Fun Morning at Tilden Park

This morning we took the kids to The Little Farm in Tilden Park. The farm has cows, pigs, turkeys, ducks, goats, sheep, rabbits and chickens. You can bring lettuce and celery to feed the animals and boy are they HUNGRY! Bailey had a great time feeding all the animals. Gregory had fun from afar. After we fed the hungry animals and walked around a bit, we took a ride on the steam train. Gregory LOVED that! On the way home he kept telling us what a fun day he had. :)

Birdhouse

We decided to paint bird houses today!





First we mixed a little blue and yellow paint











And away we went!

We'll have to have Daddy help us drill a hole in the back so we can nail them to the fence this weekend. :)

Homegrown Lettuce

Last year Aunty Kristin planted lettuce in her garden and had a great crop. She said it was so easy and we should try it. So today while Bailey was at school, Gregory and I went to buy some lettuce seeds and dirt. After our picnic lunch we planted our seeds. We'll have to give you an update on how things are going later in the season, but I sure am looking forward to a tasty homegrown salad! :)

Our lettuce seeds

Filling our container with soil

We just finished planting the seeds!

Giving them some water...

Now we have to be patient and wait for them to grow! :)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

Baked another batch of cupcakes today.

Actually, I baked another batch of carrot cake cupcakes yesterday, too. I have been doing a lot of baking lately since Gregory hasn't been taking his snoozer and it gives me a break in the day. Plus they like to help bake.

Today, we baked Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes. I left the icing off - they put Cinnamon Icing on top, but they are just fine without it.





Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes - VEGAN

Ingredients

1 cup canned pumpkin
1 1/4 c all-purpose flour
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t ground cinnamon
1/4 t salt
1/2 c chocolate chips (vegan)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line muffin pan with cupcake liners.

2. In a medium bowl, stir together pumpkin, oil, sugar, soy milk, and vanilla. Sift in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt. Stir together with a fork - don't use a handheld mixer, as it will make the batter gummy. Once well combined, fold in the chocolate chips.

3. Fill liners two-thirds full. Bake for 22 to 24 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let fully cool before icing.

NOTE: I think the tops need to be smoothed out before baking.

Darn Squirrels

Outside the window, where we have our kitchen table, we have a bird feeder.

Lately, I've been thinking that a lot of birds are visiting us because
there are days when the feeder is empty after just a couple of days!

Well, look who visited us today!

And, look at what he can do!

AND, look what he does after his tummy is full!
Don't know if you can see his face, but he's looking right at me.
Mocking me!

But I must say, we have hours of fun watching
all the birds that come to visit us.