Summer continued

At the Hogle Zoo, they have exhibits all over the park called Zoorassic Park.  They were by far the most interesting thing for our little one. 

He spent the a lot of time climbing in and out of the window wells.

Best summer ever!

Big helper

Strawberry cheesecake for my birthday, it was delicious!

In this next sequence of pics, you will see what happens when you give a 2 year old a power hose to wash Apa's truck, in case you can't already guess...

(my favorite)

At the Walker family reunion.  Toddles was definatly the leader of the pack.  The older kids would follow him wherever he went.  He was in heaven!

On Troy's motorcycle.  It couldn't get any better!  Thanks for the great summer family!

Summer spent in the West

We headed out to Utah at the end of May.  Before we left I tried to prepare my little Kool Kat for the long journey.  I bought lots of snacks, and some new toys for each day (or when we needed a new distraction.) The big prize was Cars on DVD to watch.  He also got a Mater truck to go with it.

He mostly just played with his dinosaurs (his favorite) and was so good the entire trip!

Brett was really good too.  I prepared a little bit for him too by getting his favorite road trip treat.  Skittles, can't you see how happy he is?  This was on our first day of the trip.  It started out great.  We had breakfast over at some friend's house which was amazing, then we headed out.  As we were driving, it got hotter and hotter and hotter.  We started thinking our AC in the car was broken because we could not cool off.  Poor Toddler was just drenched in sweat.  Brett was soaked, and I wanted to die.  Once the sun went down (which took forever) we felt a lot better.  We then realized that it was that 90 degree sunshine heating up our dash that radiated heat onto us and our poor AC couldn't keep up with it.  Next time... either don't travel west in the summer, or drive at night.

Yep, Apa had to seriously wash his hair.

Pony rides at Thanksgiving Point, Thanks Aunt Chelsea!

Action shot, but Toddles and Honey dog wrestled all summer long.  She was the best dog for him.  She let him do anything and she wouldn't react.  Until he touched her tail, she doesn't like that.  They loved to play a chasing game in the house.  Toddles would wave some food in her face and run away, she would chase him while trying to get the food.  They had so much fun (he probably more than she)!

Who doesn't have a plunger out in the rain?

Helping Apa fix the sink.

Birthday cheesecake.  For months I had been saving this recipe for my birthday.  It uses fresh strawberries, but a whole lot of sugar and cream cheese.  AND, the crust has nutella in it.  I don't eat like this a whole lot so I was saving it for my birthday.  It was so much fun to watch my mom make it.  I should have documented it, but I was so excited.  And, the wait was totally worth it!  Delicious!  you can get the recipe at zoebakes.com (strawberry no bake cheesecake.)

Putting pennies away with Ami.

Stay tuned, there's more to come.

If you like bubble baths, this may be for you

 Cool Cat and I went to Foam Days with Grandma Walker today.  It was very interesting.  The fire department sprays foam onto a field and when it is caked with foam, they let people play in it.  Cool Cat was a big fan!  Once he warmed up to it of course.  It was a lot of fun!

Fun in the Utah Sun

 Holding on tight as he slides across the grand canyon.

 Lunch outside in a comfy spot

 Snow Cones are Delicious!  They are mommy and Toddler's favorite summer treat!

 Yard work with Papa

 Playing in the rain, (not a normal occurance, right?)

Living Planet Aquarium giant toad.

Chef Brett

Brett is a really great chef.  He doesn't cook all that often, but when he does it turns out pretty much amazing.  We found out about some super cheap fresh blue crabs at the Asian Food Market so of course we had to get some.  And a steamer basket to cook them in.  We even documented...

So ready to dig in.  Literally.  He loved it, I however like the taste of crab but hate the feeling of some of their innards.  I have this thing with texture, and I couldn't handle the gils and the goopy...  So Brett got lots of crab all to himself.  He was happy.  Brett is also the master when it comes to banana bread.  He has the touch...

Obsessions

Right now I have two obsessions

1) Running: I really enjoy it and now that its not snowing (now that I said that it will probably snow) its even more enjoyable.  I love to be up and outside in the early mornings (I also love to sleep in, so a lot of mornings I have some serious psychological dilemmas.)  I love to hear the birds in the early morning.  It makes me think of that primary song... "In the leafy treetops the birds sing good morning, they're first to see the sun they must tell everyone, in the leafy treetops the birds sing good morning."  I love it, and for some strange reason if its going to be a rainy day the only time you see the sun is when its rising at 630am.  The air is clear and crisp.  Its a great feeling.  Then when the run is over, my body and mind feel so good, and the day already feels like its going to be awesome!  We always have a better day when I have gone running.  I am a much nicer, patient, fun, and loving mom.  Last year, I was struggling to exercise and it was really hard to motivate myself to get moving.  Then my friend Morgan asked if we wanted to do the Freedom Festival 5K with them.  We did it and I fell in love with racing.  SO, I am so excited to do the 5K again, but this year my brother and sister are going to do it with me. ( Brett will be in Texas, he would do it if he could be there.)  Its going to be a lot of fun.  Onto the next obsession...
2) Blondies: Talk about dilemmas... We have a recipe swap group that meets every month and we bring recipes and talk about them.  When you read cookbooks and recipes like a novel, recipe swap is awesome.  Everyone brings such wonderful recipes, but my favorite right now is Rebe's recipe for Blondies.  If you don't like chocolate (I know, inconceivable) its a great alternative to brownies.  I actually like these better than chocolate brownies. They are more like caramal brownies.  Here's the recipe:
1 C butter, softened
2 C br. sugar
2 Eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 1/4 C flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
Cream butter and sugar.  Add in eggs and vanilla.  Mix dry ingredients in.  Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes in a greased 9X13 pan.  Once cooled, frost with maple frosting.
Maple frosting:
p. sugar
butter
canned milk
1 tsp maple flavoring
mix until smooth

This stuff if amazing!  If you have every had a maple bar or a cougar tail at LaVell Edwards stadium they taste similar to that.  Delicious. 
Enough talk, Here are some pics of our Cool Cat!  I know that's what you want anyway...

Totally asleep with both feet off the floor.

He fell asleep DURING the blessing before dinner.