Cute and Courteous

Another quick post to commemorate a developmental milestone. This weekend Audrey started using some courteous phrases in context. Without prompting she said: "Thank you Nana" (when given a potato chip), "Bless you Mama" (when Kelly sneezed), and my favorite, "Excuse me" when pushing by two people in a store. It's nice to see all our coaching start to take hold.

And since all posts must include pictures. Here are a few of Audrey at her cousin Owen's 3rd birthday party today:

I'll update with a link to more pictures if they are posted online.

Cascades Camping

Audrey's first camping trip was 14 months ago in the Utah desert. We had big plans to sleep under the starry skies frequently, but we had only made it out one other time since then. Maryland's massive bug population was our primary motivation to stay indoors for most of the last year.

Now, of course, we made it back to the Northwest and there is camping-a-plenty to be had. With most of our boxes unpacked and a long string of rain free days in the forecast, we decided to make for the hills and get another night outdoors before the summer ends.

We randomly flipped through our camping book and picked a place that was both close by, not too high in elevation, and was supposed to be scenic. We ended up staying at a campground just a few miles from the turnoff to Crystal Mountain, the ski area I logged quite a few runs at growing up. We decided to take a side trip up to see the mountain in the summer.

We managed to get back down the mountain without running our car into the ditch (that's a nod to a certain reader) and made it safely back to our campsite where we explored all we could find, which was mostly dirt, dirt, and more dirt. And this little caterpillar:

Audrey was 10 months old during our second camping trip and we weren't yet allowing her to indulge in sweets. This time was a whole different ballgame and a primary goal of the trip was the making and eating of smores. First the fire (and another comparison with last year)...

..then the smores. There is truly nothing better.

Audrey is still sleeping in a crib, sans blanket. We didn't think this would be a great night to test out a sleeping bag so we improvised with a tri-layer pajama ensemble. It was a bit warm when we put her down, but it got cold quickly and she seemed to do great. She slept better than us, finally popping her head over the side of the crib at 7am with a "HI!!!" after we had been quietly staring up at the brightening sky for the previous hour or so. She wanted to crawl into Mama's sleeping bag and Mama was happy to oblige.

Next, Audrey ran around, looking like an Ewok while Kelly and I cleaned up the campsite.

And finally, we got some tree hugging in at the 9.5 foot diameter Douglas Fir (there was a sign, I didn't measure it) at the end of our campground. We will remember to bring a few more dirt friendly toys on our next camping trip but this time out we made do with our imaginations and had a ton of fun.

Beef Bowl

One of the first things I do when I move into a new city is scope out the ethnic grocery store scene, particularly Asian grocery stores. Los Angeles had anything you could ask for. Salt Lake City had a few stores that were passable, but not great. And let's just say we weren't too adventurous with our cooking in Southern Maryland.

Now? We live five minutes from a Uwajimaya. If you are from Seattle and you own anything resembling a wok or even a pair of chopsticks, you know what I am talking about. If not, you are missing out. Sashimi grade fish? Check. Sukiyaki beef? Check. Chicken feet and cow uterus? Check. Not that I'll be buying those last two any time soon.

Today Audrey and I made a trip to pick up ingredients for Beef Bowl (recipe to follow). She decided to pick up something for herself:

And a video of her using it:

Beef Bowl

vegetable oil
1 package of sliced Sukiyaki beef (about 1/2 - 3/4 lb)
1 onion
chopped garlic (to taste)
chopped ginger (two slices)
1/3 cup mirin
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 cup water

Put some oil in a pan. Stir fry onions until slightly softened. Add garlic and ginger, stir fry for a little while longer. Add beef and stir fry until no longer pink. Add liquid and heat. Serve over rice, adding liquid to taste.

Guitar Hero

Who plays guitar hero anymore? This girl does, and she rocks! She even has the serious guitar face figured out.

Loud, Part 2

Part 1 was the Thunderbirds. Part 2 was the Blue Angels at Seafair. Well, not Seafair, but at a "secret" spot overlooking the events. Just as good of a view with much less drunkenness. Thanks to Aunt Lala for letting us in on the Secret.