TravelingMel

When you are the second child, you get the shaft sometimes. I try to make all things "equal," but here I am on Sept. 2 reporting about Finn's birthday on Aug. 19. In all fairness, he was 11 days late coming out, so two weeks late with birthday thoughts isn't too bad.

Finn has added so much joy and consternation to the last two years. He has a wider range of emotions than anyone else in this little family. He can be overtaken with joy and giggles. He can also be found laying on the floor, screaming and beating his legs, arms and head against the hardwood.

Finn has strong opinions on everything. He knows what he wants and just as importantly, what he doesn't want. He gets that from Rigby.

Finny wants to do whatever Anders does. He wants to be a big boy. He is a more of a risk taker than Anders and physically coordinated. He knows a lot more than he lets on.

We had a garage sale a few weeks ago and got rid of the last of the baby stuff. It made me a little wistful, even though babies were tough on us. (No, there will not be anymore babies.)

Now that Finn's two, we are officially through the infant stage and firmly into little boyhood.

Anders and I waiting to meet the new guy or gal (we didn't know until Finn was born whether he was a boy or girl. With Anders I was so sure he was a boy, with Finn I was a little surprised he wasn't a girl.)

Anders and Finn in the Sweet Pea Children's Run on Finn's due date. We still had 11 days to wait...

Just a couple minutes old. Luckily, he got much cuter.

Swaddled up and ready to sleep.

Anders left for daycare as an only child. He came home to find this.

Finn enjoys his first cupcake at his first first birthday party in California.

Finn enjoys his first piece of cake at his second first birthday party in California.

For his second birthday I made a double batch of chocolate cupcakes so he could take some to daycare on his actual birthday, and have some for his weekend party. I'm kind of super mom.

The boys are ready to celebrate Finn turning 2.

"Good grief, people," Finn thought. "Stop your yammering and start feeding me cupcakes."

"I can taste those cupcakes already," Finn thought.

Mogie and Big H enjoy some tortellini.

Bring on the cupcakes!

Anders wanders off to climb a tower.

"Please, no singing. I hate the singing," Finn said to himself.

It's a party.

Finally, the cupcake is served and the singing is over.

Mom enjoys a cupcake with the boys.

Mogie notices how delicious Anders' cupcake looks...

...so she gets one of her own.

Where'd all the frosting go?

The party was fun until I got roped.

Of course, Anders thought roping mom was the best part.

A few more photos from the horsepacking trip. The first ones are here.

Getting ready.

Oliver loves being on the trail.

Guacho in the creek.

John in front of some pretty nice scenery.

Monkey flower in Sentinel Creek.

View from my tent.

Sentinel Creek near the spring and our camping area.

Packing Lars for a day trip.

Bill during a quick break.

Nancy watches Peter ride up.

Peter joins the crew.

Sunset Lake.

Sunset Lake outlet.

Lake Ha Hand

The lake from above.

Horses and my tent.

Asters

I clearly have a lot of broccoli to use up. The ever-generous Big H bought me a whole lot from the farmers market last week. I am thrilled to have all this local, organic broccoli to remind me of summer when the days grow short and cold.

This soup is vegan (no meat, no dairy, no animal products, whatsoever) but it sure tastes creamy.

I based it on a recipe that was based on a recipe, so take this as a starting point and create your own version. But, don't leave out the miso!

Since I am freezing, this is a double recipe.

2 onions, chopped small
5 red onions, chopped small
8 c veggie broth
dill, thyme, parsley or whatever you like
big splash of soy sauce
tsp or so of sea salt
9 c chopped broccoli
1 c cashew
2 Tbl miso

Vegan cream of broccoli soup

Saute the onions until transparent.

Add the potatoes, broth, herbs, salt and soy sauce. Bring to a boil and then simmer until potatoes are cooked.

Put cashews in the blender with as much stock (from pot) as needed and blend until smooth. This is your "cream." Add to soup.

Add broccoli and continue to simmer until broccoli is cooked. You could add kale or other green veggie in addition.

Stir in miso. (Do this at the end since boiling miso could kill some of the beneficial critters in it.)

A soup that is neither vegan nor low calorie, but oh so delicious...

3 Tbl unsalted butter
1 carrot finely chopped
.5 c finely chopped onion
.5 c red bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbl flour
2 c veggie stock
1.5 c small broccoli florets
1 c russet potato, peeled and cut into .5-inch cubes
.25 tsp celery seed
2 c milk
2 c coarsely shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
.25 tsp dry mustard
salt and pepper to taste

Broccoli cheddar cheese soup

Since I made a double batch of this to freeze, I threw the carrot, onion, pepper and garlic in the food processor. Way easier than chopping.

Melt the butter in a dutch over over medium heat. Add carrot, onion, pepper and garlic. Cook; stirring occasionally, until the veggies are tender--about 10 minutes.

Add the flour. Stir constantly over low heat for about 2 minutes. Gradually add veggie stock, whisking until mixture is smooth.

Add the broccoli, potato, celery seed. Increase to high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until veggies are tender.

Stir in the milk. When the soup is warm, add the cheese, stirring gently until melted. Stir in the mustard and season to taste.

Sprinkle each serving with pepper and bread crumbs.

This recipe is from "A Beautiful Bowl of Soup" by Paulette Mitchell and everything in this cookbook is scrumptious.

Last week I had the good fortune to put my equitation class skills to the test in the beautiful backcountry of the Madison range.

My friends own Willow Ranch Outfitters. In addition to hunting trips, Peter also takes folks on backcountry fishing trips (front country, too, you should call him if you want to go fishing!).

I tagged along on a one of the fishing trips in hopes of wrangling up a story (I'm pretty sure I sold the story, but I'll keep my mouth shut until it's definitely sold).

In addition to me, Peter (our guide) and Brad (his sidekick and guide-in-training), there were four amazingly nice clients from Texas and 11 Norwegian fjord horses (seven for riding and four for packing gear).

We rode in about eight miles to Peter's camp, set up tents, cleaned the horses (that means take off all their tack, for you non-equitation class graduates), set up a kitchen, cooked and ate food and relaxed under big sky surrounded by countless wildflowers. Peter and Brad did all the work (I helped out a little) and the clients--John, Nancy, Bill and Susan--got to soak in one of the prettiest places in the world.

The second day, we rode up to a lake in the Hilgard Basin for flyfishing. Not being an angler, I took photos, hiked around and thought about how lucky I am to get to go to places like this. I don't know how people survive without a healthy dose of mountains, lakes and wildflowers from time to time.

We rode out the third day and I was feeling pretty good about my horse skillz. I tried not to think about how easy my horse was. She was a sweetie, but I'll continue to pretend it was the rider, not the horse, that made it so pleasant.

I took Henry's fancy camera. I'm just posting a few of the photos here, but you can tell the difference.

Waiting to get on the trail.

The meadow we camped at. It was ok looking.

Of course I'll post another wildflower photo. Thank you for asking.

Brad and Peter hard at work in the kitchen.

Riding above treeline on our way to the lake.

John tries to lure in a fish.

Reeling it in. The cutthroat were throwing themselves at these anglers when we first arrived.

Bill catches another trout.

Peter takes Nancy's fish off the line.

Peter shows us how it's done.

Obligatory fish shot.

Bill, Nancy, John and Susan enjoy an evening around the campfire.

Pretty horses.

Brad, Susan, Bill, John and the campfire.

Boiling the dishes.

Wait! There are more photos here.