Vegas Here We Come...

Carlos and I are leaving for Las Vegas on Sunday and we are excited for so many reasons....

1) We have not left both the kids overnight since Max was born.
2) We are in need of some adult time.
3) We are meeting up with my brother and sister-in-law from Wisconsin.
4) We get to see some of our friends who live there.
5) We get to see Carlos' sister and her family.
6) We are going to see LOVE and can't wait because we "love" the Beatles.

Although I am so excited to be getting away with my husband for a few days I am also a little anxious about leaving both kids for TWO whole nights!!! We decided to split them up to make it easier on the grandparents so I'm sure they will be just fine. Suki will be staying with my mom - she just loves grandma. They go together like peas and carrots! Max will be with Lola and Grandpa which is perfect because Max will get all the attention he needs over there. They will probably both be chunkier when we get back but that's okay....it goes with the territory. Stay tuned for pictures....

Splash Park

On Monday, we met up with some friends at the splash park on the west side. It was tons of fun! The park was so great - it's too bad we don't have anything like that around us. Here are some pics from the day...




Amaya, Suki, Dominick



My rashguard babies

Seriously he is so handsome!

Suki and Daddy

Lulu

Apple Picking

Yesterday Carlos, my mom and I took the kids out to Schnepf Farm to do some apple picking. It wasn't quite what we expected and we were disappointed that there were no veggies to pick but Suki didn't seem to mind. It was her first experience picking fruit right off the tree. She loved it!

Who needs photoshop.....

when your baby is THIS cute!

Sea Salt Caramels

I had a serious sweet tooth this weekend so I decided to make some sea salt caramels. I have NEVER made any candy from scratch before but since I've been making all my baby food lately I'm gettin' pretty brave in the kitchen. I used a recipe from Barefoot Contessa but had to alter it to use grey sea salt instead of the fleur de sel. They turned out so delicious that I gave most of them away and only ended up with these two...

Recipe

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon fleur de sel, plus more for sprinkling
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract


Line the bottom of a loaf pan with parchment paper, then brush lightly with oil, allowing the paper to drape over sides of pan.


In a saucepan combine sugar, corn syrup and 1/2 cup of water and bring to a boil over medium- high heat. Continue to boil until caramel is a warm golden brown color. Don't stir - just swirl the pan to mix. Be careful not to burn it!


In the meantime, bring the cream, butter, and 1 teaspoon fleur de sel to a simmer in a small pan over medium heat. Remove from heat, set aside and keep warm.


When the caramelized sugar is the right color, slowly add the cream mixture - it will boil up violently. Stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon and cook over medium heat for 5 to 10 minutes, until mixture reaches 248 degrees (firm ball) on a candy thermometer. Very carefully pour the mixture into the loaf pan and refrigerate until firm.


Once the caramels are cool, remove from loaf pan, sprinkle with the salt and cut into squares. Use pieces of parchment paper to wrap and twist the caramels. Store in the refrigerator or at room temperature.

Flower Love

I am just in love with these peonies that I picked up from Trader Joe's. When I got them they were all completely closed but by the end of the day they had opened completely and are soooooo beautiful!