Hangin' Out

Today was a day of changing plans and it was fun to just go with the flow. We met up with good friends, Mark and Jody and their girls for the day. Enjoyed playtime at the park, BBQ and the view of the Olympics from their deck. Megan and Aspen hit it off immediately and were all but best buds.

Headed out to check out their boat and just soaked in the gorgeous weather and good company. Thanks guys for a memorable day!

Dan, enjoying the view.



Ashley bravely took Megan and Aspen out for a tour in the kayak.


Mark taking Sophia out on her first kayak experience (with Gunner, who was along for the outing)

Farm Tour

The weather has stayed nice and what better way to enjoy a sunny autumn day than to participate in the local area farm tours? This weekend was the 10th Annual Harvest Celebration Farm Tour - a free event to help support local farms.

Megan led us turn-by-turn through the corn maze at South 47 Farm in Redmond, reading the questions at eat turn and selecting the answer. We found all 8 punch stations and scored mini-pumpkins. You'd think the kids had new puppies or something. They alternate between worrying about those pumpkins and being curious as to what they taste like.

Not lost yet!

Next stop was Dog Mountain Farm up in the Tolt Highlands. A simply gorgeous setting with "modern day homesteaders." After enjoying a horse-drawn cart ride (the girls simply talked the ear off the poor woman who was driving the pair of dapple grays), we gobbled yummy rice krispy treats that were topped with Belgian chocolate ganache. We were lucky to meet the farm dog, who was more interested in our rice krispy treats (but was very well behaved) than in us. The girls also got to see 200 pounds of feed put out in the chicken run and the ensuing scramble by the geese, ducks and chickens to get to it!

She'll be comin' 'round the mountain...

Our final stop of the day was the River Valley Cheese farm, where we learned how to milk goats, played with the baby goats and tasted cheese (cow's milk and goat's milk). The cheese was excellent - they offer tons of variety and the staff were super to work with.

A smelly proposition.

After a brief stop at the Preston playground for some much needed R&R (farm hopping is hard work, after all), we headed out to grandma and grandpa's house for a yummy dinner and pear crisp. Welcome fall!


"You are the sun(flower) of my life..."

Puttin' up pears

When life hands you these...


Make this....

Pear jam with pineapple and maraschino cherries

Credits:

• Pears courtesy of my folks' backyard.
• Recipes (pear jam and pear butter) courtesy of http://www.usapears.com/
• Inspiration derived from the memory of crisp, tasty pear cider in the UK

Yum!

How does a 3 hour drive turn into 6 hours?

Last week it started to look like I was nearing the end of my "life of leisure" so we decided to head out to Ocean Shores and make use of Bill & Charlotte's timeshare for the weekend. Weather forecast checked out - pool is new - why not?


Dan and I left the house at 2pm to pick up Sophia and Megan. We took the backroads from Woodinville to Hwy 18 and, no sooner did we hit Fall City, but Sophia piped up that she had to go to the bathroom. One of those times we sorely missed the RV.

A pit stop later (thanks to the wonderful new bathrooms at the park in Preston), we were enroute again.


To keep a long story short, after traffic on Hwy 18 and I-5, a stop in Olympia for fast food and a stop in Aberdeen in search of sand toys, it was 8pm before we finally arrived. The kids have learned to ask "are we there yet?" in several different ways. My favorite was Megan's new approach, "Mom, are we closer to home or closer to Ocean Shores?" which was asked at least six times between Tacoma and Olympia.

Saturday turned out to be "just what the Dr. ordered" even if the weather was not the greatest. It was foggy and windy all day, but turned out that we needed a "down" day after two busy weeks of back-to-school madness. Thanks to an article in the paper, we picked up s'mores makings (thinking raw s'mores would be OK) and the cashier promptly told us to try the microwave - voila! It worked and the girls (and I) couldn't have been happier. We did brave a wander out to the beach and tried to fly a kite - but the wind simply destroyed it. The day was saved with the BBQ and a visit to the pool and hot tub. The new facilities at Surfcrest are quite nice.



Windy and cold - but the girls were determined to play in the sand. About now, we're missing the warm beaches of Spain. =)

Getting the kite airborne was easy -- but this was a whimsical, cheap kite and the wind ate it for a snack.

Sophia was determined to play with her bucket ... once on the path back, the wind wasn't so bad.

Woke up Sunday to a treat - the sky was clear and the weather warm (well, about as warm as it gets on the Washington coast). We had a leisurely breakfast and wandered out for lunch - of all things, had a teriyaki picnic in the back of the truck, on the beach. You can't beat the view.

The girls started goofing off in the sand and wound up "sand diving" - looked painful, but they were giggling up a storm. They happily spent about 30-minutes in the shower while Dan and I emptied the truck of sand, I mean, loaded up the truck to head home.

All told, a rather uneventful weekend. Low key and time with the family were the focus. We even got in a few rounds of "Pigs" before the girls lost interest in the game in favor of a movie (borrowed from the front office, of course). Home in time to do laundry and get ready for the week ahead.

Exploding Mushrooms?

Cute story - Megan apparently had a nightmare last night, dealing with mushrooms filled with hot lava. As I was trying to calm her down at bedtime tonight and let her know that there's no such thing as a lava filled mushroom, she countered:

"But how do you know they don't exist on a planet we haven't discovered yet?"

Can you say "delay tactic"? Darn kids. =)

The best way to get chocolate off a plate...

In a spurt of creativity, I decided to make dinner a "make your own pizza" night. I prepped the dough and toppings before hand. Once ready, I had the girls try "slapping" their own dough. Trust me, none of us are experts here and we had some interesting shaped pizzas. That said, the dough held up to the abuse and was quite tasty (I made it with honey, not sugar).



Everyone got to add their own toppings and cheese, tossed in the oven and voila! Dinner was readily eaten by all three (Jaden is over for the night).



The real kicker came with dessert. I took the tiny bit of dough, made it in to skinny breadsticks. Brused with melted butter; sprinkled sugar & cinammon on top and baked for 5 minutes. Drizzle with warmed up hot fudge topping with a swirl of whipped cream on the side and we had three really happy girls. The urge to lick the plates was irresistable and quite funny. I said to Jaden, "OK, give it up. Your mom would kill me." Her response, "What? It's the best way to get chocolate off the plate." A well trained 7-year old, I say.



No pictures to actually document the craziness. Suffice it to say, happiness abounded.



Good night.

Back-to-School

I did my part to support the shopping phenomenon known as "back-to-school." Both kids are outfitted with new clothes, new shoes, and for Megan, new school supplies.

All systems go, Megan started second grade and Sophia joined her peers in daycare for the first time. Having the day to myself was a little bitter sweet. Seems like I blinked and "whoosh" they grew up.

Megan and Sophia - first day of school