Colorado Adventure

We went to Durango, CO and met up with my parents. First day in Colorado we went to Mesa Verde National Park. To start the day, Mike showed Benjamin the proper way to eat a waffle.

 On our drive we stopped off at a scenic overlook. 

Here is my classic shot of Mike taking pictures. Benjamin also got a chance to take pictures. He managed to get a hold of my camera and took a picture of every single hiker on the way back up from seeing the Spruce Tree village. I think I deleted 50 pictures of people's waistlines.

Benjamin had a fun time visiting with Nonna and Abuelo. He thought Abuelo was the best for taking him up and down some of the stairs.

Here's a nice picture with my parents. Mom hung out with me and Benjamin while Mike and dad went on a tour of one of the bigger cliff villages. We watched chipmunks scurry across the parking lot looking for crumbs.

The next day we took it easy in Durango and went for a Sunday stroll along the Animas River.

We went out to eat at a Mexican restaurant and Benjamin got a hold of my camera again and took this lovely picture of me!

The following day, we boarded the Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad train. This was the highlight of the trip for Benjamin.

In Silverton, we picked up a little choo-choo-train and here he is showing it off to our conductor.

Abuelo spent some time with Benjamin teaching him about cameras. He finally became so exhausted with the train rocking back and forth that fell asleep with camera in hand.

Outside the train station, Benjamin discovered a huge pumpkin that fascinated him.

Our final day we spent lunch in Ridgeway at the True Grit Cafe, surrounded by John Wayne memorabilia. Then we went to Ouray to walk Main Street and visit the gift shops. It was a pleasant trip!

Breakfast

 Benjamin had his first yerba mate this morning. There's a little bit of Argentine in this boy. Yeah!!!

His waffle ended up with butter, syrup, biscoff and red plum jam. I remember we used to eat our waffles with our hands when we were little. Sticky fun mess this morning!

Zucchini Bread

I'm not afraid of zucchini bread any more, or zucchini. I didn't like the stuff growing up, but I finally developed a taste for it. Well, here's my first zucchini bread and I think it turned out pretty yum.

Zucchini Bread

Dry Ingredients:
1 1/4 C flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Wet Ingredients:
3/4 sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
1/2 C canola oil
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt

2 C grated zucchini, squeezed of excess moisture

Preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk together dry ingredients in medium bowl and set aside. In large bowl, blend together wet ingredients. Blend the zucchini in well. Scrape into greased loaf pan. Bake for about 45-50 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pan.

This recipe also called for 1 1/2 cup ground pecans or walnuts. I omitted them because occasionally I share treats with those that have nut allergies. Since the nuts were ground, I imagine the purpose is to soak up some of the excess moisture from the zucchini. However, even though I love adding nuts to my food, I found that I like how it turned out without the nuts.

Also, I was on my way out the door after the bread finished baking so I had to remove the loaf from the pan without letting it cool properly. As a result, the bottom stuck to the pan. I scraped it in to a bowl and Benjamin and I enjoyed the little treat as we drove to our destination.

Cars Tied Quilt

A big thanks to Donna and Holly for helping me get this put together! Benjamin loves his "comfy" quilt.

Oh, Benjamin!!!

Our little guy loves being his dad's helper outside. After moving dirt all morning last weekend, Benjamin got to cool off in the water sprinklers.

Usually it's Mike that's in this position on the bed with his tablet. Benjamin likes to copy his dad!

Oh, Benjamin! Disciplining has begun and here he is in the corner. Right now he thinks it's a little game, gives a little smirk to his dad before saying 'sorry'. After dinner tonight he asked if he could go to the corner again. I think we're dealing with a clever little boy. We're in for some T-R-O-U-B-L-E!!!