Weekend Recap and Tuesday Treats: Caramel Brownies

Did you all have a nice 4th of July weekend?  We sure did!

Friday night I was able to have a girls night and catch up with some of my best friends and see all their new homes.  So funny to see everyone growing up, buying houses, and having babies!!!

Saturday Baxter and I headed North to enjoy a nice day on the boat.   It was a beautiful day and all three dogs played great together.  We docked the boat and were able to swim over to the shore to play ball with the pups while we caught some rays and enjoyed some tasty beverages. 

All the pups were exhausted when we got home and sleep great that night!

Poor Maya's paw was sore afterwards and she has a tough time keeping up with the youngsters!  

 Bailey finally settled down after many games of fetch with the ball off the boat.

Sunday, the pups stayed home and rested in the air conditioning while we headed out on the boat for a day of fun for ourselves.  I even did a little of this...

…and to my surprise got up on the first try!  After soaking up the sun and having fun swimming and skiing, we headed back home for a cookout and fireworks.   After an awesome show of fireworks with great company we made some more yummy drinks…

…and played a round of Cranium…had no idea how one game could provide so many laughs!

Monday we woke up to the dogs ready to play some more!  After a few rounds of catch, we headed in while I did a little baking and then enjoyed a wonderful breakfast!

Look at this omelet…my favorite…Veggie!  And he added some fresh basil cut from the backyard, I was in heaven!

How pretty is my omelet?

And then, here is the "Man Omelet" as I like to call it...

We enjoyed a wonderful breakfast outside on the porch while we waited for the others to wake up.

Meanwhile, I made some tasty treats for later in the evening…

Caramel Brownies

Ingredients

50 bite sized caramels

1/3 cup skim evaporated milk

German chocolate cake mix

3/4 cup melted butter

1/3 cup skim evaporated milk (yes, again)

bag of chocolate chips

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.  Grease and flour 9 X 13 pan.

3.  Melt caramels in saucepan with 1/3 cup milk on low heat, stirring frequently.

4.  Stir cake mix, melted butter, and 1/3 cup evaporated milk together, by hand.

5.  Divide cake batter in half.  Spread one half of mix into pan.  

6.  Bake for 8 minutes.

7.  Remove from oven and sprinkle with chocolate chips.

8.  Pour caramel mixture on top of chocolate chips.

9.  Sprinkle remaining half of cake mix on top of caramel mix.

10.  Bake for 20 minutes.

11.  Cool for 15 minutes, cut into squares and refrigerate at least 30 minutes prior to serving.  Keep refrigerated (they can get goopy if not).  

After everyone was up and ready, we headed out to the boat again for more fun.  It was a wonderful, relaxing day on the river for the 4th. 

Then, we came back home, showered up, and had some of these...

 which were DELICIOUS!  Seasoning was perfect!

And finished up the night with the above brownies and some festive strawberries!

Now, we are struggling through the first day back at work and ready to come home for a nap!

Hope you all had a wonderful and safe weekend!