Rhubarb

Last year I planted a small garden in our front yard that had mostly perennials and a few annuals.  There is a mix of flowers and food and while I wish more of the herbs were thriving, we have had loads of rhubarb and a few strawberries too.  Inspired by the new warm weather here in Minnesota we made a rhubarb crumb cake- a recipe I make every year and is super yummy.  The recipe is on a small piece of paper I got from a woman at the Copley Farmer's Market nearly 15 years ago.  I don't make it quite as it appears.  For starters I almost never remember to buy buttermilk when I want to make it, so I usually just add some lemon juice to milk and let it sit for a few before adding it in.  I don't think I have ever purchased margarine- this is a butter house.  Also, I use white whole wheat flour or a combo of whole wheat and all purpose.  I omit the white sugar in the topping and it's still plenty sweet enough.

So out we went to collect our rhubarb and get baking.

Fighting the ballerina look is a waste of energy.  I like the addition of the rain boots here.  Also, note the super hero tattoos they are sporting from an awesome birthday party we went to!

Baking with the big loud mixer.

Taking turns adding ingredients.  The little aprons they're wearing were their Christmas presents from me this year.  I kind of slacked on the home-made gift thing this year and I know I didn't write about it, but I did make these and the girls seem to like them :)

Too noisy!!

Licking is often the most important part of baking

The best part however is eating all our effort- yum!

Milkapeas

While sitting at the breakfast table Emma is taking her usual 45 minutes to eat a small bowl of Cheerios with raisins.  She then proceeded to remove the raisins and place them on her spoon offering "milkapeas" to Ada and me.  We politely declined and finally realized what she was talking about- "milkapeas" are her pretend version of "millipedes".  Mmmm, yum!

Notice the spoon full of "milkapeas"

Trying not to forget

The day we took Emma home from the hospital

When we became new parents so many people told us how quickly it would fly by and to savor every moment and try to write things down so we will remember when they're grown all the little things the kids would do.  Well, that's part of why I started this blog.  Since I always wanted to do baby books but really never did a great job at it I figure this is sort of the family scrap book to remember some of our little moments.  It's just easier to type and drag photos than it is to sit with a physical book and have pictures printed to add in, etc. (at least for me)!

So with that said, right now Tony and I are constantly reminded of the girls getting a grasp on the English language.  As goes with being a parent to toddler/preschool age kids they frequently have us cracking up- sometimes with their actual words and sometimes with the way they use their words.  Love it.

Here are some of our current favorites:

Ada
"Kilgren" = children
"Yesternight"= last night
"Sank You" = thank you (they both say this)
"65" = this is the unit of measure that lets you know it's a wicked lot.  Like what a grown up might call a million or more.

Emma
"soor, soor, soor"= sure
"noonoos"= noodles
"all my by self" = all by myself
expressing emotion through her belly button= "that tickles my belly button", "that hurts my belly button"
"how yabout?"= how about
"I tell you someping?" = can I tell you something? (usually followed by a rambling story filled with giggle breaks, or a simple I love you)

Sadly I know there are already things I have forgotten, and some that I will keep just for me, but I try and that's what I need to focus on :)

Family Vacation- Boston

We were fortunate enough to head back to Boston for my sister-in-law's graduation from UMass Boston recently.  

Yay Aunt Megan!

All four of us were able to go and we had a blast!  We made the wicked awesome decision to spend the first night in Massachusetts staying in the city very close to the Public Gardens.  The girls were super travelers and even though we arrived late they rolled with it and even made it through a late night dinner/ dessert and we had a nice night at the hotel.  Waking up in the morning we could simply take a walk through the gardens, see the baby ducklings, take a swan boat ride, and see the iconic statues made famous in Robert McClosky's Make Way for Ducklings, a book we love around here.  It was a wonderful and special family day.  

Counting the ducklings

Happy Emma

Attempt at getting the girls to look at me and smile.

Here's a little video of the girls watching the ducks.  Note Ada's "Quack, Quack" song in the beginning and Emma's excitement towards the end.

Swan boats

Swan boats

Riding the ducklings...obviously

Mrs. Mallard with her ducklings- Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack, and Quack

It was made more special by the fact it was Memorial Day.  The Massachusetts Military Heroes Fund had planted 33,000 flags on the lawn representing fallen soldiers from Massachusetts from the Civil War onward.  It was impressive and a nice visual for the kids.  I love that Tony was there to talk to Ada about the importance of soldiers and Ada has a pretty good (for a 4 year old) understanding of what Memorial Day means.

Flag garden on Memorial Day

We walked around the Commons too and easily the favorite thing was the huge fountain near the Park Street Church.  They probably could have stayed there for an hour.  There was a guy playing piano and loads of people.  Tony gave them each a coin to throw in and we just basked in the sunshine.  On our walk back to the hotel we treated them (and us) to fresh lemonade, sausage, hot pretzel, arepas, and Italian ice all from street vendors. So much fun!

The rest of the week we spent quality time with our families, notably the members of Tony's extended family that flew in from around the country for a little reunion in honor of the graduation.  Since we so rarely get to see these folks it was truly special.  My folks hosted us the rest of the week so the kids got lots of quality Nana and Grampa time and they even threw a huge party at their house so we could see loads of friends and family all in one place and minimize our driving all over New England.  It was glorious!

Watching "Brave" on the plane.  Notice Jim Bear sitting with the girls.  LOVE!