March Favorites

My favorite Project Life pictures for March:

 

Kyle is such a big boy now that he climbs up the playground equipment all by himself. I still get a little nervous, afraid that he'll slip, but he gets such a big smile on his face when he accomplishes things all by himself so I try not to interfere.

We had a little bit of snow early in the month and Kyle wanted to be right outside with his dad shoveling the driveway and sidewalk. We only have a small garden shovel for him, but he made it work just the same.

100% pure exhaustion. Just don't tell him he fell asleep, he'd be so disappointed. He thinks he's much too big for naps.

My big helper in the kitchen helping me make banana bread.

Taking a break in the center of a labyrinth.

Tyler showing me his big tricks on the trampoline. This was before he went into a more complicated series of knee, butt, knee, butt, knee, butt, knee.

Silly faces is what I get most of the time when I try to take pictures.

But real smiles are my absolute favorite.

Birthday Boy

For Tyler's 9th birthday we had a small celebration at home, but he did invite a friend over to join in the festivities. I made the cake yesterday, so all I had to do this morning was get some balloons, hang up some streamers and wrap a few last minute gifts.

 

This boy is 9 years old?! Get out!

I ordered pizza for lunch for the boys and afterwards we had cake and ice cream.

Chocolate cake and vanilla frosting from scratch. Yum!

Then it was time to open presents: A marble run, Lego kits, Pokémon game guides, Harry Potter movies and more!

 

School Related News

A few weeks ago I took Tyler out of school, meaning that I abruptly withdrew him from his class with no real plan for an alternative course of study. At first I thought I would have to somehow homeschool him for the rest of the school year, but then I made arrangements to move him back to his old school and place him in a 4th grade class with a teacher he was already familiar with.

 

So last week he started back up at his old school after a 9-day hiatus and so far he's making a fantastic transition. Right now he's only attending half days, afternoons only, so that he doesn't get overwhelmed and he has an easier time keeping his behavior in check. Our main concern right now is helping him have successful days at school.

On that note, his teacher mentioned to us that he was having a hard time seeing the board and the document camera from his seat in the back row. We took him for an eye exam on Monday and it turns out he's nearsighted in both eyes and will need to wear glasses in the classroom and in situations where he needs to see things at a distance.

He picked out some new frames and his glasses should be ready by the end of spring break. Doesn't he look smarter already?

Portland Road Trip

It was another out of town weekend for us, but this time we headed south to Portland. I had a scrapbooking event scheduled for Saturday, but besides that we had no particular plan.

 

We left Yakima late in the afternoon and arrived in Portland right before sunset. It was beautiful weather the whole time. No rain or snow like we saw last weekend. In fact, it was probably the nicest weather we've ever seen in Portland this time of year.

We stayed at the hotel where the scrapbooking event was taking place, right next to the airport. It was an all day crop that included two classes and an Italian buffet lunch.

In the morning class we made 2 different 2-page layouts. I was going along fine until I accidentally put my adhesive on the wrong side of the paper. The bad thing about these kits is that there is absolutely no extra paper included. They only give you exactly what you need and if you happen to make a mistake of any sort, then you're just plain out of luck. So I abandoned that layout and started to work on my Project Life that I'd brought from home.

The buffet lunch wasn't all that bad. It included salad, vegetables, spaghetti with marinara or alfredo sauce, herbed chicken and French bread. Then there was a selection of cookies and cake for dessert and a variety of different drinks.

Then in the afternoon class we worked on a card kit that had all the materials to make 8 different greeting cards.  That kept me busy for the rest of the night until it was time to pack it up at 9:00.

Meanwhile the boys spent the day at the OMSI. They spent a majority of time in the Chemistry and Physics Labs and also visited the planetarium.

Tyler made an awesome atomic model using carbon, sulfur, nitrogen and hydrogen atoms.

Then on Sunday we checked out of the hotel and headed home, but not before stopping at the Clackamas Mall and the Columbia Gorge Outlets. We were able to do a little shopping in some of the stores that are nonexistent in Yakima such as Barnes and Noble, Eddie Bauer, Oil & Vinegar, Yankee Candle and so on.

Seattle Gourmet Food Tour

On Saturday after we were finished at the Aquarium, Anni and I went on a food tour while the boys went on a harbor cruise. I love food tours because I get to try food from restaurants I otherwise wouldn't have the chance to go to, at least not all in one day, and I get to try foods that I probably wouldn't have ordered on my own.

 

The tour began at The Yellow Leaf Cupcake Company and we had a few minutes to look around before the tour started and one of the first things that caught my eye was a bag of bacon brittle. You know, like peanut brittle but with bacon instead of peanuts. I was hoping that it'd be part of our sample or that I'd have a chance to come back later and try it, but neither happened.

We tried their famous pancakes n' bacon cupcake and a depression era style tomato soup spice cupcake with a chocolate ganache frosting. They were both really good, but the normal price of $3.25 per cupcake ($35-$45 per dozen) seems kind of steep to me.

Next we went to Serious Pie, pie as in pizza pie. The place was so busy that our tour couldn't even get a table inside. We had to stand outside and eat our food.

We tried the Margherita pizza and another with roasted mushrooms and truffle cheese. Both were good, but I preferred the Margherita.

Then we went to a new Korean place called Chan.

They served a beef short rib with fingerling potato and a rice cake along with a spicy pork slider on a brioche bun. Yum! I'm pretty sure this was my favorite spot on the tour.

Oh yeah and the Korean rice beer was ultra refreshing.

After the Korean place we went to my least favorite shop on the tour: La Buona Tavola.

We had a potato and leek soup with truffle oil mixed in and then tried some truffle salt and a few other truffle infused condiments. I was happy I had the opportunity to try the stuff, but it wasn't something I'd be interested in buying in the future.

Next we went to Il Bistro, a 30 year old Italian restaurant right next to Pike Place Market.

We had a saffron and seafood risotto paired with a Sangiovese wine. Good stuff!

Then we went to The Pike Brewing Company and learned all about how their beers are made.

We went upstairs to the pub and tried two different cheese and beer pairings along with a yummy beer bread roll.

First we sampled the Pike Kilt Lifter, a Scotch style ruby ale paired with a goat cheese. Then we sampled the India Pale Ale with a stronger piece of blue cheese. We were in a bit of a rush to chug down the beer in order to stay on schedule which wasn't so nice, but I did end up liking the Kilt Lifter. Not bad....for a beer.

Next we stopped at Von's Gusto Bistro

We tried the Salmon cake with a sambal aioli on top of dressed greens. So good!

Lastly we stopped at Gelatiamo, an Italian ice cream place.

Crème Brulee gelato and Raspberry sorbet. The perfect way to end the food tour. Yum!

Seattle: Day 1

Seattle Aquarium

 

Seattle Great Wheel

 

Seattle: Day 2

Woodland Park Zoo

 

Chilhuly Garden and Glass

Space Needle