Fancy Pants Baking

 For the seasonal holidays, I tried to go all out this year:

Return from Hiatus - Anniversary

Authors are entitled to an extended hiatus once or twice every nine years or so.  Now that I'm back, it's time to share to share our favorites from the past few months.

Ashley and Tate surprised us on our anniversary with breakfast in bed.  Ashley even brewed decaf coffee for me!  It was such a sweet way to celebrate a milestone anniversary for us.

Camp Mystic Lake: ABC's of Camping

The first week of August brought us "The ABC's of Camping".

Item #1 on the agenda? Learn how to pitch a tent:

Item #2 on the agenda was for MLM and MLD: use the outdoor stove for the first time and see what's possible. According to MLUE, this is likely a direct smoker built along the style of Carolina smokers.

A bit of background first: this stove came with the house.  It's old.  It's surrounded by trees.  It hadn't rained in weeks. It was windy.  On the plus side, we had the firebox re-built when we moved in.  Nine years ago.  Never did check out that flue, though.  Important part was to be brave!

Ashley was waiting and ready with the hose, just in case things went south:

Turns out that Yukon Pete, done in the Candy Mountain style fondly remembered from MLM's youth, is not only possible, but irresistable to all:

By the time we were finished, the bellies were full.  The house still standing. And even though it has meat, onions, and cooked peppers, Adam not only asked for more, he asked me to make it again.

Who says miracles don't happen in the modern age?

Camp Mystic Lake: Red, White and Blue Day

 Also known as the 4th of July, we had lots of fun celebrating this day.  We started off with a red, white and blue breakfast:

We had an outdoor cookout for dinner where the kids cooked for me...

And then we fell asleep to dreams filled with patriots and their daring exploits:

Happy (belated) 4th, America!

Camp Mystic Lake: Picnic Lunches

One of the best parts of camp?  Outdoor lunches!

Eat your vegetables

Every now and then, I offer an incentive plan for finishing the vegetables on your dinner plate:

Tradition.... tradition!

From Fiddler on the Roof.... can you hear it?  Tradition!  Now that we are home more often, there's more opportunity to reach back in time to see what our ancestors might have cooked or done on the weekends.

In the first image, it's clear that I'm reaching back far before most of my NY relatives, maybe even back to the old country, because luckily for my American ancestors, NY challah is a given.  Challah in our town?  Our state?  It's sweet enough to be dessert.  Yuck.

early April

mid-April

mid-April

early May - clearly quarantine has improved my baking skills

early May

And the new observance we tried one evening:

The kids are clear about one thing:  the challah can stay.

Farewell (Take 2)

We were so excited when Laura came back to the US for a few months to visit.  It was difficult to watch her go again.  Good news:  the kids are a few months more literate, so they're now able to chat every now and again on WhatsApp.

Technology is amazing, eh?

Here's our farewell meal together:

Thanks to the virus, Laura is stuck in her home too.  It's now easier to chat than ever!

We miss you!

Eating the House

Ever hear someone say "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse"?

Well, these kids were so hungry they ate a house!

Gingerbread, of course!

Sharing is Caring

Something I never thought I'd see for at least another 10 years:  Tate and Adam sharing.

Not only are they sharing in this clip, but they're enjoying it!

For Breakfast

One morning it was me and three kiddos and I didn't want to cook and clean up.  So out we went to the diner.  A MA-style diner, which for those of you not familiar with this genre, serves only breakfast and lunch.  Often closes by 2:30 or 3:00 pm.  Again, different than NY.

Not that these kids would notice the difference.  They were having too much fun:

Ice Cream!

You can tell it's been a fun and busy summer... because I haven't been posting very often.  When one is having a fun summer, that means there must be a lot of ice cream involved!

Whether it's in the house:

With our friends at Richardson's:

 

Or at the Bier Garten with Daddy:

You know we'll find a way to enjoy this cool summer treat.

First Food

Adam took on a very big responsibility:  he fed Noah his very first food.  Rice cereal.  After months of waiting, Noah didn't seem terribly thrilled.  I think he's waiting for the chocolate formulac that Grandma keeps promising to deliver.

Cucumber Alert!

Alert!  Alert!  There's a cucumber near Tate without salt on it!  Alert!  Alert!

I Spy

Dinnertime is always a fun event at our home.  Tonight's activity:  I Spy!

Dim Sum

All of our children love eating dim sum, so we decided it was time for Noah to tag along on this family adventure. 

HoneyDew

One vacation requirement, even if it is a staycation, is to have lots of junk food.  Honeydew donuts to the rescue!

Family Breakfast

One of our first vacation stops was to our favorite breakfast joint.  This is the first time we all went out for a meal together as a family -- and all before 9 am too!

Room for Food?

With this many kids in the cart, there's no room for groceries. 

It's clear that we're going to need a bigger cart.  And soon!

Happy Birthday!

The blog is late but we celebrated on time.  Check out how we marked this year's milestone birthday for Daddy: