Morning at the Zoo

We set out for the zoo this morning with Rochelle, Mabel and Stephen.

We were delighted to see some great peeks at the hippo (walking around, eating and then submerging herself), elephants (getting a bath) and lion (dozing in the sun very near the viewing window). The Animatronic Dinosaur instillation gave N quite a scare, but for some reason he was totally amped to climb up on the back of this T Rex that didn't move.

The meercat exhibit always offers some great photo's; Mabel and E were in fine form.

Undies

Despite my greatest efforts, N has been resolute in his desire to avoid going on the potty. He'll sit, and sit, and sit. No action. I stopped at Target today to pick up some school supplies for E and grabbed up a few packages of training underwear, thinking it may be just what he needs...He can keep them dry for a 30 minute period of time, but still won't use the potty, and furthermore is completely unphased when he soils them. No magic bullet....baby steps I guess.

 

Summer Playgrounds

Caleb & Savannah

Congrats to some really great people! Our clan joined them in their beautiful celebration in Magnolia Park this evening. The weather was beautiful, the view stunning; a lovely time was had by all.

Best wishes, you two.

M.S. Dutch Oven Recall

Man! I use this thing all the time, remember when I was swooning over it? Mine is chipped up, but I just chalked it up to wear and tear...hope they'll reissue them.

 Go here for more info on the recall.

The Other Molly

I've been in a bit of a foodie-mood lately. And I can't say whether it has informed my decision to finally read Molly Weizenberg's, A Homemade Life or the other way around. It's been sitting in my mental 'read soon' list since Eileen and I went to her book signing 2 years back (has it really been that long?). Something made me grab it as I was shoving things into my bag for our yearly camping trip to Eastern Washington last weekend, and I tucked a few chapters away each night after wrapping the kids up in their sleeping bags or in the late afternoons down at the beach. At any rate, I'm now full of fresh inspiration. I want to try new recipe's, I want to start making the things I grew up eating (just made a pan of brownie cake this afternoon, Mom) I want to grow the food my family can and will eat and I've even been thinking about food movies that I want to see; Ratatouille, Julie and Julia, Tampopo, Babette’s Feast, Like Water for Chocolate, Big Night and Eat Drink Man Woman have all just have made their way to the top of my Netflix queue.

Her book is a memoir with recipe's and most sound fabulous. In fact, we tried her french toast at the campsite. Good. I've read/enjoyed her blog for years now and I, likely along with many others around here identify with this Seattle based witter (and come on, she was a fan of Fugazi, and The Longshoreman's Daughter restaurant in Fremont, both a substantial part of my dating history with D). I was also tickled pink to sit down with a book that uses just about as many comma's as I tend to do. It's been a pleasure to get a bit more of her back story, and hear about the food has been present throughout her life.

She says it best:

"I write about food and cooking, and in that sense, I aim to be informative, but I write about my life some, too, since it intersects with food roughly three times a day. I don't think many of us are terribly interested in recipes that have no stories or real-life context. For me the two are inseparable. One is pale and boring without the other."

Lake Chelan 2011

You know the drill. I've taken this camping vacation every year of my life, save 2 or 3 summers. My mom before me and her mom before her; it's tradition. Some of you have joined my family over the mountains, some I hope to come in the future. We were thrilled to have Molly with us this year, and my sister and Laila joined us for a few nights too! The weather was hot and the water cool. Here are the pictures in no particular order (but cannot believe I don't have even one shot of Gram, the one with E jumping rope does not count, so sorry Mom!).

Daddy time

Kids making the pancakes

N loved sweeping

D did all the cooking!

beach boys

water time

float in a boat

float in Papa's boat

reading at the shore

cousins and Papa in the background

dinner at the drive-in

Karlee and Laila

swings

peeking out of the tent in the morning

E learned how to jump rope

bath in a box

baseball

relax

Slidewater's

sea-saw

water boy

fast slide with E

impromptu hairbrush concert

the DJ

balloons with Papa

Fresh local Bing cherries

E and D Go-Karts

N's first Go-Kart

Chicken Prison

I've mentioned before that the gals just haven't been getting along. They're catty yes, but I think I was trying to make them all live in a smaller space than they deserved. Our original coop was built with the idea that we'd only ever have 3 chickens, and since then we've added 3 more birds, and a little more room...but in retrospect not enough. I was frequently jolted awake by squawking in the early hours of the morning to free them. I have even considered giving one or two of the trouble makers away to make my life easier, but then we wouldn't be getting 1/2 a dozen eggs a day, and I've gotten used to that. Thankfully D easily saw my predicament and took an entire day off, rented some equipment, bought the necessary supplies in order to build what he now affectionately calls "Chicken Prison." I love him for this new addition. Its walls are high enough (over 7 feet) so that those nit-whits cannot fly over, and the fence itself is not ugly, I think it looks a little like a zoo exhibit, myself. I love going out and collecting eggs and feeding them now, they're even letting me sleep in!

N watched his dad from the play structure

the gals were freaked by the noise

large post holes next to old fence

the digger

posts in

cross beams on

door together

Ivy hiding

helping

adding the chicken wire

the inmates

finished product