IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER

Happy Father's Day to all of the wonderful Father's I know. We had a great (albeit a rainy one), but a great Father's Day. Jeff had decided that he wanted to go hiking at Ithaca Falls for Father's Day. So we drove the 3 hours it took to get there. It rained the entire way up there and the entire time that we were hiking. So needless to say, the hike was a short one. But what a really cool place. But not that much to do and see. But we had passed a really cool park about 30 minutes before you reach Ithaca. It is called Taughannock Park. For a small fee of $7 (for parking), you gained access to a swimming area, the largest playground I've ever seen, waterfalls galore, miles of hiking trails, river walking, picnic areas, and the best darn Father's Day experience ever. Next time we will skip the Ithaca Falls and go straight to Taughannock!

Ithaca Falls:

This is the bridge that you walk over from the area where we parked.

This is the stairs leading down to the gorge. Yikes! But we walked down them.

The hard part was climbing back up 500 feet of stairs with kids.

Another view of the bridge above the gorge.

The view from the bridge.

Because of the teaming rain, we had to end our hike at Ithaca and

retreat to the car to wait for it to let up a bit. So we missed a bunch of the falls,

but thats when we decided to head back to Taughannock. Funny enough, when we

got to Taughannock, the rain let up to a drizzle.

Taughannock State Park

This is where we discovered Carter LOVES dill pickles. He walked around munching on this pickle spear for about 20 minutes!

Carter had his very own waterfall. He laughed and laughed, and he laughed

even harder when he fell down. The water was absolutely freezing, and people

were looking at us like we where NUTS to let our kids play in there.

But they were having a blast, why not...plus we had a change of clothes in the car.

"I'm the King of the WORLD!"

Daddy and his boys on the best Father's Day ever!

OUR FUN FILLED WEEKEND!

Jeff had a Golf Tournament all day Saturday. It was a beautiful day and I wanted to do some really fun stuff with the boys. We started the morning off at the Farmer's Market visiting Auntie Trish at the Sweet Beginnings Bakery Tent and got a cookie for Tucker. Then it was time for Tae Kwon Do. Tucker really is getting good. And luckily it was a small class today and I could take some pictures. Then we were going to meet up with Trish at the Allentown Art Festival, but I decided that 20,000 people versus me and my boys wasn't such a great idea. Maybe if I had Jeff to navigate the crowd, I just couldn't do it. Anyway, we did go to the zoo instead. What a great idea! I was super nervous that it was going to be packed. As a rule I do not go to the zoo on a weekend. Its just not that enjoyable when you can't see any animals due to the herd of people shuffling around with strollers. But, to my amazement it was dead. Everyone was at the Allentown Art Festival. It was like when we go super early in the morning during the week. You almost feel as if the zoo is closed and you have it all to yourself.

Master Chong's World Class Tae Kwon Do-Little Tiger's Class

Tucker bowing to a classmate

We can't visit the zoo without riding the train

The boys enjoyed looking at the animals together. I didn't even bring a

stroller so Carter could feel like a big boy like his brother.

There is a Dinosaur dig section of the zoo. Carter was so excited. It was the world's

largest sandbox!

Did I mention that every time we go to the zoo we have to ride the

Merry-Go-Round too?

Carter's first pony ride! He isn't to sure about this...he did warm up

and even smiled once.

The next day the weather continued to be gorgeous. We broke out the

Slip-&-Slide and had a great day outside.

To Tucker this was the coolest thing since sliced bread.

Boy are these two just alike or what? Next time I will just hook up the hose

and let 'em drink straight from the source.

After our fun filled day outside, it was off to Melynda's 3rd Birthday Party.

Happy Birthday Melynda!!! Thanks for having us over Matt and Jen!

FAMILY TIME

This weekend has been all about the family. Who am I kidding, EVERY weekend is all about the family. We just did a whole lot of cool things together this weekend. 

Tucker helped me wash my car on Saturday. He had his very first list of chores to complete before he was able to get his "allowance" of $1. He had to help me wash my car, help water the veggie garden, clean his room, and wrap his friend Willow's birthday present. He did all of his chores and got his dollar that had to be placed immediately in his piggy bank.

He even helped Daddy paint some wood. That was for free!

Today we went for a family hike with our friends the Hofschnieders. We went to Buckhorn Island and had a great time. We borrowed a backpack carrier to put Carter in, and we headed out on the trails.

This was a beautiful nook that opened up to marsh lands. It was breath taking to see.

There was a wall of these flowers for about 100 yards. They were gorgeous.

Then we threw caution to the wind...yes with our children with us. But Jeff assured me it was perfectly safe and was meant for pedestrians. Yes, I knew that, but sometime in the last five years...I became afraid of heights!

Here we are headed back to the car. We went to Kelly's Country Store for $17 worth of penny candy and chocolate. Then home for some homemade Gluten Free Lasagna Rolls. Recipe to follow. Believe me, you will definitely want this one.

COURTNEY'S GLUTEN FREE SWEET POTATO BISCUITS

I absolutely love these biscuits, and so does Carter. Unfortunately Jeff doesn't. But I bet he would eat them and love them if he would even TRY one. Especially with Honey Butter smeared on the top.

Courtney's Gluten Free Sweet Potato Biscuits

• 1 1/4 cups All Purpose Gluten Free Flour
• 2 Tbs Granulated Sugar
• 4 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1/4 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
• 1 cup Pureed Sweet Potatoes
• 1/4 cup Butter (softened)
• 4 Tbs Milk (for moistness)
• 1Tbs Honey

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Combine and sift (or toss with fork until mixed well) all dry ingredients. In a separate bowl beat on low, the Sweet Potatoes, Butter, and Honey until smooth. When smooth, add the dry ingredients 1 cup at a time until you have a soft dough. If too dry, add 1 Tbs Milk until soft biscuit dough consistency. As it is GF, it may be more sticky than other dough, but we will remedy that in a minute. Dust your work surface lightly with GF Flour and turn out dough onto floured surface. Turn the dough over and over until it is coated with flour and smooth to touch. When smooth, roll out the dough to 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick. Cut with biscuit cutter and place on a cookie sheet (optional-brush melted butter onto tops and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar mixture). Place in preheated oven and bake for about 20 minutes. Watch the tops so they don't burn. If they are browning too quickly, reduce temperature to 400.

These are wonderful topped with Honey Butter:

1/4 cup Butter softened

1/4 cup GF Honey

Beat in a small bowl until smooth and tasty!!

Enjoy! 

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BUFFALO ZOO

On Monday, Jeff took off of work and we spent the morning at our local zoo. We had a wonderful time. Tucker knows the zoo like the back of his hand, and will drag you around the whole thing faster than you can say "Elephant". I like to take my time and I love the Gorillas. Carter was so fun to watch. This was the first time that Carter was old enough to truly appreciate the animals and barked like a dog at every animal he saw. 

Check out the pictures from the day.

This was a frog that Daddy found in the yard, and the first frog Tucker was willing to hold.

Mommy and Carter enjoying the Rainforest Exhibit

My absolute FAVORITE. This was right after she played Peek-A-Boo with us for 5 minutes.

King Jullian from Madagascar...or so Tucker thought.

The King, um...Queen of the Jungle

Coming up...

The World's Best Gluten Free Sweet-Potato Biscuits with Honey Butter Spread (actually, I think they are the best GF or not)