Jayden’s traveling companion

Spending 26 hours in a car, for a weekend of fun isn’t necessarily a 4 year olds idea of fun.  Each time I have traveled with Jayden he has done really well.  As he gets older though, I am working on new ideas to keep him entertained on the drive.  For our drive to Utah I brought food, drinks, new coloring books, “magic” markers, movies, new toys, etc.  Little did I know, I didn’t need any of that.  All I really needed to do was introduce Jayden to his new traveling companion.

These two were the best of buds for the entire trip. Mario provided Jayden with hours of entertainment as we traveled over 800 miles each way.  Having Mario Kart on the DS was also great entertainment for Halle and Parker once we got to Utah. Racing each other is all they wanted to do from sun up to sun down.

As you can see, Jayden is hard at work here trying to get another win.  He loved it so much his mom bought him one for his 5th birthday!

Skiing with Steph

The main reason for our trip to Utah was to meet up with our friend Stephanie and enjoy a day of skiing with Stephanie and her fiancé Marcus.  The snow wasn’t great, and the weather was windy, but we still managed to have fun.  We decided to ski Snowbird.  All in all it was a fun day.  I tried my best to keep up with the great skiers that Rob, Stephanie, and Marcus are.  Lucky for me, there wasn’t a ton of powder so we mostly stayed on the groomers.  Here are some post skiing pics of Stephanie and I. Unfortunately the boys didn’t want to pose for pics.

I don’t really know what’s happening in this photo, but I’m sure it was really funny.

Thanks Marcus and Stephanie for making time to spend a day with us!

Children’s Museum

In March Rob and I decided we wanted to go to Utah for a little skiing (I’ll talk more about this in a later post).  We ended up bringing my nephew Jayden along with us for the ride.  When we were in Utah, Rob and I took Halle, Parker, and Jayden to Salt Lake where we met up with my friend Mary and her two kids Tillie and Finch.  We went to the children’s museum and then out to lunch at Rodizio Grill.  Everyone had great time and of course it was great to see Mary and her kiddos.  Enjoy all the pics of the kids hard at play!

Halle busy making music

Jayden using the crane to build.

Tillie and Halle measuring up to their block creations.

Finch was busy taking everything in.

Halle showing her climbing skills

Parker and Jayden working the water.

Everyone busy making “Green Eggs”

The finished product.

We loved the museum.  There was a ton for the kids to do.  If you live in the SLC area, I definitely recommend you buy a season pass to the place.  You won’t be disappointed!

Tribute to David Bowie

When we were in Utah, Wes was helping a friend out in a talent competition. He had the role of playing David Bowie. It took a couple of tries, but this is what we ended up with.

Snowmobiling at Lake Kachess

Despite the promises that our La Nina winter would bring one of the snowiest winters ever, our January and February were pretty bleak, dreary and rainy.  Finally in March the mountains got some good snow so we decided to check out some new places on top of Snoqualmie Pass. 

 

We had a fun time and even I got a little daring and went up and down some of the steepest hills I’ve ever tried.

I did end up going up this hill and many more after that!

Of all the locations we went this winter, Lake Kachess was by far our favorite.  We will be visiting again next winter.

National Boards

At the end of the last school year, I decided was going to try and get my National Boards teaching certificate.  This is basically a year long process, with a 4 entry Portfolio followed by an essay test, with six essay questions. Earning this certificate will certify me to teach in any state in the nation.  On Wednesday I turned in my “Blue Box.”  It was a great feeling to finally be done with my portfolio and submit it for grading.  Many Saturday and evening hours were spent in front of the computer.  Rob stated several times, “You’re Boring!” as I repeatedly ignored him and made him fend for himself in the kitchen and work around the house on his own. 

The Portfolio consisted of 4 entries, with very specific directions.  With each one I had to show how I was improving as a teacher and how what I was doing was benefiting my students.  When I was all done, I ended up with the following totals:

2 video entries

20 pages of evidence/documentation

50 typed pages

16,000 + words

Needless to say, I was more than happy to finally be done and turn my box over to UPS to have it shipped off. 

This is a picture of me with a few co-workers (me, Aylish Duff, Meghan Garner, Jessica Rydecki).  We all got together after school on Thursday to pack our entries and make sure we got everything in the correct order and in the correct envelopes. 

Next up:  Essay test on May 7th. 

I won’t find out if I passed until November.  Wish me luck!

Good Eats

I had some ripe bananas lying around this week, and I really wanted to make some banana bread.  I was a little hesitant because the last few recipes I’ve used, my bread did not get done in the middle.  So, I decided to try a recipe off the web.  This is what I found.

Banana Bread Recipe

Ingredients

• 3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

Method

No need for a mixer for this recipe. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix. Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

Makes one loaf.

It turned out perfectly.  The crust was slightly crunchy, the inside was moist but completely done.  It was delicious.  Two thumbs up.

Also, last night Rob and I decided to try a new place for dinner.  About a month ago, Ezell’s chicken opened up about a mile from our home.  There are several locations in the Seattle area, but I’ve never been to one.  Everyone talks about how it is the best fried chicken anywhere, now that we have one so close we thought we should give it a try.

We got the spicy chicken (which was is the best seller),rolls, and mashed potatoes and gravy.

 

My thoughts:  The rolls were delicious, the best part of the meal if you ask me.  The chicken batter was also delicious.  Crispy with great flavor.  Both Rob and I decided that the chicken was almost too juicy.  And the gravy for the potatoes was bland. 

Overall, the chicken was good, but didn’t completely wow us and it was too expensive for what we got.  We probably won’t be going back anytime soon.