Our pet: the ladybug

Our LadyBug pet

One of H favorite book series is Ladybug Girl. She loves Ladybug Girl at the Beach, Ladybug Girl and the Big Snow, Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy and others. I also love this series because it reminds me to see things from H perspective. Things that small or simple for us may not be so for her. A short walk for me may seem long for her, a small up step may look like a hill for her height.

When I saw this at Amazon before Christmas, I thought this Insect Lore Ladybug Land will make it more educational. I bought it for her Christmas present along with the Ladybug books. It came with ladybug larvae mail in form, but I lost it while waiting for Spring time. Bummer. But my hubby caught one outside his office last month.

The kids had been having so much fun with it. They (and I do too) are learning about what lady bug eats. We read from the web that ladybug eats bug (doehh). Since we are not having much luck looking for the bug to feed her, we tried to feed her our leftover fruits. When we're lucky, we feed her the small bug we found in the veggies we bought from the store.

I also show H the ladybug lifecycle stages in the picture. She does not seem to be that interested at this point. That's fine ... maybe next time.

H is so proud to take care of her ladybug. Last weekend, I saw someone offering their pet bunny in FB. I thought H will love it, but my hubby shut the idea down right away. I was a bit disappointed, but H was so sweet. She said: Thanks Mom! I want to have a pet bunny, but it's OK mom. I already have one pet. My ladybug. Awww...

Pet store (Petco or Petsmart) visit

A so fascinated by the mouse moving the wheel.

My kids love to visit the zoo (Woodland Park Zoo or Kuger Mountain Zoo), but it gets kinda expensive and it's not as fun when it's raining. Most of the time, we just go to Petco or Petsmart. When they are this small (toddler and preschooler), they get a similar kick by just visiting a pet store. A always squeals like crazy when he watches the mouse spins the wheel. H had a phase where she loves watching the birds. It's free rainy day activities and it's close by. They can spend more than half hour with daddy, while mommy goes shopping =).

Train Ride with Thomas - 2014

The ticket for Summer Train Ride with Thomas in Issaquah Northwest Railway Museum is out. The price is $23/person for non member.

http://www.ticketweb.com/snl/CalendarListings.action?venueId=13481&pl=thomas14

Has anyone tried this with their toddler? If so, let me know what your experience is.
I am thinking next year is a better time for us.

Issaquah Barnes Nobles, Peaceful Pond and the Dragon Castle

I loved going to the book store as a kid. One of the best birthday treat I had was going to the big book store in neighboring town. I could spend hours in the book store.

Now I have to admit that I am not an avid book reader anymore. Even when I read, I get it digitally. But I do want my kids to have the same bookstore love before they become a historical concept someday. I am lucky that I live close to the Barnes and Nobles Issaquah branch. It's not a big one, but it has a good kid section varieties. The location is also very convenient. We can walk around the peaceful quiet pond behind it afterwards. My kids love to play in the small fountain, checking out the ducks and crossing the bridge to go to the other side of the Pickering Place.

H loves the story about Curious George protecting a castle from a dragon attack. She loves to protect the Pickering castle (stone walls area) from the dragon (my lil one =). They can spend almost an hour running around the area. I can have a peaceful conversation time with my hubby inside the castle while H is busy guarding us from the dragon.

When it's time for dinner, we can just walk to Red Robin. Literally, we're 1 min away from Red Robin.

It's our fall back relaxing family time when it's not raining here.

Free boat ride in Lake Union from The Center of Wooden Boat

Last month, we went to The Center of Wooden Boat - Lake Union (near Mohai Museum) so the kids can see different type of boats up close and personal.

And we got much more than that. We got a FREE boat ride. They have free public boat rides every Sunday. You reserve by signing up in their booth (no calling) in the morning. The boat ride startsaround 11 am ish. We went there around 10:30 am and there were still spots for 12:30 pm boat rides or later.

They have six different boat types that you can sign up for: sail boat, steam engine, etc. Since we have 2 hours before our ride, we played in the dock, went to have lunch in nearby restaurants, let our kids played in the park and came back just in time for our free boat ride.

It was a beautiful sunny but cold Spring day. Luckily we brought thicker jackets for the kids. The captain was really nice and knowledgeable. He told us the history of the buildings around the lake, the tax difference for a boat house vs a boat, and history of Seattle in general.

The electric boat only has 2 horse power engine, but it was running surprisingly fast. The 45 minutes went by fast and we had to turn back to the dock. Towards the end of the ride, the captain showed us the house where Tom Hanks lived in the movie "Sleepless in Seattle" shown above.

H  had a blast. This was her first time experience riding a non ferry type boat. We may go there again in Summer and try different types of boat.

Car wash anyone?

I know car wash is cheap, but my kids (the 4 years old and the almost 40 years old) love it so we do it ourselves sometimes. I mean c mon - they gotta play with water, they have an excuse to make daddy wet and they are doing grown up stuff - what's not to love.

Originally, H wanted to go to the park after Easter church and lunch. I told her to go with daddy because I had tons of errands to do at home. She told me she'd rather do car wash at home so she can be with us both. Awwwww... Kids... they really don't need fancy stuff.

So here it is: free activity for large motor skill =P - car wash. We did it once with her and she had been asking to do it again with  many times. I must say she did a really good job.

My lil one is not so fond of car wash yet (just like me). While sissy was busy scrubbing, he was occupied observing the ants *colony* near our drainage.

Apparently, .5 hr car wash and ant observation did not burn enough calories for them. So monkey style swing time...

It was a perfect Sunday family time. Sun + fun + outdoor + getting dirty = happiness. Ciao...

Got left over Easter Ham Bone ??

Got a left over ham bone? Don't throw... 

I tried this recipe and they are so easy and yummy. It's so similar to the red bean ham soup that my grandma used to cook when I was a kid. Maybe it is the same =). I use black eye pea since I don't have red kidney bean - still yummy.

Chocolate Avocado Popsicle

I love avocado. What's not to love... it's smooth and full of the good fat. I tribute my high HDL and my non traceable LDL from my love of avocado (ha ha ha =!). I've been trying to get my family (esp hubby) to eat more of the good fat so I was so happy when I saw this chocolate pudding recipe using avocado from PickyEater blog. I tried it and I loved it, but my hubby and my kids are not a big fan of pudding. Since my family loves ice cream, I thought I modify the recipe to make it as the base for ice cream.

And Yes Yes Yes !! They love it. If you know me, you will know why I am so happy that they love it. My cooking skill is non existent compared to my hubby's.

So here it is, the recipe:

Ingredients:
- 1 ripe avocado
- 1/2 ripe banana
- 4 tbsp agave (or sugar/honey equivalent)
- 1 cup milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 tbsp cocoa powder

Steps:

1.  Put all ingredients into blender. Blend until smooth.
2.  Put them in Popsicle mold. Freeze for 1 day or more. 

Paccar Open House for the Boys and Tulips for the Girls

Everyone knows about the Tullips festival, but not many people knows about the Paccar Open House nearby.

We went to both this year.We went to the Tulip festival early to avoid the traffic jam and arrived there around 10 am. It was nice and peaceful. By the time we left the tulip field (around 11:30 am) - it was crowded already.

Afterwards, we headed to the Paccar Open House close by. It is nice. It's kid friendly but it's also entertaining for us adults (engineers). As soon  as we enter, my kids were busy checking out and asking other visitors about the components in the truck engines displayed in the receptionist.

And off course, they saw someone holding a balloon and they wanted one too. So we had to go to the kids area where they have truck theme coloring sheet, trucks printed with your name, and miniature truck to take your kids' picture.

On the grown up section, my husband checked their factories and their labs. Gosh - Their mpg goal is 10 mpg. I mean, my diesel car runs on 39 mpg.

And last but not least, the kids gotta go up in the big trucks. EVERYBODY should go to Paccar Open House and there will be LESS JACKKNIFE accidents on the road. They have an area set up for us to show how much the truck's driver see from their seat. It's amazingly scary. how little they can see. It made me respect all truck drivers.

My family actually enjoy the Paccar Open House more than the tulips. We're engineers after all.

Here is the link to Paccar Open House:
http://www.paccar.com/company/PTC_open_house.asp

Where to go Easter Egg Hunt in Issaquah

Not sure where to go Easter Egg Hunt in the EastSide?

Here are some fun places to do egg hunt in the Issaquah Area this Saturday April 19, 2014

Adventure Kids Playcare Annual Spring Festival (Target complex in Gillman) 

You get free easter egg hunt, bouncy house, laser tag and others. To top it off, you get free snack for the kids - they usually hand off sample kid snacks (last year they had ice cream too) for promotion.

We went last year and my kids had a blast. The earlier you went the better because there is no line to the egg hunt and the bouncy house. I love this because we can walk to nearby restaurants for lunch afterwards.

They are open from 10 am - 4 pm. I suggest coming there early so you don't have to wait inline for the fun.

EastRidge church 

We do not go to this church, but we went for their egg hunt last year. I did not feel any pressure from them to join their church too. It was pure family fun event. And Yes, we did 2 easter egg hunt last year. 

They have different place for different age so if you have smaller kids, they are not competing with bigger and faster kids over the same eggs. I think they have more Easter Egg compared to Adventure Kids Playcare. At least, my kids got more eggs from here.

Last year, they also have free choo choo ride, inflatables, face painting and others. I must say they have more entertainment than Adventure Kids Playcare.

They are open from 9 am. They have scheduled egg hunt at 9 am, 11 am and 1 pm.

Gillman Village

We've never been here. But who does not love walking around Gillman Village so I bet they must have lovely egg hunt there too. Let me know if you goes there.

Angsio Tofu

Best tofu dish in my opinion. Nothing beats deep fried egg tofu. Hard on the outside and soft on the inside ... yummm...

Ingredients: 

- 2 pack of egg tofu

- bean sprout (optional)

- ground pork / chicken

- lettuce

- oyster sauce

- sugar and salt

Recipe:

1. Cut the egg tofu. Each piece is about .5 inch thick. Deep fry. 

2. Prepare plate. Put chopped lettuce on the plate and the deep fried tofu on top of the lettuce. 

3. On other pan, stir fry chopped garlic until golden brown.

4. Once the garlic is golden brown, put in the ground chicken. Stir until chicken is thoroughly cooked. Add in oyster sauce and a little bit of water. Add sugar and salt to taste. Pour this on top of the tofu and lettuce. 

Enjoy 

Pink Klepon - Javanese Better Than Mochi Rice Cake

I have sweet tooth and I love mochi rice cake. Klepon got them all. I bite into a soft pandan/frambozen heaven then POP !! The sweet palm sugar water flows into my mouth. All in a bite.

So when my friend made this - I have to learn to make it myself (Thanks Hellen for sharing) Nothing beats fresh out of the batch klepon. And rather than using pandan, I choose to use rose/frambozen flavoring. Just because I love pink =).

Total time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
- 3 oz glutinous rice flour
- 15 gr palm sugar
- 1/2 tsp rose flavoring or pandan flavoring for green color
- 10 tbsp Grated coconut

Steps:
1. Start boiling water in a pot (about ~ 1/2 of the pot height).
2. Grate the palm sugar. Using your hand, take ~1 tsp of the grated palm sugar and roll it to a ball (each ~ 0.5 inch in diameter).
3. In separate bowl, add water into glutinous rice flour and mix it until it has a play dough like consistency. Once the consistency is achieved. Add rose flavoring
4. Take ~1/2 tbsp of the rice flour dough and roll it to a ball. Flatten it out, put one palm sugar ball in the middle and cover the palm sugar with the rice flour dough. The palm sugar ball is inside the glutinous rice flour ball now. Continue with the rest of the dough.
5. Put each glutinous rice flour ball in the boiling water.
6. Spread grated coconut in a small plate.
6. Once the rice ball floats in the boiling water (let it sit for couple more minutes). Roll it on top the grated coconut.
7. Let it sit for 5 minutes.

Indonesian Fried Chicken (Savory with crunchies) - Ayam goreng kremes

Cook time: 1 hr
Total time: 2.5 hrs

Ingredients for the fried chicken:
- 6 cloves of garlic
- 1 shallot (big)
- 4 inches of lemon grass
- 2 inches of galanga (thai ginger)
- 1 tbsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp ground tumeric
- 12 chicken drumsticks
- salt and pepper to taste
- water (1/3 cup and 750 ml)

Ingredients for the crunchies:
- 3 tbsp tapioca flour
- 1 tbsp rice flour
- 250 ml broth from boiling the chicken and paste (see step 6 of the fried chicken)
- 1 egg

Steps for fried chicken:
1. Ground all the ingredients in a food processor or blender. Add a little bit of water (1/3 cup) to make the paste smoother.
2. Pat chicken dry
3. Rub salt and pepper to chicken and the paste. Leave for at least 1 hr.
4. Add about 750 ml of water and boil the chicken with the paste.
5. Let it boil and simmer (med low heat) for .5 hr
6. Take the chicken out and save the broth to make the crunchies.
7. Let the chicken cool to room temperature. Deep fry the chicken in hot oil (canola oil) until golden brown.

Steps for the crunchies:
It is recommended to deep fry the chicken before the crunchies because the oil will have the crunchies in it.
1. Mix all ingredients.
2. Deep fry in the hot oil (canola oil) until golden brown and strain.

Tips:
- To make the crunchies, the consistency of the broth is not thick at all. It may seem unintuitive to deep fry watery like broth, but it works.