Cupcakes and Petting Zoos

Friday was Brett's birthday. I baked him mini cupcakes rather than a regular cake. Less mess and easier to eat. I decided to try a different recipe this time around, rather than the ones that I have accumulated over the years. Thanks to my faithful watching of the Food Network, I had scored an amazing Very Vanilla Cupcake recipe from Anna Olsen of Fresh. As yummy as these cupcakes were, I don't think I'll be making them again anytime soon. I think I'll save this recipe for special occasions...like my baby shower. It was just way too time consuming, and it literally took me all afternoon to bake and decorate them! This is the result of my hard work:And because I love cupcake art and photos of cupcakes, I thought I would take a few myself...

On Saturday Brett and I met up with my friends Erin and Lenny for dinner at The Rathskeller, a German schnitzel house. Brett claims The Rathskeller makes the best bratwurst ever, so of course I had to try it. But being a schnitzel house, there was also every kind of schnitzel under the sun! Too many to choose from. So Brett and I decided to share the Rathskeller Plate, a feast for one or more that includes wiener schnitzel, cordon bleu, jeager schnitzel, bratwurst, potatoes, spatzle, and veggies. There wasn't much for non-alcoholic beverages, as here you can drink beer from a glass boot. The beer boots were the main reason why Brett wanted to eat at the Rathskeller in the first place. Lenny, being a beer lover himself, had no objections. Well, each boot is the equivalent to 3-4 beers, and having already consumed 5 beers in the sun before dinner, Brett was already 2 boots deep. Let's just say the night ended with me home in bed that night and Brett having to cab it home at 8 the next morning.

On Monday Brett and I met up with Erin for brunch at a restaurant I have never eaten at before, and neither had Brett. Mo:Le is a restaurant that source from local and organic farms with vegan and raw food options available. The food was so fresh and all of it homemade, right down to the jam that I had on my toast! Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of my meal, but I highly recommend the mushroom and back bacon scramble...huge chunks of back bacon and mushroom cooked into scrambled eggs with cream cheese, served with pesto panfried potatoes, and your choice of multigrain or sour dough bread. So yummy!

After brunch Brett and I decided to show Erin around Victoria, even though she's been here before. But who can turn down a drive through some of the ritzy neighbourhoods? We also drove around the University of Victoria properties to see how many bunny rabbits we can count. Just like I was when I first saw them, Erin was quite shocked to see that there were so many bunnies running around freely on the grounds of the university. This also prompted us to show Erin Beacon Park, where peacocks roam freely around and no one cares. Much to our delight, the petting zoo was also open!

This sign was everywhere! I thought it was funny.

Sweetie, the vietnamese pot-bellied pig.

A cute goat looking at me

Cute little baby goats playing around in the kids petting zoo area. I love the little wee one's head poking out from one of the stumps. So freakin' cute!

These 2 wee ones were my favorites. They are just so darn cute! They were playing with each other the entire time, not caring that there were little kids trying to touch them. Or the fact that one kid tried to pick one of them up before the kid's father came to the rescue.

This goat couldn't stay away from this stroller. I had a good laugh, but then felt bad that some kid's stroller was being eaten.
This miniature horse's name is Peanut Butter. He was stuck with a donkey. I felt bad for PB, he just didn't seem impressed. He was most likely annoyed with all the peacocks screaming their heads off and us trying to get his attention while he was trying to catch a nap. Poor PB.

Brett instantly fell in love with Peanut Butter and he thinks PB was annoyed at his hair cut.

A freshly shaved alpaca


Ducks

A white peacock! I didn't even know they existed! He was hanging out with the alpacas and laying low from the others.

I couldn't stop taking pictures of the peacocks. Their blue coloring was just so beautiful and bright. And I couldn't get enough of their feathers. They also roamed around the petting zoo like they owned the place. I guess it's cause they were more mobile than the other animals. they did stay away from the goats though. I was also surprised as to how at ease they were around humans. I had one walking alongside me for a while before it got bored of me.