Shades Mills

Our weekly visit to Shades Mills landed on another chilly Tuesday.  

Despite the weather we still manage to have a good time and find something new.

The little brown tips of the buds pop off easily.

Tiny pretty weed flower.
Speedwell possibly?
or Ground Ivy?

The May Apple's are in bloom.

Painting a dandelion in his nature journal.

Dragonfly nymph?

Even though it was REALLY cold, the boys got soaked.

Hamburger Buddy Recipe

I had some cooked hamburger patties left over from camping.  I couldn't bear to eat another burger, so I chopped them up and added them to this recipe.  It was tasty.  I pureed it for Zoe and she loved it.  Everyone managed to eat it which is a minor miracle here.

INGREDIENTS

3 clove garlic, crushed and peeled2 medium carrot, cut into 2-inch pieces10 oz white mushroom, large ones cut in half1 large onion, cut into 2-inch pieces1 lb freshly ground pepper2 tsp dried thyme¾ tsp salt¼ tsp pepper2 cup water14 oz reduced-sodium beef broth, divided8 oz whole-wheat elbow noodles (2 cups)  [I used gluten free spiral noodles]2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce2 Tbsp all-purpose flour½ cup reduced-fat sour cream1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley or chives for garnish[pre-cooked leftover hamburger patties]

DIRECTIONS

1. Fit a food processor with the steel blade attachment. With the motor running, drop garlic through the feed tube and process until minced, then add carrots and mushrooms and process until finely chopped. Turn it off, add onion, and pulse until roughly chopped.  [meh.  I just chop it all by hand....]

2. Cook beef in a large straight-sided skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the chopped vegetables, thyme, salt and pepper and cook, stirring often, until the vegetables start to soften and the mushrooms release their juices, 5 to 7 minutes.  [Since I used already cooked hamburger patties, I just added them after the veggies]

3. Stir in water, 1 1/2 cups broth, noodles and Worcestershire sauce; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is tender, 8 to 10 minutes.

4. Whisk flour with the remaining 1/4 cup broth in a small bowl until smooth; stir into the hamburger mixture. Stir in the sour cream. Simmer, stirring often, until the sauce is thickened, about 2 minutes. Serve sprinkled with parsley (or chives), if desired.

Camping

Our very first family camping trip!!

We went to Lakewood Christian Campground with a group of families.  There were about a million children and ours had a blast.  So much fun that leaving and coming home was very sad and hard.

We will certainly do it again.

All ready to go!
We slightly overpacked and needed to take two vehicles.

Gotta eat chips when camping.

Brand new tent in the background.

LOVING the campfire!

Adrianna won the first sack race.

Helping Benji.

There was a LOT of sword fighting.
Gangs of little boys running around with nerf arrows, swords, sticks
and other instruments of war.

Still got it.

spider-dog

We discovered the creek on the last day and brought
home real clay for the kids to use.

Crashed in the tent.

Using the creek clay to make creations.

Benji's snowman.

How we all felt after a weekend of camping.

Four Little Teeth

Chilly Day at Shades Mills

It was a chilly day but we kept our weekly scheduled visit to Shades Mills.  

Too cold to play at the beach.

First Jack in the Pulpit

While the bigger kids were jumping rocks in the creek,
he picked off moss and hunted down millipedes.

Happily taking it all in.

Down by the River

We spent Mother's Day afternoon down by the Grand River.

Exploring

Mini Explorer

Looking for Toads

I found one!!

Examining a dead (and partially missing) toad.

Crayfish.

Daddy and Zoe

Hanging with Nannie

The kids found a coyote carcass.

We are not alone.

Exhausted.

Woolly Bear Cocoon!

Adrianna's captured Woolly Bear Caterpillar has made a cocoon!