Grandpa's Garden

Grandpa loves to garden and in the summer he has a HUGE vegetable garden. He plants lots of different types of tomatoes, zucchini, Japanese cucumbers, Japanese eggplant and peppers. The kids love to go help him pick his bounty. Today we were able to pick cucumbers and eggplant. The kids had a great time searching and picking. I think Grandpa was a little nervous his plants were going to get pulled out of the ground, but they ended up being okay.


Tomatoes and eggplant

Cucumbers with tomatoes in the center.



Rows and rows of tomatoes



Checking out our harvest.

Tomorrow, we'll have to make something with
our fresh veggies!  Maybe grilled eggplant
with daikon and shoyu and a cucumber salad?!

Swimming at Grandpa and Grandma's House

Today we went to Stockton to celebrate Father's Day.

The weather was perfect so we went early and jumped into the pool as soon as we got there. Grandpa and Grandma bought two more floaty animals for us to play with. Bailey tried them all out, but Gregory sat on the sideline at watched. He had a good time playing with the swimming rings and balls without getting too wet.

Father's Day Project

 

 

Today the kids worked on a little Father's Day project. I got the idea from Sherri. She painted these cute letters for last day of school teacher gifts. I had to modify it a bit so the kids could make them, but I think they turned out really nice. Bailey and Gregory had a great time making them!






First they painted the letters with blue paint. We used paint brushes and sponges.




After the letters dried they glued fancy gold stars all over. (While they dried we made fancy jewelry - notice Bailey's ring?!)

This squirrel came to visit us. We have a bird feeder outside our kitchen window and the birds drop seeds and nuts below. A couple of squirrels have found the bounty and frequent our garden for treats.

Miso Soup

Our kids love miso soup. They love the little squares of tofu, they love being my little tasters while I'm cooking it and they especially love to drink the soup from the bowl without using a spoon. I make it all the time and put various things in the broth, but I recently changed my dashi brand and I really think it made a huge difference. Last night's soup was yummy! Here's the recipe.

Miso Soup

4 cups water

1 bag of Yamaki No MSG Katsuo Dashi

1/3 cup Shirakiku NonMSG AkaMiso

1/2 block firm tofu - cut into squares

1/2 block kamaboko - sliced

1 green onion - thinly sliced

Add bag of dashi to 4 cups cold water. Bring to boil. Remove bag of dashi and whisk miso into broth. Add tofu and kamaboko. Serve in bowls and top with green onion. YUM!

Picnic at the Zoo

Lately when we take the kids to the zoo we also take along a picnic lunch. That way we don't have to rush home to feed them and/or pay the high price for zoo food. Plus with Bailey's allergies it's just safer. Our picnic usually becomes the main part of our trip, but we are still able to see a few animals. We ALWAYS see Bailey and Gregory's favorites. Bailey loves the zebra and Gregory loves the giraffes. Today we even saw a little baby giraffe! So cute.

For our picnic today we had spam musubis, nigiri (see the cute nori animals?!), kabocha, grilled asparagus and zucchini, pan fried spam, chicken teriyaki and some quick Japanese pickles. YUM. The kids just pick up food with their fingers and eat between running around the grassy area of the zoo.

After lunch the kids wanted to ride the train so we did that and came home.

Nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon.