Skagit Valley 2012

We made it to the Tulip Festival this year and we were so glad that we did.  The kids had a lovely time, despite the drive.  Amazingly, Evelyn and Henry were very gentle with the tulips.  They seemed to really enjoy looking at all of the different varieties, too.

These beauties look like they might be home to fairies.

Family shot

"Ice Cream Tulips"  Evelyn's absolute favorite!

Evelyn and Henry in the field

Vibrant colors!

Henry's First Joke

Tonight, we drove by the neighborhood basketball court-- Henry's favorite place to play, currently.  He noticed that our little neighbor (Gregory) was playing there and told us all about it.  Tonight, as we were saying our "goodnights,"  Henry said "Goodnight bask-ball court, goodnight, Greg-ry.  Greg-ry sleep in his house, not at bask-ball court!"  He burst out into a fit of giggles and kept repeating "Sleep at bask-ball court!" and giggling more.  It was so adorable.

Family Afternoon

Cheese in the making at Beecher's!

Fruit stand fun

Evelyn's first Beecher's Mac-n-cheese.  World's Best!

Mama Cooks: Swiss Chard Side Dish

Lindsey's Warm Chard and Cherry Tomato Salad (serves 4)

Ingredients: 

One small organic onion, diced (it's all organic, so I won't repeat that for each ingredient)

Two cloves garlic, minced

One tablespoon olive oil

One tablespoon ginger

Two big leaves of swiss chard, rinsed and chopped into long strips (I use the clean stalks, chopped, as well)

One heaping cup cherry tomatoes

One teaspoon each fresh ground pepper, sea salt

Sautee onion and garlic in olive oil until soft, add swiss chard and ginger.  Let cook on medium for about ten minutes.  Add the cherry tomatoes and freshly ground pepper and sea salt.  Continue to cook until tomatoes are heated through.  I served this with portobello mushrooms and brown rice.  Enjoy!

A Glimpse of our Afternoon

Spring blooms

Borrowing his sissy's boots

Climbing hydrangea bud

Pillow forts and handmade Halloween costumes go together brilliantly.

Evelyn's home made cookies

 

An Afternoon With My Son

Evelyn and Henry both have fevers and coughs today, but they were happy to enjoy some fresh air this afternoon when the clouds had rolled away.  I bundled them up in the double jogging stroller with drinks and snack bags and walked for a couple of miles.  It felt great.  Luckily, Evelyn fell asleep and I parked her in the house while Henry whispered "sh, Eva is sleeping!" and put a toddler finger to lips.  The two of us worked outside for about an hour.

First, Henry enjoyed the swing and then rock wall on our play structure.  Then he ran around the yard a bit-- obviously perking up-- as I worked at planting ferns (that I purchased over a year ago) and echinacea.  As I moved on to weeding some of the garden beds, I unearthed literally dozens of wiggling worms.  Henry was enthralled, though he did not want to touch the worms and eventually told me he was scared and we should "bye-bye Wormy friend."  We also saw a little light green frog hop around a pile of brances and leaves I was shoveling into the compost bin.  It was such a treat to have some special time to explore and chat with just Henry.

Twenty-One Months (Henry)

Henry has reached that adorable (and fun) toddler stage in which he will say any word you request.  "Henry, can you say ceiling?  How about protozoan?"  He obliges and it very cute.  (Prozoan, he says).  He also has quite a few simple sentences ("Mommy, where are you?  Eva, time for dinner!  Yeah, yeah, swimming!") and songs.  The songs are recognizable to anyone by tune, but I can tell that he is really saying most of the words in the way that only a Mama of a toddler can.  I love the toddler stage and I am glad that we still have another year of it.  I was talking to a friend about how sad it will be when it fully sinks in that Henry isn't a baby anymore.  He is almost two, after all.  Still, we nurse and co-sleep so we get plenty of snuggle time at night-- even if Henry determined to be a full-fledged big boy during the day.