception with our delectable, classy, personalized cakes!

Visit blissfulbitestexas.blogspot.com for more details on pricing, flavors, & more.

Grand Opening Event:

Come enjoy a FREE cupcake at Nellie's Cottage, Christmas in July!

July 25 - 27, 10am - 6pm 

265 East Courtland, Vidor 

Houston Zoo

We had a perfect day. Exotic animals, an excited little girl, free entry (thanks Aunt Mitzi!), and a light drizzle to keep us cool, equals an awesome trip to the zoo. We spent almost four hours at the zoo and then after a picnic lunch it started to downpour. We had seen 90% of the exhibits so we headed on out to tour our first home!

We toured a house built by Westin Homes and are definitely in love. We love the 40-foot ceilings with the 2nd story balcony, the fun style, and the neat architectural elements. It's exciting to start the search for our first home and you better believe I've been watching countless HGTV shows: First Time Buyer, House Hunters, Property Brother, and more! We will give updates on the house search, but for now we're just looking at different options and saving for a down payment (living with the parents definitely speeds up that process!)

Enough about the house... enjoy some zoo pictures!

Lazy Rhinos, and as Annabelle pointed out, "dirtee!"

The chimps are always my favorite to watch. It's so interesting/weird how similar monkeys and humans are. We sat and watched these female chimps for quite awhile and one of them started plucking her chin hairs!! haha We were rolling and after she would pluck one, she'd look at her fingers to make sure she got it.  

African drums... these three were quite good:)

Sincerely,               

Team Tolman

Summer Tomato Pasta

Craving something light, full of flavorful, and absolutely divine?! You just found it. 

I used 100% fresh ingredients that make being healthy, easy and delicious.

 Pasta Ingredients:
      8 ripe tomatoes, diced
      1/3 c. basil, chopped
      3 T. parsley, chopped
      4 garlic cloves, minced
      1/3 c. extra virgin olive oil
      Kosher salt & pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients and pulse in a food processor to blend flavors. Serve cold over whole wheat pasta.
      

Garlic Bread Ingredients:
     Ciabatta Bread, cut in half lengthwise
     3 T butter, softened (can substitute olive oil)
     Garlic Salt (I prefer Lawry's)
     3 T parsley, chopped
     Cheeses: Parmesan, Asiago, Cheddar
Spread softened butter on bread, sprinkle with garlic salt and parsley, then top with cheese. Broil in oven for 3-5 minutes until golden brown.
           

I served this pasta with the ciabatta bread, roasted corn-on-the-cob, and 100% triple berry juice. Everyone loved it and I hope you enjoy. Bon Appetit!   

    

SPAR Waterpark

Maverick loved the slides and was all over the park!

Annabelle loved running "bast" (fast) through these fountains!  

The kids started out energetic... and left utterly exhausted!!

    

Keep enjoying the summer!       

Team Tolman

Houseboat on Lake Powell

Third vacation to Lake Powell, 3x as fun!

We had a blast on the Houseboat with the Durrans and Allens (my parent's forever-best friends from medical school). It gave me hope that we will still vacation with our college friends years and years down the road. We spent six days hiking slot canyons, exploring, boating, wakeboarding, building sand castles, napping, kayaking, eating, & lovin' the company. Enjoy pictures from our amazing week, and I know one friend who will be very jealous... Coco! Don't worry, we're still making future plans:)

Hiking Slot Canyons

At one point we had to swim through a narrow canyon and the whole time Annabelle was grinning and saying "Cold, cold, cold." It really was freezing! Such a good sport:)

Keith, Rhiannon, Me & Annabelle, Trav, Danielle

 

On the Ski Boat 

Stylin' baby girl

Wakeboarding- Rob, Me, Trav, & Keith

Hands-down Keith is the best and so awesome to watch. He did a 360!

Keith & Rhiannon- one good lookin' couple! Love you both!

 

Glorious Chacos

Catering to Little Miss Priss' every desire!

Don't let that sweet face deceive you, five seconds before this picture she was pitching a fit! 

Daily Life on the Lake

 Our Houseboat Captain: Rob

I love this picture:)

Annabelle was always saying, "Dad-Dan, boat, boat?!"

Of course the babies accompanied us on our trip. Luckily, we got away with bringing only three! 

Notice two have on diapers;)

Kayaking/ boat adventure... beautiful canyons!

Pops being Pops

Rainbow Bridge

Danielle's makeshift shoes for the hike!

Ironically, we found a pair of extra flip-flops after we got back... classic Dumb & Dumber!

We stopped for ice cream on our way to Rainbow Bridge and it was a heavenly relief from the heat!

Heading back to Wahweap Port

Annabelle & Lincoln sealing their love.

Almost everyday Annabelle says, "Incon, Incon" & wants me to show her these pictures:)

Looking for the "hiding" fish!

 

Oh, just hanging in the kayaks by Annabelle's command, "Momma sit here."

Beautiful Sunset

Saying goodbye... we miss you both so much already!

The Road Trip

Boy oh boy, where do I begin? Well, let's start with the highlight of Annabelle throwing up on Travis twice! It was awful, it was disgusting, and luckily was not repeating on our road trip back to Texas. The way home was much more enjoyable. We watched Old McDonald's Farm multiple times, played babies, slept, listened to Little People Tunes, and thought of a million distractions for Annabelle! Overall it was bearable and it was wonderful when Annabelle slept 9 hours overnight! The next few pictures are of her waking up...

The blanket was to block the light!

Yay! I found my way out:)

 

The Munchkin kept finding Oreos in the windowsill. Danielle took 2 away from her, so finally she shoved her head in between the window and seat and would not come out! We could see her chomping down on some Oreos in the window reflection; it was hilarious!

Victory!!

We hope everyone is enjoying their summer!

Team Tolman