Silverwood and Boulder Beach

This summer we're laying low. Hanging out. Reading a lot of books. Doing little projects around the house. Just. Relaxing.

Hubbs wanted to take a trip to see his sister in the Coeur d'Alene area and take the girls to Silverwood and Boulder Beach. So, we packed up the car and headed out.

6+ hours...and many stops later, we arrived! Time to let Puppy meet Cousin Puppy at the dog park. They sniffed, and ran, and played and panted and were ready to go.

I had to get a quick snap of Biggs and me. I'm not called "Mamarazzi" for nothing!

The next day, we went to Silverwood. Did you know that if your kids forget their swimsuits for the water park they get upset? True story. Hubbs swooped in and bought them new suits so we could get wet and have the most fun possible at Silverwood. Love this man!

What better way to pass the time than to take pictures in line? They think I'm crazy. I think I'm brilliant! ;)

Biggs drove Hubbs on the antique cars. Lil' Miss drove me and Auntie. We couldn't help but make a ruckus. She kept covering her eyes while driving! It was scary! Okay, a little fun to embarrass her harmlessly too. She kept saying, "people are looking at us." That just made us do it more. You'd think she'd learn to not react to us. We might stop...okay, you're right...probably not. Hee hee.

So, my new motto...the family that thrill rides together, stays together. We LOVE thrill rides! I have always loved them and it warms my heart so that my girls have the same passion for them Hubbs and I do. Biggs and I rode in the very front our first time on Tremors...the wooden roller coaster. Fan-freaking-tastic!

The Aftershock is so smooth you can't tell how fast it's moving. Such a trip! The girls wanted to go again and again and again.

"C'mon Mom...stop taking our picture and let's ride this thing!" ~ pretty much what I heard all day

In another line, I want to take pictures and Lil' Miss poses so nicely!

I love, love, love this one of Auntie and my girls! Such wonderful people!

We spent so much time on the amusement park side that we only had about 1.5 hours in the waterpark. The wave pool was our favorite! I forget how much fun it is to get out there and just play. We all need to do more of it!

Like a Kid in a...

cheese factory!

A few months ago, I thought about taking the girls to the Tillamook Cheese Factory in, where else, Tillamook, OR. It's about a 2 hour drive from our house and close to the beach, which makes it a great destination for a day trip. Naturally, when I first brought up the trip, we were in the last 6-8 weeks of school; one of the busiest times around here so the trip had to wait.

Yesterday, after living in the Portland/Vancouver area for just shy of 19 years, I finally made the trip to the Tillamook Cheese Factory. Of course, I took The Hubbs, Biggs, Lil' Miss and Cousin with me.

Voila! I was so excited I forgot to take a picture of the actual factory. This one is courtesy of 52 Perfect Days.com http://www.52perfectdays.com/articles/savoring-tillamooks-cheese-and-coastal-beauty/

It isn't an exaggeration that I was like a kid in a candy store. I LOVED watching the packaging team work their magic to make it so I can buy and consume the most incredible cheese on the face of the earth. As I watched the workers, my mind was racing. I was wondering all kinds of things like, how someone came up with the idea and automation of the factory machines, guessing the flavor cheese being cut and packaged, hoping they would start the machines on the left side of the room, and also thankful I'd spent some time reading up on cheese making on their website. There are signs everywhere telling the history and what is going on but how could I read the signs when there was CHEESE BEING MADE??!!

Lil' Miss asked if she could be the photographer. Being the supportive mother I am, I handed over the camera. She has taken amazing photos in the past and I knew she'd come through again. Here are some of her photos:

Playing with camera angle

Here come the "forties"...42lb. blocks of cheese. Lil' Miss said this might be enough cheese to hold her over for the day.

Slicing the forties into 2lb "Baby Loaf" size

Did I tell you how much Lil' Miss LOVES cheese yet? She definitely had her eye on what they were doing with her precious cheese.

Moving toward packaging

Lil' Miss and Cousin thought the machines with blue tubes should be called Octopus Machines.

I think Octopus Machine totally fits, don't you?

Extra cheese shaved off and put into white tubs....

I laughed at this picture when I first saw it. Lil' Miss must have been wondering what they were going to do with all the "extra" cheese. :D

The pictures have a cheddar quality to them don't you think? ;) We had to turn the flash off because it was reflecting off the observation windows. Cheddar-vision will have to do!

On the opposite side of the Factory are HUGE vats of milk used to make the "forties". We were able to see some of the production on both sides of the factory.

One vat holds 53,500 pounds of milk. There are 8 vats!

"Forties" getting vacuum sealed

The "forties" come out, sealed and ready for boxing.

Once in a box, it takes a ride up and out of the packaging rooms. I wonder where that conveyer belt leads...

I noticed Lil' Miss taking picture after picture after picture of the trophies and medals in display boxes. After what seemed like 50 pictures, I told her that was probably enough pictures of bronze cows. She did get some great shots though.

Of course, my favorite shot of the day is this one of Biggs, Lil' Miss and Cousin...

It was a great visit to the cheese factory! I'm sure we'll be going again. After all, where else am I going to find a 2 pound block of Smoked Cheddar Cheese? Maybe I can smuggle out a "Forty." ;)

Lasagna Cups

Dinner anyone? 

Who doesn't love lasagna? It's a complete comfort food. Noodles, cheese, tomato sauce, herbs...did I mention cheese? Warm, browned, delicious cheesiness. Oh how I love those browned cheesy bits. I decided to try making lasagna cups the other night figuring they would be quick and delicious. Lil' Miss decided she wanted to cook with me and who am I to turn down an aspiring chef. Plus, more hands make less work. So, off we went to make our lasagna cups.

We started off with spraying the muffin pan with cooking spray. We used an organic olive oil. The first layer of wonton wrappers were next, one per muffin cup. In a separate bowl, I mixed 1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese with about 2 tsp Italian Seasoning (I'm a firm believer in approximation measurement in cooking), 1 tsp garlic powder and 1/4 tsp salt. Mix these well so each cup will have all the seasoned goodness.

In the meantime, Lil' Miss browned 1lb. ground beef and added 1 jar tomato, garlic and herb spaghetti sauce. Our tummies were in growling double time by this point!

Once the meat mixture was ready, it was time to assemble. Here's the pattern:

1 wonton wrapper
1 mini-scoop ricotta mixture
1 tbsp meat and sauce mixture
2nd wonton wrapped (rotated 1/4 turn to the first...think a diamond on top of a square)
1 mini-scoop ricotta mixute
1 tbsp meat and sauce mixture
sprinkle of mozzarella

Bake for 10-15 minutes at 350 degrees.

Our sauce was pretty juicy so we baked 15-18 minutes to ensure the wonton wrappers were cooked all the way through. The edges will get quite brown...but we love those browned bits right?!

2-3 per person and you're set to enjoy. :)

Merry Christmas Banner

I've always loved making things with my hands but when I decided to go back to school and earn my degrees, my creative side took a back seat to textbooks, papers and reflections. Like many others, I returned to college when my children were young. My girls have been amazing and such wonderful supports as I pursued my educational dreams. In 2006, I started working on my bachelors degree full-time. In May 2008, I graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor's in Elementary Education with a K-8 teaching certification. 11 days later, I was offered my first teaching job and began my adventures in the classroom that August. The state I live in requires teachers to obtain a Professional Certification...which means, back to school. I knew I wanted to get a Masters degree also so I decided to bite the bullet and do them at the same time. Why not!? As I've said in an earlier post, I'm a glutton for punishment.

August 2010, I started working on both, my Professional Certification and my Masters degree in Educational Leadership. One CRAZY BUSY year and I'd be done! Well, this meant every minute of my time was used for homework. I realized that I am capable of accomplishing  A LOT when I put my mind to it. While finishing my educational degrees, I worked full time, still had my daughters, husband, house and dog to take care of too. Ah-che-wa-wa, it was quite the journey!

I was completely done with all of this in August 2011. It took me awhile to realize I could relax and do stuff for my family and myself again. It would take until December before I truly started to believe and practice this fully.

I decided to start little when I came across a Christmas banner inspiration at Silver Boxes. I started planning it out in my brain right away. What Christmas paper do I have? What about coordinating ribbon? I have a new Cuttlebug, what embossing folder could I use to add texture and dimension to it? What about Cricut cartridges for cutting the shapes? Honestly, I couldn't answer these question in my mental planning. It had been so long since I had used any of my materials, I truly had no idea what I had or didn't have. So...a trip through my supply storage and a trip to the craft store. Then, a few hours with my Cricut, ATG gun, scissors, pop-dots and voila!

I love how it turned out! I can't believe I forgot to tell about the project that brought me back in touch with my creative side. A few weeks later, I decided to start blogging, which is why I do not have process pics but you get the idea. Tootles!