Frogs

Our first weekend, we had an extended family reunion. I failed to take any pictures. We did take cousin Brennan home for the afternoon. We also had 2 other friends in the vehicle, to Wayne's dismay. One frog (or toad???) for each boy,  captured at the pond, and trapped in a cup for the ride back to Mom and Dad's house.

On the way, Tyler's escaped. When I told Wayne, his deadpan response, without skipping a beat, "you're dead to me."

We had a good laugh, and the escapee was quickly retrieved when we stopped...discovered under the clutch pedal. Lucky guy that he was not squashed. 

Setting them free in their new home.

Home

It always warms my heart to be home. 

We had a few days in Middlebury before the reunions commenced. 

Feeding the fish with Grandpa.

On our way to the lake.

 Some girl time - Thai for lunch, then consignment shopping with Aunt Anna, Trina, and Mom.

One evening, we biked the Pumpkin Vine then enjoyed pizza at Village Inn and Ice Cream at the food truck, Rocket Science Ice Cream.

Visiting the neighbors at their furniture store.

Traveling to Indiana

Trying to get myself caught up...

July 16, we were packed up and loaded for our annual summer trip to Indiana.

We were slightly excited...

Our good little travelers.

Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ummm, it's been a long time since I've posted. Much has happened since then. Life keeps chugging along, and I don't yet have the time for my catch up post. But, I do want to post my final favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. I thought I'd found the final. last. chocolate chip cookie recipe before, but nope. This is the one. I'd like to say that I was able to find some way to alter them to make an improvement, but I can't. I even like baking them at 325 like suggested. (I've tried higher temps to speed it along, and it's just best at 325, what can I say)?

I've made many, many batches since I first tried it about 6 months ago. I usually make a batch of dough, maybe make a pan of cookies, and keep the rest in the fridge. (Except the balls of dough the kids and I like to steal ... which is a new habit since I found this recipe). I just roll it in saran wrap and tuck it in the fridge. That way whenever we want a batch of cookies, they're fresh. You know, when they're crisp on the outside, and chewy in the middle? Just aren't quite the same out of the freezer or a day later. Anyway, I wanted to document the recipe on my blog in case (horror or horrors) something would happen to the site where I always return to make these little morsels of deliciousness.

Amy’s Chocolate Chip Cookies
-Recipe from Alaska From Scratch

Ingredients

• 3/4c butter, softened
• 1c brown sugar
• 1/2c sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 1t vanilla
• 1/2t maple extract
• 2c flour
• 1t baking soda
• 1/2t salt
• 1c semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. (Or spray with cooking oil).
2. In the bowl of a stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and the sugars. Incorporate the egg and egg yolk. Add the vanilla and maple extracts.
3. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt and mix until just combined. Add the chocolate chips and beat until it all comes together.
4. Use a medium cookie scoop to scoop cookies onto cookie sheets. Bake 12-14 minutes, until golden and set on the edges but still a little undone in the center, being careful not to over-bake. The cookies will look puffy when they come out of the oven, but let them set on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes. Remove to a cooling rack to finish cooling. 

I'm beautiful

Aubrey was throwing up and running a fever yesterday. Today she's not quite back to normal, but is feeling much better. She was chatty again this morning and was singing when I ran to get my phone to video her. She didn't realize I was recording at the beginning - and as you can see she's pretending to talk on the phone about her golden broom. Then, when I ask, she sings her song, which we will call I'm Beautiful, again for me.

She cracks me up.

Silly

Mmmm, summer dinner.

Yesterday, we soaked up the summer sun and played in the pool. Then, last night, we had burgers with BBQ sauce, cheddar cheese, onion strings and bacon. Oh, and local corn on the cob.

Tyler loves corn on the cob, and I think he may have eaten 3 ears. Here's my goofballs after dinner. Tyler had no idea what I was laughing at. And, clearly, Wayne is impressed with the mess. ;)

Cupcake

Lately, Aubrey has become quite vocal of her love of girly things. From when she was able to talk until recently, her favorite color was blue. Now, she'll usually say pink or purple. Quite often, she talks about buying things at her "pink store." (Her make-believe store). She wants to be a mermaid. And she mostly wants things decorated with rainbows and hearts.

This week, she announced to me that she wanted a birthday party the next day. She wanted a rainbow-heart cake. I thought it was cute and I thought it'd be fun to make her a little cake for her 1/2 birthday. But, a friend was raving about j.raes cupcakes. So, I ordered her a cupcake instead.

This picture was taken right after we picked it up. We had to sit down to look at it again.

It was a chocolate cupcake with strawberry frosting, sprinkles, hearts and glitter. A dream cupcake for my little girl. ;)

She could not have been more thrilled and happily polished the whole thing off.

4th of July weekend

Last Saturday evening, a dear friend of my parents passed away. The silver lining is that we were unexpectedly able to spend some time with them this weekend. They flew in Wednesday evening and though they were exhausted from an exceptionally long day, they were good sports and we had dinner and a few fireworks before calling it a night.

Not sure why, but they're wearing biking helmets. I guess Aubrey's usually looking for a way to accessorize.

Cuties!

Tired Dad. :)

Thursday, we enjoyed the day together. We went on a long walk by the river, starting at the Keeper of the Plains.

Then we walked along the river, along Veteran's Memorial Park...

With a stop at the playground and by Exploration Place.

In the evening we played mini golf. Mom - why did I not get more pictures of you!?!

We ended the evening with ice cream and fireworks, of course!

We enjoyed a little time together again yesterday afternoon before they had to fly home. We're all happy that we'll be heading their way soon. It made the goodbye a little easier.

Monsters University

Monday, we all went to see Monsters University. This was Aubrey's first movie in a theater, Before the movie, she was so excited, she was shaking.

We shared popcorn and drinks. Aubrey was a big fan of the buttery popcorn, and preferred not to have to share. So, she was thrilled when she could the bucket.

Other than a couple of bathroom trips, she did a great job of staying seated. And, the movie kept us all entertained.  It was a fun way to spend a cool summer evening. :)