Enjoying Thanksgiving Point

I have been enjoying taking Benjamin out to Thanksgiving Point. The tulips have still been blooming. We also went to explore the Children's Discovery Garden. It is very interactive for kids and I think Benjamin will like it when he's able to walk around.

 There is a garden maze, caves, paths that lead through the trees, a sand pit, several different learning stations that teach about water, rocks and animals. Above we are at a lookout point over part of the garden. Below we are in one of the caves with a window looking out from behind a small waterfall.

We also saw a bagpiper outside the gardens. We're excited for the upcoming Scottish Festival coming up next month.

Quiet Book

I fell in love with this Moda print block and when I found the pattern and material at Just Sew, I knew I needed to buy the kit. I was a bit worried that I was getting in over my head, but reading the instructions over and over again helped me get through this project. I took a break from the snowflake quilt to make the quiet book. I spent three weeks on this project. It's one of the most expensive books that Benjamin will ever own.

I love the blackboard fabric. I haven't gotten any chalk yet because it will go straight into Benjamin's mouth. The front page has a zipper where you put the chalk and fabric to wipe the board. Benjamin enjoys looking at the different pictures and likes to flip the pages. Below is a video of all the pages.

April Showers

Benjamin got a second birthday cake, to which he is very thankful to Aunt Rynell! He devoured the yummy chocolate cake and didn't let anyone or anything distract him from eating. He was a funny mess. So we showered him off in the sink to get rid of all the chocolaty goodness that stuck to him before giving him a bath.

 I love sneaking in on Benjamin while sleeping to see what position he's taken on. This is his relaxing pose on a good nap day.

 Here is one of his rough day napping positions.

 Mike and I decided it would be beneficial to get a Thanksgiving Point membership and try it out for a year. I was probably more excited than anyone else. I got to go to the Tulip Festival, not one...but three times. The first time it alternated between showers, drizzle and mist. We met the tulip distributor from Holland, Henk. He commented on how the weather was a typical day in Holland.

 The last day we went I took Benjamin out of the stroller to see how he would explore. He sat in the grass looking at it curiously and didn't venture too far. He also liked to reach his hand out to grab at the tulips. We were pretty good at keeping his hands away, but there may have been one tulip that was destroyed. Mike has a picture that I hope he will share.

Little Boy Ben - The Big One

Benjamin's first birthday was fun for his mom and dad. We had some close relatives come over to witness the smash cake. I even Skyped my parents to see. I used this recipe for his cake (I divided it by 4 since I only wanted a small cake). It looked like Benjamin had fun destroying his cake. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the nights festivities.

Fun Day With Abuelo

Abuelo (Dad) was here for Donna's wedding and spent the day with us today. We took a day trip to Eureka and visited the museum up there. There's a good piece of Utah history in that town. Mike and I knew Dad would enjoy the trip out there because of all the mining and rocks. The first time Mike and I were there Lyman was our tour guide, but he was sick today, so June and Collette were our guides. The people in Eureka are very nice.

For dinner, we met up with Andy's family (some weren't able to come). We ate at El Azteca and had fun visiting.

Benjamin learned a new trick of blowing bubbles from his mouth. He entertained us all.

 

We also had an early celebration for Dad's birthday, which is later this month. I made truffle stuffed cupcakes. I got the recipe from Sweet as Sugar Cookies. The recipe Lisa uses calls for the Lindt truffles. However, I bought my truffles as See's Candy. Dad loves the penuche (butterscotch squares) from See's. I also used marzipan, dark chocolate truffles, and mint patties; all from See's. Instead of making the orange cream frosting from the recipe, I made a chocolate ganache and dipped them twice in the frosting. I used different sprinkles to identify which truffles I used in the cupcakes.

I didn't bake the mint patties into the cupcakes. I thought that the mint might over power the other cupcakes and end up seeping into the other cupcakes during baking. So, I inserted them after baking and frosting the cupcakes, shown at the bottom.

The chocolate is very rich, so you may want to have a glass of cold milk near by to wash it down. It also would be nice to share with someone. I love this recipe and will use it again.