Lego Numbers

Ethan is back to his lego phase and now that he has built all the cars, trucks, planes from the book, he decided to build numbers. I thought it was pretty neat. He was quietly building them while I was preparing his lunch and it was one of the most quiet moments I've had in a long time. Now let's see what he will get for Christmas :)

Happy Halloween!

School Picture 2011-2012

This year's school picture is here and Ethan is smiling more naturally when compared to last year. He looks so grown up! No more baby face.

No Cavities!

Six months have passed by quickly and it is time for Ethan's teeth cleaning and checkup. He did great during the Xray and the cleaning though he was more wiggly than the last time. Best of all - No Cavities!

Turkey Meatloaf and Zucchini Patties

I tried a couple of new recipes today hoping to get the kids to eat more vegetables - Turkey Veggie Meatloaf Cups and Zucchini Patties. I even had Ethan help me with measuring out a few ingredients when making the zucchini patties. They both turned out delicious except the meatloaf cups needed a little bit of salt. I served them along with some butternut squash soup and peaches/strawberries fruit salsa. Ethan liked the zucchini patties the best and only ate the meatloaf when I gave him some barbecue sauce and ketchup. Hayley didn't care for either the meatloaf nor the patties. She did however like the soup and ate her usual peas and carrots. Oh well, I tried. I would probably try these recipes again.

New Recipe

I've been getting a lot of good recipe ideas from the Sprouts Farmers Market magazine. Today I decided to try the Grilled Ginger Pork with Nectarine Relish. Turned out very tasty even though I overcooked the pork tenderloin a little. The marinade is very easy with just tamari (which I used soy sauce), vegetable oil, grated fresh ginger, minced garlic, pineapple juice and rice vinegar. The nectarine relish is delicious, another easy recipe which I modified to take out the jalapenos and cilantro and just put the green onions and lime juice. Yummo!

Cancun

We took a one week vacation with the whole family in beautiful Cancun. It was a fun-filled and somewhat relaxing week. We stayed at the Westin Lagunamar Ocean Resort in a 2-bedroom lockoff villa which we purchased from a friend. It worked out great with lots of space for all of us. We visited the ancient Chichen Itza ruins (recently named the New Seven Wonders of the World) and learned about the Mayan history. We enjoyed the beach and resort pool. We cooked and also tasted some delicious Yucatecan food at Labna and local seafood at El Fish Fritanga. We also visited Xcaret - Cancun & Riviera Maya's top eco archaeological park for family fun. We took Ethan snorkeling for the first time and he did great even though he didn't like the salty water. We also enjoyed the amazing performances - Xcaret Mexico Espectacular, even the kids liked it very much and clapped and danced with the music. We also became the locals for a few days by taking the bus to downtown to shop and eat. We will definitely return to Cancun someday.

View from our room

Chichen Itza

Hayley at the beach

Ethan lounging at the beach

Daddy and the kids enjoying the pool

Mommy with the kids

Daddy and Ethan enjoying the view of the beach from the pool

Barbecued chicken wings, shrimp, veggies

Lunch at El Fish Fritanga - Seafood Soup and Spicy Chili Fish

Lunch at El Fish Fritanga - Tumbada Rice

Yucatecan Lunch at Labna

Family Picture at Xcaret

Ethan getting ready for snorkeling

Lots of sea turtles

Amazing show - Xcaret Mexico Espectacular

More performances

More performances

Hayley and Gung Gung taking the bus downtown

Public bus ride