Chocolate is for Lovers and Rainy Days

This spring has been exceptionally wet. But we are making the most of it with lots of indoor activities and also a bountiful first harvest from our little front yard veggie garden.

Last weekend Gregg and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary with a cooking class date at Kitchen on Fire cooking school. We learned the art of chocolate making with French Chef Gaby, who was equal parts hilarious and knowledgeable. We can't recommend this class enough, but beware, we did discover the limits of chocolate consumption, as our stomachs didn't much appreciate our extreme chocolatiering adventures.

Scroll down to see what was on the menu and other highlights from our weekend.

Ganache Tart

Ganache Tart Slice

Chocolate Mousse

Bacon infused Chocolate Truffles

Making Assorted Truffles

Tasting the Chocolate Lava Cake

Lava Cakes

Chocolate Pot de Creme

Happy Anniversary to Us!

Puddle Time!

Rainy Day Parade

Saturday Carrot Cake Just Because.

Behold! Those are candied carrot slivers.

We have a whole bunch of love for this guy.

(Greens from our garden)

We ordered 1500 lady bugs to hang out with our gnome in the garden.

Andy says hi!

Thrills Big and Small

I have a confession to make: I'm not the thrill seeker I once was. That doesn't mean life is slowing down, au contraire! My life is a non-stop marathon of kids, work, kids, work, clean up, rinse and repeat. What I'm referring to is that sense of death defying adventure that gives me the courage to willingly propel myself  into the air at speeds of nearly 70 miles per hour while rotating counterclockwise all to experience the feeling of weightlessness at 147 feet above the earth for about 3 minutes (AKA the Wonder Women Ride at Six Flags Great Adventure Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo).

Fortunately, there's something for everyone at our local North Bay amusement park as we joined Grandma Joelle in celebrating her birthday this past Sunday.

Here are some highlights  from our little adventure:

Julian in front of the Wonder Woman ride (that's as far as we got)

Pint size fun with Dad at the little kid's park

Do you see the resemblance?

Pop Pop shared his funnel cake!

Andy was very engaged at the dolphin show

Julian and Grandma enjoyed the show too (Julian was ready for a nap).

The Butterfly lepidopterarium was my favorite (after the dolphin show)

Julian can fly airplanes just like Grandpa Jim

We all enjoyed the view, but Pop Pop was brave enough to ride the Superman coaster. Thanks for taking one for the team Marc!

Julian went on his first roller coaster. They let him off after one full loop, after he decided it was too fast and scary. We are so proud of him!