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.