Merry Christmas!

Yes, I know it's 4 days after Christmas, but I'm just now finding the time to sit down and do this.  It was a crazy few weeks leading up to the holidays, with sports still going, school activities, and our normal nuttiness on top of the kids' excitement over Christmas.  I do have to say that it seemed less frantic somehow than in years past, though I'm not sure why exactly.

On Christmas Eve, Mike had to finish his shopping, so I had the kids for the day.  We did a couple of errands in the morning and then I had a Pilates class at noon.  Once we got back from the Y, we all cleaned up and got ready for mass.  We had to be there early because our older daughter was singing in the choir, so it did make for a bit of a long afternoon.  The church was packed, as usual, and it was about the looudest mass I've ever been to, but we all survived and then headed home for dinner.

Our friends came over with their two boys that evening, as they have for the past few years.  We did a Dungeness crab extravaganza, with a bunch of cold, cracked crab for an appetizer and steamed, hot crab for dinner.  We also had some wonderful caviar and cheeses before the meal and a ginger spice cake with homemade butterscotch topping for dessert.  Yum!  It was a fun night and once again, we chatted late into the evening.

I still had a mountain of wrapping to do, so I knew it was going to be a LATE night.  I swear every year that I'm going to get it done ahead of time and every year I end up doing it that night.  Best laid plans, I guess.  I finally got it all done and the stockings ready and the gifts under the tree by about 2:30.  We desperately hoped that the kids would take pity on us and sleep in a bit, since they had gotten to bed late as well.

Our youngest woke up at her usual 6:45 on Christmas morning, but I was able to convince her that it was still night since it was dark out yet and she managed to go back to sleep.  Her brother and sister woke up at about 7:45 and proceeded to head downstairs and check out the tree and sort the gifts into piles while they waited for the rest of us to get up. Good thing I got my pictures of the tree the night before!  The little one woke up the second time at about 8:30, so we all got up and got the day started.

We opened the gifts in our stockings first, to take the edge off and give breakfast time to cook.  Mike fixed the traditional breakfast casserole, which he and I love and the kids refuse to eat - too bad for them! They did sit through part of 'A Christmas Story", which Mike and I think is hysterical and we have on most of the day on Christmas.  The kids didn't really get it, but they were willing to watch it if it was the only thing on.  After breakfast, it was on to the presents under the tree.

The kids were all very happy with their gifts.  The highlights: an iPod Touch for our son, an American Girl horse for our older daughter, and a unicorn Pillow Pet for our younger daughter (her main present didn't arrive in time, so I told her she'd get it after our trip).  Mike gave me two iPad covers from the leather company we fell in love with last year, Saddleback Leather, plus a new camera since I killed the old one about a month ago.  I gave him a very large briefcase from Saddleback that will hold all of his work stuff and then some. 

The rest of the day was spent just hanging out at home.  The weather was awful - rainy and windy - so there was no desire to go outside.  We all stayed in our pajamas for most of the day.  The girls and I made chocolate chip cookies, which I'd been promising them we'd do, but I just had hadn't found the time to make them.  We did a dinner of leftovers and got everyone to bed at a reasonable time.

It was a lovely Christmas and went by all too fast, as usual.  I always hate when Christmas is over because it's my favorite time of the year and I absolutely love the whole build-up to the day.  It helps that we're now on vacation in San Diego and enjoying spending time with Mike's parents.  We did it last year for the first time and had a great time, so we decided to make it a tradition.

From our crazy family to yours, a belated Merry Christmas and a very happy new year!  May you all have a wonderful 2011!

Creamy Parsnip Soup

This is a recipe from Martha's Everyday Food, so thank you (again) Martha Stewart!  It's really tasty, very easy, and only takes about 30 minutes.

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. butter
1 lb. prepared leeks, sliced (2 cups)
1 lb. parsnips, trimmed, peeled, and cut crosswise into 1-inch pieces
2 apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 medium baking potato (about 1/2 pound), peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 can (14.5 ounces) reduced sodium chicken broth (or homemade stock is even better)
1/2 cup heavy cream
Salt and pepper to taste
Leek garnish (see below)

Directions:

1. Heat butter in a large pot over medium heat.  Add leaks (reserving 1/2 cup for garnish). Cook, stirring, 5 minutes.
2. Add parsnips, apples, potato, broth, and 4 cups water.  Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, until vegetabels are tender, 20 to 25 minutes.
3. Working in batches, puree soup in a blender until smooth (or use an immersion blender).  Return it to pot; stir in cream.  Season with salt and pepper.  Serve with leek garnish.
4. To make leek garnish, in a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon butter over medium-high.  Add reserved 1/2 cup leeks; cook, stirring, until golden brown, about 3 minutes.

Halloween!

We had a very nice Halloween.  Our son had two projects to work on over the weekend, so he spent most of Saturday and a good part of Sunday getting those done.  His baseball game (the last one of the fall season) was cancelled because the other team wasn't able to get enough kids together to play.  Hopefully they'll be able to reschedule it, but it did make the day easier overall.  Our older daughter went home with a friend after mass, so they had a fun time carving pumpkins and playing together.  Our little one spent a long time playing outside since it was an absolutely gorgeous day.  A few of the neighbor kids came out, too, so they all ran around in the driveway and in and out of each other's houses for a long time.

After picking our daughter up, I fed the kids and they got into their costumes.  The Saints and Giants were both playing, so Mike stayed home to keep the candy bowl filled (he put it out on the porch instead of answering the door) and I took the kids and the dog out trick-or-treating.  Our neighborhood was a madhouse (as usual), but the kids had a good time and brought home tons of candy.  The girls stayed up long enough to hand out the last of the candy and then they all went to bed.

They claimed it was the best Halloween ever - although they do tend to say that every year.

Pictures from our little one's Halloween party at school:

Our Little Girl Is Seven!

Opening gifts the night we got back.

So excited it's finally her birthday!

A few pictures from our daughter's birthday.  We didn't do parties for her or her brother this year, but we had a lovely celebration as a family.  Sometimes quiet is really nice!

Matching PJs for her and her American Girl doll

The doll desk she'd been really hoping to get.

  

Family Reunion - Sunday

Our older daughter's birthday was today!  She was very excited to FINALLY be turning seven, but was a little disappointed that she'd be spending the day on a plane.  She knew that she'd be able to open her presents when we got home, though, so that seemed to make things better.

We had to be out of the house by 10:00, so most of the morning was devoted to packing.  Mike's sister made a breakfast casserole the day before, so we all had a very tasty breakfast before leaving.  We took a few last pictures outside and then everyone headed out in their various directions.  We went right to the airport to catch our flight to Atlanta.  The flight was oversold by a lot and we tried to get bumped since they were offering $600 per person in travel vouchers, but they weren't able to get all of us to San Francisco on other flights.  I did offer to send the kids on their own, but the woman at the desk declined - I wonder why?

The flights were fine and the kids did really well even though we didn't have the individual TV screens this time.  We found out that the first officer on the flight was also celebrating his birthday that day, so he made sure to wish our daughter his best as we were getting off of the plane. 

We grabbed a quick dinner and then let our kiddo open her gifts.  There were a couple that had been delivered to Mike's office while we were gone (the one she'd really been hoping for), so she got to open those the next day.

It was a fantastic vacation.  None of us were ready to leave, which is always a good sign!  We are already talking about where to go and what to do for our next reunion, in two years.

Family Reunion - Saturday

Mike's sister saw an ad for a doughnut place nearby that makes fresh doughnuts to order, so she and I made plans to get up early and pick some up for breakfast.  I woke up earlier than I needed to, so I got up and got dressed and was able to watch the most incredible sunrise over the beach.  There were lots of people out doing the same thing and it was a cool, clear morning so there wasn't anything to interrupt the view.  It was an amazing way to start the day!

We found the doughnut place and brought them back for everyone.  They were very good, but SO filling.  I felt like I needed the rest of the day to actually digest the ones I ate.  It was a cool enough morning that the kids didn't want to get in the pool, so I took our girls back to the shopping center at the end of the street to look through the rest of the stores we missed when we had to leave to get back for the boat trip.  I finally found the magnets our son needed, too, so it was worth the trip!  We got a couple of little souvenirs for them and went back to the house for the rest of the day.

The girls ended up out on the beach with Mike's sister-in-law, making drip castles, and our son went out to boogie board for a while.  When I saw that the waves were the best we've seen, I couldn't resist, so I got my suit on and grabbed a board to join him.  It was great fun and we spent over an hour out there riding whatever we could catch.  I finally got cold and passed the board off to Mike.

The rest of the crew came out to start the traditional bolo tournament.  I was paired with Mike's sister, but the two of us just couldn't manage to out-score the other teams, so we were eliminated early on.  The final rounds took place a little later in the day, after the boys returned the bike.  Once again, Jeremy and Mike were the bolo champions, retaining their title from two years ago.

Mike's sister made salad, spaghetti, and garlic bread for dinner.  After we ate, it was FINALLY time for the Cousins' Birthday, which the kids had been (im)patiently waiting for all day.  They passed out their presents to each other and opened them all at the same time.  Everyone seemed pretty happy with their gifts!  We all had cake for dessert and then started gathering our things to pack since we were leaving the next day.

Family Reunion - Friday

Mike and his brother decided that they wanted to rent a three-wheeled motorcycle for the day, so they left mid-morning to go pick it up.  While they were gone, our friend came back over for a little while before he had to head back home.  It was really good to hear about his family and learn about his boys and their life in Greenville.  By the time Mike got back, our friend had to leave, but he took a spin around the neighborhood on the bike to see what it was like and how it compares to the Harley he rides every day.

Mike and his brother and nephew all spent a good part of the day taking turns riding the bike around.  I went back to Harbor Town with Mike's parents to check out the shops, since I didn't get to see them yesterday.  I didn't find what I was looking for - magnets for our son's science homework - but I did find some ornaments and stocking stuffers for Christmas, so it was worth the trip.

We spent the afternoon boogie boarding and playing bolo on the beach.  The kids went from the beach to the pool to the house, as their little hearts desired.  We had reservations for dinner at 5:30, so we all got cleaned up and drove over to a restaurant called "Dye's Gullah Fixin's", with Mike's brother and sister-in-law on the bike.  The food was absolutely incredible - all southern favorites like fried chicken and catfish, boiled seafood, onion pie, collard greens, macaroni and cheese, and a variety of other things.  It was all perfectly cooked and absolutely wonderful.  Since it was a buffet, we all ate WAY too much, but it was too hard to resist.  Mike rode the bike back to the house while the rest of us drove and we spent the rest of the evening watching baseball and digesting.  We did manage to motivate ourselves enough to take a walk on the beach after dark, which the kids thought was very cool.  They got to see tons of stars and the moon was gorgeous, making for a lovely walk. 

Family Reunion - Thursday

I got up at a reasonable hour this morning and went for a run to start my day.  Instead of going to the gym, I decided to go out on the road, which I haven't done in ages.  It's always harder for me to run on the road - I think I actually run faster when I don't have a machine setting my pace - so it was not easy to keep going for an hour.  I did manage to make it out and back, though, and felt pretty good by the time I was done.  I was really ready to be finished, though!

By the time I got back, the kids were up and in the pool.  We gave them some time to swim and I got cleaned up and then we headed out to find the Salty Dog store on a part of the island we hadn't seen before.  After checking out all the stores in the little shopping area, we all piled back into our cars and moved on to yet another shopping area, called Harbor Town.  We had lunch at The Crazy Crab there, which was delicious - the kids even asked if they could go back there some day, it was so good.  The rest of the family stayed to wander around the shops and we went back to the house to wait for a friend of ours to come visit.

After our last trip to Hilton Head, I got in touch with a friend of ours from high school, who happens to live in Greenville, South Carolina.  I let him know that we were going to be back, so he decided to come over to visit for the afternoon.  We spent some time hanging out on the beach and in the pool, catching up, since we hadn't seen each other in twenty years.  He joined us for dinner - enchiladas made by Mike's siter-in-law, which were wonderful! - and then hung out with the family while the kids made s'mores in the backyard for dessert.  He then went back to his hotel for the night and the rest of us ended our day.

Family Reunion - Wednesday

The dads were scheduled to play golf for the day, so they got up and out early to have a chance to go to the driving range for a bit before hitting the course.  I decided to sleep in instead of getting up to work out - it is vacation after all!  As soon as the kids were up, they had a bite of breakfast and were ready for the pool.  I had to foil their plans, though, and insist that they get some homework done.  It was not a popular decision, but they did it anyway and then headed for the water.

Just before lunch, I got my kids out and took them shopping.  They needed some time out of the water during the middle of the day since they were all getting a bit burnt no matter how much sunscreen we put on them.  The last time we got together, we did a "cousins' birthday", where the kids all drew each other's names and then got that person a birthday gift.  All of the kids (except our little one) remembered this from last time and really wanted to do a birthday celebration again, so we needed to get gifts for the cousins they picked. 

I took them to lunch at McDonald's, where our oldest remarked about the cashier, "Mom, she's so nice and friendly, not like at home."  I had to explain that customer service is a bit different in the south and that he should remember what it was like to have someone be so polite when helping him.  Hopefully it made at least a bit of an impression.  After that, we headed to Target to get the gifts and a few other things we needed, like pencils since our older daughter didn't bring one and needed it to do her homework (she had to borrow her cousin's) and everyone got a new book.  We then came back closer to the house to wander the little shopping center at the end of the street that has a bunch of gift shops.  Since the kids were incredibly patient for that, we all got ice cream at a little shop called Frozen Moo - I love that name!  It was good ice cream, too.  I realized while we were sitting there enjoying our ice cream that I was supposed to go out for a photo tour/boat ride that afternoon with the other moms and Mike's niece - I had completely forgotten about it!  I gathered the kids up and made a beeline for the car to try to get back in time to leave with them.

I did make it just in time and ran inside to gather my things to go, after making a quick phone call to set the details of a visit from a friend of ours the next day.  In the chaos, I managed to grab my camera, but forgot to take the battery out of the charger.  Of course, I discovered this on the boat as we were pulling away fron the dock.  It was a bit disappointing, but in the end turned out to be a good thing because I was able to look around and pay attention to the scenery instead of thinking about taking pictures, which often makes me miss out on the bigger scene.

The guy who runs the tours is a photographer who takes small groups out in his nineteen-foot, flat-bottom boat.  He has an outboard motor for getting places quickly and a little electric motor for getting up close to the birds or other animals without scaring them.  We headed into the inland waterway and almost immediately Mike's niece spotted some dolphins.  It turned out to be two mother-calf pairs, along with a male who stayed on the outskirts. The mothers and babies were swimming around and playing together, so we spent a long time sitting and watching them.  They would come within a couple of feet of the boat, so we got to see them really well.  We didn't want to leave, but we did want to see more of the area, so we moved on and motored further inland.

I got to see my first oyster beds on this trip.  The tide was going out, so they became more exposed the longer we were out there and they are impressive structures, with the shells all building on top of each other.  There were some wonderful birds out feeding, including willets, grackels, royal terns, great egrets, and two of my favorites, the great blue heron and the snowy egret.  We heard the hooting of a great horned owl, but didn't see it.  At our furthest point inland, we saw another pair of dolphins, a mother with an older calf, who were feeding.  We could see them herd the fish by pushing a wave of water ahead of them and then they'd swim up from underneath and grab the fish.  It was an amazing thing to watch and really fascinating to see how the mother was teaching the calf to do this.  After watching them for a few minutes, the dolphins swam off and we started back toward the dock since the no-see-ums were starting to come out.  My sister-in-law and I weren't getting bitten, but the others were, so it was time to get back.

So even though I didn't have a camera, it was a wonderful trip.  Our guide was great, the animal life was fantastic, and it was a gorgeous evening.  It was definitely worth the time and money!

When we got back, the guys had dinner started.  Mike's brother had ordered caviar from a friend of his, so we had that for our appetizer.  We introduced Mike's niece and nephew to it, since they had never tried it before and we have been determined to get them to try new foods on this trip.  One liked it and one didn't, but they both at least gave it a try.  For dinner, we had Korean beef in lettuce cups, with fried rice and noodles from a local Chinese restaurant.  A mixing of cultures, but it all tasted really good together!  After cleaning up, I put our kids to bed and then a bunch of us took a walk on the beach.  It was still beautiful out, so we had a lovely stroll.

It was a long and busy day, but fun in a lot of ways.

Family Reunion - Tuesday

Today was the ultimate vacation day for the kids - nothing but beach and pool all day.  They weren't interrupted for anything silly like shopping or sight-seeing.  All they had to do was go from the water to the sand to the water as the spirit moved them.

I got up early to head to the gym for a cycling class, which was barely worth the effort, but I ran afterwards to make up for it.  Mike's sister, our youngest, and I did do some grocery shopping since brats and burgers were on the menu for the evening.  Other than that, it was all about enjoying the water!

Family Reunion - Sunday and Monday

Two years ago, Mike's family all got together in Hilton Head, SC for a week.  It was the first time in four years that everyone had gotten together, we had had another baby since then, and the kids had all changed tremendously and barely knew each other.  We decided at that point that we all needed to make the effort to get together more often, and picked every two years as the time frame.

So here we are, two years later, and we've rented the same house for the week.  The kids have all matched themselves up again as if they'd never been apart and the adults are all loving the opportunity to hang out and relax for a while.  The weather is gorgeous, the water is warm, and the house fits all of us comfortably with room to get away from the crowd if we want.

We flew into Savannah, Georgia yesterday (a really lovely little airport - I highly recommend it if you get the chance to fly out this way) after leaving the house at 4:00 in the morning.  It was a long day, but everyone did really well on the trip, with the exception of our youngest wetting her pants on the plane (I did actually pack a change of clothes for her, so it wasn't tragic, just seriously annoying).  The kids were in the pool as soon as we'd let them and stayed in until we dragged them out for dinner.  We all went to bed very late, but considering the time change, it wasn't surprising.

The kids were all up early this morning and in the pool right away.  I think they had breakfast, but I'm not really sure since I got the chance to sleep in - yay!  Mike's brother-in-law, nephew, and I went to a local gym after we had all eaten and got memberships for the week.  I ran five miles while they did weights.  It was a great way to start the week and I'll hopefully be able to keep up with my workouts for the rest of the week.  When we got back, the older kids were in the ocean boogie-boarding and our youngest was still in the pool.  I think, in all, our kids were in the water for about six hours today.  They should easily have gills by the end of the week.

Today was Mike's brother-in-law's birthday, so we all went out to dinner to celebrate.  It's always interesting to go to a restaurant with fifteen people.  The kids all did well, though, and there weren't any "incidents" over the course of the meal.  I do have to say, the hushpuppies were awesome and my escargot was really tasty.  You just don't get hushpuppies at restaurants in California, so it was fun to revisit my memories of eating out from my childhood.  The kids all went to bed right after dinner - the big  benefit of them swimming for most of the day!

And we've just had the opportunity to watch the San Francisco Giants beat the Atlanta Braves in the playoffs!  Being the Giants, it had to come down to the bitter end, but it was incredibly exciting to see them pull it off!

Just A Note

I'm finally getting the posts from our vacation up.  I wrote them all while we were gone, but have just now gotten to adding the pictures.  Pretend you're seeing them 2 weeks ago!

Tom Ka Gai

I made tortilla soup for us and chicken noodle soup for the kids the other night and wanted a way to use more of the stock afterwards.  I found this recipe on allrecipes.com and gave it a try tonight.

Ingredients:
3/4 pound boneless, skinless chicken meat (I used the leftover roasted chicken, but this would be excellent with shrimp, scallops, mussels, or chunks of a mild white fish.)
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 (14 ounce) cans coconut milk
2 cups water or chicken stock
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger root
1 stalk lemongrass, cut into 2-inch pieces
4 tablespoons fish sauce or soy sauce (or combination)
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onion
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:
1) If using raw chicken, cut chicken into thin strips and saute in oil for 2 to 3 minutes until the chicken turns white.  (Skip this step if using seafood.)
2) In a pot, bring coconut milk and water or stock to a boil.  Reduce heat.  Add ginger, lemongrass, fish sauce or soy sauce, lime juice, and cayenne pepper.  Add the chicken and simmer until the chicken is done, 10 to 15 minutes.  If using seafood, simmer soup for 5 minutes, then add seafood and simmer an additional 5 to 10 minutes or just until seafood is cooked.  Add sugar in small amounts to taste - it really brightens the flavor of the soup.
3) Serve over cooked rice.  Sprinkle with scallions and fresh cilantro and serve steaming hot.

This is extremely easy to make and really good!  The flavor is fantastic, with just enough spice to really warm you up from the inside.  Mike liked his with slivers of fresh garlic on top, too.  We ate it with sugar snap peas and leftover garlic cheese bread and were stuffed afterwards.  I will definitely do this one again!

First Days of School

As of last week, everyone is finally back in school.  The older two are absolutely loving their classes this year.  Our son keeps saying that he really wishes there weren't weekends because they're so boring and he'd rather be in school with his friends.  Our older daughter is being challenged from the get-go - finally! - and is thrilled by it.  They're both busy with their sports and our son joined the band this year to learn to play the trumpet, like his dad.  Our little one is in school three afternoons this year and while she complains about going every day, she actually loves being there and is the little princess ringleader of a couple of other girls.  She also enjoys her own activities outside of school, trying to keep up with her big brother and sister.

It's busy, but it's fun and it's been really great to see them progress and develop in the things they've chosen to do.  It keeps us motivated to keep up with them and make it all happen.

I'm Impressed! and the Tail (Tale) of the Rat

For a couple of days we had a really foul smell in the garage. I was pretty sure it was from something dead, but didn't know what or where. I did notice that my car still smelled even when we were out and about, which definitely wasn't a good sign. Last night, I finally took to sniffing around the garage to see if I could figure out where the smell was coming from. Sure enough, it was from my car, the front passenger side. I wasn't willing to try to find the source at night, so I left it until today.

I had to take our youngest to gymnastics this morning, so I didn't bother with it until I got home. I parked outside of the garage over the outside drain, thinking (hoping) I might be able to wash whatever it was out of the car. Then I looked underneath and saw...

a tail. A long, gray, hairless tail, hanging almost to the ground, coming out from right behind my front wheel. I ran inside, squealing and hopping around like a lunatic, with a serious case of the willies! EW EW EW EW EW! I've seen dead things before, but for some reason, this just seriously grossed me out. Maybe it was knowing that I was going to have to somehow get it out from under my car that made it so nasty.

I left the car sitting outside for a while, trying to steel myself for dealing with a dead rat. The kids, of course, had to know all the details of what was going on and had to go check it out for themselves, and none of them seemed as freaked out about it as I was. As I procrastinated longer and longer, our older daughter started to offer to pull the rat out for me - seriously?! That was an offer I couldn't refuse. She insisted that I give her a pair of gloves and she'd take care of it for me.

So, of course, I did. She put on my dish gloves (pink with yellow flowers around the cuffs, very fashionable), lay down under the car, reached right in and pulled out - the tail. Yes, just the tail, detached from the rest of the rat. EW EW EW EW EW! She picked it up and calmly put it into the trash bag that I was holding at arm's length, and asked, "Do you want me to crawl under there and try to get the rest of it?" Uh, no. But I was beyond impressed with how she handled the whole thing. Her brother wouldn't even come outside. Her sister just kept saying, "It's okay, Mommy, it's already dead." She then took off the gloves and went on her merry way.

That still left me with a tailless dead rat under my car and needing to find a way to get it out from it's hiding place. At which point one of our neighbors came down the driveway to witness the whole spectacle and the girls glommed onto her to find out every detail of what she was doing (gathering lavender for Christmas gifts apparently) and tell her the entire rat story in great detail. Poor woman thought she'd be able to calmly walk down the driveway to gather her flowers - HA!

I looked under the car again and finally figured out exactly where the rat was laying (saw it's little dead face staring back at me - EW!). It was going to require something long to reach under there and scoop it out. I got one of the kids' shovels from the sandbox (the one with the longest handle!) and managed to push it out onto the driveway, but it was so floppy that I couldn't easily scoop it up. Figures. I had to slide it up against the tire to get the shovel underneath it and finally pick the darn thing up. I scooped it into a trash bag and put an end to the whole rat saga. I did spend some time hosing out the area where it was laying, and the driveway, and the shovel, and the gloves...

Now the car doesn't stink, the garage doesn't stink, and I have a new respect for my daughter. And no, I don't have pictures to share from this adventure!

Dog Days Giants Game

Every year, the San Francisco Giants hold one game where fans can bring their dogs.  We finally got ourselves organized enough to get to the game, along with three other Leo families (one couple with two Leos just happened to be there, without knowing ahead of time that we had organized a group to go). 

It turned out to be a beautiful day - sunny, but with a lovely breeze that kept it from getting too hot.  I took the girls and Zatarain up to the park on my own since our son had his first baseball game of the the fall season the same day.  He and Mike planned on meeting us at the game after his game finished.  We met up with the Leo people outside of the park and we all lined up to participate in the dog parade before the game.  The San Francisco SPCA had provided water bowls and wading pools to keep the dogs cool and there were people coming by as we waited to give out swag, keeping the kids happy, too.  One of the families has two girls who have become good friends with our girls over the last couple of years, so they were all excited to spend the day together.  It was a bit like herding cats trying to keep track of the four girls plus the dogs, in addition to answering the inevitable questions about the dogs, but we managed to keep from losing anyone or causing irreparable damage with tangled leashes.

When the line finally started to move, we all got to parade around the warning track with the dogs.  We had our moment of fame on the big screen as we passed by the cameras.  A couple of Arizona Diamondbacks players were warming up as we passed by and one of them handed our youngest a baseball; she was beside herself and refused to let anyone else carry it for her until we were done with the parade.  There were a few people in the stands who recognized the dogs as Leonbergers and were excited to see them walk past.  It was fun for all of us to get to be down on the field, although we got less air time than we thought we would.

We all headed to our seats and enjoyed the game.  We took turns taking the kids to the bathroom, watching them play on the slides, getting food, standing with the dogs in the shade, getting water for the dogs, and just generally trying to make order our of chaos.  Every time the crowd cheered, the dogs in the stands would bark and bounce around, adding to the excitement.  The kids ate tons of junk food and were thrilled about it.  Since our seats were right below the slides, the older girls were given the freedom to play on them on their own, as long as they checked in with us occasionally.  They loved that and were very good about stopping by every once in a while.  It definitely made the game more enjoyable for them since they didn't  have to sit in their seats being bored by the game.  That, in turn, made it much more pleasant for the adults as well!  The little girls went back and forth between the slides and the seats with one of us and made friends with all of the dogs and people around us.  The game was actually exciting and the Giants won, making it an even better day.

Mike and our son got to the stadium just as the game ended, so they got in line for the "Kids Run the Bases" and we met them there.  The moms took the 5 kids back onto the field while the two Mikes waited outside with the dogs.  Our son took off for a true run around the bases, the two older girls trotted around together, and the little girls walked behind them.  They all had a great time, although our son lamented the fact that he had to miss the game because of his (which they won 14-7, with him pitching the final inning, getting two strike-outs).

When we met back up with the guys, we said our good-byes and headed off to the cars.  It was a fun day and amazingly well-organized.  We found out later that there were about 800 dogs there - I never would have guessed there were that many!  I would definitely do it again next year, and our son said next year he's going no matter what else is happening that day.

End-of-Summer Getaway

Early this summer, friends of ours invited us to go camping up in the wine country. Our first camping trip came about because of that invitation, since we didn't want to look like complete fools when we went with them.  We felt pretty good about how we handled things the first time, so we were ready when the day finally arrived to meet up with our friends and one other family.

Leading up to the weekend, Mike managed to get sick, so we weren't sure if he was going to join us. I planned on taking the kids no matter what, but he rallied for the trip and we all went up together.  The traffic going up was terrible, so it took us about an hour and a half longer to get there than we had planned.  We still had plenty of daylight, though, and got ourselves set up and settled without too much trouble.  Our friends were making dinner that night, so we were able to hang out and chat while they cooked and got things ready for all of us.

Between the three families, we had seven kids ranging in age from three to nine.  We were the only ones with girls, so there was quite the pack of wild boys running around the whole weekend.  Our son and one other boy brought toy light sabers (I have no idea why), so the main game for the entire weekend was a roving Star Wars battle.  Our campsites were just up the hill from the Russian River, so the kids spent a lot of time battling the forces of good and evil on the banks of the river.  We were all pretty relaxed about letting the big kids take off on their own as long as they let us know where they were going, so we didn't see much of them for most of the weekend.  They were thrilled to have that kind of freedom and took advantage of the opportunity.

We had a lovely dinner together and after cleaning up and waiting for the logs to burn down, everyone gathered around the fire for s'mores (mainly just the marshmallows, but there were some ingenious attempts at putting pieces of chocolate between the marshmallows and toasting the whole mess together).  Our kids finally collapsed into bed and immediately fell asleep, while we lingered a while longer around the campfire at our own site.  Mike and I were not as lucky with regards to sleep as the kids - our air mattress had a very slow leak and we ended up on the ground (and in pain) by morning, with very little sleep in between.

Saturday dawned gray and cold, but a hot breakfast and a nice shower perked me up at least.  We all moved pretty slowly that morning, so by the time we were cleaned up after breakfast, it was late morning and we still didn't have a specific plan for the rest of the day.  The kids, of course, took off on their own adventures, with a game of baseball and a scavenger hunt sandwiched in between their battles.  We realized that morning, as Mike was going through the cooler, that I had forgotten to get the ribs we were planning on making for dinner out of the freezer, so a trip to the grocery store had to happen at some point.  As all of the adults sat around chatting, we realized it didn't make any sense to pull the kids away from their fun to pack them back into the car, so we gave up on any plans for exploring the area and decided to stay at the campground.  The men all headed for the store and we moms eventually made our way down to the river to see what the kids were up to.

When the guys got back, Mike took our kids swimming in the river since the skies had finally cleared up and the air had warmed up a bit.  I did my darndest to try to find the leak in our mattress while they were gone, but had no luck.  It was our turn to make dinner, so while we got started on the cooking, one of the dads took their younger son on the hayride, which passed right by our campsites.  It was fun for the little guy to pass everyone and get to do something special while his big brother looked on.

We had a successful dinner and pulled out the s'more stuff for dessert once again.  One of the other moms also brought glow sticks, so the kids had a really fun time putting those together to make jumpropes, hoops, necklaces, and bracelets and they looked really cool as it got darker.  Our little one collapsed from exhaustion, so I put her to bed before dessert (she actually fell asleep in the car when I took her along to try to find cell service so I could check my voicemail and make sure there weren't any problems with the cats).  The other kids went to bed and we stayed up to do the dishes and put off the misery of sleeping on our mattress for as long as possible.

We did eventually go to bed and it was awful once again, but it meant we were up early and able to get a jump on packing up.  We had an easy breakfast of doughnuts and muffins and while we packed, the kids did their own thing.  There was a group of boys who arrived the day before and were riding around the sites on their bikes (Mike referred to them as a primordial biker gang) and our boys and theirs were having issues.  Our kids couldn't seem to understand that standing in the road and staring after them simply invited them to return and continue bugging our kids, so I finally had to tell our kids that the next time they interacted with the other boys in any way, they would all have to sit on the picnic benches until we were all ready to leave.  That convinced them to leave well enough alone and it was relatively peaceful until we left.

Since it was lunch time when we pulled out of the campground, we decided to stop at Korbel Winery and have lunch at their deli on the way out.  The food was really good and it was a lovely last destination for the trip.  We all said our goodbyes and headed for home from there, hoping to get back mid-afternoon and have time to unpack and relax since school was starting the next day.

No such luck.  We hit horrific traffic due to a wildfire and construction early on and then hit even worse traffic after crossing over the bridge.  In all, with a stop for lunch and two stops for the bathroom (one of which was in the scariest Walgreen's I've ever experienced), it took us six hours to get home, when it should have been just over two.  I made the kids a quick dinner, got them cleaned up, and put them to bed as early as possible.  I'm still trying to get through cleaning, sorting, and storing all the gear a week later.

Aside from the miserable trips up and back and the fact that there was only one bathroom in our part of the campground and it was about a quarter of a mile away (I swear I walked about a million miles over the course of the weekend!) and only had two toilets and two showers and a number of other negatives, we had a really good time.  It was a lot of fun to camp with these two families, the kids did really well together, and it was great to be able to just let the kids run around outside and do their own thing for long stretches of time.  We'd love to do it again - just somewhere else next time.

Birthday at the Ballpark

One of our son's birthday presents was tickets to a San Francisco Giants game.  Mike chose this game in particular because the give-away that day was orange jerseys for the first 7,500 kids.  That's one of the coolest things they've given out, so we made plans to be there for the game.  It also turned out to be a game with the Giants' biggest rivals right now, the San Diego Padres, so it was a popular game for multiple reasons.

We got to the stadium as soon as the gates opened, since we weren't sure if the kids would get their jerseys if we got there closer to game time (it would have been fine).  The lines to get in were huge - unlike anything we'd ever seen before - but once the gates opened, they moved quickly and there were plenty of jerseys to go around.  We had about two hours before the game started, so we headed for the batting and pitching cages to let the older kids try their hands at those.  Our daughter managed to hit a good number of balls in the batting cage - I think that was her first time in a cage and she wasn't at all intimidated.  Our son loves to throw in the pitching cage because they have a radar gun and he can see how fast he's throwing.  His fastest so far is 47 mph, but Sunday he only managed 37 mph.  Still seems awfully fast to me!

We then headed up to the slides, where we discovered the down side to the the jersey give-away - all the kids looked exactly the same and it was incredibly difficult to find our kids in the sea of orange.  I had written my cell number on our daughters' arms (I forgot to put their ID bands on before we left) and it turned out to be a good thing.  When the two older kids got off of the slides, they couldn't find us and we hadn't seen them come down.  They stood in one place looking for us and a kind lady noticed them alone and asked if they wanted to borrow her cell phone to call us.  Our son knows my cell number, but having the number written down gave them confidence to call me.  We were only about 20 feet away from each other, but with the crowds we just didn't see each other.  I walked over and found them and thanked the woman for helping them out - she has kids, too, so she understood - and we met back up with Mike and our youngest to find our seats.

The game itself was uneventful.  The Giants lost, unfortunately, but our son enjoyed being there anyway.  We made about a zillion trips to the bathroom over the course of the game, making me completely insane.  We did end up leaving at the top of the 9th inning to make our way down to the field.  After Sunday day games, they allow the kids to run the bases, so we wanted to get in line for them to be able to take their turn.  It was a highlight for all of them to run around a major league field, so we were glad we made the effort.

Our son said it was a great birthday gift and he really enjoyed himself.  I'm not sure his sisters enjoyed it quite as much, but it was a fun family day out, the weather was beautiful, and it's truly one of the greatest ballparks anywhere.

Round-To-It Recommends: Produce Bag

Like a lot of people, I started carrying my own shopping bags a while ago (remember to clean them out after carrying meat!), but I didn't have a solution for carrying my produce. I had tried just piling everything into a bag, but stuff was getting smushed and it took the checkers forever to sort it all out when they were ringing it up. There are bags that you can buy, but that would just add to the pile of bags already in my trunk - there had to be a better solution.

I finally hit on an idea a couple of weeks ago that has been working really well, and it uses a bag that we already had hanging around. It's a divided wine carrier bag! The bag has 6 sections, each of which is large enough to hold two or three apples, pears, or peaches, a bunch of green onions, a bunch of broccoli, or just about any other produce we buy. It's easy for the checkers because the same items are stacked together and all the food is protected and easy to carry.

I now manage to use plastic bags just for meat, which I don't buy all that often. If I could find a bag that was really easy to clean, I'd stop using them for it, too. Maybe my insulated cooler bag would do the trick...

Sweet Mustard Roast Beef

I was at the grocery store this morning, standing in the produce section (one ear cocked for the sounds of my kids screaming at each other as they did their part of the shopping - more on that later), and trying to figure out what the heck to fix for dinner that we hadn't eaten in the last week.  I was paging through one of my go-to blogs, "A Year of Slow Cooking", and came across this recipe.  Sounded easy enough and I was definitely in the mood for a crockpot dinner, so I gave it a go tonight.

Wow.  This was REALLY good and super easy.  It took about 3 minutes to prep, 6 hours to cook, and no time at all to serve.  I used Stephanie's suggestions of mashed potatoes and green beans to go with the meat and it was the perfect combination.  Mike got home a bit late, so the kids ate first and they devoured about 2/3 of this.  All three of them loved it!  Mike and I ate after they went to bed and found we had just enough for the two of us.  I would probably use a little bigger roast the next time, knowing how much we all enjoyed it.

Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients:

3 large russet potatoes
2 Tbs. butter
2-3 Tbs. sour cream
1-2 Tbs. green onions, thinly sliced
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Wash and peel potatoes. Cut into 1 inch cubes.
Put potatoes into a pot and add enough water to cover by 1/2 inch.
Boil potatoes until tender, 15-20 minutes.
Drain potatoes and put into a bowl.  Mash to desired consistency.
Add butter and mix until incorporated (add more if desired).
Add sour cream, salt, and pepper to taste.
Add green onions to taste.
Let potatoes sit for 5-10 minutes to allow onions to flavor potatoes; reheat if necessary before serving.

You could also use this recipe (see Topping) if you prefer a lower-fat version and like the flavor of parsnips.

Round-To-It Recommends: Walden West

Our older kids just finished a week of camp at Walden West Science Center in Saratoga, CA.  It was an incredible experience for both of them and they both said they'd love to go back next year.

Their main camps are day camps (they do offer backpacking trips for kids 12-16), the summer camp for kids ages 7-12 and the Wild Things camp for kids ages 5-7.  Both are held at the Walden West facility in the Saratoga hills, with buses taking the kids from a local elementary school and returning them in the afternoon.  The older kids have the option of camping out on Thursday night, if they choose.

The focus of the camps at both levels is environmental awareness and providing an outdoor experience.  So many kids today spend the vast majority of their time indoors and these camps hope to counteract that by showing kids the beauty and excitement of the natural areas that are so accessable to us.  Most of the activities are traditional camp activities: hiking, gardening, swimming, arts and crafts, games, songs, climbing wall, and ropes course.  The camp songs are a bit different from most of those that I've heard since they focus on things like the importance of worms, banana slugs, and scat, but the silly actions and enthusiasm of the counselors and campers are exactly what you'd expect!  There is a good balance between planned group activities, like hikes, and individual choice, where the kids have a number of options for how to use their time.  Our kids spent a good amount of time in the pool, but also tried archery, crafts, and group games that they had never played before. 

The older campers all chose nature names for the week, to go along with the nature names of all of the counselors.  Our son was "Python" and his counselor was "Big Brown Bat".  Our daughter's counsleors were "Clam Chowder", "Aurora",  and "Poppy", to name a few.  According to a friend, whose sixteen-year-old daughter has been going to Walden West since she was nine, the kids often keep their nature names from year to year.  Her daughter has been "Blue Jay" for the last seven years.

The two big events for our son this week were the climbing wall and the campout.  He had never done either, but wasn't particularly nervous about them.  His group did the wall on Wednesday afternoon, spending the whole afternoon giving the kids the chance to try climbing multiple times.  His only disappointment was that there was no way to actually climb on top of the wall when he got there - apparently there wasn't any place to put his hands or feet when he tried.  The campout was the first time he had spent a night away from home - not for any partcular reason, he's just never had the opportunity.  It was also the first time he'd slept out under the stars, which he didn't speak so highly of.  It was pretty darn chilly last night (maybe 50 degrees) and really damp, so everything was pretty wet during the night.  They woke up to ground fog, making the morning "freaky", in his words.  He did enjoy being away for the night, though, eating with the group of kids in the lodge, and just generally being responsible for himself.

Our daughter's week was less dramatic, but she loved the experience and true to her nature, got to know absolutely everyone in the program.  She also liked the fact that they got to choose their afternoon activities and often tried multiple things in one afternoon.  This afternoon when we asked her how her day was, she replied, "It was okay."  That was a luke-warm response compared to the lengthy explanations we had been getting, so we questioned her about why it was only "okay".  She said, "It was only okay because it was the last day and I won't get to see my friends any more."  Testimony enough for us that it was a great experience for her, too.

I went up for the evening program on Thursday night and it was very clear that there were many families whose kids had been attending the camps there for years.  That spoke volumes to me about the quality and draw of their programs and I definitely see us being in those ranks as all of our kids make their way through the programs.  For them, it's less the importance of getting time outside since we do spend a good amount of time doing outdoor activities.  It's really more the traditional camp experience of goofy counselors, meeting new kids, and experiencing a good amount of independence that make it a really worthwhile week.

Our Son Is 9!

I can't believe it was nine years ago that we had our very first little bundle of joy!  It was all so surreal and so new and overwhelming.  Now it's nine years and two additional kids later and he's incredibly far away from being that little baby.  He's tall and skinny, with red hair, crazy teeth, and freckles.  He's gone from an obsession with waterfalls as a toddler (made our trip to Kauai when he was two a lot of fun!) to obsessions with airplanes and baseball.  He spends his free time building baseball stadiums in his room; reading about the history of the San Francisco Giants; drawing detailed pictures of baseball stadiums; reading about the history, design, and engineering of aircraft, especially the 747; drawing detailed pictures of aircraft and aircraft carriers; and playing baseball.  One of his most recent passions has been learning to pitch, so he got a book at the library and memorized the different grips, which pitches they produce, and how they are supposed to be thrown and has been practicing them. He has absolutely no control over them yet - they're as likely to go three feet wide as they are they to go over the plate - but he's determined to figure out how to make them work.

So happy birthday, kiddo!  We hope it's been a good one, we wish you much love as you head into your next year, and we look forward to the new adventures you'll bring to our lives as you head into fourth grade.

The Second One Is Out

Our older daughter lost her first tooth while we were camping about 3 weeks ago.  The tooth next to it was getting loose, too, but we thought it would be a while before it finally came out.  Wrong!  She woke me up at 4:15 this morning with her loud whisper (she's incapable of speaking quietly, no matter what the circumstances), "Mom, I lost my tooth!"

It took me a bit to process that information - it's not what you typically hear from your child in the middle of the night.  Apparently, she woke up and was wiggling it with her tongue and it just fell out.  We weren't able to find it in her bed at that point, but she wasn't bothered by that. She went back to sleep and shared the excitement with everyone else in the morning.  She and her brother searched for the tooth again in the morning, and they did manage to find it tucked down next to her mattress.

So the tooth fairy will be paying a visit again tonight.  Luckily, she doesn't have any others loose, or it'd be pretty tough for her to eat! And the tooth fairy would be needing to take out a loan to keep up with her.

Our First Camping Trip

Well, not exactly, but the first one with all five of us.  Mike and I did some camping before the kids and then made a few trips when the older kids were very young, but our last trip was when our older daughter was about a year old.  We'd never tried it with all three kids and had always gone with a group before, so this was a new experience for us.

We did have quite a bit of equipment already, luckily.  We had the Taj Ma-tent, our three-room dome tent, sleeping bags, air mattresses, and the like.  We needed things like a camp sink, gear box, flashlights, lanterns, and a stove (which we borrowed from a friend).  Once we were geared up, it was just a matter of finding room for it all in the van, along with leaving room for three kids and us.  We decided to leave the dog for this trip since we hadn't done this before and the only place he was allowed was in the campground itself and not on any of the trails or down by the river.  It was a good thing, too, because there wasn't an inch of extra room in the car!

Once we were loaded and ready to head out, it was a two-hour drive down to Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park along one of the most picturesque roads in the country.  We knew nothing about the campground before we got there - I reserved the spot simply because it was where we could get two consecutive nights in a campground that wasn't too far away.  It turned out to be fantastic and our site was one of the best in the park.  We were at the end of the road, so there was very little traffic and the kids could run around without us having to worry too much about them.  We were also right on the Big Sur River, so our site overlooked the river and there was a path down the hill right from our site.  It was wonderful to go to bed at night and be able to hear the water flowing by.

We took the time the week before to practice setting up the tent, so once we got there and checked out the site, it wasn't too much trouble to get it set up.  The kids headed for the river to throw rocks in the water and check out the paths and we got the car unloaded and settled in for the evening.  Dinner was ribs grilled over the fire with s'mores for dessert.  After getting everyone cleaned up a bit, we put the kids to bed - they fell asleep immediately - and Mike and I hung out by the fire for bit longer.  We finally hit the sack, too, knowing that the kids were likely to be up with the sun.

Our first big rookie mistake - forgetting to throw the trash out before going to bed.  When Mike got up to go to the bathroom during the night, he was greeted by a couple of skunks who had discovered our bag of goodies and were having a nocturnal feast.  Luckily, they weren't at all concerned with us and didn't bother to spray us or any of the gear.  They did make a mess, but that wasn't a big deal.  Lesson learned and we made sure to put the trash out before going to bed the next night.

Mike and I were awakened by the blue jay alarm at 6:00 the next morning.  I have no idea what set them off, but they were tremendously loud and sitting in the tree right above our site and it sounded like there were about a bazillion of them all squawking at the same time.  That was the only time we heard them in a group like that.  The kids, on the other hand, had no trouble sleeping through it and finally woke up around 8:00.

We took our time getting going.  Our older daughter provided the excitement for the morning by letting Mike pull out her first tooth before breakfast, so she was excited all day, making sure she showed her gap to everyone we came across.  We finally made our way down to Julia Pfeiffer State Park, which was about 15 minutes down the road.  We saw the famous waterfall that falls directly onto the beach and hiked up into the hills to another waterfall.  The kids loved climbing over logs and hiking up the trails and it was a beautiful, quiet redwood forest.  After the hikes, we found a cafe near our campground for lunch and then headed back to our site for the rest of the afternoon.

The kids had been begging to go swim in the river, so we walked a bit up from our site where the water was deeper and let them give it a go.  Even though they're really strong swimmers, they're not used to moving water, so they were a bit freaked out by actually swimming in the river.  They did have a good time playing in the water and our son got brave enough to to back float and let the current carry him for a bit, which he thought was very cool.  After getting dressed, I gave them t-shirts to decorate as their souvenirs of the trip, and they've worn them proudly since then.  Dinner was burgers grilled over the fire, with more s'mores for dessert.  We all went to bed earlier and hoped for a better night's sleep.

It didn't happen.  The kids slept fine again - I swear they could sleep through absolutely anything - but we were up about every hour because the kids in the tent next to us kept waking up howling.  I really felt for their parents, but we were less than happy with the lack of sleep.

The next morning was breakfast, taking down the tent, and packing everything back into the car.  We decided to check out Pfeiffer Beach on our way out, which was really beautiful with neat rock arches and purple sand.  We didn't want to get back too late, so we didn't stay long, much to the kids' chagrin.  Next time we'll plan on actually hanging out at the beach, because it was a great spot.

We got home without a problem and started the process of cleaning everything, doing laundry, and repacking and organizing all the gear for next time.  We're doing another trip at the end of August, so we'll be ready to go when it's time to pack up next time.  It was a really fun couple of days and a great chance for the kids to be outside and be dirty and run around without any kind of a schedule or ourside distractions.  They loved it and can't wait to go again and we will definitely go back to that campground and that site in particular, because it was just ideal.

He Has A Name - Finally!

And it is: Lafitte!

Our little guy is named after the town outside of New Orleans where my aunt and uncle have their fishing camp and where Mike and I spent many a crazy weekend while we were in college (we're hoping no pictures exist to prove that)! The town was named after the infamous pirates Jean and Pierre Lafitte, who were rumored to be our 7th cousins. Whether or not that's true has yet to be proven, but it's a good story and makes his name even more interesting. It's pronounced La-feet, by the way.

The kids latched on to it right away and have been calling him by his name all day. He, being a cat, just blinks at them and hides under a table. I still call him Little Guy, because he is one. He'll grow into his name, if his feet are any indication!

Yes, the second picture was set up, but neither of them fought it and it made a cute picture!

Our New Addition

After we lost Chicory, we knew that having only 2 pets was just WAY too sedate for our household. Within a couple of days, Mike was asking how one went about finding a new cat, since our first two basically found us. I contacted a friend of mine who works at a shelter in Tracy, CA and she said they had a little black male kitten who might be good for us.

The kids and I headed out there (it's about an hour east of us - depending on traffic) to meet him and the rest is history! We had to wait to bring him home because the shelter won't release unneutered animals, so he had his surgery on Wednesday, my friend picked him up for us and took him to her house yesterday, and we got him from her today. He's got a kitty cold right now, so we have to keep him away from our other cat, Beignet (who is 20), and be diligent about washing hands after handling him. He's also staying mainly in a crate in our living room until he stops sneezing for the same reason. When she's not around, though, we let him out to hang out on the couch with us or explore the kitchen.

He still doesn't have a name, so we're taking suggestions for New Orleans-themed names for him. He's currently about 2 1/2 pounds, he's got solid black, medium-length fur, and he's about 4 months old. Feel free to send us your ideas!

I'm sure you'll be hearing more about this little guy very soon. I can already see the potential for videos involving him and Zatarain.

Gilroy Gardens

We met our friends, the Shafers, at Gilroy Gardens today. Gilroy Gardens is a botanical-themed amusement park that is geared toward younger kids, so it was perfect for our crew. The weather was great - warm, but not unbearable - and the park has tons of shade, so it was really lovely to be out there all day. We were there from opening to closing, rode most of the rides, the kids played in the water area for a long time after lunch, and everyone got along for the most part.

All-in-all, it was a really great way to spend the day!

Boiled Crabs

Mike decided to try making boiled crabs for dinner last night. The Asian market nearby carries live blue crabs, so he picked up 18 (they were small), brought them home, and set about cooking. The pictures tell the story, and at the end of the process the crabs were quite tasty, although not nearly as spicy as we like!

We think a trip to New Orleans is required, including some time spent with my relatives taking detailed notes about how to properly boil seafood!

Pre-July 4th Beach Day

Each month we have a get-together at the beach for the local Leonbergers and their owners. The number of dogs and people varies, but there is one other family that joins us almost every month. Our kids are close in age and all get along really well, so we can just turn them loose together and they make their own fun in the water and sand. It's been a godsend for us, because for so long we were the only ones with kids and our guys were kind of tired of only having each other as playmates. Now they look forward to heading out there each month and so do we!

The Last Day of Baseball

Today was an amazing day! But before I get into that, let me catch you up a bit since I've been such a slacker keeping up this blog this spring.

Our last few months have been full of baseball (our son), gymnastics (all 3), swimming (all 3), and soccer (our older daughter). We had no idea when our son asked to play ball this year that it would involve such a huge time commitment! It was 2 practices and a game (at least) each week. Luckily, Mike was able to be there for most of the practices and all of the games, so I was able to deal with the girls while they did the baseball thing. Our son's team did very well this season and he learned and progressed so much!

At the end of the season, the coaches pick several players from each time to play in the Farm League All-Star game. Our son's coach was the head coach for the Blue Team and he chose 5 kids from their team to play in the All-Star game. Our son got chosen - not an easy thing since it was his first season playing. The had a week of practices and the game was today, after the closing ceremonies.

It turned out to be the hottest day we've seen this year - about 90 degrees and windy - so it was pretty tough for the kids out on the field. They were playing under minor league rules, which are a bit different from what they were used to - all kid-pitch, 6 innings, 3 outs, no bunting or stealing bases. The two coaches were huge rivals and the kids on both teams REALLY wanted to win. The level of play was much higher than what they had seen during the regular season, so the expectations were really high for all of the kids.

Things weren't going well to start off. Our son struck out swinging on his first up, but he did okay out in left field and at short stop. By the bottom of the 5th inning, they were down 1-3, there were 2 outs, the bases were loaded, and he came up to bat again. I'll be honest, I was seriously worried he would strike out again. The count got to 2 balls and 2 strikes and it was looking like he would end the inning for them. Next pitch, he whacked that ball into the outfield! He brought 2 runners home and tied the game, 3-3. He was beyond excited and the crowd was going crazy! The pitcher walked the next batter, bringing one more runner home and making the score 4-3, which was how the inning ended.

Our pitcher took over at the top of the 6th and struck out 2 batters in a row. The third batter hit a pop fly and the pitcher caught it, ending the game. It was pandemonium after that! The parents and coaches were all high-fiving each other and the kids were jumping around screaming. I've never experienced anything like that and I'm likely to be hoarse for the next few days from the cheering and screaming.

After the teams congratulated each other, the coaches took the kids aside and awarded 3 game balls to the stand-out players for the game. The final pitcher got one, the kid who caught the whole game - wearing all of that equipment in the miserable heat and playing incredibly well - and our son! He was so excited and the caches were incredibly proud of how he came through for the team right when they needed it most. They even awarded him All-Star MVP!

All-in-all, it's been a really great spring. The coaches were so dedicated and patient with the kids, the families were terrific, and the kids were a fun bunch of goofballs. Our son is already talking about playing fall ball, so he's all baseball, all the time now. We can only hope he gets on teams in the future that are close to what he's had this season.

Happy Birthday, Honey!

Today was Mike's birthday, so he decided to play hookey, I cancelled our normal Friday stuff, and we headed to the beach. It was a warm day by us, but clear, cool, and windy at the beach. That didn't stop the kids from heading into the water and Zatarain, of course, was in heaven!

We didn't get to stay too long since our daughter had soccer and our son had baseball practice, but it was a lovely outing and we all had a wonderful time.