birds

I went with Abbie's class yesterday to Creamer's Field. We visited the bird banding station again, and got to use some binoculars to check out the hordes of cranes and geese. The staff and volunteers out there are really great, even though the classes go out there pretty often they are never bored. Always something new to see and learn!

BOING!

A blast from my past:

When I was a very little girl, I used to play with my cousins (and Uncles!) on an inner-tube much like this one. So much fun! Until you fly off or land on the fill stem.....oh well that didn't happen in this picture sooooooo, we will stick with just the fun part!
Many thanks also to Uncle Bill, who dropped off such a bouncy donut!

Weekend

This is a catch up post of funny foodie things....Liam got to go bird hunting with Kyle and Clinton last weekend and shot a spruce hen! So this weekend we ate it. :) Kyle just brought home the breast portion and because it was shot with bird shot, I decided to stew it first. (With fresh sage from my garden.)

I'm game, hehehe!
It has a very dark meat flavor, but very tasty and I couldn't find any pellets. We ate it shredded the next night in burritos.

Kyle had this tasty beverage leftover from our last Anchorage trip:

He requested a chocolaty dessert to go with it, I can do that for a sip! This is what I chose:

A hot fudge pudding cake, recipe from Cooks Illustrated. It was very good, especially with some vanilla icecream. A perfect end to the first week of school!

First day of school

School starts

It is time for school again up here, this year we will have kids at Weller Elementary and Tanana Junior High. Hopefully all the timing will work out!
Liam got to pick up his schedule today and try out his locker. We finally figured it out with the help of some older students and re-connected with some old friends. He only allowed me on picture, outside :)

Abbie also got to find out about her new teacher and classroom. She will have Mrs. Hovda in room 10. Liam also had her for second grade. And ice cream!

Hot

Edit: I wanted to clarify, I made my new shirt ;) and did you notice the shot from above?? I tried to get the thermometer registering 94, but you couldn't see my shirt at all in that one. A little too oooo-la-la!

We had record breaking temperatures yesterday (91!!), I think that means I need a new shirt!

TVSF Day 2

At the petting zoo. She tried hard to convince me, but I told her the only way we will have a bunny is if I can name him "Friedfordinner".

We ran into Cayla with Gavin and Logan. I tried to get a picture of Logan smiling up at Liam with his two little teeth, but missed it every time.

A slightly healthier day at the fair....frozen chocolate dipped banana!

Dinner

I tried a new recipe for green curry with chicken and veggies. Very good! It was a little hot for the kiddos, I am going to look for some more mild yellow curry to try next time (or make my own :)

A not so great dessert, pantball suckers. The kids licked them long enough to get some good color and realize they were kinda boring. No flavor just sweet and shocking!

Fair time

The Tanana Valley State Fair is here again, fun but it means the end of summer for us.....just a few highlights of the adventures we had today. Abbie got to ride her beloved ponies and Liam got to climb a rock wall/tower. A good time was had by all until we were full and tired (not to mention out of money!). Next time they are promised midway rides with friends and probably less greasy and sugary treats :)

A hot day

It was still very warm yesterday, but the kids wanted to go ride bikes at the school. Abbie has just had her training wheels off! They seemed to be more of a challenge than a help. The small wheels kept getting stuck on the rocks and uneven ground around here. She did really well at the school on the pavement, only falling once and with just a tiny scrape. Liam had lots of fun doing tricks with another kid who was there and riding fast around on the pavement.

After some dinner we had to go cool off at Uncle Chris house with the sprinkler! Abbie engineered this shot herself, she says this is how you are supposed to jump through the sprinkler :)

Liam was content to not get TOO wet and chill with some hammock time and play with Titan (Chris' dog). Now it is still warm but sprinkling out today, just in time for the fair!

Cajeta

The newest experiment in my milk category...cajeta is a cinnamon caramel sauce made with goats milk. I got the recipe from the Rick Bayless website (link) I have watched his shows on the 'Create' network, part of our PBS channel. A lot of really fun and yummy Mexican food! Some of the ingredients are a little hard to find here, but most have substitutions and all are beautiful. I am not sure if this spread is so pretty...a lot of the food blogs I read say brown foods are the hardest to photograph appetizingly. It is too hot to bake bread and I forgot to take a picture of the apples that Abbie at it on. Oh well, at least you can see its gooey goodness!

Projects

Besides some costuming and a new handbag for Lily, I have also been working on a small upholstery project. I bought this chair at a yard sale last summer and it has been languishing in my garage. I had to replace the pad and recover the seat and back. It was very crushed/worn and a cat had torn up the back. It would have gone much faster if the staple gun had been more cooperative, but it still turned out pretty well. A new chair to use for shoe removal!

Berry season

A short but nice trip up the Steese Highway to our favorite berry picking spot. We got about one and a half gallons of blueberries and had a nice time in some beautiful weather! We are experiencing a last ho-ra of summer up here in Fairbanks and have had temperatures in the 80s. A little warm for berry picking, hats are a must!

Abbie found a tiny frog in the puddle by our camp. She was convinced it was the same one the found last year and put in a bucket...

It was so hot the second day, we even 'encouraged' the dog to get her feet wet in the creek. She was not so happy to do so, but it did cut down on her panting for a bit.