Not Crawling

I got the funniest video of Thatcher. So, a week or so ago he started getting on his knees and rocking. I thought "He's getting ready to crawl!". Nope, he's decided to abandon all attempts at crawling for this more efficient mode of transportation. He can do it on carpet as well. (That's a tomato I'm using as bait.) It's kind of surprised me since Emmett and Cora never did this.

Last Dance Class

Cora had her last dance class for the summer today. Here's a pic of her in her little leotard and skirt (she's so excited that I finally got her a skirt like the other girls'.) I signed her up again for a winter one - hopefully they'll do a little recital so I can get some good video.

RenFest

On Sunday we made the trek to the booming metropolis of Larkspur, CO. Last summer was the first summer we've missed in years, so we were super excited to go this year. I'm not sure what is more entertaining about RenFest - the people or the events. Some people go full out to get in character. Elaborate costumes, cheesy accents, mini-dramas being enacted everywhere.

Cora loved, LOVED the petting farm. Every animal there got feed at least twice.

Thatcher particularly enjoyed his smoked turkey leg.

There was a harpist that had the kids memorized.

There was also much jousting (which Emmett talked about for days) and many "fairies" which Cora loved. Thatcher just enjoyed riding high up in the back pack - getting to see everything.

Healthy Kids Race #3

Yeah, race number three is under our belts! We've learned to give him Xopenex before we start so there is no wheezing afterwards. He seems to not get as tired at the end either. Mom on the other hand.... (: For a brief moment I am going to go off on those parents who won't let their kids be kids. Feel free to avert your eyes during this tirade. In each of these races there have been a parents who a really runners (as evidenced by expensive logoed gear and much buffness). Most are fun and cool. But there are a few that just spoil this kids race. They're off like a shot, yelling for their kids to keep up. Not matter how tired the kid is they won't slow their pace. Hello! Once your kid is in tears it is no longer fun for them! And this is a race for them not you!! Crazy people! I watched another mom lay into her kid about not having a winner's attitude. Somehow I do not think this will give him a love of running. Emmett on the other hand thinks running is the best sport ever because he is always beats me!

City Park Pool

After an eternity, I finally found the time to post again. This weekend, Dan and I decided that we needed a bit of family time so we took a three day weekend off together. Sometimes with him working days and I working nights, it seems like we're mostly single parents who split the shifts with someone else. This really helped recharge us - and of course the kids had a blast ! Emmett and Cora crawled around pretending to be alligators, whales and other assorted water creatures. Thatcher splashed away happily. And Emmett got to be quite the daredevil on the water slide. He can barely wait until next year, when he is six, so he can go down the big slides.

Best Buds

Thatcher and Widget have developed this sweet relationship over the last few weeks. Widget lays right next to Thatcher every time he's playing on the floor. And Thatcher tries to grab his tail, pull his fur, poke his hands in his mouth - all of the things a seven month old would do to his dog. But Widget never seems to mind. He just lays there and takes it all. He will lick Thatcher's hands and lay his head on Thatcher's lap. So funny!

Eggs, Glorious Eggs !!

While I was putting some burgers on the grill today I heard a ruckus from "the girls" as Dan calls them. Buk, buk, buk, CAA-GAK !! Buk, buk, buk CAA-GAK!! What on earth?! They only sound like that if Miss Kitty is trying to have them for a snack. Then the sound brought back a distant memory from my farm days. "Dan! They sound like they're laying an egg!" Well, at 5 months and 1 week, two of the girls have produced their first eggs!! One is a smaller "pullet egg", but the other is full-sized. And such a nice blue-green color. The kids are so excited - they keep asking what we're going to make with our first eggs.

A Cherry Tart and Strawberry Pies

We were invited over for dinner at friends' so I made a new dessert. This one is out of this world!! I had purchased a 20 pound box of cherries from the farmers market to freeze, so I had cherries coming out of my ears... Instead of using preserves, I used some reduced cherry juice. I think next time I could get away with a less rich crust (even though it was one of the best crusts I've ever had) since the filling was so rich. My picture doesn't begin to do it justice.

Chocolate-Cherry Truffle Tart

Ingredients

Filling

1 cup cherry preserves (about one 12-ounce jar)

2 tablespoons water
1/3 cup whipping cream

2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter

4 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

1 1/4 pounds fresh Bing cherries, pitted

Fresh mint sprigs

Crust

(Makes one 9-inch crust)

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1/3 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces

2 large egg yolks

1 tablespoon cold water

Preparation

For Crust: Mix flour, powdered sugar and salt in processor. Add butter; process until mixture resembles coarse meal. Mix egg yolks and water in small bowl. Add to flour mixture and process until moist clumps form. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk for round tart. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate 1 hour. (Can be prepared 3 days ahead. Keep refrigerated. Let dough soften briefly at room temperature before rolling out.) Preheat oven to 350°F. Roll out tart crust dough on lightly floured work surface. Transfer to tart pan.
Line crust with foil. Fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake until sides are set, about 15 minutes. Remove foil and beans. Bake until crust is golden brown and baked through, piercing with fork if crust bubbles, about 15 minutes. Transfer pan to rack and cool crust.
For Filling: Combine preserves and 2 tablespoons water in heavy saucepan. Stir over low heat until preserves melt. Strain in medium bowl, pressing firmly on solids to extract liquid. Discard any solids in strainer.
Combine cream, butter and 1/4 cup preserve mixture in heavy medium saucepan. Stir over low heat until butter melts. Add chocolate and stir until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Remove form heat. Cool 15 minutes.
Spread chocolate mixture evenly into crust, Refrigerate until almost set, about 20 minutes.
Arrange cherries decoratively over chocolate, pressing slightly to adhere. Rewarm remaining preserve mixture over low heat. Brush generously over cherries. Chill until chocolate sets, about 1 hour. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled.)
Garnish tart with mint and serve.

While I was making my tart, Emmett and Cora were rolling out some leftover crust. They decided to make some pies. I had a box of strawberries in the fridge, so strawberry pies it was. I told them how to sprinkle a little sugar and cornstarch on the strawberries to make a filling, and Dan made a crumb topping. But other than that they did their own rolling, pressing, chopping (with a real knife!) and mixing.

First Tomatoes and Carrots

OK, so we had gotten a few (4 to be exact) Yellow Pear tomatoes. But this is my first of the real full-sized tomatoes. It is a Silvery Fir, thankfully one of my remaining labeled tomatoes. This year Dan and I painstakingly labeled each one - but by July half of the labels are missing. Who to blame - kids, dogs, chickens, birds, slugs?!?!? At the last minute I had purchased a pack of these seeds because I had read about them in "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle". They were the last tomatoes I had started and still the first to produce!

As for the carrots - I pulled a test batch just to see how they were coming along. Still pretty small but better than last year. We had them in a salad and Thatcher got pureed carrots for dinner. I made this colored mix with a couple different packages of seeds. I love the surprise when you pull them up!

Future Bribery Picture

This is a picture that I am adding to my "bribery collection" - very cute pictures that in the future will be embarrassing to one or more children - to be shown to future spouses, employers, grandchildren, etc. Note the matching footwear. Also pictured is Cora's infamous nursing hippo.

Yellowstone Day 4

On our way out of town we stopped at a place that my sister recommended to us - The Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center. It was very cool. This is a place for bears that could not be released back into the wild due to their addiction to human food. This center was set up to educate people how to be bear-safe. Emmett got to be part of a group of kids that hid food for the bears to find. Dan and Cora watched the wolves and checked out the bear-proof trash containers that were tested by the resident Ursids. It was surprising that some plastic cans stood up to the abuse better than a few of the all metal containers. The units under test are filled with irresistable bear goodies, and then one or more of the bears are allowed to maul the container for at least 90 minutes. If the lid stays on, the hinges hold, etc with no more than 1/4" gap, it passes. If not, it is back to the drawing board... In most cases it looked like the hinges were the week link. For me, the best part was that I found the family matching pajamas for this Christmas in the gift shop! It's the small things that count... We then headed out of West Yellowstone fortified by some of the best chocolate malts we have ever had. Since Dan is a malt nut, this is saying a lot. We stopped for lunch in the Tetons and were joined by some more crumb-seeking rodents. I have no idea what kind of rodents these were, but they made cute chirping noises that sound like birds. They were made more funny by the fact that everytime they "chirped" their tails twitched. The kids could have watched them for hours.

Yellowstone Day 3

We had wanted to go to Inspiration Point but the road was closed, so we headed to the Mud Volcanoes. The kids were appropriately awed by the smell. It is by far the worst smelling place in the Park - possibly the worst smelling place on earth. The kids enjoyed pretending that there was actually a dragon in the Dragon's Cauldron. Dan enjoyed playing along, asking if they saw the dragon when the steam came out. We saw more buffalo and elk. The kids enjoyed using their binocs every time they could. They sat on a rock watching buffalo until Mom and Dad decided the buffalo were getting too close and it was time to get back into the car.The wildflowers were awesome; pink, yellow, blue, white everywhere. We had lunch by Yellowstone Lake and then took a little hike on a nature trail. This was out first hike as a family, which made Dan very happy. Thatcher fell asleep in his backpack. Then on to West Thumb Geyser Basin. Emmett was fascinated by the Fishing Cones and kept insisting that next time we come that we should bring poles and try to cook a fish in a geyser. Dan held the kids up so they could get a better look at them. Emmett, of course, thinking of a worse case scenario said "Don't drop me in, Dad!" Dan assured him that he was safe (and then adjusted his grip...).After West Thumb we headed back to the KOA for a quick dip in the pool and dinner with the families. You can't have a camping trip without hotdogs and beans. This had to be the favorite meal for the kids. Dinner was followed by more smores... A heavenly night for the kids. When I asked them what their favorite part of the day was, they said "Making fire!"

Yellowstone Day 2

We got an early start - or should we say the kids got an early start. Mom and Dad had to be roused from bed. Some warm oatmeal and we were on our way... Our first stop was our favorite in Yellowstone - The Firehole Canyon Drive. We went to the Falls and said hello to the fattest chipmunks in the world who live in the walls of the canyon. Yes, we were very naughty and gave them a few sunflower seeds from our trail mix. The kids vastly preferred the chipmunks to the waterfall. From there we went to the wading hole and everyone got to dip their feet in-even Thatcher with the help of Grandpa Brown. It is funny how a child can start in water up to their ankles and some how end up soaked to their neck. Anyways, being unplanned for, we ended up drying numerous article of clothing on our car hood. Ever drive with a pair of shorts hung over your car antenna?Then on to Old Faithful and our ritual of ice cream cones afterward. The kids were amazed by the sight and sound of the geyser. The last time we were here Emmett was three, so I don't think he remembered much except for the mud volcanoes (and their smell!)From Old Faithful we went to Midway Geyser Basin. There we had conversations about geothermal vents and bacterial mats.After that the kids told us "they were tired and wanted to nap."-translation -"We want to go back to the cabin and play on the bunk beds."

We saw the usual elk and bison. And the usual idiots 4 feet away from them. We kept saying over and over - who on earth would be so stupid to risk being so close to a wild animal?

We stopped and got Cora a pair of binoculars since Emmett already had a pair from our Italy trip. They used them to see everything. It was great entertainment for them to use them on each other when they were in their cars seats.

After "nap", our families joined us for dinner. We finished the day with spaghetti, watermelon, and smores. Oh yes, and some sparklers to celebrate the 4th. If you ever want to do something utterly stupid, give 5 children between the ages of five and two some sparklers. Definitely one of my worst ideas ever! But everyone emerged unscathed and no worse for the wear (besides a few heart palpatations on my part).