Tulip Festival 2010

Hal writes:

The past month has been spent entertaining family and friends, allowing Anna to recover from knee surgery, and Hal spending time getting his students prepared for fall registration. Unfortunately we did not take many photos with our guests over the last month. First we had some of Hal's college friends: Erin and Katherine and then Katie and her husband Dustyn. Anna's parents were then here for her knee surgery followed by a visit from Hal's graduate school friend Jim and his wife Christa. We've been collecting their endorsements for our B&B to entice more of you to visit the west coast.

After Anna began to recover and felt she could be out and about, we went up to the tulip festival. Last year we took over 150 pictures and this year it was less than 50, so perhaps we had more of a "been there, done that" feeling, but they were still fun to see. And since the tulips bloomed early this year, we were able to visit the area without as much traffic as last year.





Sing with me: "I love mountains, I love the rolling hills..."



Anna was able to take the hay wagon ride around the field but wasn't able to get some close up photos. I took this one because she loves the rebel flowers that grow in the area that they are not supposed to.



Anna's parents.


Silly Washington pot heads. I don't think you should be biking as a pot head, that's dangerous.



While Jim and Christa were in town we did some exploring of Seattle. This was the first time Anna and I found the troll under the bridge in Seattle. Not where I expected it to be, but we can now check that off our list of things to do in Seattle.

Some trees blooming by the Chittenden Locks.

Doggie Birthday and Campus Flowers

Hal writes:

On Saturdays we join a group that walk their dogs on campus. When it is a dog's birthday (or guessed at birthday since most have been adopted) the owner will bring birthday treats for the humans (usually doughnuts) and some fun treats for the dogs. Below is Kieth handing out some treats for the dogs.


Joseph

Samantha and Sienna

Bridgette

Ellie the birthday dog (four years old). She thought that since it was her birthday, she could have some of the human treats.


Rascal


Anna took a number of photos on campus. I only added a couple, but she may add more later.

Valentine's Day and Ebelskivers

Hal writes:

First, a couple of pictures from a Valentine's Day breakfast that Anna made for me. Here are some heart shaped pancakes.

Maple pecan scones. Since Anna and I don't each HFCS and other preservatives, she made the maple drizzle and scones from scratch.

In addition to scones and pancakes, some breakfast potatoes and homemade blackberry jam.

When we were in Spokane I had some ebelskivers for breakfast at a European style bakery. Evelskivers are similar to small, round pancakes that have a variety of toppings and fillings. After some searching, I was able to find an ebelskiver pan.


Some of the ingredients used while making the ebelskivers.


Similar to crepes, the first batch does not cook evenly. But once the pan was heated there were some nice golden brown treats.


An example of some of the toppings: blackberries, creme cheese, maple syrup, and cinnamon apples. You can also back the various ingredients inside the ebelskivers. If you visit us in Washington, we'll make you some.