Summer Scrapbooking

I know this idea originated somewhere with Chloe, but I'm super happy about it because I would like to encourage better journalling in the kids.  Anyhow, what Carmen and Chloe have been doing this summer is taking more pictures, printing them on Saturdays, and then putting them in books with written descriptions on Sundays.  (Jaclyn and Steven are doing more traditional journals.  Sometimes.)

A few little examples of pictures in their summer scrapbooks:

The endless quest for more treats than mom is willing to make.

A trip to the pet store.  Somehow I thought this was a safe thing to do when we already have a pet.  Wrong again.

Typical silliness with matching hair and splitting/sharing socks and shoes.

Okay, just a few more Whistler pictures

As I said, on our Whistler trip the boys went biking and the girls went shopping.  I actually wanted to do the Monkey-do obstacle course in the tree tops, but I was out-voted 3:1.  Which I understand - I do a lot more shopping than they do (in fact I had done quite a bit of shopping the week before), and often it feels like work to me, but shopping is something my girls rarely do so it is a holiday novelty thing for them.

Even in stores that didn't carry Chloe's size she always managed to find a hat or sunglasses to consider.

Carmen tried a few things on but what she really wanted was the 2010 Winter Olympics mascot stuffies. Chloe also chose toys and between Carmen's stuffies and Chloe's bow and arrows (with suction tips that stuck to the interior of the car windows nicely, thank-you) it was a fun drive home.   (How often is the drive home from a holiday any fun at all?)

We girls swam both before and after we shopped.

  

Whereas the boys only swam after the rain shut down the chair lifts up the mountain.

We did a quick trip into Vancouver and went to the aquarium there.  I have to say I like the Newport Aquarium in Oregon a little better, but I did love this exhibit.  They had maps for each of the tanks in this section of the aquarium showing which inlet along the coast of British Columbia was represented there.  It was fascinating that though geographically close, each inlet has such a unique population and ecosystem.

And what's a holiday without food?  The eating was spectacular.  We went for sushi, naturally.  Ken gets the shakes if he goes too long without it.  The bakery in the village made amazing crepes.  I wish I would have photographed my frittata with sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, and feta that I had for breakfast at La Bocca.  I'm sure I enjoyed it as much as Ken's Pacific Eggs Benedict (smoked salmon instead of back-bacon).  Jaclyn ordered a 'hot' Caesar Salad, which would be easy to duplicate with hot bacon slices, freshly sauteed homemade croutons, and a grilled lemon on the side.  Pretty much we dropped $130 at almost every meal. Good thing it was only a 4 day holiday, and that 4th day was fast food all the way home so more like $40/meal.

My favourite dinner was a pasta dish at La Bocca, which reminded me of this recipe I used to make from "In the Kitchen With Rosie" (Oprah's former personal chef).  I'm happy to remember an old favourite:

Penne with Chicken and Sun-dried Tomatoes (slightly adapted from the original)

1/4 c sun-dried tomatoes
1/2 c boiling water
6 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breast
1/4 c white grape juice
1 T Italian seasoning
3 T chopped shallot
1 1/4 cups chopped mushrooms
1/2 cup fresh peas or frozen peas, thawed
8 ounces dried penne
olive oil
1 T butter
5 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 T flour
12 ounces evaporated skim milk
1/8 t ground nutmeg
1/8 t crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 c chopped fresh basil
5 medium black olives, thinly sliced
fresh parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Put the sun-dried tomatoes in a bowl, add the boiling water, and set the bowl aside for the tomatoes to reconstitute.
Fill a large pot with water and bring it to a boil while proceeding with the recipe.
Combine the chicken and grape juice in a shallow baking dish.  Sprinkle the Italian seasoning on top.  Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the meat is no longer pink and the juices run clear.  Remove and shred the chicken, reserving the cooking juices.
Drain the sun-dried tomatoes and slice them thinly.
Saute the shallots, mushrooms in olive oil.  Add the reserved cooking juices from the chicken as well as the peas and sliced sun-dried tomatoes.  Simmer until the liquid has been absorbed and the vegetables are wilted.  Remove the pan from the heat and cover it to keep the vegetables warm.
Add the penne to the water in the large pot, which by now should be at full boil.  Cook 8 to 12 minutes.
While the pasta is cooking, make the sauce.  Melt butter in small, heavy saucepan.  Toss in the garlic and flour, then whisk in the evaporated milk.  Add the nutmeg and red pepper flakes.  Whisking continually simmer for 5 minutes or until thickened.  Remove from heat and stir in the basil.
Drain the cooked pasta and transfer to a serving bowl.  Add the chicken, vegetables, and sauce.  Toss and garnish with sliced olives and fresh parmesan cheese.

Now he's 14

Steven had his birthday on Monday.  He spent the day golfing with his dad and Uncle Craig, came home, had steak for dinner, and didn't get his presents until after football practise.  He got a NY Jets jersey, a new set of scriptures for starting seminary this year, some loan forgiveness from Ken and I, and two coupon books from Chloe:  one for slurpees and another of services he can collect from her like making his bed and putting away his laundry.
On a side note, can you see the mosquito bites on his arm?  The football field is near a little grove of trees which must be home base for all the mosquitos in Calgary. Steven has something like 160 mosquito bites right now, most of them on this arms.  I know the picture doesn't do it justice, but in real life it looks like some kind of disease.  It's puzzling because we hardly have any mosquitos in our neighbourhood.

Dreamy

Chloe and Carmen have been doing a day camp at a historic village here in Calgary all week.   Last week they were beside themselves in anticipation.  They planned their authentic pioneer lunches (basically I baked all week, but I drew the line at washing their costumes by hand).  We went to Value Village to find just the right black leather shoes and baskets for their lunches.  We found pocket watches for 25 cents each, which we strung onto chains for necklaces.  We practised french braids all summer waiting for this week.
I wouldn't have thought it possible, but somehow the camp itself has been even better than we could have hoped!  The girls have been living somewhere in between Anne of Green Gables and Little House on the Prairie.  They've learned how to be an old-fashioned telephone operator and listen in on conversations, they've collected eggs, they've baked a cake in a working 1905 kitchen at the ranch house, they've made prairie diamond rings (nails turned by the black smith).  They've had fun spinning buttons on a string, and going to school in a one room school house.  They participated in planning important social work like closing down the snooker lounge and having a church bake sale to raise money for poor Farmer Brown . . . and so much more.
Ken remarked to me that Heritage Park has got this one figured out because the presence of the day-campers in the park really adds to the charm of the place, and it's true.  When all the adults who work at the park are dressed in period-appropriate clothing it's to be expected, but when on top of that there are children in the park doing chores and school and games for the public to see, well that's just darling.  We paid to send our kids, meanwhile it improves the authenticity of the park.  Possibly Carmen and Chloe have been the most enthusiastic campers ever.  The line between reality and make-believe for them often seems blurred to me.  Add some costumes - and fantasy becomes reality.  Our girls adopted British accents and have been pretending to be recent emigrants to Canada, which has been reflected even in their food: I baked english scones with currants for their lunch today.  They probably deserve to go to back to the Time Travellers Camp again, but on scholarship next time.