Grandpa and Grandma Madsen's House

We spent many days in the pool. One of the best parts about summer at grandmas. Maren started out insecure clinging to us for dear life. By the end of the week she as confidently swimming with only floaties on! It helps to have cousins just older that show you the ropes. She loved spending time with Dalin, Gavin, Tatum and Colton. There was always a meltdown when she had to say goodbye.

Fun with grandma and grandpa

Spencer and I got to get away for a couple of days for our 4th anniversary. We took a trip out to Mendocino to stay in a resort on the coast. We took our time through the winding roads of Napa Valley and pretended to live the high life. Pretty sure we were the youngest people around by the 30 years the entire trip. We felt like honeymooners right out of high school. We were even asked if we were old enough to see a wine list!

This is not what you think. Avoid the appearance of evil right? Well we just wanted to document the amazing GRAPE JUICE we had a the Culinary Institute of America, the most prestigious and most expensive culinary arts school in the U.S. We ate a fancy meal prepared by the students there for a fraction of the cost of eating the same thing in a fancy french restaurant.

Spencer in front of the Culinary Institute of America. If it wasn't for the poor lifestyle of a chef I think Spencer would enjoy being one.

We also stopped to take a peak at an identical replica of a Tuscan castle that some rich guy built in the 70's. Spencer loved the grand entrance reminding him of his beautiful mission.

We finally made it out to the resort. I had bought a groupon deal to get a farmhouse style room in a house for $99 originally $300 a night. This also included a $25 credit for dinner which was a well known restaurant, and complementary gourmet breakfast in the morning. We also got a free bottle of their orange flavored olive oil that we are now enjoying on our garden fresh salads. Well aren't we fancy! :)

The next morning we drove out to the coast in Fort Bragg to see the beach where 100 years ago it was the thing to dump all of your unwanted things such as cars, and anything glass on the beach. Today, all you see is ocean polished pieces of glass. We collected a small bag to take home to Maren. 

Here is a pic of the glass on the beach.

At the end of our trip we we had fun bowling as a family.

It was a great time as always in California.

Trip to California: Redwood Forest

On our way down to see my family in California, we took the scenic route to see the trees of mystery; the Redwoods.

Maren's face expresses her excitement not only for the beach but for the chance to get out of the car.

We stayed the night about 2 hours from the forest so we drove through it in the morning when the fog that looms over the trees was battling with the sun rays forcing their way in. It was a beautiful time of day.

More excitement to be out of the car. We made multiple stops. I don't have a picture of her getting back in the car but you can imagine it would be quite the opposite of the sheer joy you see above.

Paul Bunyan and Maren

One giant tree trunk. This was not some tourist stop of some famous tree, it was just on the side of the road where we got out and explore a bit.

I just loved this adorable forest! I say adorable because it looked so picture perfect like it would look in a Disney movie. The picture just doesn't do it justice. It was beautiful.

I tried to capture the amazing twisted bark and the tree juts into the sky.

We stopped at a little tree house that was contained inside one hollowed out tree.

Now this was scary. Our car barely fit without scraping. I had to get out to help Spencer through. You can see paint scraped inside the tree from other cars.

Images of Our Garden

This summer has been one of many first for me. It all began with this garden. These pictures were taken about a month ago so the garden has changed significantly. The tomatoes that are green above are now not only red but burgandy, orange and yellow variations (we grew fancy heirloom tomatoes by Spencer's request). They are delicious. It seems that everything we have grown has turned out to be amazing. Much of the credit goes to Brother Mitchell who is the expert and the one who waters every day! Though it has been A LOT of work hauling a 2 year old over there every time it has been worth it. I think the best part is how excited Spencer gets when he whips up these fancy meals. This is where the work pays off. His excitement for food makes it so fun. His favorite is when 90% of the meal all came out of the garden. I will write another posts especially for the other firsts I mentioned. As for now hopefully these images make you want to grow a garden! 

Maren has her name carved in one of her pumpkins for Halloween already. The pumpkin creates this scar that makes her name stick out.

Recently had Danish red cabbage for dinner.

A friend told me these were the best English cucumbers she had ever eaten. It is so rewarding to share your produce with others. It just makes you feel good inside.

We heard that melons don't grow great here but we wanted to give it a try anyway. We grew small watermelons and cantaloupe. They both taste amazing. We were quite surprised.

Brother Mitchell really likes radishes.

Spencer's beloved fennel. I heard about this stuff all our dating and married life and now I am eating it about every other day!