Relaxation, a Birthday, Whidbey

Our dear friends, Brian and Robin invited us to a little piece of heaven to celebrate Brian's upcoming birthday! How fortunate are we!?! Robin's family owns and rents* a little bungalow on Penn Cove. A warm fire, yummy food (I am still dreaming of Brian's ribs), tons of blankets, and such wonderful friends made the weekend! We hiked, walked, read, played a little Catch Phrase, the boys shot arrows, other boys chased the arrows, and spent time relaxing.

You'll also notice a disproportionate number of shots of, on, and from the ferry. Having grown up in Arizona, I think they are a novelty that hasn't worn off! I love them; I will spend more money and take twice as long to get anywhere if we can take a ferry!

Nate on the Ferry

Rainy Saturday

Muscle Mania

Arrows Not Horns

human science experiment after Nate refused to catapult Andrew

"I see a white sail skip across a blue bay..."

*This is the link to the website Robin's family uses to rent their home! Go there! It is truly amazing! www.vrbo.com

Limoncello: Primo

So when a dear friend went home one Sunday afternoon, I headed to the liquor store! I was in search of Everclear, which apparently is not for sale in Washington liquor stores. Boo! But, 1oo proof Smirnoff would do the trick...

As I look forward, more like gaze longingly, at summer. I am picturing sunny evenings with friends and family. I am picturing boats and water, laughter, tank tops, flipflops...I could go on and on and on! I am also looking for a little something different, too. I am making limoncello!

This delicious sweet, lemony, Italian beverage is traditionally served ice cold from the freezer in tiny glasses much like shot glasses, but you drink it more leisurely. My enlightened coworker and expert on all things Italian, Kristen, told me limoncello originated in Sorrento. I will attempt to concoct it with you as my witnesses!

Recipe: Phase 1

40 Meyer Lemons, washed and dried

2 Springs of Rosemary

2 1.5 liters of 100 proof vodka

2 1 gallon jars with tight fitting lids

Peel the lemons with a citrus peeler. Make sure that you only get the zest (the yellow outer layer). Try your best not to get any of the any of the white pith.

When you have a large pile of zest and naked lemons, place one spring of rosemary in each jar. Place half the zest in one jar and half in the other. 750 ml of vodka in each jar. Let the concoction rest in a cool dark place for 40 days and check back here for what to do next!

I believe in teamwork, so I enlisted Katie to help zest.

The Final Product: Sort Of

So not only will you be left with soon-to-be limoncello, you will also now have 40 naked lemons! Juice 'em! We enjoyed lemon water, lemon salad dressing, and we would have made other things, but there was only so much tarty goodness we could handle!

Early Spring at Carkeek

Meghan came up for an impromptu visit, and being that it was not raining in Seattle (shocking, I know!) we took a nice walk to the beach at Carkeek park. Tiny spring flowers, salmon filled streams, no rain, a giant grown up sized teeter-totter made from a tree that involved us staring down the kids (actually grown ups) who were on the teeter-totter until they got off, and did I mention no rain! Little hints of the new season always make me giddy like a kid on Christmas! Considering the weather lately, I feel like mother nature has forgotten us way up here in the PNW! I plan on posting more springy things from now on! We're looking forward to baby vegetables, limoncello, and P-Patch gardening! Oh Spring where are you?!!

Reto-Active Post of Seattle Center

We made a pilgrimage! Well sort of...We decided to walk from our apartment in Eastlake to Seattle Center (not that far at all really) to see Lucy and her Ethiopian groupie exhibit. They whole thing was fascinating and the day lent itself to beautiful photos! On a beautiful day, no where is more photogenic than Seattle!

Nothing says fun like a Space Needle and a ferris wheel!