Getting out of the House

I had to work on Monday from before the sun rose (I got up at 4:10) and didn't get home until after 7 in the evening. I did hair and make-up for a photo shoot at Sundance. It was so beautiful up there that I decided to take the kids up the next day. We rode the chair lift up and hiked down.I always love when they line up by age... Paris was the champion. No one complained, but this time she never asked to be held nor did she tell me she was tired. It was so beautiful. We picnicked at the top and then headed down. It took us about 3 hours and we trudged through rivers and waterfalls and saw so many beautiful wildflowers and caterpillars and butterflies. Here is a giant cocoon we found. It is as big, if not bigger than my fist!Some parts of the trail had so many caterpillars that one could not help but step on them! Sometimes it sounded like it was starting to rain, but it was really caterpillars falling from the trees. I totally recommend going up there just bring twice as much water. The lift was $8 for an adult and 6 (maybe) for kids- 6- 12. Mine had passes from snowboarding so I am not really sure. I am going to take my sister when she comes next week but this next time we will hike to Stewart falls and then return to the top and take the lift down... Here the kids have just gotten down the mountain. Atlas went ahead because he was mad I would not let him swim in the beaver made ponds.
And an awesome granola recipe (Hiking=Granola):
4 cups of grain flakes (oatmeal, wheat, whatever)
1 cup of slices almonds
2Tbs butter
1/4 c flour
2Tbs sugar
pinch of salt
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp almond extract
Bake flakes and almonds for 10 min on 350. Combine butter, flour, sugar, salt and add toasted flakes and almonds. Combine maple, vanilla and almond extract. Mix all. Pour on buttered cookie sheet. Bake for 15 minutes.
p.s. Summer isn't going to last very long... I took this picture of a scrub oak yesterday!

What do you do in the summertime?

Summer is in full swing now that Emilia's full length ballet production is over. This was her third and it will be three more years before she is in another! I was ready to have a break down driving her to lessons and rehearsals and performances. So when it was all over I made two loaves of whole wheat bread, a tart au chevre and pea crustini, and a pear tart tatin. All in one day (the kids ate the goat cheese tart but didn't like it and love the pear tart tatin). They had friends over all day and left me alone to cook and bake. The next day I made three sock monkeys. Last night Atlas and I stayed up way too late. He is working on a sock elephant. I loved having him sit next to me and sew. It was so funny when he got frustrated threading a needle. We had some real interesting conversations. We talked about police and skateboarding, wolves and coyotes. Today we relaxed and went to the pool and then made cookies. I now have 8 pounds of frozen cookie dough- each in one pound blocks. 4 chocolate chip and 4 oatmeal raisin with dates and and toasted pecans! I have company coming and must be ready!

My first trip of the summer

I went to Atlanta last week to visit my baby sister Charla who had her first baby. He is a total babe! My older sister met me there and we had a great time. Atlanta was warm and sunny and there were beautiful homes and flowers and trees and I got the first picture of baby Dries smiling! I am a baby photographer pro.
I came to home to a birthday girl, another lost tooth and projects. While I was away I bought the cutest book for the sewing challenged (me).I have already had to re-sew an eye and a tail- but Paris loves "Pup"!

Summer Has Started!

My first errand of the morning was to get chick food, so what did I do? I got 5 more chicks! I found out that I can have hens in the city and so now I have my own little flock. The hen house is in the works so when it is done I'll post some pictures of it. It will be similar to Poppet's. We completed our weekend project: our rose arbor- I still need to plant the roses, I baked a loaf of bread, my peonies are in bloom and I made an incredible breakfast pizza. I first had a taste of it in Big Sur last year and ever since then I have been thinking about it. I topped it with fresh arugula from the garden. Perfect!