a whirlwind weekend...

While Jeff was off working at PAX Ethan and I headed up to visit some of the grandparents in Anactores and Bellingham. In Anacortes we got to tour an old tug boat used in WWII that was offering tours at the marina.

Ethan also got to go out for a short ride on grandpa's scooter which he loved. After it was over he told me that we needed to get a motorcycle. We'll see about that.

While in Bellingham we visited Hovander Park and then headed to Birch Bay for some fun in the sand and surf. Luckily for Ethan we had a change of clothes in the car since he dived right in.

woodland park zoo...

Jeff has been gearing up for his big work show PAX going on this coming weekend so Ethan and I had a day to ourselves. What better way to hang out than at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle.

We packed a lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and fruit and headed to the zoo to pretend to be silly monkeys for the day. I even talked him into going and seeing their Dinosaur exhibit. He was a little scared at first but seemed to enjoy it. I think his favorite thing about the exhibit was that the dinosaur spit and burped and of course getting ice cream at the end of the day.

(Ethan was a little nervous about getting close to the dinosaur)

(Trying to force a smile while wanting to make a mad dash out of there)

(Ethan tamed the beast by the end of it)

remlinger farms...

The sun decided to make an appearance in full force this weekend so we hopped in the car and headed to Remlinger Farms in Carnation Washington. This place has it all and is fantastic for kids, especially little ones Ethan's age. They had plenty of kid amusement rides and Ethan was able to go on all of them. We met up with his neighbor friend Isaac, his sister Lucy, and their family and they all had a blast.

We were unable to pick berries this time but it is definitely something that we plan to do again in the future.

summer dinner delights...

I have been continuing to experiment with different recipes I find on the Internet to try my hand at getting home cooked meals on the table. I had downloaded the epicurious app on my iPhone over the weekend and had checked out their featured summer dinner recipes. Low and behold I found a pork tonkatsu with watermelon tomato salad that sounded divine. You can find the recipe here. The great thing about their app is that once you pick a recipe it creates a shopping list for you that separates the ingredients into different sections of the grocery store.

It was super easy to make and a great summer treat. In total preparation time it took about 30 minutes total and about five seconds to eat it. This recipe is definitely a keeper and Ethan even liked it.

Look for more yummy dinner ideas in the coming weeks.

yummy pumpkin soup...

I recently attended a cooking class and it got a bug in me to start cooking more meals. I really enjoy the process of cooking. Cutting up and preparing the ingredients, waiting patiently for it to be ready (and drinking wine in the process), and of course eating it when it's all done.

Because fall seems to be coming soon it got me in the mood for soup. I absolutely love soup on colder days and usually go for the store bought kind but I decided to purchase 'The Daily Soup' cookbook.

The first recipe that caught my eye was the Jamaican Pumpkin Soup recipe and it turned out pretty tasty if I do say so. Unfortunately since fresh pumpkins are not in season I had to go with the canned variety but it still turned out good. I recommend serving this with crostini's (garlic and oil is the best).

It was a pretty simple soup to make and you can see the steps from my photos below. (In order to get the recipe though you will need to pick up the book ;-))

Enjoy!

through the woods to grandpa's house...

This past Sunday we made a trip up north to Bellingham to visit Ethan's grandpa and help him celebrate his birthday. It is pretty fun to be able to take my son to visit my childhood home and nearby Lake Padden. The weather was nice to us and we were able to walk down to the lake, feed the ducks, go to the playground, and take Bindi to the off leash park. Ethan also got the experiment with playing the drums as well.

Happy birthday grandpa!!!

fall is just around the corner...

In Seattle we didn't really have a summer this year but on the few nice days we have had we have definitely taken advantage of it. Below is a photo that describes our summer perfectly.

Goes by fast but lots of fun!

Because the weather is starting to get a little cooler again I actually picked up a new soup cookbook from Amazon yesterday. (I did take a cooking class this last week that may have put a spark in my brain to cook more.) I absolutely love soup so I will be sure to post some photos of all of the soup I am going to make. I hope Ethan and Jeff enjoy soup as much as I do.

Snoqualmie Falls...

We were invited up to a wedding at Salish Lodge and got to enjoy the view of the falls so I whipped out the camera and snapped some pictures. Enjoy!

Let's Celebrate...

This past weekend we rang in Ethan's 4th birthday with a BBQ/party to celebrate. The weather turned out great for the occasion and we all had a great time. I recommend anyone that has young children with summer birthdays to invest in a bouncy house. The kids were entertained for the whole party and it was a lot cheaper to buy one on Amazon than it was to rent one. Also, I was very happy because one of my friends overheard one of the kids say that the party favors were the best one's that they had ever gotten. Pulled on my heart strings a little when I heard that. ;)

Also, if you are looking for space/robot themed party supplies they are almost non-existant. I would recommend checking out some of the smaller boutique sites like Bake it Pretty or Oriental Trading Co since many of the party stores did not have this theme.

Ethan's 4th Birthday

By Jeff
I have a very clear recollection of my Dad taking each of us kids out for a "daddy and me" day around our birthdays. In fact in what may have been a very difficult ordeal for him, on my 11th he sat through the animated Transformers movie.

Using that as inspiration I planned a full day of fun things for Ethan and I to do for his actual birthday as opposed to the day we have his party.

Things started off with a pancake breakfast in which Susi was able to join us.

After that Ethan and I returned home briefly where I assembled the scooter from his Aunt Stephanie, Uncle Brenden and Cousins Birk, and Svea. Of course we had to take it for a test drive.

Soon it was time to leave to our 2^nd stop – the Children’s Museum up in Everett. We played in the pretend plane and bus. We ran around on their rooftop playground and slides. And we splashed in their water exhibit.

Two hours later lunch was upon us and the only thing Ethan like more than chicken nuggets and fries from Mickey D’s, is a Mickey’s D’s with a playground. So off to the Juanita location where I’m sure it is perfectly healthy to eat a happy meal and then run around screaming.

At this point in the day we went to the newly remodeled Disney Store at Bellevue Square. On my last trip to San Francisco I saw that in their Disney store they had a station where kids could pick specific parts and create their own versions of cars from the Cars movies. I thought it looked like something Ethan would love and when I heard they added this in the remodel, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to take him in. At this point I want to say that what could have been just a normal present buying experience was made extra special by the staff, and specifically by our salesperson, Lauren. She really went above and beyond. She walked Ethan through all the different choices – Ethan picked a stunt version of Mater with white wall tires, dragon rims, jet engines on the sides, and a police light on top. Ethan was made a part of the process, helping to snap the pieces together and even getting to help use the power screwdriver. When we were done, she announced to the whole store that Ethan just built his first car and had everyone cheer for him. He had a huge smile on his face. Later she surprised us with a big Mickey Mouse button that said “Happy Birthday Ethan” but that wasn’t all.

The video screen that displays movie clips and Disney shorts soon flashed a Happy Birthday message and they once again announced to the store that this time it was his Birthday. The lighting flashed and they even had animated fireworks on some of the displays. We stopped in for a present and got a great experience.

We played at the mall play area for a while and stopped by the Lego store as well but then it was time to move on.

Since I knew the weather was going to be nice we stopped by the Splash Park in Bellevue’s Crossroads Park. Ethan has been here a few times before and loves it. The great part was that Susi was able to leave work early and surprise him. In fact when it was time to leave he wanted to ride in mommy’s car.

At home we finished opening his presents with the grand finale being his very own Bouncy House. (We looked at renting one for his birthday party but discovered it was just as cheap to buy one as rent one.) His friend from next door, Isaac, came over for a little while to help test it out.

Then we fished up the day with dinner at Red Robin, where he has had dinner on all of his birthdays so far – hard to beat signing and free ice cream.

A very eventful day for a four old (and an exhausting day for his dad).