Foodie Fanatics

So our friends the Draschils may possibly be the most fanatical foodies I have ever met. They've been in Boston for  2 months and they've already discovered more amazing places to eat than we have in 2 years. They actually check out foodie movies from the library and research places to eat! (true story.) They also know all the little joints that have been featured on the food network and make it a point to eat there.  If you ever need advice on cool places to eat, ask the Draschils, you can't go wrong.

Case in point, last weekend we were hanging out at the Boston children's museaum and they were like, "Oh there's this super famous bakery just around the corner with the most amazing sticky buns ever!" (apparently the sticky buns won some food war thing on some foodie channel) Anyway, we go to the children's museum all the time and I never knew that little gem of a bakery was just around the corner! Sadly they were out of their signature sticky buns, but we did load up on tons of other yummy desserts and devoured them before I could even take a picture. They were that good.

After dessert we decided we should probably have dinner, so they led us to this amazing food truck called Roxy's with gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches that are out of this world!

Everyone was taking pictures by the truck (apparently it's going to be featured on a food network series soon) So we jumped in and got some pictures too. 

The sandwiches came out piping hot and they did not disappoint. 

Best grilled cheese I've eaten In. My. Life.

It was a very cool "Boston Moment" to be on some random street on the west side of BU, eating gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches from a famous hipster foodie truck, and we owe it all to our fanatic foodie friends. Thanks guys! 

Apple Picking at Smolak Farms

Even though it's been freakishly warm lately (80 degrees yesterday and today with lots of humidity!) We did have a somewhat cool Fallish day last weekend and it put us in the mood to go apple picking.

We went with our good friends the Knutsons. It's always fun hanging out with them because we have twinner families. 2 girls and a baby boy for each us. 

Our girls love their girls and it's non-stop giggly happiness when they're together.

We went to Smolak farms in North Andover and started off with a hay ride around the giant orchard.

After the hayride the girls got right to work apple picking and Cam got to work being ridiculously adorable in his little man outfit.

Teya made good use of the Daddy ladder to get all the "beauties" that were up high.

Teya probably picked over 90% of the apples in our basket. Brinley was too busy eating them to bother with picking more. ; )

Cam really wanted an apple but he had to settle for his Gerber apple wheel.

And maybe a little hay too : )

Riggies in the apple field. 

And we'll end with the classic bale of hay and pumpkin pic.

(Just ignore the remnants of hay dangling of of Cam's lips. He still hasn't learned what does and does not qualify as food ; )

Boys + Google = Cliff Jumping on Labor Day

 On the Sunday before labor day we had the Draschils over for some grilling and backyard marshmallow toasting. The plan was for them to sleepover and then we could wake up and do something fun in the morning.

Well by the time we got all the kids in bed (and apparently that includes Joseph since he disappeared after putting the kids down and Mel found him hours later passed out on the bed) it was pretty late and we still hadn't come up with a plan for Labor day. As it got close to midnight we got the crazy idea to make Melinda call the Marriott and ask if we could swim in their pool. I don't know how she did it but that girl worked her magic and got us the green light to swim at the hotel the next day for free.

So that was that. I went to bed in awe of Melinda's power to get anything she wants and with the plan to swim in a nice clean chlorinated pool in the morning.

Well when we woke up we found Taber and Joseph churning away at their computers and I could tell they had other plans in mind. I asked what they were up to and with big excited eyes they started spouting off about water holes and Horseshoe falls, and google maps, and all kinds of stuff that didn't sound like a chlorinated pool. Turns out they had done a Google search and found some grass roots website for swimming holes in New Hampshire. They found one that was just 30 minutes away with a little waterfall and a 15 foot rock for cliff jumping.

Despite their excitement I was skeptical.  How on earth were we going to find this unmarked waterhole with no signs, maps, or roads leading into it? The boys, however, felt confident they could get us there. They had scanned the area with google earth satellites and after they found all the landmarks described on the website, Joseph dropped a pin on his little GPS app and we loaded up the troops in search of Horseshoe falls.

It took a little searching but to their great credit, the boys found the swimming hole and I have to say, it did not disappoint.

  There was plenty of slow moving shallow water for the kids to play and float around in.

The babies did good too, lounging in the tent and even taking a few dips in the water.

Taber and Joseph were quite pleased with their googling skills. 

And I'll admit, it was fun to see them go from being cute dads taking the girls on a floatie safari to jumping off the rock like teenage boys again. It was the best of both worlds.

 And don't think Melinda and I just sat back on baby duty the whole time either. You better believe we were jumping off that rock too cuz that's the way these mama's roll. : )

I made a video to document our awesome braveness. Some bragging rights go to yours truly for being the first to jump and also to little Teya for being brave enough to jump off one of the lower rocks. (She wanted to jump off the big one but I don't think her swimming skills are quite to that level. She's a brave little dare devil.) 

Camp Joseph with our FWLLFs!

You know what's awesome? Going to Camp Joseph up in Sharon Vermont with our friends from church.

We went last year and LOVED it so much we've been looking forward to going again all year.

You know what's extra awesome? Going to camp Joseph with our FWLLFs (friends we love like family) The Draschils, who were once our exceptionally awesome house guests but are now officially Boston residents and will be here for 2 years while Joseph's in grad school! We're so pumped that they're on the East coast and are already planning many future rendezvous between our families. : )

We went up there last weekend and the girls were super excited about their camping braids, their tinkerbell headlamps (modeled by Teya) and the GIANT marshmallows (clutched tightly under Brinley's arm) that we brought for roasting.

 When we got there we realized that after 6 hours of packing half our household for this trip, we had somehow forgotten to pack matches! Taber bravely snagged a burning stick from someone else's fire pit to try and get ours going but transferring it proved a little dangerous. Luckily our neighbors had an extra lighter and loaned it to us for the weekend.

With the fire burning the S'more fest could begin. Pretty sure I ate enough of those babies to hit the double digits. Definitely a highlight of the weekend for me.

We opted for a cabin instead of a tent this year since I'm not brave enough to sleep in a tent with a 7 month old.

Even in the cabin with his pack and play Cam struggled the first night.  He was cutting yet another tooth and it kept him up all night. Luckily the 2nd night was TONS better. He only woke up once and slept in till 8.  

He was a very popular attraction amongst all the kids. Who can resist a camping baby?

 The kids ran themselves ragged,  playing, exploring, swimming, catching frogs, lizards, caterpillars and all sorts of fun creatures.

 The grown ups had fun too playing hard at the waterfront (see post below), frisbee, volleyball, and laughing and talking around the fire late into the night. We also had a talent show but I totally FAILED and didn't take any pictures! (So unlike me).  I blame it on the fact that both Taber and I were dancing and I couldn't find my music and got a little flustered before it all started. 

Anyway, forget to take pics but here's one of Taber practicing the day before. He did the hoop, which he hasn't done in years but still totally rocked it, I danced a hula to Palehua, the girls sang original compositions, and we even convinced Joseph to do one of his hilarious pantomime scenes with Melinda. It was tons of fun and they decided to make it a Camp Joseph tradition because everyone liked it so much.

Here's a little 15 second clip Taber took of my hula so you can kind of get an idea of the atmosphere.

After two days I think Taber was seriously ready to move our family out into the wilderness and live off the land. I really think it's his dream to either live in a cabin or an igloo.  While that probably won't happen any time soon (or ever, sorry babe) We'll always be big fans of camping, especially at the beautiful, fun and very awesome, Camp Joseph.

Move over Edward...

There's a new vampire in town

Sorry though, he's taken ; )

On Saturday we attended a fabulous Halloween costume party thrown by some of our good friends, the Baldwins and the Tedjamulias.

We spent the evening playing games, bobbing for apples, and even had a dance off at the end. I think I burned at least 1000 calories dancing : ) Thank you to our lovely hosts for such a fun filled night!

The Tedjamulias as Mario and Princess Peach (aren't they adorable?)

I didn't get the chance to document everyone's costumes, but here are a few. Love the couple's themes!

Happy Campers

This weekend our friends Maile and Dave organized a big labor day camp out. It was our first time camping with the girls and even though I was nervous about the kids being able to sleep, they both did awesome! I think all the great activities like s'more roasting, exploring in the woods, fireworks, and watching the campfire really wore them out. I thought we'd have to lay with them for awhile to get them to fall asleep but we put them down a little after 9 and Teya just hit the pillow and was out! Brinley required a little more coaxing, but after a couple lullabies and back rubbing she was gone too. With both girls out we headed back to the campfire for some good chatting and bonding time with the other adults.

Teya woke up once in the middle of the night because she had to go potty. It was pretty cold though and when she realized she'd have to get out of her sleeping bag and brave the outhouse she changed her mind and just held it till the morning! (bladder of steel!)

Anyway, It was a really fun time and great to know that our girls are champs when it comes to camping! Enjoy the pics!

Yummy S'mores!!

Chocolate S'more face

Some pics of the campfire crowd. I think there were around 13 families that came. It was a great group!

Teya exploring the "spooky woods"

Our cute little tent. It looks small but it actually fit all four of us really well!

I brought the girls in the tent to change them into their jammies and they got all crazy hyper in there!

Teya was pretty excited about the sparklers! Huge props to JP for bringing those, they were a big hit with the kids.

This is Brinley right before we put her to bed. She was SOOOO tired! (can you tell? : )

And here she is waking up in the morning with Daddy.

Can't get enough of her big fat cheesy smile! How can you not be happy waking up to that face?

And one more Brinley smile. (couldn't resist) This one is during breakfast with some granola remnants on her face. The epitome of a happy camper : )

Kitchen Warriors

It may have taken us 3 1/2 hours, and I may never attempt such an ambitious recipe again, but Maria and I are claiming kitchen warrior status for the homemade lasagna we made for our men last night! Here is a link to the recipe http://mylasagnarecipe.com/ Let's just say it involved us cutting up fresh basil leaves, grating a pound a real mozzarella, and throwing in spices I've never cooked with, like fennel seed. Oh yeah, we are hard core!!! (all you REAL hard core chefs are like, "aw, cute, Becca thinks she can cook now... bless her heart") But seriously! We felt so accomplished! (Of course, I think it would've taken me 5 hours without Maria and I probably would've had a meltdown somewhere in the middle) Still, I'm patting myself on the back for trying something new. I'd also like to mention that we made homemade bread rolls, fresh green beans, and a strawberry poppyseed salad for extra credit. Our men were quite appropriately blown away, and I'm giving myself the weekend off cooking because I EARNED it! : )