Goodbye Summer and Fresh Tomatoes...

...Hello Fall and Fresh Broccoli and Lettuce.

Yesterday Rich ripped out our sad summer garden. We didn't get a lot from our garden this year, but we did have a plentiful amount of baby tomatoes. This was good because Ava gobbled them up. She actually preferred to eat them outside straight off the vine. We didn't mind, but a few times we had to stop her before she ate too many and regretted it later.

Yesterday we also bought some broccoli and some lettuce to grow this fall/winter. Ava loves broccoli and I have learned to eat it, so we thought we would give it a try. The lettuce is actually for our tortoise Mo. We have grown lettuce in the past with success and I'm excited to see if we can get a good crop of broccoli.

Fun Fact: This weekend while visiting Rich's family we talked about growing broccoli and fall gardens. During our conversation a Grandpa Bowling quote was shared: "If you plant broccoli in October you will eat it at Thanksgiving."

In the summer we give Mo some zucchini, squash, and leaves and flowers from our garden. Ava loves to feed him. This year we bought this Tortoise home, so we could put Mo outside during the day to enjoy the weather without loosing him or having to worry about an animal attack.

1st Lesson in Cake Decorating

Last Wednesday we had a cake decorating lesson for the Young Women's activity. I was suppose to teach the girls what I learned from my cake decorating classes. I didn't think I needed to prepare or practice but I was wrong. I took the classes 5 years ago and haven't used the skills I learned in a couple years which was apparent when I tried to make some basic flowers. The decorating lesson was a flop, but it was still fun to be creative and experiment.

When I was baking the cake for the activity I made one for Ava. I knew there would be left over frosting and thought she might enjoy decorating too. She was excited and ready to go. At first she squeezed some of the frosting onto the cake, but she liked spinning the lazy susan while I squeezed the frosting out. We made a good team. When the frosting was gone we let her sample her work. Of course Ava loved it and for the rest of the week she would try and pull the cake off the counter to get a piece.

This is Ava's new smile. We will ask her to show us her teeth and this is the face we get. It cracks us up.

Effie Yeaw

Yesterday we went to the Effie Yeaw Nature Center. It is in Carmichael right across the river from where we live. There is a little center with a few live animals and a natural history exhibit. There is also a nature trail that loops by the river.

When we got there a naturalist was looking for people to take on a guided nature walk. Most of the families were turning him down and we tried to say no because we didn't think it would be fun with Ava, but somehow we got roped into it. The group only included us and a mother and son. They didn't stay with the guide the whole time, so we got a hour guided nature walk almost to ourselves. The naturalist taught us a lot about the vegetation and was quite knowledgeable. The only problem was I didn't have much of a chance to take photos and play with my new lens.

During our walk Ava was really tired. Rich ended up carrying her most of the time. She did well even though she probably would have rather been at home in her crib. It turned out to be a blessing that Ava was carried because midway through our walk as we paused to look at a tree a heard a noise moving through the brush. I turned around and saw a rattlesnake about 5 feet away. It freaked me out, but was exciting at the same time. I was glad when our guide said this variety of rattlesnake was not aggressive.

After our walk we toured the center. Ava loved the owls and keep saying, "Who Who." She also enjoyed looking at the exhibit. By this time she was crazy tired and running all around with her manic energy. We finally had to pick her up and take her out because she did not want to leave.

Rich & Ava by the pond.

Our group headed on the guided nature walk.
This is a chrysalis for a Pipeline Swallowtail Butterfly.

Do you see it?

This is the Rattlesnake we encountered on our walk.

This is a beehive burrowed into a Black Walnut tree.

Bees in the butterfly garden.

This was Ava's favorite animal at the center. This is a very old Horned Owl. It was blind in one eye and had problems with one of its talons. The guide said it probably won't live much longer.

This is a stuffed Beaver in the natural history part of the center.

Big Pumpkin

On Friday we went to Sam's Club to buy a few things and they already had pumpkins. There were a ton of big pumpkins for only $10, so we bought one. Ava was so excited. She kept touching it in the cart and saying, "Pu-Pu." When we got home she had a great time playing with the pumpkin.

At first Ava just used the pumpkin as a stool.

Then she started climbing on it.
Finally, she started using it as a mini slide.

New Blog

I'm starting a new blog. I know you are probably thinking she can't even keep up with the food blog, so why start something else. Well, this new blog is going to be different. It is going to be a journal of my journey completing Personal Progress.

If you are not familiar with the Personal Progress Program for the Young Women of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints you should check out this blog. There is a lot of info located in the sidebar about the program. To give you a quick idea of what P.P. is, I would compare it to a young man working toward becoming an Eagle Scout...without all the camping and uniforms.

The next thing you are probably thinking is why? I explain that on the blog too. Basically I am working with the YW of my church and want to support them by being an example. It doesn't hurt that P.P. will help me strengthen my faith and learn new things too.

So, if you are interested in reading about my Personal Progress experience or are just thinking, "What the heck is she talking about?", click on the link below to check out my new blog:

IT'S NEVER TOO LATE

Hagan Park Activity

On September 11th our ward had an activity at Hagan Park. We rented the Sacramento Valley Live Steamers and had the trains to ourselves. This was the first time we rode the train and were excited for the opportunity. We thought Ava would love it, but we were wrong. She freaked out when we got on the train with her and shook her head violently, "no, no, no"! For the rest of the day she would freak out if we even approached the train. We tried to get her to ride the train with some of her favorite people in the ward and some of her nursery friends, but she wanted nothing to do with it. Ava did have a good time though. She just found other ways to have fun.

Ava didn't want to ride the train, but she did love to wave bye and blow kisses to everyone on the train. She was also waiting to welcome each train back to the depot. Many of the ward members got a kick out of Ava 's goodbye and welcome back.

Ava also enjoyed playing with a couple of her friends. We are fortunate to have great families in our ward with kids around Ava's age. Ava just started attending nursery on Sundays and has made some good friends.

Ava was also happy to eat. She enjoyed a variety of food, but loved the watermelon. We have learned this summer that Ava loves watermelon. She gets excited when she sees it. She ate quite a bit of watermelon at the activity and got nice and sticky.

Even though, Ava didn't want to ride the train, Rich and I had a blast on it. It was a neat experience and a great way to spend a Saturday. I know Ava had a good time too and who knows maybe next year she will want to ride the train.

Me ready for my 1st ride on the steamer train. Rich is holding Ava who was upset and yelling, "mama, mama!"

Me waving to Ava through the trees.

This is one of our family friends and one of Ava's favorite people trying to convince her to go on the train. I'm sure you can tell by the picture that it didn't work.

Ava happy to wave to the train and people from a distance.

Ava playing with her friend Andrew.

Ava hanging out with her buddy Jill.

It was a long hot day and Ava just wanted to be held by her dad.

Oakland Zoo

Here are more photos from the Oakland Zoo. These photos are of animals and flowers. It was a lot of fun experimenting with the new camera lens Rich gave me for my birthday.