Photo Friday #13

TRAVELS WITH KID | VICTORIA, BC

Statues and fountains; historical monuments ... and playground.









For other travel pics, check out my favourite family travel site Delicious Baby. Or go there to share your travel photos on Fridays too.

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Victoria: History Tour

Robot Fabric Arrived

Oh, I'm so smitten with spoonflower. Look what arrived today! Four of my custom designs digitally printed on 100% cotton ... ready to sew!

Here's Robot Gear Garden



And with some coordinating stripes and Gear Constellations







UPDATE: Available at Spoonflower.

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Robot Fabric Designs
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Bloomin' Magic

I don't know what this is but whenever it blooms its waxy, heavenly-scented flowers I believe in magic for a moment. This is especially true because of the amount of neglect this plant gets from me.

Grouse Mountain Summer Season

ONE OF SPUD'S FAVOURITE OUTDOOR THINGS TO DO | VANCOUVER

So when I decided to send hubs up the mountain for a zip line tour at Grouse Mountain, I debated whether Spud and I should come up with him or if we should just meet up with him after. The debate was partially fueled by the fact that taking the gondola up to the top of Grouse Mountain is a little pricey. But, as we found out, there IS loads of stuff to do there ... even in the summer ... and Spud and I had a great time while hubs was zipping through the forest.





First, there is the wildlife ...

Here's Bambi, not the least bit afraid of me taking this shot.



And the 2, large, somewhat intimidating Grizzly Bears behind an electrified fence.





Even some bear love? Hard to say.



A chairlift ride.



A parking lot for snow grooming equipment, which goes to show you that you never know what is going to fascinate the wee ones.



And a couple of free entertaining shows ... the lumberjack show and birds of prey demonstration.





For lunch we went to the Altitudes Bistro upstairs in the Chalet which really wasn't very family-friendly at all. We waited over an hour for our lunch and the food was not worth the wait ... or the price. Much of the lounge-type seating in the centre of the restaurant, where they sat us, is uncomfortable for eating, especially for the shorter ones in your family where their chins are at table height. After about 45 minutes of trying to entertain our bub in our awkward space we asked if we could move to one the 6 empty tables with normal sized furniture. They declined our request. A better bet would have been to grab a simple slice of pizza in the downstairs self serve restaurant. Or better yet, pack a picnic!

An Acquire Nothing Fathers Day

So I took the challenge of giving hubs a special day, without having us acquire more stuff: an experiential gift from me and a crafty one from Spud.

First, Spud made him a wee masterpiece using a T-shirt I nicked from his dad's closet and some fabric paint we had around.





which he wore on the 2-hour zip line tour I bought for him.



Yay! We did it. Daddio had a great time going at speeds of 70 mph and flying over valleys and rivers. Spud was very intrigued by what he saw of the escapade and declared that he too wanted to do it. Thankfully he's not big enough yet ... perhaps next year we'll all do it ...? Oiks.

Marble Morning

ONE OF SPUD'S FAVOURITE TOYS | QUADRILLA
Just spending a lazy rainy morning with some marbles.













OTHER THINGS WE DO WITH MARBLES
Marble Mayhem
More Marble Mayhem

Biciclettes for Dins

Oh look at the adorable pasta I found at our Italian import store ... good enough to eat.




In 2 - 3 cups of chicken stock I cooked some chicken breast cut into small cubes, carrot slices and broccoli spears. Once done I scooped all the meat and veg out with a slotted spoon, brought the stock to a rolling boil and added a handful of the pasta to cook for 8 or 10 minutes. I served it all in a deep dish, leaving most of the stock behind for another use, and then sprinkled it all with grated parmesan. Simple, fast and good.

The Bento is Back

The bento is coming back. My bento-making-fun has been on a hiatus since Spud's daycare offers a hot lunch program. In a couple of weeks, Spud will be leaving daycare for a pre-K summer day camp program and there ain't no hot lunch program there. Even though it does add a bit to my already fairly packed schedule, I've missed making the bentos and am kind of excited about making them again.

I found these shots of some bentos I've managed to squeeze in here and there. The boy asks for them regularly and so I sometimes put them together for weekend outings.



· Orange slices
· Kalamata olives, pitted
· Cherry tomatoes, halved
· Chicken fingers, cut up
· Carrots




· Cheese sticks
· Grapes
· Carrots
· Sandwich: avocado, bacon, shrimp
· Skewers: bacon, shrimp, grape




· Pita strips
· Turkey slices rolled and skewered
· Carrots
· Green olives
· Shrimp
· Raspberries




· Cherry tomatoes
· Pepperoni
· Cheese slices
· Flower molded egg
· Chocolate chips
· Mini clementine orange


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Pumpkin Apple Muffins

So this seems more like a fall recipe but I couldn't resist the prospect of sneaking in some healthy orange veg into my little guy without him noticing. Even if it is smothered in brown sugar and butter. As far as he's concerned, these are called "Apple Cinnamon Muffins". Shhhhhh.

Now these are going in the freezer for future weekday breakfasts. So, does anyone have a yummy, sneaky way of getting dark green veg in?


 
1 1/2 C. whole wheat flour
1 C. all purpose flour
1 t. each allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon
1 1/4 t. baking powder
1 3/4 C. sugar
1 14 oz can of pumpkin puree
1/2 C. vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 C. apples, peeled, cored and chopped

TOPPING
1/2 C. packed brown sugar
1/2 T. ground cinnamon
1/4 C. butter, from the fridge
 
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 12 large muffin cups with muffin papers. In a medium bowl, sift in the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, combine pumpkin, oil and eggs. Mix in dry ingredients and gently fold in apples, careful not to over work the batter. Place into prepared cups.

TOPPING
Cut butter into the brown sugar and cinnamon with a pastry cutter until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle over muffins.

Bake until muffins are golden brown, about 30 minutes. Makes 12 large.



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Crustless Quiche Muffins
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Painting Al Fresco

Just a little weekend outdoor fun today.

Preggers Book

OK. This is so embarrassing. I've been meaning to put together a 'scrapbook' of sorts documenting my pregnancy with Spud, since it was easily one of the highlights of my life and I'm not sure I'm ever going to have the opportunity to experience anything like it again.

Its 50 pages include pictures of our trip to Hawaii racing dragon boats [in between the times of me barfing and snoozing] and prenatal class shots and preggers-me doing photo shoots with NHL hockey players and mascots. It also includes a mini bio of all Spud's grandparents. Among other things. And I just sent it off today to Blurb ... um ... 5 years later.



This is what I wrote on the intro page ...
"Dearest ...
I put this book together for the both of us. I wanted to put some of these memories on paper so that I could look back and remember how special it was to be pregnant with you. It was a highlight of my life and an experience for which I am forever grateful. This book is also for you because I wanted you to know how loved you were from the very beginning. When you grow up, and you have those bad days where you doubt yourself, and you will because everyone does, I hope the power of love in these pages will help you get through it. Sometimes on bad days, that’s all you have. And all you need. Love, Mama."

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I Heart Blurb

Photo Friday #12

CUBAN RAINBOW

Travelling from Trinidad to Cayo Coco we decided to take a little beverage break along the way and accidentally captured a rainbow.

For other travel pics, check out my favourite family travel site Delicious Baby. Or go there to share your travel photos on Fridays too.

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Photo Friday #1
wee cuba