High Adventure adventures

The Big 3: Camping, Hiking & Climbing

At the end of July, Dave embarked on the teachers quorum's summer high adventure activity. He was asked to plan the whole thing, which is a daunting task for anyone... even for someone like Dave who loves that kind of stuff.

Although it was a long, and from the sounds of it, quite taxing trip to the backcountry, he said that he thought the boys had a good time and enjoyed the experience. I think Dave did too, even if he won't readily admit it. And, I think it was a great way for the boys to get to know their leader in a different environment.

The motley crue hiked down into to the Lake Melakwa area, making camp at Pratt Lake. They set up camp and then hiked to Lake Melakwa. Dave mentioned that some boys, although very athletic found the steep pitches to be tough. But despite the challenges of the terrain, all made it successfully and enjoyed the beauty of that lush area.

After the typical Scouting and camping experiences that come along with these adventures - most of which I am not at all privy to - the next day they hiked out and met their next challenge: rock climbing. They are not kidding when they name these things "High Adventure"; I think the scouts got what they paid for on this trip. If the steep hikes and camping adventures did not exhaust them, the rock climbing surely did.

All in all, I think every boy had an awesome time and although tired, hungry, dirty and more than a little sore from all of their hard work, I dare say they would even do it again! How could you not with the views such as these?

B's Big Day

You only turn 2 once; why not live it up?

Well, after the post about The Cake, and all the time invested into making said cake, you can understand why Benjamin's naps were few and far between the week of his birthday. Because of the lack of naps, this is how the birthday boy appeared for his special birthday dinner at Red Robin with Grandpa Ben, Dave & I:

As we were finishing, he finally woke up so we ordered a grilled cheese sandwich, mandarin oranges and chocolate milk for his big feast. He ate the mandarin oranges and exactly one steak fry off of Dave's plate before the "crankies" returned. Dave whisked him away to get a balloon while our server prepared his birthday sundae.

The ballon cheered up our birthday boy for a moment, but by the time the sundae arrived, Benjamin was insistent that we let him "open da door" so said sundae was a soupy, untouched mess by the time I paid and gathered up our stuff. Not the most spectacular birthday ever, but what can you expect? He was very tired and very 2 that day!

Because his birthday fell on a Thursday, we held the grand festivities last Saturday. With lots of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins on both sides, we opted for a family-only party (we were trying to get it low-key, you know?). After counting up possible attendees, we were still looking at a party of ~30 people! Wowsers. While that was a daunting number, Dave & I agreed that a joint family party was much preferred over throwing two separate ones.

So, we invited the whole gang over for a day at the lake - Dave's grandmother's Bellevue home, which sits on Phantom Lake. With such a nice, large backyard, everyone spread out and did their thing. Some sat & chatted, while others swam, canoed, dug in the sand, jumped on the water trampoline or took a ride in the paddleboat. Benjamin LOVES being in water; I think it's safe to say he had a blast because we had to literally drag him from the water with his teeth chattering.

The barbecue was AWESOME thanks to family members chipping in to help. We brought burgers, hot dogs, buns, carrots, water/soda, 4 packages of cookies and of course, The Cake. Ruthie provided a fresh fruit salad and corn on the cob; Ben brought several bags of chips; Dave's sister Julie brought a pasta salad; and Mom brought a Chinese chicken salad. Looking at the table, it was a pretty impressive spread and I think everyone left with full bellies. If that is not a successful party, I don't know what is!

Cake time came and, honestly, I felt a little silly bringing out this absolutely awesome - but totally over-the-top for a 2-year-old's birthday party - HUGE cake. It had to feed 30 people, so it was actually right on, in terms of the cake size. But you know what? The kids went hog wild over it, so that was really fun to see. My friend Allison did all of the design work, so I have to give the mad props to her.

Benj patiently waiting for his piece of Mickey-cake goodness.

Pre-cutting pics of The Cake

Finally... Cake Time! The chocolate cake was so moist (after 3 days!) and the chocolate mousse filling totally made the cake.

Benjamin didn't quite get it at first, but he LOVED all of his presents - especially the gazillion different balls he received. For Dave and I, the presents were sweet and very much appreciated. But more than that, we absolutely loved seeing all of our family members celebrate, love and support this totally awesome, little guy of ours.

Despite the overcast weather, everyone seemed to have a great day. Chalk it up to just another beautiful day at the lake.

Evolution of a Cake

It's the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse!

Recently, Benjamin became extremely enamored with the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. It's the one of the only cartoons he watches, and asks for it nearly every hour of the day. He knows all of the characters' names - not to mention the names of their pets. Basically, he loves everything about it.

So, when thinking of a theme for his cake, MMC was a logical choice. Only thing missing - my understanding of fondant. To help me, I called upon my friend Allison who took some basic classes and has started a cake business that has flourished. I zipped her an email, wanting to pick her brain about some ideas and tips for working with fondant. Little did I know what would emerge from that little email: 3 days of work, lots of learning, lots of watching and the most over-the-top, fabulous Mickey Mouse Clubhouse birthday cake I've ever seen!

The cake - shaped, filled, frosted, green layer of fondant

Allison/Cake Details/Addition of Yellow fondant

Completed Cake (Front & Back)

Detail Views

All in all, it was fun and turned out more amazing than I could have imagined but it was A LOT of work - much of which was done by Allison because she enjoys the process so much! If I'd done the cake, I would have been lucky if it even resembled MMC in any way. So, I must give props (and endless thanks) to Allison for all of her hard work and dedication; she pours her heart and soul into each cake she creates.

WA-HOO

"... I'm 2!"

It's somewhat surprising - or, I don't know, shocking may be a better word - to realize that our little guy turns 2 today. People often say that they will grow up before you know it, but I don't think that we were prepared for how swift and somewhat melancholy that passage would be.

With all of the challenges of raising a nonstop, strong-willed and slightly mischievious toddler, I can confidently say that we have experienced equal, if not greater amounts of triumph and joy with Benjamin. In fact, he is a regular funster around our crazy homestead.

And, oh how his personality continues to develop and shine. He's a pretty quirty kid - not sure where he gets that! Here are a few of the fun things he's doing lately:

LOVES singing the alphabet song, "Popcorn Popping", "Once There was a Snowman" and "You are my Sunshine".

But, wait, there are MORE SONGS! At bedtime, we sing but always ask his preferred song. Every night it's the same thing: "I Am a Child of God". And a funny aside, sometimes when he is in trouble, and sometimes for no reason at all, he'll exclaim, "I am a child of God"... just so we remember.

A voracious eater, his favorite foods are grape tomatoes, yogurt, Honey Nut Cheerios, oatmeal, blueberries, grapes, string cheese, spaghetti and Mac n' Cheese. Oh, and he loves hamburgers too. He used to call them han-ga-bers until recently; on our trip to Spokane in June, Dave tried - to no avail - to correct it by cutting up the word and asking Benjamin to repeat. Such as: Ham (say 'Ham'), Bur (say 'Bur'), Ger (say 'Ger'). Benjamin would play along, listening intently, but then when asked to say hamburger, he'd quickly exclaim "Hangaber!!!". We were both laughing so hard, we nearly cried.

ADORES Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. He knows each of the characters and plays along when they ask questions of the audience. Seriously, he loves it so much, he might as well marry Daisy right now.

DESPISES getting his face wiped after meals and is not a fan of dunking his hair during bathtime.

LOVES chasing or being chased. And, he is getting so fast, I actually have to run to keep up with him. I swear that we're going to wear out a ring of carpet around our kitchen's island.

OBSESSED with balls. Giant exercise ball constantly gets booted down the stairs. Aqua-colored ball gets thrown against walls, doors and mommy's head. Mini soccer ball and basketball are fun, but they usually end up in the tub, alongside his other precious bouncy balls. Plush soccer ball is the answer to all of my ball destruction problems... and can be machine washed!

Whether we are in the kitchen, using the computer, in the bathroom, cleaning the kitchen or even lying in bed, he finds us and says, "Get Out!!!" while grabbing our hand and pulling us into his world of playful fun.

A book aficionado, he becomes so absorbed in them that he has started reciting them while we go through them each night. Favorite books are anything by Sandra Boynton ("Perfect Piggies", "Your Personal Penguin"); a $1 Sesame Street book called "Yucchy Yucchy!" (thank you Target!), "Goodnight Moon", the "Very Hungry Caterpillar" and "We're Going on a Bear Hunt". I checked out 20 books from the library this week, but turns up his nose at these newbies and keeps going back to his old, tattered faves.

Likes helping. Laundry, sweeping, mopping, and vacuuming. Or the most important job of all - licking the spatula after another batch of cupcakes.

Loves parks, pools, bikes, basketball hoops, escaping, throwing, jumping, tickling, giggling, slides, swings, and yelling "Hello!" or "Thank You!" at the top of his lungs, until someone acknowledges his gesture. He is basically a total hoot... and we love that total hoot like crazy.

<< HAPPY #2 BIRTHDAY, BENJAMIN! >>

Warmish Fun in the Summertime

Seattle: The Place to Be, Summer 2011

While everyone seems to be complaining about our "horrible" summer, let me be the first to suggest to them: "You can always move". Despite the fact that our summer has been less than stellar, I'd take 70s and overcast days over triple-digit temps AND humidity any day of the week and twice on Sundays. Seattlelites wouldn't know what to do with themselves if we had that kind of oppressive heat for weeks on end; the Summer of 2009 - when we hit 100 and I was pregnant - was a testament to that.

So, while the summer is not ideal, it's not *that* bad. We've still managed to have fun by meeting up with friends, taking pony rides, checking out farmer's markets, watching some (read: A LOT of) Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, watching the Country Village train, eating gobs of ice cream and popsicles, smelling the beautiful flowers, hanging at the splash pad and much, much more.

And if you're new - welcome to our beautiful, overcast summer. The few times the sun has found it's way into our home, Benjamin has rubbed his eyes and said, "Ouchie!".