Sunday, July 31, 2011

Belated Pictures of Cake

Even though Princess's and Squirt's birthdays were a few weeks ago, I never got around to posting the pictures. We had a small weekend celebration for them both for them to eat their cake and ice cream and open presents from their grandparents. I ended up making a small cake for each of them and one larger cake for everyone else. I made them all with an ocean theme and topped Princess's cake with a mermaid and Squirt's cake with an octopus.

Squirt was a little hesitant at first...

But soon got the octopus's head off and started enjoying the cake. The funniest part was when he poked a hole in the cake with his finger, ripped off an octopus leg, and tried to shove it into the hole he made. I guess he wanted to redesign it. The aftermath...

Princess was quite a bit more dainty with her cake, although she did decapitate the mermaid at one point.They both really liked their presents, too. Squirt got new clothes and a talking Mater that is squishy like a stuffed toy, yet moves it's mouth when it talks. He has giggled at that quite a bit.

Of course, our little Princess had to try on all of the new Princess clothes she got. She is such a girly girl.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

A Messy, Messy Squirt

Much like his big brother, Squirt loves pasta. While the resulting mess is no fun to clean up, it is quite amusing watching him enjoy his dinner.

Monday, July 11, 2011

Fun with Exotic Fruit

My husband, Brady, gets very excited over new foods, especially exotic fruits. We currently have goji berries growing in our backyard, and he had small paw paw plants growing until the chickens got a little too excited about digging for bugs near them. While these might not be unusual to some, they are both plants that are definitely not common around here, which makes them something of a novelty.

While on the drive home from picking up Gizmo from camp, we stopped for French fries to appease an angry Squirt. While in the Arby's drive through lane, Brady spotted a store labeled Asian Market. He got out of the car right then and told me to meet him over there when we got done. After he took a look at the store, it was decided that we should all go in.

One of the neat things we found was a jackfruit. Brady had read about them, but it is not something you would normally see at the grocery store, so we had not been able to actually taste it before. Naturally, we picked one out to bring home.

It was big...

Upon cutting it in half, there was white goop that starred seeping out. We underestimated just how sticky it would be. I am not talking about sugary kind of sticky either. It was not water soluble, and incredibly sticky. Getting it off our hands and countertops required lots of scrubbing with baking soda.

After cutting out of the core section and the rough skin, you can begin to pull the white rubbery string off the bulbs of fruit. Again, they are very sticky and will stick to your fingers.

The bulbs have large seeds in them that you will want to get out, and the you are left with a large amount of orange pieces of fruit. It tastes like a combination of cantaloupe and mango to me. Gizmo and Princess have really been enjoying it.

Friday, July 8, 2011

Squirt's 1st Birthday

One year ago, me and Brady were in the hospital, excited to meet our new baby boy. From the moment I laid eyes on him, I was completely smitten. The year has passed too quickly. Our curious little baby is now a curious, chubby, little boy who is always on the move. We all love him so very much.
Happy Birthday to my little Squirt!

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Princess's 4th Birthday

Today is our little red-headed Princess's 4th birthday. She has brought such joy and fun to our lives, and I am so glad I am her mom, even if she can be a bit demanding at times.

Happy Birthday, Princess!

Monday, July 4, 2011

Gizmo Goes to Camp

The day after coming home from Bear Lake, I set off to drop Gizmo off at Girl Scout camp. She was thrilled to go and could barely contain her excitement during the drive. While I was happy for her, that first night with her at camp was rough for me. The house felt remarkably empty without her.

When the week was up, we all loaded up in the car to go and pick her up. During the drive home, she told of all about her adventures learning knots, using different outdoor cooking methods, going on the high ropes course, practicing archery, and sleeping under the stars on one particular evening. She woke up that morning to see a deer nearby. We have also been hearing camp songs galore since she arrived home.

She took her camera, so I am including some of the pictures that she and her counselors took while she was at camp.

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Bear Lake 2011

My family has an annual tradition of heading up Bear Lake for a four-day family reunion of sorts. My grandparents started taking their kids there for a yearly family vacation since before my mom was born, and it has continued and grown ever since. We currently have four generations that meet up there. We missed last years since we had a brand new baby Squirt, so the kids were really excited to go. The main attraction on the lake this year was a giant inflatable fun island that my parents brought up.

My nephew loved to play in the sand, which left him looking a little like a coal miner.

Squirt enjoyed at least one nap in the tent.

We tie-dyed shirts (and a dress for Princess) this year. I remember dying the shirts when I was a kid, so it is really fun to watch my own kiddos have fun with it.

My brother also dyed his hands.

Me, Brady, and the kids with the finished shirts.

Since the two of our youngest kids have birthdays quickly approaching, I made some Dutch oven cobbler for an early celebration. Squirt was a complete mess, but he did really enjoy it.

After all the fun and excitement, we had a long drive home. Princess and Squirt enjoyed a bit of a nap.