Happy 4th Birthday Ethan!

Four years ago you were born at 5 in the morning and ever since you have been the joy of our lives. Happy birthday little man! We love you so much.

Birthday Party Sneak Peak.

My baby boy is turning 4 next week and we are throwing a birthday party backyard bash to celebrate. I absolutely love throwing parties and kids parties are by far my favorite. I've been working on lots of small items to help create the party atmosphere and so I thought  my next couple of posts would be a sneak peak into some of these that you can make at home with objects lying around the house.

I had bought a bunch of candy for a pinata but decided to forgo the pinata but was not sure what to do with the huge bag of candy. I had some glass jars that were holding miscellaneous things around the house so I decided to spruce them up by filling with different types of candy and after adding a few decorations such as ribbon and some stickers made some very cute candy jars.

Sewing Project #3 Finished - Homemade Birthday Banner

This past week I had some time to finish the homemade birthday banner that I had discussed in a previous post. Once I got my sewing machine up and running the process went by really quickly and it turned out great. I got the pattern and materials from here and its a great first project to make at home and adds a touch of backyard vintage to any kids party. The most time consuming part was cutting all of the patterns out but after that it was smooth sailing. I'm in search of my next sewing project so if anyone has any great ideas let me know....

Peach Pie...

We had company over for dinner this past weekend and I had some ripe peaches I needed to use so I thought it would be a good time to make peach mini-pies. I brought out my Breville Pie Maker again and got to work. I was in a little bit of a time crunch so I ended up using Pillsbury pie crust instead of making my own. If not making your own, I highly recommend using a high end pie crust instead of the generic brand since they tend to keep together more. I also used a cookie cutter to create the flower shapes and used an egg wash to adhere them to the top pie crust.

For the peach filling I put diced peaches, cornstarch, brown sugar, and vanilla in a sauce pan and stirred until the peaches became soft. I also made homemade whipped cream to go along with them and let me tell you, making it tastes WAY better than store bought. Enjoy!

A Sunny Day in Anacortes, Washington

This past weekend we headed up north to Anacortes, Washington to take advantage of the nice summer sun that seems to be a rarity lately. My mom and Jon recently moved to Anacortes so we also used this as an opportunity to check out their new digs which is very charming and cute. We had a great time hanging out at the Farmer's Market that happens on Saturdays from 9-2 and even visited a soft serve ice cream shop that had 24 flavors of soft serve to choose from. Amazing.

Right up the street from their new house was a really cute park called the John and Doris Tursi Park that actually had a zip line. Ethan was a little hesitant at first but after a few tries he was hooked. We even made it to the beach and Ethan and Bindi both got in the water before heading home. On the way out of town we stopped at Bob's Chowder Bar for lunch which has fantastic clam chowder. If you ever get a chance to pass through Anacortes I highly recommend a stop there for a quick bite to eat.

Take me out to the ball game - Seattle Mariners vs. Texas Rangers

This past Father's day I treated Jeff and Ethan to Mariner's game tickets for a summer game in July. We had pretty good seats in the 300 level that was right next to the railing. It was a little scary since it was about a forty foot drop down to the next section so we were a little wary but luckily Ethan fell asleep shortly into the third inning.

Even though it was a rainy day we had lots of fun chowing down on hot dogs, fries, gummy candy, and ice cream.

Thomas the Train - Snoqualmie Washington

This past weekend we went on a drive up to the town of Snoqualmie to go on their annual Thomas Train ride. We try to make an annual trip up to the Northwest Railway Museum for their Day Out with Thomas, and the Santa Train. It's a perfect activity to do on a nice summer day. An old fashion train ride to the falls and back. And Ethan even got to have a rainbow Popsicle to celebrate the day.