Seaside trip

All the ladies: Aunt JoJo, Tracy, me, grandma Dot, Rhonda, Lauren, Jenny, Genie, Tara

The men-and grandma: Dan, Jesse, Jim, Bob, Grandma Dot, Shane, Chris

Madeleine and Max on the Tilt-a-Whirl

Shane and Jenny

Max prefers to go commando....

Doesn't he look sweet....

Lauren and Chris skim-boarding, Shane gathering water for the sand castles

Building sandcastles: Shane, Jenny, Madeleine and Max

I LOVE this picture!!

Twice a year the McFarland side of my family rents a house at the beach for 3 days. Imagine 18 people in 1 house!! We always have a great time and look forward to the next time. It's a tradition that we all hope will last forever!

Our garden

Jesse and I have turned our small side yard into a garden. Although I really don't enjoy gardening, I'm hoping that growing our own fruits and veggies will turn me around. We have planted tomatoes, onions, lettuce, radishes, squash, zucchini, beans, peas, sunflowers, cucumbers, artichokes, cantaloupe and 4 new blueberry plants to go with my other 4 plants. Can't wait to see what all this work will yield!

Easter

Well, Easter was a rainy mess, so we had to do our treasure hunt indoors. The kids didn't mind a bit! We went to my mom's house and had a really great day!

Spring Break

Maddie and Max on the Tilt-a-Whirl, 3rd time
The 3 of us on the Tilt-a-whirl, 2nd time

The carousel, again...

Very foggy morning, but no rain!
Running away from mom

Pleeeaaassseee can we go in the water??

While Madeleine was being a good girl on the swings.....

Max was chasing a flock of seagulls...

Well, you couldn't really tell it was spring by the weather, that's for sure! I surprised the kids with an overnighter to Seaside on Wednesday, unfortunately Jesse had to work. I told the kids we were going on an adventure, already had everything packed in the car and off we went! Madeleine tried so hard to figure out where we were going. It wasn't until I gave her the clue that "one of her favorite restaurants was there," that she guessed Red Robin. I said no, but it does have the name of an animal in it as well as a favorite breakfast food. She got out a piece of paper, made 2 columns, and Max started listing farm animals which she wrote down and then a list of breakfast foods. I didn't take her long to yell "Pig-n-Pancake!!" Needless to say they were so excited! It snowed almost the entire drive, then poured down rain once we arrived. We were soaked to the bone most of the day, but had a great time riding the carousel twice, the Tilt-a-Whirl, playing games in the arcade and of course we had to visit The Buzz, the greatest candy store in town! We went swimming at the hotel, ate dinner at Pig-n-Pancake, of course, and topped the evening off with hot cocoa and popcorn. I would like to say that they slept really well that night, but not so much :) Max fell out of bed and woke us up, yet he remained asleep even while I picked him up off the floor! We started our Thursday not so bright and early at 6:50am, snagged some of the continental breakfast (adding in gluten free food I had packed), walked on the beach for a while, picking up sticks, did some more swimming (inside!), Tilt-a-Whirl 2 more times, the arcade again, and one more trip through The Buzz for some treats for daddy before heading out. Max was asleep before we were out of town and Madeleine lasted about 30 more minutes before falling asleep herself. We had a really great time and were all in bed by 8pm!

Birthday Mousse

Madeleine was being constructive, making a house of cards with cousin Nathan's help.
Max was enjoying the following dessert!

Chocolate mousse in dark chocolate bowls

We had a family gathering for Tracy and Grandpa Buzz's birthdays. Aunt Deb was in charge of the dessert for grandpa (yummy pineapple upside down cake) and I was in charge of Tracy's dessert. She wanted chocolate mousse. I searched for a good-looking recipe and looked at different ideas on how to "plate and serve" This is what I came up with (I tripled the recipe for 14 people):

Chocolate Mousse Ingredients:
1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
1 tablespoon cold water
2 tablespoons boiling water
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
1 cup (1/2 pt.)cold whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Sprinkle gelatin over cold water in small bowl; let stand 1 minute to soften. Add boiling water; stir until gelatin is completely dissolved and mixture is clear. Cool slightly.

2. Stir together sugar and cocoa in medium bowl; add whipping cream and vanilla. Beat on medium speed of electric mixer, scraping bottom of bowl occasionally, until mixture is stiff. Pour in gelatin mixture; beat until well blended. Spoon into serving dishes.

3. Refrigerate about 30 minutes before serving. Garnish as desired. Cover; refrigerate leftover desserts. Four 1/2 cup servings.

DOUBLE RECIPE: Use 1 envelope gelatin; double remaining ingredients. Follow directions above, using large bowl instead of medium bowl.

For the bowls I used small balloons blown up and dipped in melted and cooled chocolate. Dip the bottom of the balloon in chocolate and place on wax paper. Place in refrigerator until hardened. Pop balloon carefully and peel out of chocolate. Spoon mousse into a plastic zip lock bag, cut a corner off the bag and pipe into bowls. Top with whatever you want! Do NOT serve this to anyone with a latex allergy/sensitivity.

My First Blog

I am very new to this, but excited to be here. I think this will be such a fun way to keep in touch with family and friends! Thank you for your patience while I get the hang of this!