caught in the rain

Yesterday, my uncle organized a little hike in Waterton with a little weenie roast after. Sterling was working for the day so I decided that I may as well go and pack in as much adventure into the end of summer that I can. I wasn't sure that I was actually going to hike - because well,

A) I'm lazy and don't do very well at hiking 

(seriously complain the whoooole way - kinda deal) and 

B) I had hurt my knee skiing earlier in the week and was fully planning on using that as an excuse to get out of it. 

But once we got to the hiking path I decided I should go. Partly because I've never seen Crandell Lake, and partly because Ames was driving me craycray and someone had volunteered to stay with him while we hiked (hallelujah!) So off we went. It was great. I wasn't even breathing hard - mind you its like one of the all time easiest hikes ever known to man. But seriously, it was beautiful. And it was a fun group to hike with. Ruby tagged along with us and actually hiked almost the entire hike by herself! It was raining lightly as we were going up, but it was nice and refreshing and you could hardly even notice it.. and it was making everything smell amazing... Mmm! Once we got up to the lake Ruby conveniently had to go to the bathroom - twice. So that turned out to be an adventure in itself. But we had fun playing around and relaxing by the lake. By now the rain was picking up, but it would come and go, so we thought it would be fine.  We enjoyed the rest of our time up there and then it reeeallly started raining. HARD.. with crazy lighting and thunder and even hail. There was a little shelter up there so we just hung out hoping for the rain to pass after a few minutes. But it didn't. So we stayed and visited with a nice German couple, then after about 25 minutes we just decided to make a run for it. The path had turned into a little river, and me being the smarty pants that I am wore flip-flops. Yep.. Flip-flops hiking (just another get-out-of-hiking excuse I had come up with) But regardless.. we ran down the trail and got soaking wet, but it was SO MUCH FUN. We laughed the whole way down. I'm so glad I stepped out of my little comfort-zone box and tried something I normally wouldn't have. We ended up having a blast! After we ate some dinner we went and got some ice cream and headed home. I was so looking forward to a silent car ride, and thought for sure the kids would just zonk right out - I mean Ruby did an entire hike essentially by herself and both babes missed their naps for the day. Amesy babe conked out right away, but Ruby stayed awake the entire ride home. And not only did she just stay awake - she TALKED non-stop the entire ride home. I juuuust about went crazy. But thats my little Ruby and I love her for it! Thankfully I got a little bit of a sleep in the next morning, so all is well.

lake life

Aaaand I'm back.

I decided I needed to unplug, so I took the kids down to the cabin this week. All of Ster's siblings were there with their families and we had a great time.. (Minus Ames who was a bear the whole week) But between the times he was whining for me to pick him up and hold him, and the times when he was screaming his head off just for kicks and giggles, or to see how annoyed he could make me - he still managed to be cute and have a little bit of fun.

There is no greater place than the lake.
Seriously.

^^This is for real.. and it was a familiar sight since my kids would wake up at 6AM!
They obviously didn't get the whole sleep in on vacation memo..^^

^ahhh^

We ate lots, laughed lots, and played hard. Ames is a little water baby and loved to be dunked and splash around. (He had soooo many 10 pound diapers that almost exploded this week) He'd also love to try and touch the water from the dock, which made me little nervous on more than a few occasions.. (dare devil already). Ruby was the opposite. She wanted nothing to do with the water - except on the rare occasion she loved to watch the little minnows and float on the tube tied to the dock. She definitely preferred to play on the slide and the swings with her cousins. Me being the mean mom that I am, forced her to ride the ski-trainer one day (she rode it when she was 1 and was fine - but this year put up more of a fight - we are trying to make our kids into child prodigies..) She ended up being fine but definitely did NOT want to try again.. I was able to slalom every morning which was SO nice! I've been working hard at it the last couple of years (and by working hard I mean skied once a summer...) but I am getting pretty good at it and my confidence is growing. I wish so bad I could live at the lake and ski everyday for an entire summer... I would be in such great shape! Ruby and I also enjoyed sneaking away a couple of times and having a kayak date, or as Ruby liked to call it "kayaked dayyyyyte"
There is just something about unplugging from life and going to the middle of nowhere and just breathing fresh air and not having your normal day-to-day worries. Its good for the soul.
Moral of the story - we had a fantastic time and are counting down the days until we can go back (maybe next time we will bring daddy though.. :))

Friday Faves

this weeks edition of friday faves. I am loooving that swimsuit.. 

(*cough* STERLING *cough*)

one | two | three | four | five | six | seven | eight 

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

While in the garden this morning, doing my daily tending, I noticed 2 zucchinis that had appeared out of thin air. I definitely thought the hail had destroyed any hope of having fresh summer zucchini.. but thankfully my poor little plant was resilient and had made a triumphant return! The first thing that came to mind was of course - Chocolate Zucchini Cake. This was a staple growing up - I'm sure it was one of the only victories that my mother had of having us ingest some sort of vegetable. Its such a simple recipe, but such a treat. Super rich and moist, and that hint of cinnamon.... Mmmm! Go! Hunt down a zucchini and make it!

^add your butter, oil, and sugar^
^^p.s. mmmm... butter^^

^dear friends - do yourself a big ol' favour and invest in this stuff.. its divine!^

^look at all of those beautiful vanilla beans.. ^

^cream the wet ingredients together^

^add your flour and {beautiful} zucchini^

^at this point I just heap everything else in; Cocoa, BP, salt, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg^

^don't forget the chocolate chips - I almost always bake with milk chocolate {my fav}^

^it looks pretty sketch - but trust me.. moist, chocolatey deliciousness remember!^
^^p.s. notice the spoon - almost everything I bake I whip it up by hand.. made with love, right?? or maybe I'm just still waiting for santa to bring me the mixer I've been asking for for 3 years... ;)^^

^moist, rich, and the perfect hint of spice^

^enjoy!^

Chocolate Zucchini Cake:

Bake 350 degrees

40-55 minutes

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup oil {I substituted coconut oil}

1 3/4 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup {sour} milk {I substituted this with plain greek yogurt}

2 1/2 cups flour

2 cups grated zucchini {finely grated}

1/2 cup chocolate chips

4 tbsp. cocoa

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

(I added an additional 1/4 tsp nutmeg.. didn't want the poor guy to feel left out)

Blend oil, butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla and milk together. Beat well.

Mix dry ingredients together and add to creamed mixture. Stir in zucchini and chocolate chips. Spread into a greased 9 x 13" pan.