Ramblin' Jacks Deep Fried Pickles. .

Yummmmm. . .

Since Princess has been busy dancing up a storm, I've had to find things to fill my time. Of all the endless possibilities, my favorite activity has been the taste testing at local restaurants. (I know you are all so shocked.)

Although I have never made these myself (I have an aversion to deep frying), a friend back in DC used to treat us with this appetizer. I think dipping hamburger cut dill pickles in a cornmeal batter and deep frying is all it would take to whip up this tasty little treat. At Ramblin' Jacks they have a Dijon Mustard dipping sauce on the side. Again I say, YUMMMM!

Do you have a favorite appetizer you'd like to share?

Old Mr. Schilter had a farm. . . .

And on his farm he had some. . . ponies. With a neigh, neigh here and a neigh, neigh there. Old Mr. Schilter had a farm. . . and on his farm he had some goats. . . with an oink, oink here. . . and a moo, moo there. . . . here, a meow, there a meow. . .(the meow's were the favorite) Old Mr. Schilter had a farm. . .

. . .and everyone had a great time!

An afternoon at the beach.

What's the first thing you thought of when you read the title. Sand? Sun? Swimming in the waves? Well, the beaches in Washington are very different from those beach images. The weather here is quite temperate. Not too hot, but not to cold. Which in turn causes the water to stay quite chilly. At least too cold for this momma to ever go for a dip. So a day at the beaches on Puget Sound are a little different than your traditional sand castle experience. Princess was posed and ready. She has her bag along for any pretty rocks she may want to collect. Also in the bag is a plastic container, during berry season you have to be prepared. You never know when you'll come across a good berry patch.The General mostly enjoys looking under rocks for crabs or other little critters. He has so much fun exploring. Notice the Olympic Mountains in the background. I think that is my favorite part, all the beauty that surrounds us. This time Bubby thought rock skipping was the best. The whole beach is actually lots and lots of pebbles and rocks. You find some of the best skippers. Mr. Nomad is a pro. He can get as many as 7 or 8 skips out of a good rock. I, on the other hand, sadly struggle to get mine to skip once or twice.We had so much fun checking everything out. I look forward to many more hikes down to the Sound. Notice all the islands in the background? Puget Sound on a map looks like a big open area of water. When in fact it is full of little, and sometimes not so little, islands and inlets. As you can see it is very beautiful.

We weren't the only explorers at the beach on that day. It seems this sea otter was just as curious about us. He was so funny. He slowly came over to where we were playing. Then he would bob up and down, trying to get higher in the water for a closer look at those crazy humans who kept taking pictures of him. I hope we get to see him on our next visit.

Blackberry Pickin' & Mom's Cobbler Recipe

Talk about two activities that were made for one another. Berry picking and baking. Since arriving in August, we've taken advantage of God's bounty. Ahh, the sight of those juicy berries is such a treat. Okay, we've picked the ones on the edges. . .but can't quite get the best ones in the middle. With bare legs, the thorns are a bit much.Not a problem, Mr. Nomad is a very resourceful fellow. Not much time for duck hunting these days, but those waders are great for berry picking!We are so grateful, even The Nomads can enjoy the harvest.

Now onto the baking. This is the part where Mr. Nomad takes the kiddos upstairs to supervise bath time, and I get the kitchen to myself. Cobbler is his favorite, so he has alterior motives ;)!

This is my mom's cobbler recipe. I follow recipes about as well as I follow patterns, so bear with me.

Mom's Cobbler:

Step one: I like to start off with clean fresh picked blackberries. I know, I know we can't always have fresh. Frozen works well too. Put the berries into the pan so they are about that far from the top. (Maybe 1 1/2 inches) Lightly coat them with sugar and flour. Approximately 1-2 TBSP of each. So they look like that.

Step two: Mix up the cobbler fixings.

For a 9x13 pan. . .

1 cup oatmeal

1 cup flour

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

2/3 cup butter

Mix the dry ingredients first, then cut in the butter. Sprinkle the mixture around on top of the berries. The end result should look something like this.

Put into a preheated 350 degree F oven, and bake approximately 45 minutes. The top should look golden brown.

ENJOY!

Sundays with the Nomads

A few Sundays ago when we came out of mass, the sun was shining brightly. It was a beautiful day. Now if you have lived in the Pacific Northwest for any amount of time, you know to take advantage of these moments of perfect weather. Which is exactly what the Nomads did.Mr. Nomad with our monkeys. That is the Washington State Capital in the background.

Someone at church told us we could find a bridge to watch salmon who are coming in to spawn. This brought us to the Capital Lake area for a little Sunday Stroll. I think there was a bit of a misunderstanding with the directions, we didn't find the salmon.

Which was okay. Our eyes were delighted with the sights of the boardwalk at Percival Landing. I thought this seagull had a great perch. Right up there by the flowers, with the marina in full view.

Then there was this cool statue honoring mothers. Of course I needed a photo with my munchkins. Oh, how fortunate I am to have them. Whenever I see pictures like this, I'm reminded that I am living my dream. As a little girl I always dreamed of being a mommy. Of course I also wanted to play in the NFL and be a lawyer, I'm glad this is the one that panned out. Now, not every Sunday here is bright and beautiful. This Sunday after mass we found ourselves scurrying quickly to the van, in valiant effort to stay dry. We were experiencing the rain for which this area is so well known. Sometimes you have to find beauty and happiness in other places. Last week we enjoyed the beauty of God's creation, and the wonders of man's engineering. This week, our joy came from the creativity of our little Nomads. Without further adieu, I bring to you the Nomad Children's Parade.

This is where they basically empty out their toy bins making various floats. Of course there is music, as the stuffed animals have different bands. Bubby found a broken microphone, and was the lead singer for the numbers. As you can see it was a lovely parade. I won't bore with its entirety (it lasted 1 1/2 hours), but it was a fun way to spend a rainy Sunday afternoon.

I'm a little ashamed to admit throughout the parade, I kept thinking, "I cannot believe they have everything out. We just spent two solid days, sorting and organizing. . .UGH!" Fortunately the side of me that celebrates their creativity won out over the neat mommy, and the very best treat came at the end. They actually cleaned everything up, putting all of their treasures back in their respective bins, tubs, boxes and place that has been designated its home. Now that my friends is a beautiful Sunday!

Kayaking, a dream realized.

When we learned we were moving to WA State the first time, way back in December of '99, I began looking at fun things to do. The one thing that caught my eye was kayaking. My husband and I both love the outdoors, so I dreamed of all of these wonderful kayaking adventures we would share. Enter reality: two very small children and a husband who traveled A LOT. Needless to say, I left WA the first time with the regret that I had never kayaked.

Fast forward to Saturday, and my dream was finally realized. Our friends, the ones we have been living with the past month, invited us to join them for a day at the lake. . . KAYAKING! The clouds had parted, the sun was shining, who could turn that down?

So was it everything wonderful I had imagined? Yes, and more. Picture this: a beautiful lake setting with Mount Rainier prominently sitting in the background. You have to help me with this one, as in the picture below the sun washed the mountain out. It looks far away, but when we were there it was so vivid and close.

The weather was even better than I hoped for, as you can see we didn't bring suits for the kiddos. They started with wading, slowly getting deeper and deeper. You know how it goes, before long it was just all out swimming in their clothes.

Here was the surprise treat:

As one group was out kayaking the eagles showed up. Yes, there were two bald eagles and two American eagles flying around. Swooping over our heads, diving into the water fishing. Very cool.

So that is how I spent my Saturday. Kayaking on the lake, watching eagles soar, and enjoying the majesty of Mount Rainier and the joy of our children. Fun was had by all. In fact my husband, who has been a bit reluctant in my desire to outfit our family with kayaks, replied after our day, "I'm sold! Bubby isn't too young, we can get kayaks." YIPPEE!

Nature's Adventures

We've been taking advantage of the recent sunshine by getting out for some very fun hikes. The General, Princess, Flipper (our friend's little girl who frequently sounds like a dolphin), Bubby, Flipper's big brother & the CEO of our little nomadic clan. Don't you think the two extra kiddos fit in well? I'm trying to figure out how I can steal them when we leave for OK in a couple of weeks.

The gang swinging on the fence like a bunch of monkeys. That is Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains in the background.

The General penned this poem in tribute to our love of hiking.

Nature's Adventures

By: The General

On the trail we hike and go

To see nature we must be quiet and slow

Look up high in that tree

See a bird's nest built so eloquently

Wow! A flower is in the clover

Watch out so you don't tip it over

That bit, fat, ole slug, a slimy trail he weaves

Now it is time for us to leave

Tip toe through the tulips.

No, this isn't a scanned postcard, it is a photo taken last week when the kiddos and I headed up to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. Tulips are my favorite flower in the whole wide world. So each year that I have lived in WA state, I make it a point to take the drive north and treat myself to this wonderful experience. This field of tulips is located at Tulip Town. One of two must stops for me whenever I visit the festival.

Notice how dirty Bubby is? He had a great time running on the path, finding clumps of dirt and throwing "dirt bombs". We only received a few "get your child under control" looks. Which made me laugh. If you cannot let a 3 year old boy get his energy out in an open field, not aiming at people, where can I ask are these little energy balls supposed to have fun?? It was a bit nostalgic as well. You see, The General was about Bubby's age the first time we visited the tulip fields. Guess what? He too loved to throw dirt bombs!

Here are my kiddos posing in front of one of the tulip beds at Roozengard's, another must visit stop in Mount Vernon. You'll notice that Tulip Town is more of the open fields, while Roozengard's has more flower bed displays.


You could spend the whole day here, just enjoying the views. The peace, the quiet, and the home-made fudge wasn't too bad either.





A little snuggle time with Mommy & Bubby. It doesn't get any better than this! (Didn't The General do a great job with this picture?)