Outdoor Movie Night

A couple weeks ago we went down to Redmond to the Movies @ Marymoor. Every summer on Wednesday nights they show movies on a blow up big screen at the park for $5. It certainly didn't look like the above (wouldn't that be a sweet set up in the backyard though?) but it was too dark by the time I thought about taking any pictures. We caught the last movie of the summer and lucked out because they happened to be showing one of both Zach and my favorite movies of all time - The Princess Bride. If you haven't seen it, shame on you. It's a classic (from the 80s) and is a chick-flick-comedy/satire-action movie all wrapped into one. Trust me. Watch it. My favorite scene is the sword fight.

We didn't bring any food, hoping that we'd get food there. Turns out they had one food truck (with delicious organic burgers), kettle corn, and a candy truck. Not much selection. If we go next summer, we are definitely bringing our own food and drinks! I ended up standing in line for 45 minutes (and half hour into the movie) waiting for those delicious burgers while Zach held our spot on the lawn (we brought blankets, but you could bring lawn chairs too!). Not ideal, but it worked out. At least I had already seen the movie. 

We tried bringing the pups, but Buster has been having trouble lately around other dogs. He barks quite ferociously. Probably because he is in the back yard all day (guilty mama right here...)? And Brody just follows suit. So, we left them in the car and they took a nice nap.

Best part of the night - Inigo Montoya: "I want my father back, you son of a bitch!" And the crowd goes wild... Awesome. 

Have you ever been to an outdoor movie? I hear the one at Redhook is pretty good too. I just love the experience and would definitely do it again!

Photo found here.

The Fair (and Li'l Sebastian!)

Make no mistake, this could very well be Li'l Sebastian's clone. Well, I guess he doesn't quite have the mane that Lil' Sebastian does (or the bangs) but he's pretty darn close. You know Li'l Sebastian right? From Parks & Rec (One of my favorite shows. You should watch it.)? He's only AMAZING! If you haven't, here's a little taste.

Kim and I went to the Puyallup Fair on Sunday (it's called "The Fair" by the way. Like THE Fair. I guess it's kind of a big deal :) . It's always fun going to the fair and wandering around to see all the different booths, rides, food and people. People watching is like one of my favorite hobbies. 

We went straight for the food, naturally, and settled on corn dogs and curly fries. Excuse me, they were actually Krusty Pups. And they were delicious.

We were planning on going on some rides, but decided against it since the lines were so long and the rides were all 9 tickets each (about $4.50 per ride). Kim heard a guy in line saying he was going to buy 500 tickets!!! At 50 cents each that's around $250! So one thing we learned - the fair is expensive! 

We're twinsies!

We liked all the animals too! Lots of cute bunnies and goats and chicks. And then there was this guy. He must have been British - check out those teeth.

And these little baby piggies!

Towards the end of the day we found these guys. Since both our guys were at home watching the Seahawks game, it was pretty funny that we happened to find these big horsies (Kim's husband is Jake). Cracked us up.

Have you been to the fair lately? What's your favorite part? The rides? The food (we also had to split an elephant ear before we left)? Do you ever get a little claustrophobic with all the people (so many people)? Hope you had a great weekend!

Happy Weekend! (Didn't We Just Do This?)

It seems like we just had a weekend! I'm not complaining - I love me a short week - but this week has flown by. I'm looking forward to date night tonight (Z is planning out where we are going) and then hanging out with my dear friend and her mister at Golden Gardens (I've never been!) on Saturday. Z is also on call all weekend... so hopefully no emergencies come up...

I'm also looking forward to doing some shopping looking with maybe a little buying (out of my allowance, of course - I haven't already forgotten, don't worry!). If you have any suggestions of places to find awesome vintage/antique goodies, please drop me a comment! I love checking out new places. I saw a sign for an antique mall in Puyallup on the way home last weekend, so I might see what I can find there.

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend! Summer is almost gone, but it's still hanging on, so do enjoy it!

Photo found here.

PS I've always wanted to go on a hot air balloon... Have you ever been?

The Perfect Summer Smoothie

Since I was a kid, I have always loved smoothies. Mostly in the summertime just because they are so delicious and refreshing. And they are healthy! Jam packed with fruit, you can't go wrong. Here's my recipe for my favorite smoothie: Strawberry Banana.

Ingredients - 1 Smoothie

1 Cup Orange Juice

Handful of Frozen Strawberries

1/2 Banana

1 8-ounce yogurt (I usually use orange or vanilla)

For two, use a full banana and adjust the strawberries and orange juice to the amount you want!

Directions

Pour it in, blend and enjoy!

What's your favorite summer drink?

Renton River Days

Happy August! I can't believe we are already this far into summer! It seems like just yesterday we had our first few sun breaks right after the 4th of July...

Saturday we stopped by Renton River Days, which is basically Renton's annual fair without the rides. And it's just down the street from us in downtown Renton! I had heard about the event before, but found out about it this year while on my way home last week - I saw a mini circus set up outside at the Renton Community Center. Turns out it was the Wenatchee Youth Circus performing all weekend!

Zach and I love being tourists in our own city (Exhibit A) so we made our way downtown to take it all in. On the walk to Liberty Park, we were surprised by how peaceful and calm it was to walk along the Cedar River. So pretty!

There were tons of booths with local vendors. My favorite was the booth with the real life angry birds game (although I can't remember who was actually running this booth - a bank maybe?).

I loved these wooden salt + pepper shakers.

I liked the maps in the background of these paintings of local landmarks.

These lanterns would be fun for the backyard.

This structure was made out of a ton of pots and pans and metal. They had drum sticks for the kids to pound away and make some sweet music (you can see the little girl taking some in the bottom left of the picture). 

Of course, we had to stop by and grab some grub. We figured we'd be safe by picking the longest line, so we stuck it out for the gyros (Does anyone else have trouble pronouncing that word? Just me?). They weren't bad, but I've had better. In true fair fashion, we ended the day with an elephant ear. It was that or the deep fried Twinkies, but Zach had to go with the old standby.

We had a great time, but I would say the River Days are definitely geared more towards kids. While they didn't have any rides, they had a ton of kid stuff - rock climbing wall, bouncy house, and fire trucks galore. They even had the fire hose going for the kids to run through. So if you have kids, Renton River Days is perfect!

What fun summer events does you have in your hometown?

Also - can we just talk about the time delay for the Olympics? I am trying to stay off facebook (and other social media) to avoid hearing results, but forgot last night and found out the women's gymnastics results before I watched. Booo! I know it's tough with the live versions happening 9 hours ahead, but I still want there to be some suspense! U-S-A! U-S-A!

Olympic Fever

I definitely have it. I grew up playing sports. Lots of sports. Soccer (my true love), track and field, basketball, volleyball. I loved competing (and still do!). In fact, I just recently started playing on my work soccer team again and I'm having so much fun! I'm not nearly as good as I used to be (if I was even good back then - ha!) but it feels good to get back out there and compete. 

Watching the Olympics is just as fun for me. I get so into it and I'm definitely bursting with pride for our beautiful USofA. The athletes competing at that level are just so insanely good and I love watching them leave it all out there. The husband loves it too. We have a lot of fun watching on TV and making our own "color commentary." 

What is my favorite sport to watch, you might ask? I have come around to like the swimming. Especially with the last Olympics and Phelps doing so awesome and now this year with the rivalry built up with Lochte. I am also digging the volleyball - women's beach volleyball and men's indoor. They spike it so hard! Holy cow. I also like watching the random sports that you don't get to see on a regular basis, especially in the US. Like archery (have you seen those crazy hi-tech bows?) and shooting. Love it all. 

Oh, and what about the Queen "sky diving" into the stadium? Pretty funny. My favorite part of the opening ceremonies was the lighting of the torch. So cool with the young athletes running in and then lighting the 240 pieces from each country to create one unified flame. So awesome. I loved it. 

With the Olympics in London this year, it brings me back to memories of our London trip last summer. We loved that city so much. A ridiculous amount of history mixed with all things royal and a ton of beautiful old buildings. I loved every minute of it. Read more about our London travels right here. 

Are you a crazy USA super fan like me? What are your favorite sports to watch? 

Photo source: 1, 2, 3

Happy Weekend!

As you probably suspect, this week has been a little hectic in the Kane household. Puppy runs the show these days, which Buster is definitely still getting used to. It's a lot of fun watching the two of them figure it all out: Brody chasing after ice cubes like a kitty cat, Buster and Brody fighting over bones, and both of them learning how to play nice with each other. It's hard, but worth it. I'm batting 1,000 as far as puppy accidents in the house go (Zachary cannot say the same)! 

This weekend is a big weekend... the final Batman comes out(!), then Saturday we are going to see Florence and the Machine, plus our first vet visit with the little one! I'm very excited, except that I've been feeling under the weather lately (I am worn out) so I hope I can kick it before the concert. 

Have an adventurous weekend!

What are your plans this weekend? 

photo source

Raspberry Cobbler

There's something about summer that just screams Pies! Cobblers! Anything with fresh fruit! After we got some raspberries at Pike's Place Market last weekend we immediately came home and made some raspberry cobbler. 

Here's the recipe we used (adapted from here): 

Ingredients

3 cups raspberries

2/3 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice (we left this out since we didn't have any on hand)

2 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 cups Bisquick biscuit mix

3 tablespoons melted butter

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup milk

whipped cream

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Wash raspberries and combine with sugar (and lemon juice if you have it).

3. Use butter to grease an 8x8 pan and spread the berries along the bottom.

4. Place dollops of butter on top of the raspberries.

5. In a separate bowl, mix Bisquick, melted butter, beaten egg, and milk. Stir until combined.

6. Drop over berry mixture in spoonfuls.

7. Bake for 30-35 minutes at 350 degrees.

8. Serve warm with whipped cream and gobble that up!

Messy, but delicious! Perfect for a summer night in front of the fire! What are your favorite summer desserts?

P.S. This looks pretty darn tasty too!

The Great Wheel

We took advantage of the sun on Saturday after Zach's shift at the hospital (and so it begins...) and went downtown to hang out. Our first mission was food. I'd never been to Ivar's down on the pier, so I suggested we go there. It was so busy! And it was so weird the way you order and pay there. Everyone stands in line, you give them your order (your fried order only!) then you step back and wait. Then they call out your fried order and you go up and tell them you want a drink, etc. and pay. It's just really weird and hectic when it's so busy because everyone is confused, then you have to get back in line and everyone huddles towards the counter in fear that their order won't be called. Weird, Ivar's. Just weird. Anyways, we both got fish and chips and they were pretty tasty. 

From there we were on a mission to The Great Wheel! I was so excited (as I mentioned here)! I was prepared to wait in line for hours, but the whole process (from getting into line to getting off the wheel) only took about an hour and fifteen minutes. Not as bad as I thought. One way to save time (we realized after it was too late) is to buy the tickets online before you get there (tickets are $13/adult). That way you can skip the ticket line and head straight to the wheel line. Since it was such a beautiful day it wasn't so bad standing around in line though. 

We figured a few things out while we were standing in line (we're like that). There are 42 gondolas (we may have counted) including one VIP gondola (it's the black one and it has leather seats and a glass bottom!). Six people can fit into each gondola so if you are with a smaller party, be prepared to share. We were in a gondola with three other lovely ladies and chose to face towards the city.

The ride was surprisingly smooth and very sturdy. Very little swinging at all and there was even A/C! The last time I was on a Ferris Wheel was at California Adventure and it was so scary! The gondola rocked and there was nothing to hold on to so I thought I was going to fly right out! The Seattle Great Wheel was nothing like that (in case you are afraid of heights). Super smooth and while it is high, the views are worth it. We were constantly twisting and turning to see everything around us. 

Oh, and you go around five times - once to load, three full times, once to unload. Overall, it's about a 15-20 minute ride. 

After the Great Wheel, we hit up the Seattle Antiques Market (under the viaduct) and then went up to Pike's Place (we like being tourists in our own town:). I love Pike's Place Market. Just walking around, seeing all the different people and art and flowers and fish. Especially on a nice day, it will never grow old for me. :)

We picked up some delicious raspberries (and later made some delicious raspberry cobbler!) and the mister even bought his lady some sweet peas for the road (they smell so good). The peonies were also out in full bloom and were gorgeous!

On our way through Westlake Center, I noticed the trees in the courtyard had their trunks painted bright blue. Crazy, huh?

The whole day was awesome and perfect and everything that I love about being in Seattle. Such a great city. We love you, Seattle!