Of Fish and Kids

I have a love/hate affair with places like the aquarium.

The ghostly beauty of huge dark tanks alive with sea life.

The wonder in the littles eyes, trying to take everything in all at once.

The barely containable excitement of just wanting to know about everything.




And then there's the crowds and the not listening and the "please can I have it!".

Big adventure days are important, but oh so exhausting.

What a great time we had, though.

The dolphins and belugas were the favourites.

Pressing their noses to the glass, as curious to see us as we were to see them.

The underwater viewing area dim and (relatively) quiet.

The haunting sounds of the ocean depths filling the air.

On the ferry trip home a pod of thirty or more dolphins passed us by. Pacific White-sided dolphins, as we had just learned. Boy do I love our wild and natural west coast.

Irish Cake Bombs

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

So you might be wondering what cupcakes have to do with St. Patrick's Day.

I wanted to make something to celebrate the day but what? Corned beef or stew was out of the question given our whole vegetarian thing, soda bread didn't seem that exciting and minty green was too predictable.

Then I found these over at the Smitten Kitchen and had to taste them for myself.

The Irish Car Bomb is a drink involving a shot of Bailey's and Jameson whisky dropped into a pint of Guinness and chugged before the foaming mess erupts everywhere.

The Irish Cake Bomb is a chocolate Guinness cupcake with a chocolate whisky ganache centre topped with Bailey's buttercream.

Oh my heavens, I think St. Patrick would approve.

The stout adds an earthy dimension to the almost fudgy chocolate cake. The ganache is smooth and intense. And the Bailey's buttercream made my toes curl in a very good way.

May the luck of the Irish be with you. Slainte!

Ordinary Day

I haven't posted for a while, busy days, colds and not much to say.

But days like this are the backbone of life. Not exciting, not unusual. But the core of who our family is.

Play, laundry, cuddles, cooking. Today I embraced our ordinary and while doing so, I found something more.

A future photographer.

Anna's still life of juice. She figured since I take pictures of food, she was going to as well.

Cinnamon swirly bread and a heavenly smelling home.

An impromptu birthday celebration for Anna's imaginary friend, because who doesn't love a party?

And, of course, every birthday needs a pinata or two.

Our favourite lawnmowers on their daily rounds.

Play, laundry, cuddles, cooking.

Breathe deep the ordinary magic of everyday.