Pumpkiny Patch

I was uber-excited to go to a pumpkin patch this year. I realize it's all going over Little Bug's head, but there's still something really fun about taking your kid to a pumpkin patch for the first time. Little Bug's favorite part was watching all of the other kids. In fact the kids were so enthralling that it was really hard to get her to even look at the camera and for those that know her, she's usually a perfect little ham.

While at the pumpkin patch I started really getting in the mood for some pumpkin bread, you know the kind with the chocolate chips. Yum. While vocalizing such thoughts, Andrew informed me pumpkins weren't even edible. For a second there I really thought he believed they couldn't be eaten. He was adamant. It was then I remembered he's just not a fan of pumpkin flavored treats. I'm pretty excited that means I get to eat an entire loaf of pumpkin bread myself, that and the quart of pumpkin ice cream in the freezer.

Bodega Bay

For my birthday, Andrew took me to Bodega Bay for just a little get away. It was our first over night without Little Bug. On our way up, it hit us how strange and of course wonderful, it was going to be to sleep in the next morning. That is until we woke up at 7am like clockwork. We thought such a thing might happen. Despite this fact, it was a very nice and relaxing get away. Thanks for spoiling me Andrew!

And just for kicks, here's Andrew scared of the waves crashing around him! You can't see the details too well, but that would be him with his mouth wide open screaming. Go ahead and click to enlarge.

Slurpee

The other night Andrew and I decided to go for a little walk and get ourselves a Slurpee to share. We were clinging onto the last feelings of summer. We decided to give Little Bug just a taste.

Here she is getting every last drop.

Apple cobbler

I made some apple cobbler the other day. We bought some apples from Costco the other week that turned out not to be very tasty. This was my way of trying to make them tasty. After making the cobbler, I warned Andrew that the apples weren't the best and I would probably toss out whatever he didn't eat. A couple hours later I found this;

Just in case it is not clear enough, Andrew just ate all of the crumb topping. Looks like he really took my warning to heart.

mm mm yum - so gritty and tasty

We took Little Bug to the park for the first time on Saturday. I was pretty darn excited, even more excited than Little Bug, which actually lead to a huge let down. She really didn't know what to make of things, except the sand, which she loved eating.

Tasty goodness

Warning: If you are hungry or trying to eat more healthily, I don't suggest reading this post. Seeing sweets when hungry always makes me crave desserts rather that real food. Like when I go to the grocery store when hungry, never a good idea. I inevitably end up coming home with a bag of Oreo cookies or worse.

So lately, I have been wanting my family's homemade cran-raspberry ice cream. I have never made it before and I thought it would be a tasty treat. I have since realized it's essentially frozen whip cream with added sugar and flavoring. I mean who wouldn't like that?! Andrew and I don't actually have an ice cream maker and when I mentioned to Andrew that I was going to buy one, the idea was quickly vetoed. Evidently you don't need an ice cream maker when you have a mass supply of liquid nitrogen. So after a very long day on Saturday, we thought it might be fun to try it out. Andrew brought some liquid nitrogen home and it was definitely faster and more fun than a traditional ice cream maker. The resulting ice cream was creamy, really creamy. So much so, that the next time I make it, I will definitely not be using the full portion of whipping cream. Yeah it was tasty, I just feel really guilty eating it. I happily ate it all weekend long and I just had a bowl of it for lunch.

And that definitely is a parking citation pictured right above Andrew's head...we were at a service project at Fairyland and I was only a couple minutes late getting out to the meter. So, while we were painting it up in Fairyland we got a ticket! Yeah, I'm still grumpy about it. Such a bummer, it's like we got charged for doing the city of Oakland a favor.

Just being silly...it really was a long Saturday.

The tasty masterpiece! I'm telling you it's good! Here's the recipe if interested;
2 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 cups heavy whipping cream
1 can of cran-raspberry frozen concentrate juice
1 bag of frozen raspberries (smash them)
2 eggs (we didn't add this...kinda grossed us out)
1 1/4 cups milk

If the ice cream wasn't bad enough, I spent the preceding days making a bunch of tarts. Really, a lot of tarts. My parents hosted an open house for a fellow who just got married in the ward and somehow I ended up signing myself up to make dessert. It actually wasn't too bad and ended up being pretty fun...it was just a two day process.

Here are all the tarts filled and ready to be decorated. The kitchen was a nightmare, maybe I should have taken a picture of that?

And the tarts after completion! There were 14 of them. I just wish I had the photography skills to make a really pretty picture out of them. One ended up breaking...ok, I 'accidently' broke it while trying to stack them back in the fridge again. I quickly just claimed that one for Andrew and I...so it worked out well. Click HERE it you are interested in the recipi. All I can say is we are really looking forward to this weekend for some rest!

I want those ribbons!

Little Bug attended her first birthday party this weekend! I thought maybe such a moment should be documented. Her favorite part was the ribbons on all the presents. In fact, she got into a fight with the birthday boy trying to play with them.

Not to worry, she was closely monitored while playing with all those ribbons!

hmmm...it is hard to tell from this picture, but Little Bug has cupcake all over her face. The little stinker rejected the cake and would only eat the frosting. Then when driving in the car the day after the party, I discovered Andrew's cupcake stump. Evidently he also just ate the top part with the frosting and left the cake part untouched! Andrew has sabotaged Bug's taste buds and he could not be more proud.

Happy Birthday!

It was Andrew's 29th birthday last week. And as he likes to say, he is now only 12 months away from being 30. Happy birthday love, Little Bug and I are so grateful for you!

Alleluia, blessed day...or whatever other praising word you can think of

We finally took on the task of redoing our kitchen...in case you didn't remember, our kitchen was umm . . .just bad. Of course we thought it would take a day to get most of it done (we prepped the whole week beforehand), but as home repairs usually go, we ran into some snags along the way. Snags like, the new counter tops not being the same width as the old ones, the sink not fitting against the counter, the old plumbing crumbling apart, and lots of fun leaks. But it's now done! So, here we go on a pic by pic step of our process.

The first step was getting out this built in bookshelf/pantry thing. I really want to emphasize 'thing' here cause really, what was it!?! I'm still sitting here wondering who in their right mind would have stuck it in. Luckily, it came out easy, just needed some pushing, which I was happy to render.

Here's the pic without the pantry. It really did wonders to not have it there.

Yep, here would be a close up of the kitchen. Excuse the fact I was cooking dinner at the time.

You really didn't get it wrong, this was all the counter space we had. Are you noticing the exposed wood? There was also a 12 by 12 inch patch of the laminate that simply lifted off. Lovely.

Here are the new counter tops! We were also able to extend them two feet, which really doubled our counter space. Ok, not quite doubled, but it certainly helped. Taking the sink off the angle also really helped open up some counter space.

Putting in a new back splash! I was very surprised how fun this was.

Then we added some paint...Andrew was quite thrilled he only had to cut the top corner of the wall. And quite frankly, I don't blame him. We are really all painted out over here. You'll notice that Andrew is under the sink. I have to give him major props for spending hmmm, probably a few good long hours under there.

Here's the final masterpiece! After we were all done, we were sitting on the couch just staring at the kitchen...yes it still has some quirks, but we concluded that at least now its got some redeeming qualities. And I'm pretty sure I could go give that dishwasher a kiss right now.

Zoo and kiddy pool fun

Earlier this week Little Bug and I headed off to the zoo with my sister-in-law, Katy, and cousin Z! Little Bug was pretty excited, well, maybe I was just excited to take her, but still, there was excitement in the air! Little Bug was pretty enthralled with the bunnies. In fact we probably could have stood there watching them for hours. Cousin Z was quite intrigued by the otters, who knew the Oakland Zoo had otters!?!

These next pictures tell quite the story - Little Bug, Cousin Z, and the Oakland Zoo flier. Just in case the pictures don't portray it all, I added the internal dialog;

Little Bug: Hmmm...I want that little flier.

I know, I'll just reach across and take it!

Cousin Z: Wait a minute. Wasn't I just holding the flier? I want it back.

Little Bug: Ah hah! I don't know what happened but somehow the flier is in two pieces. I'm happy with my half, how about you?

You know, I don't know why those pictures amuse me so. In fact, Andrew got a few chuckles out of them himself. It's probable only a parent who could find such pictures so amusing...but there you go, we shared it with you all.

After the zoo, we headed back to Cousin Z's house and took a little swim in their kiddy pool. Well, Cousin Z and Little Bug did. Here they are quite lovingly playing with the bubble machine while in the pool.

Such a fun afternoon and I know if Little Bug could talk, she'd be asking to go back!