Wildlife on Val Vista

Since the trees have come down behind us, we hear fewer birds and animals, but have some very interesting bugs hanging around.  This guy stayed on the screen on the garage window for several hours one night.  I felt badly for him/her...so lost without the forest.  Or, maybe, so happy to have new digs.

This froggy seems like an old friend.  We have lots of these little tree frogs around our house.  They sound like giant bullfrogs - the loudest and deepest croak you can imagine.  How do they do that with this little tiny body?  Here, the frog clings to the siding of the house right outside our living room window.  So sweet and tiny.

Brussel Sprouts Gone Wild!

Yes!  I grew these this year for the first time.  Very easy and fun to watch grow.  So many ways to prepare brussels sprouts - here I seasoned them with salt and pepper then roasted them in balsamic vinegar at 350 for about 20 minutes.  I can't believe that I did not like these little cabbages as a kid.  Now, I love them.  The kids are really great about trying them when I pick them.  Tonight I harvested the last of my trees and made Rachael Ray's Sprout Slaw with them.  Katie liked it a lot - maybe she will be a fan as a kid.

Lemons from a California Garden

A colleague from work brought lemons back from her sister's garden in California.  They were beautiful, plump, firm, aromatic lemons.  Katie and I went through the cooler she offered to us and chose the most lemony ones we could find.  We brought home 20 lemons!  And made lots of lemonade.  Katie became a sugar adding expert.  Not too sweet, but just enough.  She even topped off the lovely juice with a sprig of spearmint from Dad's herb garden.  (He only grows spearmint!)

Garden Grows Greater

My green pepper harvest this year beat last years by 2 peppers.  This year, I grew three peppers that were 4 inches across when I picked them.  Yahoo!

Lake Wynoochee

We have this beautiful lake about 30 miles up the road from us in the national forest.  On this cool summer night, Arnie, the kids and I went up to barbecue a salmon.  We took a salmon that Arnie had caught that morning in the river.  He and the kids fished the lake while I barbecued the salmon, wrapped up with onions and lemon, and the corn.  For serving, I dropped Feta cheese on the fish, although I'm not sure I should print that since I hear that many chefs do not like cheese on fish.  We thought it was great, so who cares what the experts think?  I brought a fresh garden salad and goddess dressing.  The evening was quiet and cool - only a couple other people visited the park.  Too cold to swim, but wonderful for walking around the trails and visiting the dam.

Harley Weekend in Ocean Shores

Last year when we went to Harley Hog Wild Weekend, I forgot my camera.  The bikes are impressive and amazing.  As are the people, whom I try not to photograph.  Arnie says that if you look a biker in the eye, he has to kill you.  I, however, believe that Arnie has watched too many cheesy biker movies.  Arnie misses his motorcycle days.  When we first started dating he owned a Honda and dreamed about Harley Sportsters.  Now, he might be able to afford a Sportster, but dreams about sending his kids to college.

So, we go to Harley-fest instead.  The kids and I like to look at the bikes, but really enjoy the fair booth food.  Today Arnie and I ate "Fat Boy" onion burgers that were not as fat as the tires on the Fat Boy bikes.  Well, maybe.  Arnie added garlic onion rings and Robby ate garlic fries.  Katie had a hot dog and potato chips.  The kids ordered lemon-aide and I, I had to try the deep fried pickles.  Hot, sour pickles dipped in batter.  Hmmm.  I'm glad I tried them, but think I'll pass next time.  If I find them deep fried as chips, I might try them again.

      

The Deep Fried Pickles with Ranch Dressing.

Arnie and Robby admiring another sportster.

A band played old Rock and Roll songs.

I almost forgot.  Ice cream concoctions from Murphy's parlor.

Bikers leaving town.

Katie takes great photographs from the back seat!

Katie took some great pictures of some bikes leaving Grays Harbor later in the day.  Wow.  They sound so powerful on the highway.  Incredible.

Harvesting the Potatoes

Katie helped harvest the potatoes.

"It's like panning for gold," Katie exclaimed as she found another red potato under the wilting stalks. "It's a golden nugget!"

I tried to grow red potatoes this year.  I want to figure out how to get them to keep adding layers of potatoes, but have been unsuccessful so far.  I did not tend the potato plants well this year, so the slugs got the best of them and the weather wilted them.  We pulled them early, but got a good number of potatoes.

The plan is to take them camping and fry them up with eggs and sausage one morning.  I'll try to remember to take my camera!

A Year Goes By

 Our family friend, Larry, coaches the high school boys soccer team in Aberdeen and has been running a summer camp since the 90s.  Robby attends every year and Katie attends sporadically.  This summer she decided to attend because she wants to play in the fall.  Robby, being a seventh grader this fall, will attend the afternoon camp while Katie's age range is the morning.  Larry asked if Robby would like to help out in the mornings, so they've both been gone a lot!

At camp the kids play a lot of games (besides soccer!) and learn to improve their soccer skills.  They both had a great time and are quite sunburned despite our sunscreen efforts.

So, you are questioning, what does this have to do with food?  Every year, as a thank you, I bring Larry salad from my garden.  I wasn't sure if I was going to or not this year since the lettuce is really all that is ready.  However, Theresa, his wife mentioned that she was looking forward to the fresh salad.  Also, Hailey, their daughter who is also Robby's age, told Robby she couldn't wait for the salad.  Funny.  So, I shared the wealth.  I pulled some small carrots and onions for them.  Lots of lettuce and a couple of zucchini.  Nice to know that my efforts are appreciated and wanted!

Bear, Salmon, Mosquito.  The full body tag version of rock, paper, scissors.

Katie's World Cup game.  Her team was Japan.

Robby's World Cup game.  His team was Spain.

Calzones

Robby got to go to the Sounders vs. Manchester United game tonight, so Katie invited Lexie over.  We've been making home made pizza a lot this summer - especially on leftover nights.  Tonight we switched it up.  The girls made their own calzones.  They were so yummy that I forgot to take pictures until dinner was almost over!  They seemed to enjoy choosing their innards and watching me pinch the edges closed.

Lexie likes broccoli.  What a great kid!  None went into her calzone, but she nibbled out of the bowl while building her calzone.

The dough recipe is from my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.  So easy and quick.  Tonight I used a can of pizza sauce, but sometimes we make our own.  As different things ripen in the garden, we put them on the pizza or in the calzones.  Arnie has smoked some meat for us this summer, the leftovers of which often are the feature on our pizzas.

16 Years

This year for our 16th anniversary, Arnie and I hit the town of Olympia for the evening.  We found a quiet and tasty Italian bistro and visited our favorite pub.  It was a quiet evening.

Fishtale IPA.

A white St. Michelle for me.

The Fishtale Brewery is huge now.  When we first lived in Olympia over 16 years ago, it was a tiny hole in the wall.  No food, just great beer.  Now they are 5 times the size, serving food and that same great beer.

Decadent chocolate desserts.

Seattle Sounders!

 A few months ago, we bought cheap seat tickets for the Sounders vs. Colorado Rockies game through the Youth Soccer Organization.  We ended up buying five tickets in the family section - although as you can see in the next picture, the family section meant we had to look through a fence to see the goal nearest us.  We told Katie she could invite a friend since one of them likes soccer but hadn't ever been to a Sounders game.  A few weeks before the game, However, Katie and her friend received a birthday invitation for another friend who was taking her party out to Lake Quinault for the weekend.  Katie was more excited about the party than she was about the soccer game, so we let her attend the party. 

Packed and ready for a wild weekend at the lake.

That, of course, left us with two extra tickets.  We called my brother, Dan, who said they'd be glad to fill in the two extra spots.  As the weekend approached, the weather seemed to become very dismal.  Not an enticing thought - to spend an afternoon watching soccer in the rain.  I've been there, done that.  Nonetheless, we said goodbye to Katie, drove to Seattle, found free parking, and walked to Occidental Park to find Dan and Hank.

We were at the top of this section.  Arnie and Robby are sitting up there in this picture.  If you peer at it long enough, you can see Robby's green Sounder's jersey.

This is the fence that we looked through to see part of the field.

The band that played at Occidental Park.  Here they are outside the stadium just before the game.

At Occidental Park there is some pre-game fun and music.  We listened for a while and then walked back toward Centurylink Stadium to find some food from the street vendors.  We chose Stadium Dogs and feasted on their spicy dogs.  Except 6-year-old Hank.  He wanted "a not-spicy dog".  The dogs were awesome and we headed to our seats.  The game was great - the Sounders won 4 to 3.  At 3 goals, they announced that everyone in the stadium won a free haircut!  Hank loved the "yellow cards" that Subway sandwiches provided everyone and held his up at irregular moments - like half time.

Lunch on the stadium stairs.

Hank's not-spicy dog.  Too big to eat in one sitting.

Dan and I got spicy dogs with grilled onions.  Yum.

Robby's spicy dog with - right on - ketchup.

The skies sprinkled on us briefly and then opened up and let the sun in for most of the game.  Pretty great.  The game was loud and raucous.  Fireworks went off above us at every Sounder goal, making Hank cover his ears.

Look!  Above the stadium!  The Sun!

We had a terrific barbecue at Dan and Heather's after the game, and then made the trek home.  Meanwhile, Katie was having a blast swimming and boating in Lake Quinault.  She ate a Lodge Burger for dinner and played a lot of Hide and Seek in the cabin.