A Day

We have a new pet, well 4 new pets...fish! They are a little hard to spot in the picture, but they are small silver fish. After we've had them for a few weeks we will go get a few more, hopefully more colorful. I would like one of those little frogs, too, but they always seem to die. We'll see.

Cadence and Finn enjoy watching them, for little spurts, anyway.

Yesterday, and today actually, we had a dress-up tornado sweep through our house! Cadence likes to change in and out of costumes all day long. It exhausts me just watching her. My natural instinct wants her to clean the disaster area up, but I restrain myself. They are easy to clean up at the end of the day, and it is important for her to have that imaginative play. I just wish she could be imaginative in a tidy way.:)

This is Cadence as Wonder Girl and Pom Pom Girl (she made the names herself. What do you think, PomPom?).

I love these frequent squirrely visitors! I love watching them scamper up and down the trees. Most days, 3 or 4 of them will play tag (or other activities, which Brad witnessed with Finn. He told him they were just playing) in the trees. So fun! I left nuts out for them on our deck one day, but they snuck them away when I wasn't looking. Sneaky little critters. They make me think of "Sword in the Stone", when Merlin and Wart turn into squirrels and the pretty squirrel chases Wart all around while the fat lady squirrel chases Merlin. Great movie!

Here is my Strawberry Shortcake doll from when I was kid. I gave her to Cadence. She still smells like strawberries! Speaking of smells, I am baking Banana Bread right now for the College Bible Study tonight and it smells soooooo good.

Fishing Trip

Today was an awesome day! We woke up, not too early, and enjoyed some yummy crepes filled with blackberry jam, lemon curd, and Nutella. Our friend, Sara, made them when she and her family were visiting and they made a yummy impression. After devouring those, we decided to take the kids fishing for the first time. So, we hopped in the car, stopped at KMart to buy some kid fishing poles, and headed up the Poudre. It was a perfect day...warm, but with a cool breeze.

Finn liked his SpongeBob pole, but he wasn't too interested in actually fishing.

He preferred to play in the mud and throw rocks. He managed to only roll a large rock on his hand once, which he needed help getting off, and snagged his hand with his hook one time as well.

As you can see, he got a little messy.

Cadence, on the other hand, enjoyed fishing with her pink Barbie fishing pole, but had an interesting technique. She had trouble getting the timing down of releasing the button when she cast out her line. So, instead of calmly trying again, she would wildly wave her pole around in frustration almost hooking herself and Finn. Luckily, she didn't hook anyone, but she did manage to tangle her line up quite a few times, which Brad graciously untangled again, and again, and again. Hopefully, we can get them out there more to practice and then Brad will be able to fish too, instead of just untangling and casting their lines. Doesn't Brad look snazzy in his cool new hat?

Aria was a good sport and hung contently in the baby carrier. She must like fishing! She loves that fresh mountain air!

I am looking forward to more outdoors trips like this and camping next summer!

Recipe Highlight:

Since we had delicious crepes this morning, I thought I'd share the recipe I used (from Sara). I didn't take a picture of our crepes, though, so you'll have to use your imagination. Remember to fill the crepes with your favorite topping, after cooking, and sprinkle with powdered sugar after you roll them up!

Crepes

Ingredients

Makes thirty-two 6-inch or twelve 10-inch crepes

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 2 cups whole milk, room temperature, plus more if needed
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 1/2 ounces (5 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for skillet

Directions

1. Sift flour and salt into a large bowl. Whisk together milk and eggs in a medium bowl. Pour milk mixture into flour mixture, whisking to combine. Whisk in butter. Strain mixture into a medium bowl, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours (or up to 1 day). Batter should be the consistency of heavy cream; add more milk if needed.
2. Heat an 8- or 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat, and brush with butter. Ladle or pour 3 tablespoons batter (for small crepes) or 1/3 cup batter (for large crepes) into pan, turning and tilting skillet to coat bottom evenly with batter. Cook until top of crepe appears set, bottom is firm and golden brown in spots, and center is lifted by pockets of air, about 1 minute. Run a spatula around edge of crepe to loosen. Slip spatula under crepe, and gently flip in one swift gesture. (If it doesn't land quite right, that's OK; use the spatula to unfold or rearrange it.) Cook until bottom is firm and golden brown in spots, about 45 seconds. Transfer to a plate, and cover. (The first one will not be your finest.) Repeat with remaining batter, brushing pan lightly with butter as needed (every 2 or 3 crepes). Serve immediately