Enjoying the outdoors!

This type of weather is what makes you want to pick up and move to the Adirondacks! It's been so beautiful all week and we are certainly taking advantage.

Our days revolve around being outside and usually inside is reserved just for feeding times and naps! Yesterday and today were no different.

Yesterday we played with some balls and woke up the pool, which we do every morning (taking off the solar cover and yelling "GOOD MORNING POOL") I'm sure the neighbors love it! Then we tried the kaleidoscopes that Nahnah has kept since I brought them back from Japan 16 years ago. I moved the princess tent off the screened porch into the yard and we enjoyed some story time in there until it was too hot to handle! Then we moved on to hanging out in the pool house (Pahpah, Luli, Fiona and I), we were there for almost an hour playing house and chatting. It was a good time and really cute. As the sun started to go down it got a little chillier and we broke out the jeans and long sleeves, but remained outside and brought out some Polly Pockets to play with.

Today I hit the gym early in the morning and when I returned Nahnah and the girls were just returning from their walk. While out they gathered material to build a Fairy House, which we constructed after naptime. During snack time Nahnah had found a few things to share with the girls from my past! First up, the recorder, oh god. At first this seemed like a good idea but as the whistling continued it was clearly not a good idea. On the other hand, the two sets of my old ballet slippers were a big hit and incredibly cute. The girls have enjoyed wearing them around the house today. And it's really wonderful to see their tiny feet in my tiny shoes. I won't tell any lies, I wasn't good at ballet (this is a shock to those of you who know my grace, clearly I seem like someone well trained - HA!) these are probably the only two pairs of ballet slippers my mom has for me because I didn't stick with it!

The girls helped Pahpah tinker with the grill today. Luli and Fiona helped fasten bolts and measure widths and lengths. All in an effort to help Pahpah create a new and improved grease trap, or something. They love to help and were so happy and excited to be creating and doing something with Pahpah.

While the girls helped tinker Nahnah pulled together all of her crafty supplies and all of the gathered nature to create the perfect Fairy House. We spread out our blanket and read some books in the yard until Nahnah was all set up and ready for us. Then it was time to create. We gave the fairies a hard wood floor, a soft bed with a leaf blanket, a pine cone chair and rock table, leaf windows and even some wall decor, and a broom to help them clean. We decorated the top with moss so it would blend in and then scanned the whole yard for the PERFECT place to leave the house.

After the fairy house making, we went to the front of the house for bike riding and chalking. Everyone got their bodies traced on the driveway and then clothes drawn on. Then we took out the go-cart from Nahnah's car and tried to ride it. Luli wasn't into it until I tried to ride it, now that would have been a good picture. Unfortunately my feet were too big and kept getting caught on the wheel, which was rather annoying because I was totally into it. Then Luli was really into it and rode it around for awhile, with the assistance of a push from behind, it's hard and heavy to pedal it on her own.

Summer Upstate New York Visit Begins

Like last year I've taken a two week trip to my parents in the great Upstate New York area. We arrived Monday afternoon to lovely Upstate weather. Mid 70s with absolutely no humidity! The pool has been warm enough for daily visits, though getting out is cold! The water temp is 82 and the outdoor temp is 75! Today we visited Freedom Park, a park that is built so handicap children and non-handicap children can play together. We've been to Clemyjontri park in VA also like this, but that one is HUGE and very difficult with one mommy and two kiddos. This size was much more manageable. Luli's favorite part was the big sandbox and Fiona's was the swings. Fiona would have stayed in the swing all day if I would have let her, but she started to get dozy and I wanted her to sleep at home! We stayed for a long time, enjoying our lunch here and a few potty breaks in the back of the car (thank you portable potty training chair!).

Nahnah also bought the girls some PollyPocket toys which they are in love with and haven't stopped playing with in over 48 hours! They are having a great time enjoying the yard, running after balls, playing in the pool, and helping Nahnah and Pahpah around the house. It's also been really nice for me, Mom has been getting the girls in the morning so I'm getting a wee bit of sleep in time. I'll keep updates coming and add pics to the blog as well as the album on the left "family visits."

Family Visits

In the past week we've had several visits with family. On the 16th we had a lovely surprise party for my mother's birthday. After months of planning the surprise went off without a hitch, she had no clue and my brother, father and I were all very proud of our hard work. My mother and I also got to enjoy some lovely Mommy/Daughter time at the spa (well I had to get her out of the house somehow!). We went to Emerald Springs Spa in Glens Falls, and it was really lovely. The massage by Sharon was definitely the highlight.

We then spent the night at Oscar's parents house and visited with them. We had a lovely time walking in the gardens, watering plants and chatting.

Later in the week Oscar's sister and family visited us from Europe. The cousins played very well together and we enjoyed a few trips to the pool, another visit to the Patowmack Farm Restaurant, and lots of playtime with toys and fun outside. Check out the link on the side "family visits" for further pictures.

Day Trip ~ Charlottesville

The weather in Virginia has been so beautiful for the past week and weekend. It has continued today and for a few more days we hope. To take advantage of the lovely change (seriously it's like Spring of Fall) we decided to take a day trip to Charlottesville on Saturday. The trip was about two hours and considering we're potty training I was a bit worried. Half way through Fiona said she had to "boof" (her word for poo and pee) so we pulled over on the side of the road and put her on the potty we had in the back of the car. She did go! Woohoo! I will say right now, there were no accidents all day, but there was an annoying five false alarm trips to the potty while we were eating lunch...ugh.

We got to lovely Charlottesville around 12:30pm and made a wrong turn (my fault). When we realized it, Oscar decided to take a very illegal u-turn in the middle of the road. My comment to that was "maybe you shouldn't have done that in front of that cop." Sure enough, he shouldn't have. The officer was very nice and let us off with a warning. He came up to the car laughing and said "do you have any idea why I've pulled you over?" We all had a good laugh on that one!

Then we were onto the pedestrian area of Charlottesville, really lovely. Oscar had scoped out a few restaurants online and we checked out two and decided on Hamiltons on First and Main. It was super yummy. I had the shrimp and grits and Oscar had the crab cake, then we all shared a passion fruit cheesecake and a peach cobbler, both were excellent but I think the cheesecake was a bit better.

After lunch we walked around a lot and checked out the sights. I do know where there are a lot of easily accessible potties in Charlottesville if you ever need! We checked out the Obama headquarters, donated a dollar and got a pin for my bag and a sticker for each of the girls to wear! We were all really excited!

Once we had walked enough we decided to check out Jefferson's Vineyards and try to take a tour of the vineyard. They were supposed to be going until 6pm, but it was 4:30pm when we got there and no more tours. Oh well. Off to home!

Night at the Reservoir

Tonight we went to the reservoir to watch Daddy windsurf and have a small picnic. The girls had a great time playing in the water and Oscar had a great time enjoying the nice wind. A lovely group came along also and shared some homemade bean and cheese pupusas that they just made. They were so good! They were swimming, fishing, and having a huge cookout there. Looked like a lot of fun! Luli said she wanted to stay and have a hot dog with them, but it was late and we had to go back home for bedtime. It was a really lovely day, reminds me more of spring than summer. I dried all the laundry on the line today and it smells so good.

Coffee Cake

This is an adaptation of the "Sunday Morning Coffee Cake" found in the Joy of Cooking. It's really yummy made as the recipe goes in the book, but I'm putting in my adapted recipe. It's really easy to make! I make it in my Kitchen Aid, I recommend you do the same as the final whipping is my new adaptation.

Grease a 9 or 10" round dish (I use a springform which works super for releasing it and serving). Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl whisk together until blended: 1 cup all purpose flour, 1 cup whole wheat flour, 1 cup plus 2 TBS sugar, 1 tsp salt.

Add and cut in with the mixer until the mixture resembles crumbs: 10 TBS unsalted butter. Remove 1 cup to a medium bowl (for streusel top).

Add to your mixing bowl mixture and whisk: 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda

Add: 3/4 cup buttermilk, 1 large egg, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, 1/2 almond extract. Whisk until batter is smooth and fluffy 2 minutes, maybe a bit more. I accidentally mixed it longer with this cake and it worked out wonderfully. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan.

In your reserved bowl for streusel topping, add: 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, and 1 TBS butter. Combine with a fork until crumbly, then sprinkle over top of cake. This does make a lot of streusel topping, so you don't have to use it all if you'd prefer not to. Bake for 50-65 minutes, let cool in the pan for 5 - 10 min, then slide knife around edge and open your spring form, let cool on rack for 1.5 hours before serving.

That's it! Enjoy!

Happy 2nd Birthday Fiona

Dear Fiona,

Happy 2nd Birthday! Time really flies, you used to be our little "pork chop" and now you're a beautiful little toddler. We've loved watching you grow and become your own person, seeing how your personality would develop from infancy to the present. You like making everyone laugh and you have a serious mischievous streak in you. You're an amazing daughter and we love you so much. Happy Birthday!

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