March 23, 2011

Snow Day

Since it's cold outside and we're stuck inside, Mom brought some of the freshly fallen 6" or so of snow in for me to play with.



Spring, Where Are You?

It snowed last night, and it's still snowing this morning. I can't stop staring out the window at the snow coming down. It's exciting to see.

This is what it looked like in our "backyard" a few days ago. As of yesterday, there was even less snow.


This is what it looked like this morning. Mom used the word "gross" to describe it. I think it's pretty.


And I'm ready to go out and play in it.

March 19, 2011

17.5 Months

Taken at Coon Rapids Dam Regional Park



And a bluejay we saw by the side of the road...

March 17, 2011

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I may not be Irish, but that won't stop me from wearing green.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!



P.S. Please don't drink and drive.

Out for a Walk

Enjoying the warmer spring weather and walking through puddles and the melting snow.


March 15, 2011

I Don't Want It... Unless You Want It

This morning Mom gave me a couple crackers for a snack, but I didn't want them. I set them on the coffee table, walked into the kitchen, and threw a tantrum. So, Mom gave me a couple more crackers. She might as well have handed me poison. What I wanted was some sugary cereal.

The bird took advantage of the lonely crackers on the coffee table and flew down to take a few bites. I decided at that exact moment that maybe I wanted the crackers after all, so I ran over and stole them from the bird. Then, I ate all the crackers. I guess if he thought they were good, I thought they were good, too.

March 12, 2011

Zebra Cake: Post from Mom

I came across a cake idea while browsing the Internet I decided I absolutely had to try. It would make a great cake for a birthday party. In fact, I may use it for Evie's second birthday. When baking for something like a birthday (or holiday or any other special day), I always like to do a test run so I have an idea of how long the recipe takes and what can go wrong. I also like to know if the recipe is actually worth making. And it doesn't matter that the event I could be baking the cake for is six months away.

The cake is called a zebra cake. Basically, you mix yellow and chocolate cake together in the pan in such a way that when the cake is done baking and you cut it into pieces, the pieces look striped. Being one who likes cakes made with lots of real butter, I used the yellow cake recipe and chocolate cake recipe from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything cookbook. The yellow cake recipe is super easy to make, while the chocolate cake recipe requires a little bit of extra work (though not much).

Once you have the batter made for each cake, the idea is to put in a few tablespoons of the yellow cake batter into the center of a round cake pan (I used two 9 inch pans for my cake), then put in a few tablespoons of the chocolate batter into the center of the cake pan, and continue until you have what looks like a bulls eye.


The chocolate cake batter ended up being a bit more stiff than the yellow cake. In fact, the yellow cake batter spread very well towards the outer edges of the pan. I would probably add a dab of extra milk to the chocolate batter next time just to help it spread a bit more evenly. Also, the process of spooning in a little bit of batter at a time became a bit time consuming, especially with a toddler clamped to my leg, trying to get my attention. 

After the cake was baked, I just made a standard buttercream frosting to frost it with. Maybe if I make it for Evie's birthday I'll get the motivation to try using some fondant. I think it would fun to cover the cake with brown fondant and do white or yellow stripes. Then the party could be wild animal or jungle themed with little animal masks for the kids to put on and wear around. Anyway, below is the final product.



It took a bit more time than I wanted to make this cake, but it tasted really good. Evie liked it, too. 

Storytime

Once upon a time there were some farm animals hanging out on a coffee table...


...when all of a sudden a cow attacked them all!


And they ended up on a piece of toast.


The end.

March 9, 2011

Can't Keep Me Away

I've learned how to maneuver chairs, books, really anything I can climb, over to the trunk that sits in front of the computer desk. Once I get on top of the trunk I have access to the computer, and my favorite thing to do is try to push the power button. I've got Mom guessing how to stop this game. So far, she's had no luck.

March 6, 2011

Como Park Zoo and Conservatory, Part 2

Below are more photos taken at the Como Park Zoo and Conservatory in St. Paul.












And a video of a monkey with a crazy mustache sticking his tongue out.

March 5, 2011

Como Park Zoo and Conservatory, Part 1

While getting ready to go out, I took a couple self portraits. Aren't I fabulous?



We went to the Como Park Zoo and Conservatory. We saw a lot of pretty flowers and cool plants. 


The fern room was really misty.


One room had a big fish pond. I enjoyed watching the fish and turtles swim by.


Tomorrow Mom will post pictures from the better camera.

March 1, 2011

Where'd Evie Go?


There she is! Mom had no idea.




Couch Potato

The couch was my home all day yesterday.


I had very low energy as I recovered from being sick. Mom turned on some Sesame Street in the morning to keep me entertained. 


Then I spent most of the rest of the day with my eyes closed. I took four naps. Even after that much sleep, I still slept through the night last night.


I started today on the couch again.


I'm still considering whether today will be a repeat of yesterday, or if I'm feeling well enough to maybe play a little.