Kaili is finally getting comfortable in the pool. Between swimming with her friends and swim lessons, I am hoping she becomes a very strong swimmer.
We had a nice visit with friends and it took the sun going down to finally get everyone out of the pool.
The weather has been spectacular, making it very difficult to stay inside.
I made an Indian feast for family using this recipe as my always go to for Chicken Tikka Masala. I made some Dal and Raita and bought Trader Joe’s frozen Naan and Samosa’s. We were all happily stuffed at the end of the night.
I also made Chrissy Teigen’s Pineapple Grilled Shortribs and you guys, they were Ahhhhmazing. I will describe them as candied meat or a very tender and sweet beef jerky.
Kaili has her last swim class, it’s bittersweet. She really loves it and asked me if she could have a playdate with her instructor. Every day she gets a little bit braver.
I pulled Kaili out of school a tad early so we could hit the road, destination Walla Walla. The girls did good, better than I expected to be honest. After a pretty decent dinner in Stockton, we finished up the days drive in Dixon, a town outside of Sacramento. It was 8:30 p.m by the time we were all ready for bed and the girls crashed without a peep.
Dinner at Harvest Moon, Stockton, Ca.
After a quick hotel breakfast we were back on the road again by 8:00 a.m. It was a long day in the car and the weather wasn’t great. We saw Mount Shasta and a few beautiful rainbows but besides that our sights were set on Newport, Oregon.
We hoped to get there while there was still daylight but by the time we checked in to our hotel and made it down to the bay front for dinner, it was pitch dark outside. Dinner was good, we have been wanting to try Mo’s for a long time, it was fun to check that box.
Too cold and dark to walk around, so we went back to the room to get the girls and myself in bed. I fell asleep before 8:00 p.m.
Kaili woke up around 6:00 a.m so we had an early start to the day. With cheese and ice cream on the mind, we made our way to the Tillamook factory. Kaili seemed to enjoy watching the cheese packaging process and pretending to milk the fake cow. Averi was just enjoying being out of the car and neither of them seemed to care about the cheese. We were disappointed to find out the cafe was only serving breakfast since we had our minds set on grilled cheese, so we settled for ice cream instead.
The only other stop we planned on before arriving in Walla Walla was Multnomah falls. It was a perfect spot for a bathroom break and a stretch of the legs.
On the third day and the final stretch of the trip, Averi decided to give into a nap. It was bliss.
We made our arrival into the town and conveniently drove by one of the wineries we are members of, so of course we had to stop.
It’s good to be here and it’s good not having to get back into the car for another day of driving tomorrow. Maybe wine tasting downtown instead.
What can I say, I have been a horrible blogger lately. I will blame it on the Avester. Every time I stand by my computer contemplating on writing, she is at my heels yelling “Mama, mama, mama, UP UP UP!” It’s ear piercing and nerve-racking. I end up picking her up and wandering away from the computer.
Averi is now 19 months and quite the handful. She prefers her meals on the go, something I told myself I would never let her do. Wandering around with food, what good can come of it. Well, it keeps her quiet, let’s me get stuff done and puts meat on her bones, so for now, I just go with it.
Photo by Brian Kerr
Kaili just ended her first month of soccer. She seemed to really enjoy it so I signed her up for another month. She also started up swimming again, this time it’s at a swim school opposed to the YMCA. But once a week isn’t frequent enough so I am hoping to up it to twice a week. We need this girl swimming.
As I write this, it’s sprinkling outside but the last couple weeks we have been spoiled with amazing weather. I have spent almost everyday outside reading in the sun and then spending the afternoon playing in the backyard with the girls.
We spent Valentines day as a family eating chocolate, popping in and out of the hot tub, sun bathing and watching Shane work in the backyard. More on that later. Kaili had a school party and enjoyed scouring through her mound of cards and candy.
Kaili and one of her besties.
Shane and I treated ourselves to some King crab for dinner and then I tried making chocolate soufflés for dessert. They didn’t turn out as I expected, the lava cakes I make are much more decadent. Next year, I will go back to making those.
It was in the 90’s this past weekend. You would have thought it was summer if we all weren’t in different stages of fighting a cold….Because everyone knows you don’t get sick in the summer. Kaili woke with a lowgrade fever Sunday morning but by the afternoon it spiked up to 104, I only mildly panicked. In my mind 104 is no joke and its higher than she’s registered but the nurse assured me she would be fine. Some Advil and a nap later she was feeling a bit better and by Monday afternoon she was fever free.
I told Kaili that on St. Patrick’s day we can only eat green food all day or the Leprachauns will break into our house at night and steal all our chocolate. Okay, the second part isn’t true but the first part is and she responded with “yuck! I don’t like green food”! This was once my good eater. Speaking of chocolate, I haven’t met a kid that will turn down candy and sweets, she just doesn’t really care about it unless it’s chocolate, that she will devour. It isn’t parenting until you have hid chocolate from your kid.
Three wine corks taped together makes an excellent shamrock stamper. Pin this for next year!
That was the extent of our Irish celebrating, being a mom, alone, on a Tuesday I just couldn’t muster that much excitement. I probably should start thinking about Easter, you know the day where all you eat are eggs or…..
The Art of Thyming 