a picnic a week

Lane and I have decided (okay, I decided and Lane agreed) that, beginning along the vague timeline of "when it gets nice out," we are going to have at least one picnic per week.

There are no real rules to the picnic. It could be in our front yard, at the park, with friends, on Lane's lunch break, picnic dessert... whatever. The point is to be outside enjoying each others company and enjoying good food together. At least once a week.

We have had a couple trial runs. The first was about a month ago on a day that started out beautiful. However, by the time we had set up the blanket and sat down to eat we were pulling up our hoods and scarfing down our tempeh tacos so we could head out before getting caught in the rain.

We were quite entertained by a man attempting to parasail.

And even more entertained by the crowd that was quickly forming to observe his attempts.

In the end, he was not successful. And neither was our picnic, really, since we were not able to lay around leisurely in the grass soaking up the sun and enjoying the comfort of full bellies.

Our next picnic trial run was last Monday. 

We ate veggies with hummus, homemade french bread with pesto, and cheese. Oh, and green pimento stuffed olives. Yum.

...and apples for dessert.

After eating, James and I played at the playground while Lane paparazzi-ed us. 

So, my question is this: is everyone else as into picnics as I am, or is it just my compulsion to make everything into a production that leads me to love the idea of making portable food (or making non-portable food portable) and hauling it all a few blocks away from our home, only to sit on the ground and eat there, creating a big mess and, generally, even more dishes?

Even with the ridiculousness of it all, we are going to stick to a picnic a week. Who's with me?