Farm visit

This is the second year that we've enrolled in a CSA (community supported agriculture) with Sungold Farms in Forest Grove. Each week during the season, we get a bag of whatever is fresh and ready to harvest. Its kind of fun to have the challenge of planning meals around the suprise, and learn to use things I wouldn't have tried on my own. For example, pickled beets are awesome, though I was sure I wouldn't like beets in any form. They always have an open farm day at the begining of the season. We got to see where our food is coming from, meet the family that runs the farm, take a hayride and check out the equipment. Zane learned the word "tractor" in record time, and boy does he love to use it.

Grandma Visits and Girl Scouts

We were very lucky to have Grandma Candy, Aunt Wanda, Aunt Judy and Wanda's helper and friend Jenn come for a visit. It was a ton of fun, but too short! It happened that they were here the weekend we had scheduled for Willow's Daisy troop to bridge up to the next level and become Brownies. One of the requirements is for the girls to help plan their own ceremony, and they decided to "bake" into brownies. One epic journey from Lowe's to my house dragging a washing machine box later, we were in business. Our family was very patient with me and my obsessive attempts to get the box to look like an oven....turned out pretty good, huh? Despite the typical spring weather (read cold and drizzly) it was fun and cute, and the girls really did work hard for their achivement.

Happy May Birthdays!

May is usually crazy month here, what with mothers day, Willow and Zane's birthday, other family birthdays and "Joe Peterson Day" (last Sunday of the month - celebrate it with a Joe Peterson you love!) We waffled and waffled about what to do for Willow's celebration. I just didn't have it in me to even do cupcakes in the park for her class, so we just had cake with her Daisy troop after a meeting. She prefers whipped cream to frosting, but I've learned that m&ms candy coating melts in whipped cream (though still not in your hand) So she ended up with a wierd tyedyed cake studded with grey nubbins. Sadly, no pictures ;(

Zane just had a little family party, and sadly his cake turned out ugly too...but it tasted great, lemon cake with lemon frosting and filled with fresh strawberries from the farmer's market. The big hit of the presents was his little wooden train set. Bedtime became very tearfull and echoing with calls of "more choo-choo, more choo-choo" for a while. He also got a trike, though it is a bit big for him, it was still very exciting!