Baker Lodge, Year 2*

*Alternately titled, "Mmm Mmm, Yum!"

Once again, a bunch of our friends met together at Baker Lake Lodge and we were invited. If you want to refresh your memory as to what I am talking about, take a trip down memory lane and click here and here. Of course, spending time at the lodge isn't all about the food so I better explain the alternate title written above. I sorted all my lodge photos by activity, and this particular post is related to food. There will be several posts in the coming days that cover other events and lots of fun photos and stories to share.

A total of nine meals were served while we were at the lodge and each couple was in charge of one meal. I only have photos of two of the breakfasts, but let me assure you that this food wasn't bologna and cheese slice sandwiches. The meals that were served included sloppy Joes, marinated BBQ'd chicken, lasagnas, chili with all the fixins, Aztec Chicken, quiche, baby German pancakes, thick bacon, multiple flavors of cinnamon buns and the list could go on and on. Let's just say that no one went hungry and no one left the same weight they were when they arrived. (Okay, so maybe I don't know that, but it seems like it could be true!)

The Mr. and I didn't have an assigned meal to bring, so we brought ice cream. Everyone brought their favorite toppings and we had an ice cream bar each night for dessert. It was fun to load everything up onto this metal cart and wheel it into the living room. I found out that several of Dreyers flavors are listed as gluten free on their website and I have to admit that I hogged one carton of "vanilla bean" hidden away in the freezer safe from any cross contamination with toppings or other flavors.

You'd think it was St. Patrick's day with all the green in this photo, but the truth is that it was Valentines-Day-Eve.

The morning of Valentines day was fun. Sjo served a lovely breakfast and I think the decorations were a joint effort between Jenn and Sjo. The tables were decorated with hearts and verses, there were even 3D heart decorations hanging from the ceiling!


"I can't open my eyes in the morning until I've had my ginormous mug of coffee!" says
Violet.

For Valentines dinner we decided to dress up the table a little bit and I helped Ioi with table cloths, doilies, candles and individual place settings complete with miniature doily place cards. All of these things were readily available at the lodge kitchen, you just had to look. Ioi served an Italian dinner complete with fresh out of the oven bread that she made from scratch!

This may look like a boring photo to many, but it is a machine that is near and dear to my heart, the massive professional dishwasher. Oh how I loved that thing. :) I think I loved it almost too much, as it got to the point where I didn't want to let anyone else use it. I think this may have happened last year as well. Maybe I need help.

Robyn getting ready to make dinner one night.

This isn't really a photo to do with eating or preparing food, but it has to be included for several reasons. Right outside the kitchen door are these steps, a huge outdoor BBQ, a large outdoor pantry with shelves brimming full of food and a huge walk in refrigerator. These steps had earlier been under several feet of icy snow and Jenn's husband cleared them for us, with an AXE and a shovel. The steps lead to a snow covered field that was hiding a nice fire pit which he ALSO SHOVELED OUT. Yes, it is true, he took his axe and shovel and removed what looked like half the snow in the whole world away from the fire pit and even made snow benches around the perimiter. Crazy.

Here is Jenn on Saturday night mixing up ingredients for Quiche with a massive whisk. You can see that this kitchen is well stocked with almost everything you can imagine would be needed in a kitchen. It's a lot of fun to cook in! She got up way before anyone else on Lord's day morning to make breakfast and I don't know how she did it!

Wiggles and Dolly.

On Monday morning, the menu included baby German pancakes.

Dolly, Emma, Wiggles (I will explain the hat later), PC and J.

Sjo and her two boys enjoying some lunch.

Miss Kate wondering what else a fork can do. "Can it help me drink juice?"

"Can it help me eat my sandwich?"

Tweet Tweet

I'm on Twitter now, so if any of you want to read my ramblings and comments throughout the day, you can click the link over on my side bar that says "I'm Twittering" and it will take you to my profile. I don't know how long it will last, but it's fun for the moment.

Breakfast Time

One of my favorite meals to serve to guests is breakfast. Breakfast foods are easy to prepare and fun to serve. I love pans full of steaming breakfast casserole, plates laden with items to smother in syrup and whipped cream, platters displaying sliced fruit, glass pitchers of fresh orange juice, mugs steaming with coffee and the morning light streaming in the window shining light on a freshly set table.

Recently (okay, maybe not so recent, it was the 13th) The Mr. and I had two families over for breakfast and it was a very nice time. Programmer and Ioi came with their three kids Dolly, PC and Emma. Chasm and his Lady came with their two kids Drooler and Cake. (Yes, I still can't think of a suitable nickname for Drooler's parents, so I am reverting to XBox sign in names.) I served the best breakfast casserole ever, (I think I can say that because it's not my recipe) as well as a gluten free version for me and a dairy free version for Drooler. It is so nice that the stores now carry so many options for people with allergies or a food intolerance. Ten years ago you would have had a hard time finding something like gluten free flours or dairy free milks at a grocery store and now there are entire aisles dedicated to foods like those. Anyways, breakfast was fun and it reminded me that I want to have people over more often. I can't really remember what else I served and there are no photos of the meal but I will say that there was fruit and also that there was no coffee. I don't know why I didn't make coffee but I will blame it on the fact that it was Friday the 13th (cue scary music.) Okay, it's true that I don't believe in "bad luck" and all that mumbo jumbo so I must have just forgotten.

After breakfast everyone relaxed. I love being part of a group of friends that can just hang out and have fun doing so. YouTube videos were watched, Xbox was played, books were read, kids ran around the house spewing toys in every corner, it was great!

The rocking horse my dad made me when I was young gets put to good use by Drooler, PC, Emma and Dolly.

PC

Programmer, The Mr. and Chasm.

Dolly can read a few words now by recognition and Ioi reads books with her. Ioi pauses for Dolly to read the words she knows and it is neat to hear her read. These times where they can sit down together at home are probably good bonding times for an oldest child and a busy mom of three!

I don't know where two of the little girls went to, but everyone else was gathered around the XBox so I thought it made a neat group photo. :)

I'm Here

...but I'm under the weather. I have lots to post and no energy to sort photos or even type. There's some exciting news in New Baby World to share though. My cousin Heather and her husband Trevor had their first baby girl on Thursday. She is named Lorelei Virginia. You can see J's photos here and if you are friends with Heather on Facebook, you can see a few photos there. Lorelei is adorable and weighed in at 8lbs 8oz of cute. Congratulations!!!

Happy Valentines Day

I love antique postcards, especially those from holidays. To see more, go here or here.

Wet and Sandy

In early January, the Nooksack river in Ferndale flooded it's banks and swept across fields, parks, a golf course, roads and unfortunately, even made it's way into a few homes and businesses. You can see the photos from the Bellingham Herald here. When the waters had receded, The Mr. and I took Petra for a walk and couldn't believe how high the river was. The sandy beaches were completely covered with water, sturdy trees and signs were wrapped with grasses that had caught while the waters were rushing by, sometimes 5 or more feet off the ground! At one point we saw a shoe and a buoy on a rope, both caught in a riverside tree. The items were caught at least 12 feet from the current water height. The gravel walking path was pretty beaten up, full of puddles and pot holes with areas that were washed away, but that didn't keep people away from using the path to jog and walk their dogs. The park has a large off leash walking area so it's a nice place to take Petra. These first photos were taken on January 15th and I think the flooding had taken place some time around the 8th. If you didn't click the link above and look at the photos, you should. I had no clue the flooding had been that bad, but seeing weeds and garbage wrapped around a tree trunk 12 feet above the height of the water really was strange to see.

Part of the path washed away.

The river over double it's usual width and no beaches in sight.

I circled the buoy in the tree, but I didn't do a very good job. This was seriously high because between the water and where I was standing there was at least a 4 foot drop to the water.

Here you can see how the water swept all the grasses into strange shapes.

Time to go home Petra! Sorry you couldn't run on the beach this time.

This week (Monday) we decided to go back to the park and see if the Nooksack river had receded enough to have beaches to play on again and we weren't disappointed. Petra got to run and run and run and get all sandy and wet and gritty. She just loves it there and never seems to tire of running on the sand.

She likes the water and we don't have to worry about how much she drinks because it is fresh water, unlike the water she visits more often- the ocean.

I think she looks so graceful running in real life, but the photos just look so hilarious!

You can see that the beach has a lot of debris, but that only makes it more fun for a dog!

Stevens Pass with the Family

This was another fun day of snowboarding but this time it was at Stevens Pass. Stevens is about three hours from our house and is definitely worth the drive if you can go during the week and avoid the long lift line-ups on the weekend. Since it's around 80 miles from Seattle, I've heard it can get pretty busy on Saturdays. I have less photos of this day even though the sky was blue and the views were beautiful. We all had so much fun that I didn't stop to take as many photos as I did at Baker the day before. We stayed for night skiing too, which is so much fun. They are actually open until 10 pm, but we left exhausted around 7pm!

Part of the ski hill as seen from the parking lot.

I'm in the helmet, Kim is in the cream jacket. :) The run behind us is called Big Chief and it is so much fun! At this photo angle it looks harmless, but from the road or the parking lot it looks treacherous.

Here's dad on his skis and Kim in the background with her arms up.

Check out this 2-seater chair lift. Kind of scary if you ask me. It reminds me of a coffee ad I saw on the back of an ancient National Geographic magazine. In bad weather, this would be a very scary chair to ride in my opinion. I was just browsing some ski hills in Switzerland and one of them boasts heated chair lifts that seat six or even EIGHT. The seat padding is heated and when you bring the bar down in front of you, you also pull down a protective plastic dome that keeps you nice and sheltered. It must be pretty cold there if they invest in chair lifts like those!

We were feeling silly and weren't actually quite this scared. At least it was a two seater. Check out this one seater from the cover of a 1937 Life magazine. Here's a neat summer photo of a one seater chair lift in Banff, AB. Here's another angle. That just looks really freaky.

This is what you see when you look down. It's very far to the ground in some areas and very very far in others.



If you would like to see some more photos from the trip, my sister has now posted. You can read her posts here, here, here and here. There are a lot of fun photos. :)

Mt. Baker with the Family

When my family was here to visit, it was in lieu of the trip to Banff that we usually try and take every couple of years for a snowboard and ski trip. It is always a fun time, sort of like a family reunion, shopping trip and ski trip all rolled into one. This year everyone decided to come to our house instead of all meeting in Banff. It was fun getting to show my family some of the local ski hills. There are several within a short driving distance of our house (anywhere from an hour and a half, to four hours) but we chose Mt. Baker and Stevens Pass. Here are the Mt. Baker photos and the Steven's photos should show up on Wednesday.

Dad and Kim (Social Sister) on one of the lifts.

Definitely enough snow!

Kim

Me

Kim and I taking a break.

During lunch break Kitten played with some of our gear. It was so cute to see her wear the boots! In this photo, she was actually sitting on the backs of them.

One of her favorite toys is buckles.

The weather was nice, but we were disappointed that it was overcast. The views at Baker are amazing. Even with the fog covering up a lot of the most beautiful parts of the mountains, our guests loved the views. I can't wait to take them there on a clear day some time in the future so they can see what they were missing!

Hosh and The Mr. There was some deep snow and steep terrain in the bowl.

I love snow covered trees.

At the end of the day, Kitten was still happy. Jolly and Mom had stayed in the lodge to play with her all day - what a patient little girl!

Mmm, Pepsi.

"Whoa, fizzy!"

There were some breathtaking views on the way home that were very hard to capture. I think my sister got some amazing ones, so when her internet is back up and she can post, be sure to check out her trip photos!

This is a fence in a little town on the way back down the mountain. This photo probably shows less than a fourth of the length of the fence and the entire thing is made up of old skis.

Here's one for all of you that like puns. An old Airstream trailer made up as a hair salon. The inside of it was so cute! All 50's styled chairs and accessories.

A beautiful sky on the way home. Taken from the back seat of the car as you can see!