TRAVEL

The whole beach to ourselves

April 13, 2012

The last time this happened, we all camped out under an umbrella at our resort in Turtle Bay determined to have a nice day at the beach despite the torrential rain that kept pouring down. I don’t think you’d ever find such a beautiful beach in Hawaii so empty so we savored it. (But still, […]

Eggs after Easter

April 10, 2012

My mom always blew out the insides of our Easter eggs and the thought of dropping an ancient hard-boiled stinky egg in my house terrifies me, so I’ve always blown out the insides of the eggs we decorate too. This way you can keep them forever and not worry about a putrid mess if you […]

Honolulufest Parade and Something we made

April 6, 2012

Whenever we travel I like to check out what goes on in the city when we’re there. The last time we went to Oahu it coincided with the Honolulu Festival called “Honolulufest” and I was so excited to watch the parade. This float was spectacular-like a giant glowing lantern. And the boys remembered it when […]

Easy edible egg nests

April 5, 2012

These are so easy and look so cool! I used this recipe from the Seattle Times, but I’ve seen it everywhere (hello pinterest), and you know how bad I am at following directions and they still turned out. I didn’t have very many chocolate chips so I threw in a Theo salted Almond bar, and […]

Marshmallows make everything better

March 29, 2012

Ever since I saw this yummy marshmallow delight in a Williams-Sonoma catalog, I’ve been craving chocolate covered grahams and marshmallows in a bunny shape. And tonight was one of those nights when I needed to get what I want. Because somewhere in between the boys bopping each other and having an epic tantrum, someone used […]

Bunny Buns

March 27, 2012

Every year one of our babysitters brings her bunnies to our house before Easter to make things a little festive. I try and make Easter-themed snacks for the kids to munch while waiting for their turn with the bunnies. Last year, I really liked how my tortilla chick chips turned out. So this year I […]

I spied….

March 26, 2012

With my disbelieving eyes, something that looked like Target. So, today, I had to go on a reconnaissance mission to confirm. And here’s the proof. Right in the middle of the city. (I wonder when it opens? Can it open soon enough????) Now wouldn’t this be a fabulous adventure: morning shopping at Tar-jay followed by a […]

Sounders Style

March 20, 2012

I didn’t mean to create soccer fan monsters when I signed us up for soccer tickets-I thought it was my duty as a mom of boys to get us a little more involved in Seattle sports culture. But we are now a full-blown Seattle Sounders fan-mily. Seriously. I don’t know if they could get any […]

Running Gear for Rainy Days.

March 19, 2012

Call me crazy, but I randomly signed up for a half-marathon the other day. To date, the farthest I’ve ever run is a 10-km probably 10 years ago and I’m not really sure why I signed up for it at all except for that morning when I saw an email about it I was feeling […]

Fave Subscription Box Ever: I heart Birchbox

March 16, 2012

If you know me, you know there is a stream of boxes constantly arriving at my house. I love shopping and I love buying things online and having them arrive a couple days later and getting all excited about my purchase again. (This never would have happened had my husband not introduced me to email […]

Hukilau Cafe (Kaneohe, Oahu)

I totally wish this was a real cafe, but it’s just a set on a really gorgeous piece of property in Kaneohe, Oahu. Apparently it was used in 50 First Dates as the Hukilau Cafe (I love that movie!) but it’s also been used in a couple other movies/shows as well. (Sorry, the names all […]

Manoa DNA

March 13, 2012

My guys are in love with this Hawaiian band called Manoa DNA. They are a band made up of a dad and two sons and we saw them play last year at our hotel the Outrigger Reef in Waikiki, Oahu. The guys (especially Leelee) adore their ‘fast songs’ and the train songs that are on […]

You win some, you lose some. (Weather in Oahua in March)

March 11, 2012

Maybe we jinxed ourselves when we disregarded the weather forecast and left our rain-gear at home for the first time on a trip with our kids. We thought it doesn’t rain in Hawaii like it does in Seattle but then suddenly the headline below is what we ended up with-and it is not fun to […]

Nameless Noodle Store, Window-shopping and a Fancy toilet

March 9, 2012

There is a noodle store in Tokyo that was so yummy we went there twice. But we don’t know what it was called. All we know is along the way, Leelee climbed all over this chair in front of a store that sold clothes for nursing mothers. And a block or two later we went […]

Airplane Cucumber Puzzle snacks

March 8, 2012

Last week there was a minor meltdown in Metropolitan Market and I ended up on the losing end with an airplane cookie cutter as a souvenir. So I decided to make good use of this when I only had a cucumber for snack the other day. It sounds so much cooler saying “Do you want […]

Costa Rica Dreaming

March 2, 2012

Years ago, pre-duo, the hubby and I went to Costa Rica and I fell instantly in love with this beautiful country full of everything magical and wonderful you go on trips to see and now we’re Costa Rica dreaming again. How can we get back as soon as possible? How could we not love a […]

A brilliant idea goes awry

February 29, 2012

I don’t know if I should even call this a brilliant idea. I saw a picture on a faraway friend’s facebook of her kid at the beach in California. And then I thought, “hmmm….that looks like fun, where is there a beach around Seattle?” There are many beaches. If you live in Seattle you can […]

Salvation.

February 28, 2012

If you know me, you know that I’m afraid of many things. Playgrounds. Heights. Elevators. Getting cash from inside of bank. (Um, yes. There might be a hold-up, you never know.) But blood is definitely at the top of the list. Even the thought of it gives me the shivers. Blech. Blood. So when I […]

Playdate in someone else’s Family Room (SAM Seattle)

February 24, 2012

There is one reason why we have a Seattle Art Museum membership for our family right now and I wish I could tell you it was because I wanted my kids to be cultured and appreciate art. But, it’s not. It’s because I love this room. I can put my feet up and relax while […]

Is it this time? Teaching time with kids

February 21, 2012

The guys are trying to figure out the concept of days, nights and time. They’re always asking me “Is it this time?” which means are we doing something today? And the magic amount of minutes for doing something they like is 8. “We want 8 more minutes!” they yell at me if they are playing […]