Birthday Follow-Up

My birthday was good. Funny how birthday wishes come mostly electronically now!

We rented The Aristocats and ate grilled cheese and tomato soup in front of the TV. We celebrated with a Josh & John's ice cream cake which we've been nibbling on for days. This is what I got as my birthday present. Completely unnecessary for my running capabilities, but oh-so-much-fun for play. I was going to insist on returning it, but now I'm totally enthralled and addicted.

I took a couple quick runs over the weekend to test it out. This morning I did a longer run on one of my favorite trails. No need to mentally calculate distance so instead I kept my mind busy by attempting to avoid grasshoppers, watching a snake snack on a grasshopper, admiring the butterflies, catching a buck watching me warily, wondering if there were any mountain lions stalking me (I'm not so crazy... there was a mountain lion wandering around town just a few days ago!), and wishing I could find a way to run with my SLR camera... It was a good run.

Almost as much fun as the distance and pace feature is the elevation feature. I'm going to try it on the incline in the morning!

Happy Birthday to Me!

37 years old today.

Doesn't feel quite as old as I thought it would.

Today is going to be a good day. Normal-crazy morning getting the kids off to school, went to my favorite yoga class (which is free on birthdays!), and now having some quiet time before picking up the kids from school. I promised the kids we would have "movie night" tonight. We'll rent a video and eat pizza in front of the TV. We'll have my birthday celebration tomorrow when life is a little less rushed.

All The Things I Meant to Blog This Week

• The snowstorm we got on the last day of summer
• Happy Birthday to my brother Joey!
• The super-yummy pumpkin soup we made to celebrate the first day of autumn
• How I resisted turning on the heat all week despite the cold weather
• My inability to figure out how to replace the batteries in the thermostat (which helped me resist turning on the heat all week since you can't turn it on with dead batteries!)
• My mid-life crisis most likely related to my upcoming birthday (aren't I too young to have a mid-life crisis??)

Life

I love it when life overwhelms me! It makes me feel, so... alive! And I have felt so very alive the last several days. Certainly too alive to find time to blog, but I know that I will find the space and the inclination when the time is right. Maybe the time will be right this weekend while my mom is here on an quick and unexpected visit.

Total Honesty

We were expecting my friend Gretchen and her little boy (who is exactly Jack's age - same birthday!) for a play date a couple weeks ago. Jack was going to sit on the front porch swing and wait for them to arrive while I took a much needed post-workout shower. Just as I was stepping out of the shower, Jack came into the bathroom asking that I join him on the porch to wait for our friends.

"But, Jack," I said, "I need to get some clothes on."

"No, don't get dressed, come NOW, " he begged me.

"Well, then I'll be naked. What will Gretchen say when she sees me on the porch naked?" I asked.

Jack eyeballed me standing there in my towel and responded, "Mommy, she'd say you look really good!"

Hard to argue with that!

First Day of Pre-K

Last week was Jack's first week back at preschool. He is quite excited to be one of the big kids on campus (aka Pre-K). I opted to send him 5 days a week this year as he is a bit lost at home without Kate around (Okay, I admit that my motivation was also partially selfish, but I wouldn't have chosen 5 days if I didn't think he would enjoy it and wouldn't be good for him).

So now I have two kids in school - what am I going to do with myself?!? Sometime this week I'll post my New School Year Resolutions. I'd love to see some resolutions of other moms. Let me know if you blog about your resolutions, and I'll post a link with my resolutions.

First day, but no jitters

(actually he wouldn't even acknowledge my good-bye!)

Monday Meal Plan

I was busy in the kitchen this morning! Made breadcrumbs, made yogurt, finished the ricotta cheese made from the whey leftover from making mozzarella cheese, made cookies with the kids, made "cupcakes" for snacks this week, froze beans from last week's batch, started soaking some kidney beans for this week (I'll cook them tomorrow). And that was all before noon! I'm rarely that productive.

For brunch the kids and I rode our bikes (despite the chilly day - only in the 50's) to cohousing for a community meal. Always good to see our friends and old neighbors.

Tonight I have my documentary film club. Not sure what the film is, but I can't wait to post about the dish I brought. (Hints: I recreated a dish I recently blogged about and used my homemade ricotta!)

This week in the kitchen I'm planning on canning peaches and pears. Maybe making some jelly. Need to use up zucchini so I'll probably make and freeze more quick loafs. I also need to desperately clean out my pantry and a few other cupboards!

On the menu for this week:

Sunday - Potato and Kale quiche (from The Vegetarian Mother cookbook - total side: for some odd reason Jack thinks that the pregnant woman on the front of the cook book is Jesus! LOL)

Monday - Red bean and quinoa burritos (I can't quickly find this recipe otherwise I would post it!)

Tuesday - Corn pie with homemade tomato salsa (I change up the recipe a bit)

Wednesday - community meal at cohousing

Thursday - concert and picnic night at Kate's school - we ordered the pizza and lemonade through the PTA. I'll probably also pack us a salad.

Friday - grilled steak, tomato-mozzarella couscous salad (I made this with homemade mozzarella for a girls' night out last week - yum!), some veggie TBD

Saturday - leaving it open for going out!

St. Olaf News

I don't think there was any fresh, local produce in the Sunday night tater tot casserole when I was at St. Olaf...

STOGROW in Relish Magazine

I can't wait to try that Arugula Aioli recipe! Next summer when I (hopefully!) have a garden again.

REAL Fire Engines

Not only did we get to ride on an antique fire engine on our trip to San Fran, but then we got to visit a real fire station and get on a real fire truck. One of Matt's college buddies lives in Tiburon with his family. We took a ferry one morning across the bay to go visit. His friend is a volunteer firefighter, so we got the full tour and experience.

Jack in the fire truck

Kids dressing up

Me all ready to go

Matt getting the fitted with the whole outfit

Fire pole

Thinking today of all the firefighters who gave so much on this September 11th anniversary.

Big Red Shiny Mack Fire Engine

Put on your fire jacket and leave your ego behind! We took the San Francisco Fire Engine Tour on our trip, and it was a hoot! They drove us around in the back of their old, open air fire engine. The highlight of the tour is going over the Golden Gate Bridge, although I thought the highlight was singing fire engine songs while wearing a red ski mask (it gets a bit breezy and chilly going over the bridge in the open air - and, if you recall, I did leave my ego behind!). The kids had a great time, and it was well worth it. Highly recommended if you are visiting San Fran with kids, and definitely memorable!

Getting ready for the tour

(do I have the most angelic looking kids ever?? Wish they acted that way!)

On the fire engine

(each child all got a Dalmatian puppet to hold)

Posing with the fire engine

Ringing the bell

Posing with the Golden Gate Bridge

Ski Masks

San Francisco

Did I fail to mention that we were in San Fran over the holiday weekend? Matt had been there the previous week for a conference, and the kids and I flew out mid-week to meet him. I love San Francisco! We stayed in a hotel just a few blocks from Fisherman's Wharf (and only 2 blocks from Trader Joe's - I went 3 times in 4 days...). The kids had never been to California before, so we spent most of our time visiting the typical tourist sites.

We had a babysitter come to the hotel so we could go out for our anniversary dinner. We went to Laiola - sorta a Spanish tapas meal using mostly local ingredients. Just my kind of meal. My favorite dish was grilled nectarines with homemade ricotta. Yum, yum, yum.

We took a special city tour on Friday and on Saturday took a ferry to Tiburon to see one of Matt's college friends and his family (I'll blog separately about both of those!).

San Fran is such a "green" city. Seems like all the taxis are either hybrids or powered by natural gas. Seems like all the restaurants serve up local food (admittedly much easier in Northern California). They even do curbside composting... I know because I ran smack into one trying to avoid a CRAZY man on the street.

Sea Lions

Carousel at Pier 39

Fisherman's Wharf

Lombard Street

Chinatown

(can you see us in front of the lions?)

Making a wish in Ghiradelli Square

(he wished for a race car... for mom!)

10am isn't too early for cupcakes, right?

Cable Car

We had to visit Union Square because we love the book Fly High, Fly Low

(we looked and looked for Mr. Hi Lee and Midge, but we only saw Sid...)

Playing by the water

KiwiLog

Big thanks to Kiwi Magazine's blog Kiwilog for mentioning Greenstylemom (and a bunch of other great blogs) in their mom blog round up!

Applesauce!

And what did we do with all 35lbs of apples?? Made applesauce! I canned almost 20 liters, and we'll probably make more with the next batch of apples.

Freshly picked, freshly washed

I have one of those fancy apple corer/slicer things,

but I really prefer to sit on the back porch and cut and core apples by hand

Do I get extra credit for having to process an extra 15min because we are over 6000 ft?

Oh... and check out my awesome hot pad.

It was a gift from Gretchen who got it from BeanPickleSprout (she's local for us!)

The future Vanna White

I really wish I had my own apple trees... and cherry trees... maybe someday...

Apple Picking

We had our first no school day a couple weeks ago, so we headed out for some apple picking with some friends. Jen and I are really lucky that are sons met at preschool so we could become friends. Jack and Joshua are like two peas in a pod and love hanging out together. I forsee a lot of mischief together as they get older. Jen also has little Alex and brand new baby Cameron. Pretty brave woman to go apple picking, huh?

The front range lost the 2008 apple crop to a late spring freeze, and we really missed picking last year. The kids didn't last long as it was a pretty hot day. We have already used up all our apples, so I think we'll go again soon when the weather is cooler and there is cider available!

Kate

Jack

Joshua

Alex

Apple farms are fun for more than just picking apples... tractors, sunflowers, dandilions, running

35lbs of apples!

Baby Cameron and Kate back at home

Mountain Water Fun

It started out innocently enough with just a little wading...

Then he got more curious and a little braver...

Then big sister joined in...

What did they find?

Nice worm.

Then came the bright idea to catch fish with their hats.

Notice the water mark level by the end of the fun...

Pine Beetle Furniture

If you live in Colorado or you have visited recently, you are probably aware of the pine beetle epidemic that is affecting the lodgepole pine trees. The expectation is that every lodgepole pine tree in Colorado will be dead within a few years. Looking at the vistas in some areas, I can't believe there are any left alive now. It is pretty disturbing to see the swaths of dead trees.

For all the harm the pine beetle is doing, it does leave behind some pretty cool looking wood (albeit far too much!). On this last trip to the mountains, we found a woodworker at a local market making furniture from some of the dead pine. We bought this side table from him. The lines on the side are from the larvae burrowing in the tree, and the dark ring is from the bluestain fungi that the beetle transmits to the tree. I'm already scoping out a place in our house to fit a second piece.

Honeymoon Memories

Since my anniversary post was less-than-exciting, I thought I would reminisce and share a few photos from our honeymoon trip. Matt and I didn't have much time for a honeymoon. Our wedding was on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend, and Matt wanted to be back home by the following weekend to prepare for going back to work. We also wanted to do something a little more adventurous than your typical lay-on-the-beach honeymoon. We definitely got what we were seeking... and more!

We opted for a small eco-adventure resort in Baja, Mexico called Baja Airventures on the Sea of Cortez (note that the "resort" has been updated quite a bit since our honeymoon in Sept 2000!). We flew to San Diego and took a 6 seater plane to Bahia de Los Angeles making a stop somewhere in central Baja to go through immigration and customs. From Bahia de Los Angeles we took a 45 min boat ride to the resort.

The plane

The boat

Our accommodations at the resort were pretty darn primitive. A little thatched roof casita with a toilet (no shower - we used solar showers) and two single cots. The temperature soars this time of year in Baja, and it was much too hot to sleep inside. We moved our cots out too the beach each night to sleep - as did everyone else. Wasn't a really good set-up for honeymoon "activities!" LOL

Our casita

Sunrises wakes you up when you sleep on the beach

There were only three other guests staying at the resort with us. These guys were filming a pilot show for the Outdoor Life Network. I wish I could remember the name. Traveler Joe or something like that. There was also Tom - our pilot, guide, and bartender (comforting, no?) and three Mexicans who cooked and handled maintenance. Did I mention that we all slept on the beach??

The food that week might be the absolute best cuisine I've every had. We fished every day and ate our catch for dinner every night. The fish tacos were incredible, and the refried beans with almost every meal including breakfast... yum. I'm sure there was lard and lots of it. One morning we went diving for clams and ate them for lunch. I can't even begin to describe the taste of baked clams taken from the ocean less than an hour earlier.

Fresh catch

Clams!

We stayed active by snorkeling, swimming with sea lions (within arms reach!) and sting rays, hiking, kayaking, sailing, etc. That filled our mornings and evenings. It was just too darn hot in the afternoons to do anything but take a siesta.

Sea Kayaking

Hiking

View of the "resort" on our hike

On the beach

Too much sun

We laugh a lot about our atypical honeymoon and have many good stories from the trip. It was probably a bit more rustic than we anticipated (or I'd recommend) for a honeymoon, but we wouldn't change it now. In fact, I'd like to go back someday - and bring the kids!

Happy Anniversary!

9 Years. As Matt so eloquently put it a few weeks ago in an email to me, "...now that we are fully entrenched in marital bliss..."

We are celebrating with a dinner out in another city.

A few photos from our wedding ceremony.

I'm going to scan some photos from our honeymoon and post those this weekend.

Kayaking

Great Uncle Mark brought us a present while we were up in the mountains. An inflatable kayak! We practiced on dry land first and a few days later we took it out on the water. We got a bit wet (and that mountain lake water is COLD!), but we sure had a great time!

Jack and Great Uncle Mark watching motorcycle videos

Practicing on dry land

On the lake

Look at how low Matt is riding! Imagine how low it was when all four of us piled in! LOL

Playing on the shore

And if you want to watch the little video I took, don't ask me where Kate got her dramatic streak and her flare. Kayaking Video

Trail Ride

The week before school started, we spent most of the week up in the mountains just relaxing and having fun. Never got a chance to blog about our fun week, so I'll try to get to it over the next few days.

Matt planned a trail ride for early one morning. Kate is a horse nut. We have quite the collection of Schleich horses, and when not playing with horses, Kate is usually pretending to be a horse. Her neighs are disturbingly realistic! I, honestly, don't get it since I was never one of those girls who loved horses. Actually, I'm pretty terrified of them! I always *think* I like horses until I get up on one. And you know that horses can smell fear?? I'm like a stinky, old sock in the fear department.

So we went on a trail ride. The wrangler was kind and gave me the gentlest horse they had. Zsa-Zsa could sense my fear and inexperience and took control. Mostly that was a good thing. Kate and Jack both opted to ride their own horses (tied to a wrangler). Kate was pretty proud to be riding her own horse Iowa. She even asked me, "Mom, do I look like I've been doing this all my life?" Jack did great on his horse Buttermilk, although I got a bit nervous towards the end of the ride. Have I mentioned that Jack can fall asleep anywhere? And I mean ANYWHERE. I could tell he was getting tired and was certain he would doze off and fall off!

It was an hour and a half ride, and my back side was sore for days!

Trail Riding

Kids Attached to the Wrangler

Jack on Buttermilk

Kate on Iowa

Matt on Chocolate

Me always lagging behind on Zsa-Zsa

Mommy pretty happy to be off those horses!

(doesn't it look like I have horse ears in this photo??)