Franklin Falls

We took a quick trip to our favorite little waterfall yesterday. It's hard to beat togetherness and sun and green and water all rolled into one. A shot of happiness straight to my heart, that's what it is.

Saturday morning pancake parade

This will be a parade without pictures, I'm afraid, and for that, I apologize. It always makes me cranky to flip through a cookbook without pictures, and here I am, on the verge of sharing a picture-less recipe. We'll do better next time!

We've begun a new tradition in our little family, and it involves making an enormous production out of breakfast on Saturday mornings. Or the Saturday mornings that find us at home, at least, and in the spring and summer months, that is certainly not every weekend. But two Saturdays ago we decided to slow down for half a second and loll around at home, and so the pancake parade commenced.

This recipe was a smashing success, and we share it with only one caveat: Unless you are planning to actually feed the amount of men you might find at a very busy truckstop, you might like to cut the recipe in half. Even then, you'll be eating pancakes all the live long day; for two people, using only a quarter of the ingredients would have been plenty.

Truckstop Buttermilk Pancakes
5 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
6 tablespoons butter, melted
5 cups buttermilk
5 cups all-purpose flour
5 teaspoons baking powder
5 teaspoons baking soda
1 pinch salt (optional)
5 tablespoons sugar

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, butter and buttermilk. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and sugar; stir into the wet ingredients just until blended. Adjust the thickness of the batter to your liking by adding more flour or buttermilk if necessary.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and coat with cooking spray. Pour 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto the skillet, and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip with a spatula, and cook until browned on the other side. Continue with remaining batter.

4th of July P.S.

How did I forget to mention this earlier? I must have temporarily lost my marbles, probably because there's only so much fun a gal can recount at any given time. Anyway, we discovered this year that the very best way to pay homage to the independence of our great country is this: riding around town dressed up as Uncle Sam and Lady Liberty with our bro and sis on cruisers that are lit up like fireworks themselves. It's rumored that George and Martha Washington may make an appearance next year...

4th of July

Another 4th of July come and gone, and it was a great, big breath of fresh air. Eric's parents very generously opened their lovely home to us again (for the upteenth year in a row), and we spent the weekend lazing around on the deck, taking long naps, wandering through the farmer's market, strolling down the beach to the marina, watching oooh-and-awe-inducing fireworks, and thoroughly enjoying the company of one of our very favorite families. If we lived on the harbour, I would get nothing accomplished, ever, ever, ever; how Eric's parents manage to pull themselves away from the water and sand is beyond me. In past years, the scenery has been the star of our pictures; this time, the spotlight turned to something (someone!) else... :)

Summer Saturday

An afternoon with my love and my brother + an oasis in the middle of the city + flip flop weather + vanilla ice cream and piles of cherries = a happy me.

Eliana

This is my week for spending time with adorable little misses, it seems! Yesterday I had a date with Eliana, and we spent all afternoon reading books, building with blocks, chasing after Oliver the kitty cat, and inspecting rocks in the backyard. Eric and Tessa graciously allow us to claim her as our niece, and if she didn't already have us wrapped tightly around her finger (and she most certainly does!), the fact that she's started saying Uncle and Auntie whenever we visit has sealed the deal.

Strawberries in the sunshine

....with my dear friend Tonya and her two darling munchkins make for a very happy June morning. I see lots of freezer jam in our future!

Another peek

I'm so enthralled with the pictures from our Montana adventure that I can't resist putting up a few more. Derek will be handing off the whole kit and kaboodle this weekend, and then, hoooo boy, you'll be getting an eyeful!



And have I mentioned, once or possibly 5000 times, what an incredible treat and privilege it is to enjoy things like this with your very own brothers and sisters? Oh, the memories we're making!

Montana 2010

More to come, but for now....

Cedar Point

Just as we suspected, flying across the country to zip around on rollercoasters for two days was the perfect way to celebrate our birthdays. Raptor flips upside down 6 times at 57 miles per hour and it's one of our very favorites; can you tell? :)

The Sunshine Coast

Have you ever visited? It will take. your. breath. away. We're still trying to catch ours!

60 years in the making

When your Dad turns 60, the only thing to do is have a big to-do. And so we did.







Behind the scenes:



What is going on here? It's a mystery to us, too :)