Last Friday was my mother's 50
th birthday. It was also my brother-in-law's
bday. I made the above cake for his party that we were unable to attend because we were celebrating with my mom. The cake is called "Pretty in Pink" from Marcel
Desaulniers book
Celebrate with Chocolate. It's a rich chocolate cake with a strawberry cream cheese frosting. Below is a picture of the granny smith apple pie I made my mother. She is about to blow out the candles and on the table are flowers from Pike Place Market thanks to Aunt
Cyddie.
Here we have a goofy G
unnar with the balloons.
The next day we had a chocolate tour in Seattle. The party included Cousin Mary, Aunt Angie, My Mom, Me, Aunt
Cyddie, and Cousin April.
We started out at the Dahlia Bakery, famous for coconut cream pie by chef Tom Douglas. This bakery is also the bakery in Sleepless in Seattle. We had a sample of the coconut cream pie.
As well as a chocolate
krinkle cookie. (This is an example cookie, not the exact ones we had).
Then we went to the chocolate box and sampled
their brownies. They were chocolate covered, very moist, and delicious. Here is a picture of our tour guide passing out the chocolate.
Then we sampled a cupcake from Look Cupcakes. Best cupcake I have ever had. It had
ganache inside as well as chocolate
Swiss buttercream icing.
Then we had
Gelato from
Gelatiamo, it was chocolate
gelato and lemon sorbet
gelato. The pair together was divine. Note I've eaten a bunch of the lemon already.
Here is a photo of the sisters in front of Sister Sandwich.
Then it was on to Pike Place Market. We went to the C
onfectional for raspberry white chocolate cheesecake. The C
onfectionals slogan is "Forgive me Chocolate for I have sinned. I have not yet had my daily confection." I
didn't have much of the cheesecake for fear of my dairy allergy, but what I had was good.
They also serve a very rich dark chocolate drink with spices. It was so good. They say you have to serve it warm or it will solidify.
Kukuruza was our next stop and it was yummy
gourmet popcorn. We had rocky road (below) and Tuxedo (further below).
They also sell all different kinds of old fashion pop and candy. Like lipstick candy and candy buttons.
Our last stop on the tour was Fran's Chocolates, yes now even more famous for
Barak Obama's love of the salted milk chocolate c
armel. Although I agree with Michelle
Obama that the dark chocolate is better. Below is what we sampled, a
raspberry truffle, a milk chocolate sea salt, and a dark chocolate square. I have loved Fran's for years, this stop was no
surprise for me.
We had a fabulous time and then ate lunch at Art at the Four Seasons Hotel, where I had the best crab cakes. The tour
includes a bunch of chocolate history as well as a card to get us discounts at these and more places in
Seattle for the next two weeks. If you get the chance take the tour! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM.
We went camping at Salmon La Sac campground in our great state of Washington with our good buddies the Maxfields. It was great weather and the girls had fun hanging out together in the tent, playing in the dirt and water, and going to the bathroom in groups a whole bunch of times. While the kiddos slept Catan, Ticket to Ride, and other fun games were played by the parents. S'mores were made with Reese's, which were delicious!
We also did a family hike. The girls learned about things like horse poop and huckleberries.
Vera had a good time in the pack with dad.
After, because we were hot and dirty, we jumped in the river right on the edge of our campsite.
Throwing rocks was Emma and Violet's favorite thing to do.
It was so nice to cool off in the COLD water.
Later we went to Cle Elum Lake not too far from the campsite for a little dip. It was pretty full, even some trees were underwater.
Ginny found a tree stump she called her "look out" that she fit in. It was pretty cool. We had so much fun with our pals that we wish we were doing it again next month. We miss them already. The good news is we are going camping again two of the next three weeks. Happy summer everyone.
Here are some six month Vera photos for your enjoyment! She is such an angel in our family. She has been rocking back and forth on all fours for a few weeks and should be crawling anytime. She likes to say "Buh." She loves her sisters and always want to see what is going on. She doesnt like baby food or a bottle, but she is definately getting enough milk from mom. Vera also really loves chewing on books, we try to keep her from doing it. She is still working on sleeping throught the night, I think she will have it in one more week. 
