Monkey's birthday

November is a busy birthday month for our family. We went to my parent's for Thanksgiving this year. I prebaked the cake but hadn't decorated it. The little monkey got into the cake carrier and obliterated half of the cake. It was supposed to be double staked with a chocolate and a vanilla layer. It ended up being mostly 1/2 and 1/2, too short for the decorations and not exactly round. I guess a 2-year-old didn't care and we enjoyed it all the same.

We ran into another little problem. I found this cake design way back in February and thought it would be perfect. I waited all year to buy Twinkies (which I never do) for the aliens. Right about the same time, the unthinkable happened - Hostess Went OUT of business and there were no Twinkies to be found. We ended up using mini donuts. It just goes to show you, you can never be too prepared. I should have had a few boxes in food storage!

His brothers picked out a wooden train for him. He was happy to finally have is own set.

 My Dad's birthday is also in November. It is really hard to get presents for people who have pretty much everything so we were super excited to find this one-of-a-kind game at my favorite store - DI. My Dad was raised in Southern Washington just miles from Mount Saint Helens. He wasn't in town when it blew but it was a favorite location pre-explosion days. In fact, his father is buried with a beautiful view of the mountain and his old home site is on the road to the mountain. So, the point is, this game was perfect, in a very unique way. It wasn't till a few months later that they had a chance to play it. It was awesome.

Volcano

You can kind of see but the idea was to get from the town to the volcano and back without getting stuck in numerous volcano related situations. Fun because lots of places, including his high school were in the game.

Fun Stuff

These are just some random pictures of fun things we've had going on.

Handsome Hammy in his suit. Sadly, this in the only time he wore it.

 

This kid loves his watermelon.

I came home from dropping of the big brother and this is what I found. Hammy read him the whole book.

We made pretzel, peachy, fires for scout snacks. It was a hit.

A Sitar player came and did a presentation for the school kids. Hammy LOVED it.

Last but not least, we got a fabulous new vacuum. I've been vacuuming with the hose for a year or so. This made my favorite chore fun again. Thanks Robert!

Another Birthday Train

Well a couple months after the UP Birthday Cake big brother had to have one as well. This time, the request was for a Burlington Northern F7 with horns, mars light and a FRED. I had way less time to make this but it went ok.

Birthday Pancakes. See that red candle? It plays the most obnoxious version of Happy Birthday so naturally the kids LOVE it.

Please note the BN logo very carefully crafted from white chocolate. I am proud of that feature.

thanks to mtmuseum.org for the model picture

This is the FRED - Flashing Rear End Device. It replaces a caboose on modern trains.

Mom with the Birthday Boy! This train didn't have plain old oreo coal, it had loads of candy.

 Can't believe my baby is 6. How fast time goes.

Fall Fun

 

I love fall.

It is my season. My colors. My flavors.

I got to wondering why the other day.

Maybe it's because I fell in love with the most wonderful man in the world in the Fall.

Maybe because ALL of my children were born in the Fall.

Maybe it's just because of pumpkin stuff. I don't know.

So even though it's April, I'm going to post from Fall.

And I'm getting all excited.

And, I'm counting down for another Fall baby!

Angel's Landing

My parents came down just before Halloween. We went to Angel's Landing at the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. It was an exceptionally gorgeous day and we had a lovely time.

I have to say, all my boys are good lookin'. Just look at those eyes!

 They climbed rocks, had dozens of races, played follow the leader, and had a great time with their grandparents. We were glad they could come for a visit.

My Mom climbing rocks with the best of them.

Possibly one of my favorite pictures EVER. They are looking for turtles and it was just a sweet moment shared between a little boy and his grandpa.