Happy Father's Day

To one of the best dads there is. I love you and I am so glad you are the father to my kids...

149:365, Inside-out

O--playing knock-knock as Daddy mowed the front lawn last night...

Fifi--quick, while he is occupied. Mess with his stuff....

There have been some major battles going down between these two. I can't decide if I should laugh when she pulls his hair after he mows her out of the way, or reprimand her.

She can be 5 feet away, with her back turned to him and he will still scream, "Look at Fifi! She's getting to close to my stuff. She going to scrumble up my train tracks." all in the worst, whining voice he can muster.

(I have no idea where he got 'srcumble', but he uses it all the time.)

 

I keep telling him that his sister is here to stay, so he better get used to her being up in his business. I am an only child, so I don't really get the whole sibling rivalry thing. I would have LOVED to have someone to hangout with and build giant Lego towers with when I was little... (or would I have??)

 

Gah! siblings. How do you deal with the rivalry between your littles??

backyard memories-of the film variety

this has me dreaming of the summer....

our neighbors and good friends.

Daddy-O

See what happens when you get an old random roll of film developed? magical moments brought back from a warm summer afternoon.

 Look how little O is here! I really was slacking on getting my film developed, geesh!

58:365, birthday boy

 

we had a great day today.

 

brunch with good peeps.

hang out time around the house.

 

 Chocolate induced melt downs were balanced out with goofy babies (and a good nap).

We finished it off with dinner and brews at Great Basin.

happy birthday my love!

Let the birthday weekend begin!

Last night we went to sushi last night for Daddy-O's birthday (Hiroba Sushi). Our chief, Harrison, made us this special roll. When I asked him what he called it, he asked me what my name was. Then told me that it was the "Vanessa Roll".  tee hee

Dinner was SO good and we had a fantastic time out on our date. (Thanks Jojo and Kate for watching the kids!) After sushi we went downtown and played darts at a local Irish pub, Ceol.  I got my butt kicked, but I didn't do too badly considering I haven't ever really played darts before...good times.

This morning I got up and got busy making a Chocolate Stout Cake and some yellow cake cupcakes for tonight's dinner. I am a little disapointed in the cupcakes. I got the mix at Trader Joe's and I don't really like the taste and the 'muffin top' of almost all of them crumbled on me. I won't be back for that again. Oh well, enough chocolate frosting can fix anything, right?

We are off to a fantastic start~
I love birthday weekends!

49:365, first bite

Since we were all home today, (woot! snow day!!) at lunch we decided that Fifi should join us in the fun of actually eating.

She had been showing signs of readiness the past few weeks and the pediatrician had given us the okay well over a month ago- so we gave it a shot- the girl dug it....

stop this train, it's going to fast!

The first taste,

Um, guys, this is SO not milk.

I will furrow my brow as I contemplate the texture and palatablity of this new food.

Gimme more!

Come on, hurry up Daddy!

almost there....

rice cereal,

mmmmnomnomnommmm

The Foothills

We took a drive to the foothills yesterday. It was lovely.

This man was playing at the farmer's market in Auburn, CA where we bought some surprisingly, sweet strawberries and a bag of pistachios to snack on for the second leg of the ride.  It was beautiful out and just a tad warmer than it is in Reno right now.

We met up with some friends in Coloma. They were camping, but I'm not quite ready to spend the night in a tent w/ the girlie, so we just "sort of camped" by hanging out all day around the area and later, cooking our dinner over the campfire before heading back home. It was a perfect compromise.

After grabbing some lunch in Placerville, we headed up to Apple Hill and visited a couple of tasting rooms (We were going to check out the apples, but the kids were asleep in the car and so we switched up the plans. Daddy-O went in to the first tasting and I hung out with the babies until they woke up, then I got to taste at the second place while Daddy-O kept the kids entertained.).

If you haven't wine tasted in the El Dorado County area, it's well worth the visit. They are a lot more low key than the what you will find in the Sonoma/Napa area and many of the tastings are free.

At the second spot we visited they were very family friendly. O found this little horse toy in the parking lot that he wouldn't let go of for the rest of the afternoon and they even gave him a juice box so he wouldn't feel left out of the 'tasting' ;). The third place we visited, there was a baby about 10 months younger than O hanging out in the shop. The son belonged to the young couple pouring and running the place, grandma was also there and keeping a watchful eye on the little cutie. I like that they didn't mind the whole crew coming in (Fifi was in the carrier on daddy-o, it was very sweet).

What a nice autumn weekend drive with the family and a wonderful visit with friends!

Rib Rub

We had an amazingly nice weekend, with the weather in the 70s and lots of time in the garden and yard. We got a few tomato plants that are haning out in the kitchen window for now and Daddy-O got a few little things fixed in the yard. We found a big leak with the hose bib that needed to be fixed, but the sprinklers are on and things are defenitly looking green around here.
All this nice weather and time outside got Daddy-O in the mood to do a little bbq (or grilling, if you are from the south since bbq doesn't have the same meaning there as it does here).



Not only did we have tri-tip and yukon gold potatoes done on the grill on Saturday, but some really yummy ribs on Sunday. Daddy put them in the oven for about 6 hrs and then finished them off on the grill for about 1/2hr. The meal was complete with a side of fresh corn on the cob and coleslaw.



Daddy-O got a little help from his "shadow" while prepping the ribs. I love having O help in the kitchen. I am hoping it not only peeks his interest in cooking, but also in assisting him in being a good eatter since he is a part of the preperation process.



I like to think of food in our family is not just sitting down to eat, but usually an entire event (especially on the weekends when we have more time to make it so). I really think when everyone (even the littlest of us) is helping, the food is filled with more love and tastes better as a result.



If the taste of this meal is any indication of that idea and philosophy then we are off to a great start!
~~
Today we are back to snow flurries and wind. Ah, spring you are a fickle friend. I owe you all an update on Deuce-baby since we had our 20wk utlra sound on Monday. (this week has sure been full already!) I will do my best to get the picture scanned tonight so I can post about it tomorrow. Until then, be well!