Round-To-It

Kauai - July 9, 2011

2011-07-16T23:26:00.000-07:00

After breakfast, we got packed up and drove over to Ke'e Beach, which is as far as you can go on the north end of the island. The last time we were in Kauai, we spent a lot of time at this beach because it's calm and warm since there's a protective reef just offshore. It seemed like a good spot to get the kids back into snorkeling since it had been two years since they'd had the chance to do it and our youngest had been too little the last time. Mike and I knew the snorkeling was just okay there, but figured the kids wouldn't really care as long as they saw something.

The older two headed for the water right away and took off for some rocks to the side of the beach. They immediately started exclaiming over the fish that were swimming around them and spent a long time looking around the rocks and swimming back and forth between them and the beach. Our little one had been hesitant to swim at the beach in the past, but decided that this time it was a fine idea, so she was diving down to gather rocks and check out the little fish that were coming closer in to the beach. Mike took the older kids out to check out the reef when they were ready to swim a bit farther, which they both thought was really cool.

After spending the morning swimming and playing in the sand, we dragged the kids out of the water and they tore into the snacks we brought like they'd never seen food. While they were occupied, Mike and I got the gear packed up and we wrangled the kids and stuff up to the showers to rinse off the sand and salt, which turned out to be unnecessary since Mother Nature decided to do it for us. We then went into Hanalei for lunch at Bubba's, followed by the kids' first experience with shave ice. They now agree, by the way, that there's no going back to snow cones!

After lunch, we thought we'd go see a couple of other beaches and decide if we wanted to spend more time at one of them. We ended up not staying at either one, since one was very rough (although our son was game to try boogie boarding anyway) and our youngest was asleep at the other. We did stop by the Kilauea Lighthouse, but it was closed by the time we got there, so we only got to see it from a distance.

On our way back to the condo, we stopped at the grocery for some dinner and then enjoyed a beautiful sunset from the bluff behind the condo. After a busy day, it was a lovely way to end.

Kauai - July 8, 2011

2011-07-13T02:11:00.000-07:00

We took our time getting up (okay, I took my time getting up, while Mike dealt with the kids) and had a lazy breakfast in the condo. When we finally got ourselves organized, we drove down the road a bit to do a hike to a (large) tidepool called Queen's Bath. We actually did this the last time we were here, with our son in a backpack for the hike down and back. This time, all three kids managed it on their own, even though it was a bit slippery from the rain the night before. Once we got down to Queen's Bath, they jumped right in and started swimming around to check it out, with our little one hopping in after her brother and sister. They thought it was the coolest thing they'd ever done and they had a blast sitting in the water that flowed over the rocks, swimming around checking out the fish, and jumping off the rocks (our son) into the pool. On the hike back up, we stopped to rinse off in the waterfall that flows next to the path, just like Mike and our son did the last time.

We headed into Hanalei for lunch and ate at the Hanalei Gourmet, which we remembered being pretty good last time. It was even better this trip and our youngest discovered her new favorite sandwich - peanut butter and banana with honey. From there, we went over to Blackpot Beach on Hanalei Bay and checked out the pier. The signs say no jumping or diving from the pier, but there were lots of people doing exactly that, so our son wanted to give it a try. Needless to say, he was occupied for a long time jumping in and climbing back out (it's about a 10-foot drop to the water). His sister had to give it a try, too, of course, and the two of them spent the rest of the afternoon out there. Our little one was happily walking the beach, singing and playing a game of pretend while I sat and watched from the beach. Mike supervised the shenanigans on the pier from the water.

We finally dragged them all out of the water and got them cleaned up enough to head back to the condo. We stopped at the grocery on the way back to pick up a frozen pizza for the kids and a roasted chicken for us and enjoyed a quiet dinner at our place. Bedtime was quick and easy after that!

Kauai - July 7, 2011

2011-07-11T01:44:00.000-07:00

I'll bet you thought I'd abandoned this blog! Well, I'm back! With baseball and soccer and baseball and gymnastics and swimming and baseball and school and baseball this spring, my spare time was pretty limited, so I didn't even attempt to keep up with blogging. I do hope to at least finish posting pictures from our trip to Orlando back in February, but for now, I'll be working on stuff from our current trip to Kauai.

We haven't been to Kauai in about eight years, since I was pregnant with our older daughter and our son was not yet two. We'd been wanting to go back, so when we were able to purchase a week at a condo in Princeville in a fundraising auction, we jumped at the chance. The kids have been excited to see a new island, but really weren't sure about what to expect.

Our son's favorite part of any trip is the flight, but he was disappointed that we were flying out of San Jose this time instead of San Fransicso and he wouldn't get the chance to see the planes from the international flights. The rest of us were thrilled that we didn't have to get up an hour earlier and the dog was happy that he got to spend an additional night at home instead of having to go to day care the day before. Our son got over it, though, when we flew into Honolulu and he got to see the planes there when we changed flights.

The flights were uneventful (thank goodness!) and the kids did really well. It was quick and easy to get our luggage and rental car and we were off to the condo without any trouble. We debated stopping on the way for food, but the kids weren't hungry and just wanted to get to our condo, so made our way north to Princeville. Two of them fell asleep and the third was dozing, so by the time we got to our place, they were ready to go again.

We got unpacked and threw on bathing suits to spend some time in the pool and let the kids burn off some energy after being cooped up for so long. The pool here is really cool, with 2 pools for swimming, one kiddie/splash pool with a waterfall, and a spa that's been perfect for loosening up my back, which I tweaked the day before we left. After some time in the pool and showers, we headed to Hanalei to find some dinner.

Hanalei has a small shopping area, with a number of stores and probably 8 restaurants. At the Hanalei Surf Shop, we got to talking to the guy behind the desk and found out that he does stand-up paddleboard (SUP) lessons, so we decided to schedule a morning with him for four of us to learn how to paddle (our youngest is too little to manage a paddle yet). We then wandered across the street to the nearest restaurant, called Kalypso, for some dinner. The food was surprisingly good (I had chesse ravioli with local mushrooms, onions, and tomatoes that was terrific) and by the time we finished the kids were barely keeping their eyes open.

So far, so good!

Magic Kingdom - February 23, 2011

2011-02-27T18:15:00.000-08:00

Our son was feeling much better after a good night's sleep, so we headed off to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World for the day. The kids were excited, which made the hour-long ride a bit challenging, and they kept asking about what they'd see and what we were going to do once we got to the park. After parking the car (telling our older daughter to remember we parked in Daisy 31 - she always keeps track of our parking spots), we took the tram to the Transportation and Ticket Center to catch the monorail to the Magic Kingdom. Honestly, the monorail is one of my favorite parts of Disney, so I would have been happy to ride around the circuit and head home, but there probably would have been a mutiny if I'd tried, so we followed the crowd to the park entrance when the train stopped.

We headed for Space Mountain first and while we waited, my mom took our youngest on the other rides in Tomorrowland. Our line was supposed to be 40 minutes, but when we were about halfway through, there was a "meteor shower" and they shut down the ride. We got Fastpasses to go back later, hoping that they'd get the ride fixed by then, and then went to meet my mom when she and our little one got off of the race cars. It was time for lunch at that point, so we grabbed a bite before heading out for the rest of the park.

Splash Mountain was next on the agenda. My dad offered to stay with our little one, hoping she'd go on the train with him while the rest of us waited for the ride. She was, to be polite, less than accommodating, so they ended up hanging out by the bottom of the main hill watching for us to come down. The wait was pretty long, but worth it, especially since it was our older daughter's first time to ride it and she absolutely loved it.

For the rest of the afternoon, we split up and got back together off and on, with my mom and the girls mainly staying in Fantasyland and our son and I doing the bigger rides, like Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and then heading back to Space Mountain after meeting up with my dad. We did get to ride it this time, and with no wait since we had the Fastpasses. Our son loved it and it was fun to be on the ride with him when he rode it for the first time.

We all got back together and did Pirates of the Carribbean, the girls and I did the Magic Carpets, and we all did the Jungle Cruise. By then, it was time to go back to Splash Mountain to use those Fastpasses, and the kids and I challenged each other to go down the big hill with our hands in the air (our son and I did it) and I managed to stay dry this time. My mom and dad and our youngest were waiting for us along the parade route, so we met up with them and waited to see the Electrical Light Parade.

I love that parade, but it was really magical to watch the girls see it for the first time. They were entranced - you could see the wonder on their faces - and they kept exclaiming over which character was coming down the street next. Our son was fading at that point, so he wasn't as excited as his sisters. When the parade ended, we started to head for the exit, and as we got to Cinderella's castle, a light show on the outside of the castle started. It was really amazing - the effects made it look like the outside of the castle was changing brick by brick at times - and our little one turned to me at one point and said, "Mom, the castle is magic!". That moment made the whole day worthwhile.

The fireworks started right after that, so we stayed for those, too, and then made our way - with the rest of the throng - to the exit. We took the monorail back to the ticket center and then the tram to the car to finally get ourselves out. We hadn't eaten yet, so we stopped at McDonald's on the way out and then headed for home. Our youngest was asleep by the time we got out of the parking lot and the other two dozed as we drove. The little one didn't completely wake up when we got home and had a massive meltdown when I tried to get her changed for bed - it was like trying to put a nightgown on an octopus. I finally got her, and the other two, to bed and ended a wonderful, but exhausting day.

Orlando - February 22, 2011

2011-02-22T19:15:00.000-08:00

The kids have their winter break this week and since it had been five years since our last trip to Florida, we decided it was time to take everyone down there again. The kids and I had a non-stop flight from San Francisco to Orlando, which went very well. They got kind of sick of just watching TV, so the girls made about a hundred trips to the bathroom to entertain themselves, but aside from that, it was a fairly easy flight. My parents picked us up at the airport and we headed toward their house, stopping for dinner on the way. The two older kids are still recovering from a miserable virus that hit both of them and me last week, so they were fading quickly by the time we got to dinner. We ate as quickly as we could and got them home to bed right away, with the hope that they would get a good night's sleep and feel better the next day.

It was a long night. Our son shared a bed with me and every time he woke up coughing, he woke me up. Our little one was up twice, not sure where she was or what was going on, so she was crying and unhappy. Our older daughter woke up with a headache and cough at one point, so I gave her meds for those in the middle of the night. They were all up at about 8:00 this morning and my mom was up with them, so I finally went to sleep for a bit while she gave them breakfast and kept them entertained.

Our son was still feeling under the weather, so we decided to hang out at my parents' house for the day to let him rest and hopefully get his strength back so we can do some fun stuff in the next few days. The kids all tried going in the pool, but the water is still pretty chilly since this is the first warm weather they've had all winter. Our son gave up and went back inside to play with his planes and watch TV, while the girls entertained themselves "rescuing" things from the pool with the net and brush and playing with the hose on the screens. The weather this afternoon was so lovely that I had to get outside, so my mom and I took the girls to the park for a little while to let them burn off a bit of energy before dinner.

Our son was the first one to bed tonight and I'm hoping he'll sleep well and have more energy for tomorrow. Our little one managed to snooker my dad into letting her out of bed for a trip to their bathroom, but then fell asleep quickly, too. Our older daughter got to spend some time reading with my mom and then she was off to bed. We're hoping everyone will wake up feeling well because we're planning on doing the Magic Kingdom for the day tomorrow and it would not be fun to be dragging sick kids around there all day.

Yosemite

2011-02-17T22:35:00.000-08:00

Mike got the chance to go to a conference that was being held in Yosemite. When he found out about it, he asked me if I wanted to go and if I thought I could find a babysitter for the kids for the weekend. I got in touch with our long-time sitter to see if she was going to be in town for the weekend, and she was able to work out her travel schedule to be in the area - and she was willing to stay with our crazy crew for two days. It also happened to fall on the weekend before my birthday, so we had the chance to make it a celebration as well.

We left Friday morning to drive to the park, which took about 3 hours. It had been ten years since my last trip to Yosemite, and we were only able to spend a couple of hours then, so I didn't really remember a lot about the area. Driving down into the valley was once again overwhelmingly beautiful and the weather was simply gorgeous on top of it. We grabbed a quick lunch at the Yosemite Lodge, since that was where Mike's conference was being held, and then he went off to his afternoon meetings, leaving me to my own devices for a few hours.

I checked out the shops at the Lodge and then went to the Ahwahnee, where we were staying. It's one of the historic, old National Park lodges and is a beautiful building with stunning views. I changed into my running clothes and took off on the trails that led from the hotel to Yosemite Falls for the most incredibly beautiful run I've ever done. It was probably not the best workout I've ever had because I kept stopping to take pictures with my phone, but it was amazing to be running up the trail to the bottom of the falls and back through the trees with views of Half Dome and waterfalls and cliffs all around me.

I got cleaned up and then picked Mike up when he was done with his meetings and we went back to our hotel for the evening. There was a cocktail reception which gave Mike the chance to meet a bunch of the speakers and participants in the conference and then we had a late dinner in the Ahwahnee dining room. Mike gave me my birthday present just before we went down for the reception - a beautiful multi-colored sapphire bracelet that matches my earrings and necklace. I absolutely love it and will wear it often, I'm sure.

On Saturday, Mike had meetings all morning, so the wife of one of his partners and I had breakfast together and then went out for a hike. We left from the hotel and followed a trail to Mirror Lake, which is normally a fairly easy walk, but was treacherous this time because of the the snow and ice covering it. We managed to get out to the lake without falling and were treated to a beautiful view of the back side of Half Dome and the lake and meadows covered in snow and ice. We followed a different path back, which ended up being even more slippery than the one on the way out, but ran alongside Tenaya Creek, so we got to see small rapids and hear the water rushing most of the way back. In all, it took us about two hours and was a wonderful way to spend the morning.

Mike came back to the hotel with the other partner from his firm and the two of them, his wife, and I all had lunch in the bar. We then went back to our rooms for some down time before meeting up for the afternoon hike. When we got back together, the four of us drove to Curry Village and then walked to the trailhead for a hike to Vernal Falls. We were expecting to be picking our way through snow and ice again, and we did have to do a bit of that on the way from the parking lot, but the trail itself was completely clear and dry. The way up to the falls was a fairly steep, but paved path, so it wasn't too bad a hike. The views were just stunning and the trail ran on a cliff up above a river that was flowing fast from the recent snow melt, so we were constantly looking both up and down trying to take it all in. We met up with a bunch of other people from the conference on a bridge below the falls where we got our first view of Vernal Falls itself. We decided to continue up to the bottom of the falls as long as the trail continued to be clear. There were a few spots where the snow covered portions of the trial, but we were able to make our way around it and up the steps cut out of the rock to the bottom of the falls.

The hike back down was much easier than going up and we eventually made it back to the car and then the hotel. After taking a break and cleaning up, we went down to the cocktail reception and then to dinner in the dining room again. We skipped dessert and had truffles in the room instead, a lovely and relaxing way to end an action-packed day.

We woke up the next morning and looked out the window to discover that five inches of snow had fallen overnight! It was still snowing, so we decided that since we weren't hungry yet after last night's dinner, we'd skip the buffet and head back home early. We made a quick stop at the Village Store for some doughnuts to get us going and then started the slow drive out of the valley. The scenery was only enhanced by the snow and it was overwhelmingly beautiful to see the valley and the falls covered in the new snow. Unfortunately, the National Parks Service plows were not particularly effective, so driving up the hill was treacherous at times. As soon as we passed through the park exit, the roads were clear and the rest of the drive was easy. We stopped for lunch at the Oakdale Cheese Company and picked up grilled ham and gouda sandwiches and some fantastic cheese curds that were super squeaky!

We got home without a problem and the kids were happy to see us. It was a wonderful weekend, a great way to celebrate my birthday, and a much-needed break from ordinary life. We're hoping we can go back some time soon - even for a day trip - and take the kids so that they can see this amazing place that is right in our backyard. It's truly a national treasure and one we want to be sure to explore and share with them.

San Diego , USS Midway - December 28, 2010

2011-01-19T23:16:00.000-08:00

Every time we go to San Diego, our son insists on visiting the USS Midway, an aircraft carrier that's docked near downtown and has been turned into a museum. Since our youngest is old enough to actually tour the ship now, we've all gone the last couple times, and the girls have been excited to go and not just indulging their brother. We decided to get a membership this time since we do tend to make it down at least a couple of times a year and it's a great organization to support.

There are new things to see just about every time we tour the ship, and this time was no different. They had added a family audio tour, so we let the older kids get the headsets and listen to the recording as we wandered around the ship. They were fascinated by the information they heard, so it was worth having them wear them. Our youngest was disappointed that she couldn't listen, too, but she did enjoy climbing around the ship and up and down the ladders.

We had lunch at the cafe onboard, which we hadn't done before, and the food was pretty good. We finished the day up on the flight deck, where Mike took the big kids up to tour the tower and our little one and I hung out in a helicopter. She spent her time serving pretend food, flying us to exotic locales, and chatting with other kids who came in. When I finally convinced her to go outside, she checked out the information on signal flags and wandered around the deck until the others came back out to meet us.

It was a fun day for all of us and we stayed until they closed the ship down for the night. We then headed back to the house for dinner with Mike's parents and then off to bed.

After Christmas in San Diego

2011-01-19T22:05:00.000-08:00

Two days after Christmas, we drove down to San Diego to spend some time with Mike's parents. We did the same thing last year and found out that it's a great time to be there, and we all love our trips to visit Gramma and Grampa, so all five of us were really looking forward to the trip.

The day we left started out foggy, so we didn't have high hopes for the drive. Just before we got on the highway, though, the fog burned off and it turned into a bright, sparkly day. Incredibly, we had no traffic going down - unheard of for driving through Los Angeles! It only took us eight hours and we were happily pulling into Mike's parents' driveway. The kids immediately got the scooters and skateboards and started riding up and down the sidewalk and Mike threw the ball up the street for Zatarain, who was very happy to be out of the car after the long ride. I ran out right away to pick up food for the dog and then we spent the evening watching the Saints beat the Falcons and eating burgers.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-29T17:21:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-06T21:53:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-11-02T23:10:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-11-02T22:48:00.000-07:00

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

2010-11-02T22:30:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-27T23:47:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-27T22:34:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-26T22:32:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-26T22:08:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-26T20:59:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-24T17:24:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-24T17:23:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-06T21:58:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-18T22:55:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-18T22:09:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-29T23:21:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-27T23:59:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-17T23:40:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-17T16:56:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-16T23:03:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-06T23:21:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-08-03T23:23:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-03T22:31:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-31T23:20:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-07-13T22:12:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-09T23:16:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-08T23:05:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-05T23:10:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-05T23:02:00.000-07:00

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

2010-06-12T23:32:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-06-11T23:32:00.000-07:00

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.

Crockpot Chicken with Apricots and Dates

2010-03-22T22:21:00.000-07:00

I wanted to use my crockpot again, so I turned to my go-to blog for a recipe this morning. This is the one I tried today and it's very tasty. I used bone-in thighs and removed the skins part-way through cooking. I should have removed the bones earlier because we ended up with a lot of cartilage pieces in the meat, and I did cook it a bit too long because the meat ended up a bit soupy. The flavor is really good, though, and I'd definitely make this one again. (Note: I added salt to taste at the end because it was a bit bland, as many of her recipes are. I've learned by trying them that she likes things less flavorful than we do.)

I served this over couscous, mainly because I had some on hand. It would have been better over a bigger grain, like rice, or over cauliflower couscous. I also roasted some broccoli in the toaster oven, which went with this really well.

Roasted Broccoli

Cut broccoli florets into halves or quarters, depending on size. Cut stems into equal size pieces. Put broccoli on baking tray and drizzle with olive oil. Toss to coat.
Sprinkle with granulated onion, granulated garlic, salt, and pepper.
In oven or toaster oven, bake at 400 degrees. Watch closely and as one side starts to brown, remove tray and stir.
Return tray to oven and continue baking to desired tenderness.
For toaster oven, baking time is approximately 5 minutes. For oven, baking time is 15-20 minutes.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2010-03-17T21:32:00.000-07:00

We had a lovely day today. We all wore our green (sorry, forgot to take pictures) and the kids had some fun activities at school. The highlight for them was the Irish dance troupe that came and performed for the school and now our older daughter is dancing around the house trying to imitate them. To be honest, if she was interested in doing some kind of dance, I think that would be the perfect type for her - non-stop motion and very high energy! The older two had swimming this afternoon and then we came home so I could get dinner done for all of us. I did corned beef, which seems intimidating, but there is absolutely no easier way to do a big hunk of meat. I got a 3-pound corned beef brisket and put it in the crockpot (my second crockpot meal this week!) with an onion, 3 cloves of garlic, some peppercorns, and 2 bay leaves, covered it with water (about 2 cups), and turned it on high. 5 1/2 hours later - dinner! It was really good, too - very tender and tasty. I served it with twice-baked potatoes that I made myself and steamed asparagus. It always surprises me when a meal I plan and make turns out really good and this one was really tasty and actually quite easy. I will definitely do this again!

Play Ball!

2010-03-16T22:26:00.000-07:00

Today was our son's first baseball game of the season. He's playing Little League for the first time, on a farm team, and really enjoying it. It's been a great learning experience so far and we've already seen a lot of growth in his skills. He and his team mates seem like such a band of goofballs at practice, but at their practice game yesterday and the real game tonight, they played like they'd been doing it forever. I'm not much of a baseball fan, but I have to say, it's pretty fun to watch your kid make a great catch and then throw it where it needs to go or hit a good one when he's up at bat. The other thing we're finding is that by the time the games are over and Mike and our son get home, his sisters are in bed, so it's a really nice chance for the three of us to sit down and have dinner together and chat. That's definitely a gift, considering how busy our days usually are, and it's time that means a lot to me.

Spring Has Sprung

2010-03-16T21:37:00.000-07:00

We had our monthly Leonberger get-together at the beach this past weekend. We lucked out with an absolutely stellar day - sunny, blue skies, and warm - and we were all ready for some outside time after all of the cold, gray days we've had this winter. The kids can't resist the chance to get in the water, even when it's in the 50s, and Sunday was no different. They were running in and out of the water, jumping off of the big rock, playing in the sand, and just generally being the beach kids they are.

Zatarain had a fabulous time, as well. He swam and swam and swam, chasing his ball in and out of the water, for about 3 hours. At one point, he lost sight of both me and his ball and ended up swimming around for probably close to 10 minutes while I kept directing him from the shore. He did eventually find his ball, after coming in to shore and then chasing a rock that Mike threw out towards the ball. Silly dog. Bella and Goulash joined him playing on the beach and we ended up with 3 very tired pups.

After our time on the beach, we headed over to the Half Moon Bay Brewing Company for a late lunch with our friends, Mike and Mandy and their girls, Allanna and Daniela, who own Bella, and with Ian and Mo, who own Goulash. Ian joined us for lunch last month and the experience didn't scare him off, so that says a lot about his constitution! We took over about half of the back patio, the kids spread out and played and colored, and we had a really lovely lunch. Fun conversation and good food and tired dogs. It was a great end to a really fun day.

Foot Trimming

2010-03-11T21:33:00.000-08:00

For any of you who do not have Leonbergers, just skip this post. It will be utterly meaningless!

For those of you who stuck around, here are the instructions I sent to Teresa Schlaffer recently about how I trim Zatarain's feet. Feel free to comment if you have any questions. And yes, I know his nails are pretty long. I may be good at trimming the fur, but I have ALWAYS been awful at trimming nails.

Here's what I do (each foot takes about 10 minutes):

I use a pair of hairdresser's scissors for the whole thing.

Lay the dog down on his side and start with the underside. Trim around each foot pad, cutting as short as possible and as close to the skin as possible, including between the pads.

Trim the outside edges to even with the bottom of the foot pad.

Trim upward between the toes, just to the bottom of the nail.

Cut around the face of the foot, making a straight face from the nail upward and creating the shape of the foot that you want.

Pull the hair up between the toes, so that it sticks up over the top of the foot. With the scissors held parallel to the top of the foot, trim the hair that you pulled up down to the surface of the foot, using small cuts to help hide the scissors marks. Push the hair back down between the toes.

Trim any stray spots around the nails or along the sides of the foot until it looks neat.

My Birthday

2010-02-04T22:52:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was my 39th birthday! I happen to love my birthday and really don't care that it means I'm a year older. It's a good excuse to celebrate, in whatever way happens to be convenient. Now that the kids are a bit older, they look forward to it at least as much as I do, which makes it even more fun. Our older daughter absolutely hounded Mike about getting me birthday presents and was practically jumping out of her skin waiting for me to open them yesterday evening.

I didn't do anything exciting during the day. I spent the morning at the dentist, which most people would see as a horrible way to spend a birthday. It was an hour without kids where I didn't have to do anything but sit there, which is a rare thing in my world. That may be a pathetic way to look at it, but it worked for me! I ran some errands afterwards, spent a bit of time with our little one, and then picked the older two up from school and took them to swimming. Mike came home early and made tacos for all of us for dinner and we had a lovely evening together.

These are the beautiful orchids Mike sent me yesterday. I love orchids, but my track record with them hasn't been great. I'm hoping I'll be able to keep these going for longer because they're really gorgeous and add a lovely touch of color to the house.

First Day of Preschool

2010-02-04T22:01:00.000-08:00

Our youngest started preschool this week. She was SO excited to finally get to go to school like her brother and sister. On her first day, I walked her to the classroom to meet her teachers and she went right in and made herself at home immediately. She barely looked up when I told her good-bye since she was already busy cutting and coloring what I later learned was a birthday card for me. When I picked her up, her teachers said she fit right into the class and it was as if she'd always been there.

So now she'll be heading off to school two afternoons each week and I'll have a couple of hours to myself. It will be nice to be able to work out without the time limits of the child care center at the Y, but it's very strange not having my little shadow with me. It's the beginning of her separation from me, the start of her growing up and entering into the world on her own terms. It's an amazing process to witness, but it's also the clearest sign so far that she's no longer my baby. And I'll miss that.

Shepherd's Pie

2010-01-27T22:28:00.000-08:00

Who would have thought this blog would see three recipes in a row! I've gotten so sick of eating the same old stuff that I've had to actually try cooking, which is a big deal for me. Tonight was Shepherd's Pie, another recipe from the February issue of Martha Stewart Living.

Ingredients:

For the topping:

1 1/2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
3 parsnips (6 ounces), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 cup plain fat-free yogurt

For the filling:
1 Tbs. plus 1 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
3 celery stalks, finely chopped
2 medium carrots, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 pounds lean ground turkey
Course salt and freshly ground pepper
1 Tbs. fresh thyme
3/4 tsp. chipotle or regular chili powder
2 Tbs. plus 1 1/2 tsp. cornstarch
6 ounces frozen peas (about 1 1/2 cups)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Make the topping:
Place potatoes and parsnips in a medium saucepan, cover with water by 2 inches, and bring to a simmer.
Cook until fork tender, about 20 minutes.
Drain, reserving 2 cups cooking liquid.
Pass potatoes and parsnips through a ricer.
Stir in yogurt and 3/4 tsp. salt. Season with pepper.

Make the filling:
Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat.
Cook onion, celery, carrots, and garlic stirring, until tender, 10 to 12 minutes.
Add turkey; cook, breaking up any large pieces, for 5 minutes.
Stir in 1 1/2 tsp. salt, thyme, and chili powder.
Whisk together cornstarch and reserved 2 cups of cooking liquid; add to turkey. Boil for 1 minute.
Stir in peas.
Transfer to a 2-quart round or oval baking dish; top with potatoes.
Bake until bubbling and top is browned, about 35 minutes.

I made some changes to this: I used ground bison instead of turkey because we love the flavor of this meat. I also used a bag of frozen mixed vegetables (peas, carrots, green beans, corn) instead of the chopped carrots and frozen peas. And I didn't have cornstarch, so I used all-purpose flour to thicken the sauce instead. I ended up using only 2 parsnips instead of 3 and needed a 3-quart casserole dish to fit all of the filling instead of the recommended 2-quart.

All of that said, this was SO good! It's definitely something I will make again. I will probably go with just peas and carrots next time (Mike wasn't completely thrilled with the corn, but I liked it) and I may try a mix of ground lamb and bison for a little different flavor. Cornstarch would make the sauce thicker and less soupy. This will be our go-to recipe for mashed potatoes in the future, too. The parsnips aren't overwhelming, but add a nice complement to the potatoes, and the yogurt adds a really nice, rich flavor without using butter.

This is the perfect meal for a cold night and could easily be prepared ahead of time and refrigerated and then put into the oven at dinner time (let it come to room temperature first so you don't crack your casserole with a sudden temperature change.

Breakfast Quinoa

2010-01-23T11:33:00.000-08:00

I bought an issue of Martha Stewart Living a week ago and have been really enjoying reading it. There are some great recipes and this one caught my eye, so I decided to try it since we were actually home this morning (a very rare thing!).

I didn't see this recipe on the web site yet, but that may be because it just came out in the magazine. There are lots of other quinoa recipes, though, if you happen to really like this particular grain.

Ingredients:

2 cups whole or low-fat milk, plus more for serving (I used soy milk instead and it worked well.)

1 cup quinoa, rinsed

3 Tbs. light-brown sugar, plus more for serving

1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon, plus more for serving

1 cup (1/2 pint) fresh blueberries, plus more for serving

Directions:

Bring milk to a boil in a small saucepan. Add quinoa, and return to a boil.

Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, until 3/4 of the milk has been absorbed, about 15 minutes.

Stir in sugar and cinnamon. Cook, covered, until almost all the milk has been absorbed, about 8 minutes.

Stir in blueberries and cook for 30 seconds.

Serve with additional milk, sugar, cinnamon, and blueberries.

This was SO good! I'm not a huge oatmeal fan, so I don't tend to make hot cereal, but this was fantastic. The grains have a really nice texture after cooking and the flavor is a bit nutty and mixes well with the sugar, cinnamon, and fruit. Personally, I really like the flavor of cooked soy milk and would choose it over regular milk any day, but that's just me. One tip - be sure to watch this closely because it can boil over very quickly. I stirred it occasionally as it was cooking, and that worked well to keep the foam down.

Zucchini Börek

2010-01-22T20:49:00.000-08:00

Mike and I love Anthony Bourdain's show "No Reservations". The latest episode was shot in Istanbul and featured some incredible-looking food. We knew nothing about Turkey (heck, I didn't even know where it was, which isn't surprising coming from me since I have absolutely no knowledge of geography) and certainly didn't know what constituted Turkish food, so we were happily surprised to hear about dishes combining elements from all of our favorite kinds of food. Okay, not so much the sweetbreads and testicles, but the other stuff sounded really tasty.

One of the dishes that he ate at someone's home was called zucchini börek. It's basically phyllo dough layered with a zucchini and cheese mixture and it looked really amazing. I decided to see if I could find a recipe for it, and low and behold, the internet provided. "Almost Turkish Recipes" has the below recipe, which I made for dinner tonight and served with a green salad and Aidell's Garlic and Gruyere Cheese sausages.

Ingredients:

1 box of phyllo dough (about 14 sheets) or 2 boxes if using double sheets

Filling:

4 cups of grated zucchini

3 eggs

1/2 cup finely chopped dill

1/3 cup finely chopped mint or 3 Tbsp. dried mint flakes

1/2 cup crumbled white Turkish cheese or feta

1 Tbsp. paprika

1 Tbsp. or less black pepper

salt to taste, depending on how salty the cheese is

1 tsp. spicy red pepper flakes (optional)

For brushing phyllo:

3 Tbsp. olive oil

1/2 cup plain yogurt (any fat content)

Directions:

Thaw frozen phyllo according to package directions.

Mix all filling ingredients together in a bowl and let sit for 10-15 minutes.

In the meantime, grease an 11 x 13 or 11x11 baking sheet or line with a Sil-pat.

After sitting, filling will be very wet. Squeeze excess liquid out and put into a separate bowl.

Add yogurt and olive oil to the liquid and mix well. This will be used to brush the phyllo.

Place a phyllo, wide side facing you, on the counter. Brush it with the yogurt mixture.

Place a second phyllo on top and brush it with the yogurt mixture.

Note: Phyllo is very thin, so you may want to use 2 sheets together instead of one. If you decide to use double sheets, you will need at least 28 sheets total.

Place about 1/7 of filling along long side of phyllo and roll tightly into a long, thin cigar shape.

Coil roll into a tight spiral on the baking sheet.

Repeat brushing, filling, rolling and coiling 6 more times, until all of filling has been used.

Brush top of borek with remaining liquid.

Bake at 350 until golden brown, about 50 minutes.

Cut into triangle pie slices to serve.

I had never worked with phyllo before, so the first couple of rolls were a bit tricky to deal with. I also just used single sheets instead of double, making it that much harder. Once I got the hang of separating the sheets and layering them, though, it wasn't difficult, just time-consuming, to put this together. It has an interesting combination of flavors, that actually went quite well with the sausages we used. I think if I made this again, I would double the cheese in it since we couldn't taste it at all.

There were several other börek recipes on this site that I think I'd prefer to this one. There is a spinach version that sounds very good and another with ground beef that I'd like to try. It was fun to try something really different, though, and got us out of the rut of eating the same dishes over and over and over.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-05T22:19:00.000-08:00

First off, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We had a very busy December, so I didn't get to post much. I'll be catching up with all of our activities, so please bear with me. Here's a brief recap:

My parents came to visit when I had my surgery, which was a big help for me and Mike and great fun for the kids.

The older kids had all of the Christmas activities at school, including the all-school program and their classroom parties.

I had all of the Christmas prep to do with my foot still bandaged and in the surgical shoe.

The kids participated in the Christmas Eve mass and we had friends over for dinner afterwards.

We travelled to San Diego right after Christmas to spend a week with Mike's parents.

And now we're home again and getting back into the routine of school and activities. The holidays were much too short for all of us, so it's been a bit of a struggle to get back into it all. That's probably a sign of a good vacation, though!

Christmas Cookies

2009-12-14T21:01:00.001-08:00

My parents were here for a week to help out while I was on the couch after my surgery. They left super early this morning, so we're readjusting to life on our own, putting things back where they belong, doing laundry, and getting back to doing the normal routine on our own.

While they were here, my mom did some baking with the kids while I directed from the couch. She made chocolate chip cookies with our youngest on Thursday while her brother and sister were in school and then did Christmas cookies on Saturday and Sunday with the whole crew. It was a huge mess, as baking with kids usually is, but they had a great time with all the steps of the process. I have to say, my mom has the patience of Job when doing that kind of stuff - probably why she was such a great school teacher - and it just doesn't phase her when the flour ends up on the floor or there are piles of sprinkles on a single cookie or someone's hands end up covered in food coloring.

We'll be eating cookies for weeks, I think, but the memories the kids will have are more than worth the calories!

Purple toes

2009-12-12T21:11:00.000-08:00

Once again, I have purple toes. Lovely. Here's the photo from last time, taken a bit later, just for comparison. As bad as it looks, it doesn't really hurt. I haven't had pain medication all day and can walk on it with almost no limp once I get moving. The first step or two makes me wince, but beyond that I'm feeling pretty good.

Observations from the Couch

2009-12-12T12:55:00.000-08:00

It's very strange to be an observer in your own household. Usually I'm in the thick of things - wrangling kids, occupying the dog, feeding everyone, doing laundry, cleaning up - and now I'm sitting to the side of this swirl of activity. The older kids come by and check in periodically and our youngest likes to snuggle up on the couch with me for a while each day. Other than that, I'm just watching the insanity and giving my opinion when asked.

I don't think I really appreciate how busy our family is most of the time. The 3 kids all go their own directions, play their own games, and shift between playing with each other and doing their own things. If the weather is accommodating - or if we're patient enough to deal with wet boots and jackets when it's not - their games flow from inside to outside and back again. When we're just home - which is rare - they eat when they're hungry and have learned how to fix some simple things for themselves (our son is a pizza bagel expert). The art supplies get pulled out frequently, especially by our older daughter, and toys go from upstairs to down and back again. I can count on one hand the number of times I've heard the phrase, "I'm bored," because they all manage to find ways to keep themselves busy.

While it's not really fun to have surgery and then deal with the recovery, I do think it's given me a good chance to see and appreciate what we've built. It's so rare that I get the opportunity to step back and really see the elements that make up our lives, and when I take the time to - or are forced to - I have to be willing accept what I see. I can honestly say that we have incredible kids and an amazing life and I can't imagine how I managed to get lucky enough to be a part of it.

My Left Foot

2009-12-10T22:45:00.000-08:00

I had my second foot surgery Wednesday, this time on my left foot. It was basically the same thing that was done on the right, but the joint was in worse condition. My doctor again had to remove the arthritic stuff from the joint (have no idea what that actually is), take a piece out of the bone to shorten it and open up the joint space and then screw the pieces back together, remove a bone spur and bone chips in the joint, and then drill holes to allow the formation of a secondary cartilage to replace what had been worn away. It apparently required a lot more work and resulted in a lot more bleeding during the surgery, so I had quite a bit of bleeding afterwards as well. I actually had to have the dressing changed yesterday morning, but the doctor said it had stopped and shouldn't be a problem any longer.

Now I just have to sit around and let it heal. That's harder than it sounds since I'm not one to sit still for very long and I keep getting reprimanded for being up and about too much. On the up side, though, I'm not having much pain. It's a bit more uncomfortable than last time, but not terrible and I'm already tapering off of the pain medications.

I also had the screw removed from my right foot at the same time, so I wouldn't have to spend an additional 5 days off of my feet. Of course, that means I have the lovely surgical shoes on both feet and have to keep both of them dry in the shower until Monday. It's quite the sight with the shower guard on one foot and a newspaper bag on the other!

I have my parents here until Monday to wrangle the kids while I'm off my feet (literally). They've been doing the school runs, taking our little one to her classes, and walking the dog. Mike has been in and out with work, but has mainly been taking care of me. It's working out well so far, although I think our youngest is a bit tired of being at home since she so rarely is during the day.

Crockpot Chicken and Biscuits

2009-12-03T20:17:00.000-08:00

I've been wanting to pull out the crockpot again, but didn't feel like doing anything we've had in the past. I love pot pies, so I thought there had to be a recipe for one in the crockpot. This recipe really appealed because it doesn't use cream-of-something soup. Because I was short on time (baseball sign-ups were tonight and I didn't want to wait another 45 minutes to eat after I got home), I just made frozen biscuits to eat with it instead of baking homemade biscuits on top. I'll give that a try next time.

Ingredients:
4 cups chicken stock
1 roasted chicken, meat removed and diced
1 large onion, diced
2 carrots, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
3 stalks celery, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
3 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
3/4 cup flour
2 tsp. salt
black pepper

1 batch or your favorite biscuit mix/recipe
OR
1 dozen frozen biscuits

Directions:
Melt butter in a pan and add onions. Saute over medium-low heat, about 7 minutes, until translucent. Add salt, several grinds of black pepper, and stir in flour until it is smooth and bubbly.

In the meantime, turn your 6-quart crockpot on Low. Add chicken stock, carrots, celery, and potatoes. When onion roux is ready, stir it in as well. Cover and cook on low 4-7 hours or until potatoes are tender. Make sure you check it periodically, especially after the 4 hour mark, so your veggies don't turn to mush. Stir, turn to Warm, and add diced chicken and frozen peas.

Preheat oven to biscuit-baking heat. If desired, spray the top edges of the slow cooker to prevent sticking. drop biscuit dough in like dumplings. Place crock in the oven without the lid and bake for 15-20 minutes (usually about five minutes longer than recommended for cooking biscuits on a baking sheet).

Remove from oven and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.

If using frozen biscuits, bake according to package directions. Split biscuits and serve either under or over chicken.

This was really good! Definitely a recipe I'd do again and great comfort food. This recipe makes a LOT, but it should be great as leftovers. The kids gave it two thumbs up (the girls) and one thumb down (our son, although he liked the biscuits), so it's easily something we could do for a family dinner.

Thanksgiving 2009

2009-11-27T14:34:00.000-08:00

My cousin and his wife came up to our place from LA for Thanksgiving this year. They're expecting their first baby, so they didn't want to travel very far and we were happy to have the company. We did the big turkey dinner for everyone, which we haven't done from scratch for a long time. This is also the first year in a long time that we've been home for the holiday since we usually drive down to San Diego to spend it with Mike's parents.

It was a beautiful day, so the kids and dog spent a long time playing outside. They had quite the festival of sports going, from football to baseball to soccer to tennis, biking, and riding the scooter. I finally dragged them inside when it started to get dark and cold.

I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and were able to spend it with those you love!

Leo Potluck

2009-11-22T22:16:00.000-08:00

Today was our annual Leonberger Pre-Thanksgiving Potluck. Every year we get together on the Sunday before Thanksgiving to catch up with each other, eat, and let the dogs play. It's a tradition that started about 10 years ago and that I've continued planning for most of the years since. The number of people and dogs varies from year to year, but it's always fun to get together and let the dogs run around.

When Leonbergers have the chance to play with each other, it's pretty impressive to watch, especially when big males really get to playing. They play very differently with each other than they do with other dogs. Rousing games of spithead are the norm, with the occasional body slam and polar bear hug thrown in to keep it interesting. Now imagine 6 or more Leos running around together, taking over a dog park, and you get a feeling for our annual gathering. Watching the reactions of the other people at the park is always fun and we spend a lot of time explaining what kind of dogs they are and answering all the usual questions about them.

So all in all, it was a fun afternoon once again. The weather didn't really cooperate this year - it got cold and windy pretty suddenly, so everyone headed out a bit earlier than usual - but at least it didn't rain. We were seranaded by the flocks of parrots once again, the kids had a grand time running around with their buddies, and I got to eat my favorite sweet potatoes. You can't ask for much better than that!

Beef Stew

2009-11-10T21:25:00.000-08:00

It finally cooled off here, so I've wanted to make some hearty dishes. Last night was tortilla soup and tonight I decided to try beef stew. I found a recipe that sounded good, but I modified it a bit based on some of the comments. Here is my version.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter
1 pound beef stew meat
6 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups sweet vermouth
2 cups new potatoes
2 large carrots, quartered
4 cloves garlic
2 teaspoons chopped fresh tarragon
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tablespoon white sugar
1/2 tablespoon honey
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

8 ounces sliced brown mushrooms

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/4 cup cold water

Directions:

Melt butter in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add the beef stew meat, and fry for 2 to 3 minutes, or until evenly browned on the outside.
Pour the chicken broth and vermouth into the stock pot. Add the potatoes, carrots, and garlic. Season with tarragon, bay leaf, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, honey, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and cover. Cook 2 1/2 hours to blend the flavors.
Remove cover and add the mushrooms. Continue cooking 20 minutes.

Dissolve the cornstarch in cold water then add to the stew. Boil for 15 minutes or until stew has reached desired thickness.

Serve over egg noodles.

This was really good, a very filling stew for a cool night. Next time, I'll decrease the sugar and honey by half and add a bit more salt. I may also use more meat and fewer potatoes.

Spaghetti Squash Casserole

2009-11-05T21:07:00.000-08:00

I was wanting something different for dinner, so I got a spaghetti squash the other day. Of course, I had no idea what to do with it, so once I got home I surfed around trying to find a recipe that sounded good. I found one that I wanted to try, but made a few modifications to make it a bit more satisfying for us meat-eaters. I did end up overcooking the squash, so it didn't shred into strings - it was more like your typical mushy squash - but it tasted great and worked well as a casserole instead.

Ingredients:
1 medium-sized spaghetti squash, halved lengthwise and seeded
1/2 pound sausage (we like Jimmy Dean, in the chub)
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
1/4 cup grated romano cheese, plus an additional 1/4 cup (or more) for topping
2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
2 teaspoons butter, melted
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place squash in a baking dish, cut side down, and bake 30-50 minutes, until a knife can be inserted easily into the thick part of the squash. When the squash is done, remove it from the oven and allow to cool enough to handle. While the squash is cooling, cook the sausage until done. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon, leaving the drippings in the pan. Cook the onion in the drippings until translucent and add to the sausage. In a clean, dry pan, toast the pine nuts until brown on all sides, stirring frequently to prevent burning. Set aside. When the squash is cool enough to handle, scrape out the flesh using a fork and put in a casserole dish. Discard the skin. Add the sausage, onion, pine nuts, 1/4 cup romano cheese, sage, butter, salt, and pepper and mix together. Smooth out mixture in dish and top with additional romano cheese. Put dish back in oven set to broil and watch closely. Remove when cheese is melted and browned and squash mixture is bubbling.

We were pleasantly surprised at how this turned out! My attempts at improvisation while cooking are usually inedible, so this was a good surprise. I would definitely make this again when I'm in the mood for a homey, fall dish.

(11/10) Note: At the grocery store yesterday, I looked over the squash they had on display. it turns out that the one I used for this recipe was actually a butternut squash - that explains why it didn't "string" after it was cooked! So this should really be titled "Butternut Squash Casserole". I have no idea how this would taste with spaghetti squash, but I'm willing to give it a try!

From the Infirmary

2009-10-14T21:22:00.000-07:00

Our older daughter has been home sick for the last 4 days. It's just a cold, but now she has an ear infection starting and a fever to go with it, so she'll be home for at least one more day. Her little sister is happy to have her around to play with and they've come up with some pretty elaborate games.

It rained all day yesterday, so along with being stuck at home, the girls were stuck inside. They went out in the yard for a bit this afternoon and when I realized where they were, I went outside to check on them.

They're standing in the sand toy bucket, which has about 3 inches of water in the bottom after the storm. You can't see it, but they are actually wearing boots, so they did think before starting this game. If there's water, my kids will find it and be in it.

The girls did play apart for a while, too. I was doing laundry today, so the baskets were sitting out downstairs. Our little one commandeered one of them to be her "crib" and this is where I found her.

She had a grand time looking at books and playing with little toys while sitting in the basket. Their creativity never ceases to amaze me.

Coming Up For Air

2009-10-12T21:21:00.000-07:00

It's been a crazy few weeks here. The kids started school and we immediately started looking for someplace new for them. Within a few days, I had contacted a new school and talked to the principal. It turned out that he was someone we knew from years ago when we were doing water rescue training with our first Leonberger, Audubon. I took that as a good sign.

After meeting with teachers, observing classes, and having the kids shadow for a morning, we made the decision to move them right away. Or more accurately, the kids made the decision to move. That happened on a Friday and by Monday, I was turning in the withdrawal forms at their old school and the registration forms at the new school. After getting immunization records and new uniforms, they started at their new school on Thursday.

Their first day was a bit crazy - they had an all-school mass, where the priest introduced them to the rest of the school, and then school pictures. The up side is that they get to be in their class pictures, but it was a wild way to start off at a new school. They both canme out smiling at the end of the day, though, and were excited to go back on Monday morning (they had Friday off).

Last week was their first full week, so they've had a chance to get a feel for what it's really like. Our daughter is in kindergarten and her new class is less demanding than what she had before. To make up for that, her teacher is working with her and another little boy using the second grade reading program and she will be working with the resource teacher on more challenging reading, writing, and comprehension and potentially math as well. At this point, she's just having fun meeting new kids and finding out about the different programs this school has.

After observing classes, we decided to move our son up to third grade instead of keeping himin second grade. It seemed to be a better match for him academically and socially, and so far, he's really liking it. The personal responsibility and homework demands are much greater than what he's had in the past, but he's stepped up to the challenge and has even taken a couple tests already. It should get easier for him as time goes on, since he'll have had the chance to learn the material with the rest of the class instead of having to pick it up quickly at the end of a unit. He was telling me today how much more he's learning in his new class than he did at his old school, so it seems like it was a good move all around.

And that's where we are. I'm trying to get a feel for the volunteer system at this school and adjusting to the new schedule (they start 30 minues earlier now and get out 15 minutes earlier). We've had the chance to meet parents from both kids' classes at the parent socials and our daughter got her first birthday party invitation. Our son even went on his first field trip (Monterey Bay Aquarium, where he apparently was able to answer all the questions and lead the tour around the facility). Life rolls on and we're going along with it.

I'm Baaaccckkkk!

2009-09-20T22:44:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've made the time to sit down and write. The kids went back to school and life turned upside down. It's back to juggling their school schedule, soccer, baseball, swimming, gymnastics, and music (no, they're not all doing all of those things!) and we're just now settling into our new routine. I'll update how our summer ended soon.

As for me, I got clearance from my doctor to go back to normal activity after my foot surgery this past week, so it's back to running for me. I need to take off the several pounds I put on sitting around, and it will definitely feel good to push myself again. I'm finding that my foot actually feels better the more I do, so getting back in the gym will be good for me. I should be having the other foot done some time this fall, so I need to put myself back together before I have to take time off once again.

Birthday Bash

2009-08-28T23:00:00.000-07:00

Our son's birthday party was this weekend. Because he has a summer birthday, he chooses to have his party outside each year. This year, like last year, he asked to have it at the beach. We all love spending a day at the beach, so we're more than happy to plan a party there. It's really one of the easiest parties to put together - just bring food and the entertainment is provided by the location.

This year, Mike grilled Fred's steak to make steak sandwiches. It was fantastic and every bite was eaten right away. We also had hot dogs for the kids, fruit, vegetables, brownies (our son doesn't like cake) and we made ice cream there. We used an Ice Cream Ball last year and it was so much fun, that we bought a second one to be able to make more at the same time this year. It's a great way to have ice cream at a picnic.

I got down to the beach at 8:15 that morning to get a covered picnic area. By the time I got there, all of the pavilions were taken and we were only able to get 2 picnic tables and a grill. Luckily, we had a sandy area right next to us, so we were able to spread out there. Mike stopped at Target on his way down (he brought the kids a bit later) and got 2 shade tents and a tarp and we created our own pavilion. It worked out fine, even if it wasn't exactly what we had planned.

The kids played baseball in the sand, did some boogie boarding, built sand castles, and just generally played for the day. There were dolphins just offshore all day, feeding and playing, so we had an impromptu show for everyone as well. Our guests came and left at various times, until it was just us and one other family. Our kids were all playing in the sand and we were talking until one of us looked at a watch and realized it was 6;45 and we really needed to do something about dinner. Mike noticed that one of the nearby grills was still hot, so he added more charcoal, got it cranked up, and we pulled out the leftover hot dogs, fruit, and brownies and made dinner for us and the kids. We finally left the beach at 8:15 when the rangers came through and told us we had to go.

It was a great day and we all had a lot of fun. Check out the pictures below to see what we did.

Our Little Fish

2009-08-20T22:24:00.000-07:00

Our youngest loves the water, and is a good swimmer for a 2 1/2-year-old. Her brother and sister were much the same at this age, but most people didn't get the chance to see them doing these kinds of things when they were little. The kids swam for about 4 hours the other day, so not only do they love it, but they have amazing endurance!

I shot some videos while we were at the pool and created my first movie so you can see what our little one does in the water. I need to work on the whole editing thing, but it was fun to give this a try.

Round-to-it Recommends - Make It and Love It

2009-08-12T16:10:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed I added a button to the left side of this page. It's for a craft site called "Make It and Love It" and they have some great craft ideas. They also do some terrific give-aways. Right now, they are doing one for a new sponsor called "Beautiful Baby Boutique" that has the cutest hair clips I have ever seen. Really creative and great prices. Check it out and see what you think!

And if you're looking for gift ideas for my girls...

Family Day at the Ballpark

2009-08-11T21:32:00.000-07:00

Our son has been to several baseball games this summer and has become a big baseball fan. His sister had heard all about these trips and was dying to go to one, too. We finally managed to find a home weekend day game that we could bring everyone to, so this Saturday, we all went up to AT&T Park to watch the Giants and the Cincinnati Reds.

I've been to a couple of baseball games, but it's been a very long time since the last one and I'd never been to this field. First off, this is a beautiful ballpark. Parking for it is in an old wharf building on San Francisco Bay and as you walk to the park, you look over McCovey Cove into the park. Just an amazing view before you even get to the park. The ballpark itself is great - a really neat building, with great seating, a kids' play area, and LOTS of bathrooms. All critical features when you're taking young kids to a ball game.

We got to the game early enough for the kids to play a bit and burn a little energy after the long ride up (We got stuck in traffic caused by street sweeping, on the highway, on a Saturday morning. I still have to ask if that was really necessary.). Our son tried out the batting cage, which he apparently does every time, and he and his sister did the slides - our youngest was too small to go on them - both of which they really enjoyed. Then we headed to our seats to get settled before the game started.

The game itself was fine. The older kids had pizza and the little on had a hot dog, they all drank lots of lemonade - it was HOT in our seats since we were in the sun the whole time - and they finished off with ice cream and snow cones. I believe we set a record for the most number of trips to the bathroom during a baseball game. At one point the score went from 1-0 to 4-2 and I have no idea how it happened. Let's just say that going to a ball game with 3 kids, 2 of whom have no real interest in the game, is not the most conducive way to see one. We managed to stay for the whole game, though, which the Giants won, giving a great ending to a fun trip.

Our youngest passed the time by drawing

Pasta Pomodoro

2009-08-06T22:02:00.000-07:00

My garden has produced absolutely fantastic tomatoes this season. I think having them on the front porch where they can get the maximum amount of sun has made a huge difference in the flavor and quality of the tomatoes,m and we've been enjoying them immensely. But as often happens with a garden, we had an overabundance and needed to use the tomatoes we already had in the house before we could harvest the next batch. I decided to try making tomato sauce, using this recipe. My tomatoes are quite sweet, so I omitted the sugar, but followed the recipe otherwise. It was incredibly good and makes me never want to eat jarred sauce again!

lafille’s Pomodoro Sauce (see the original at the above link; my modifications are below)

Ingredients:
6-8 ripe Roma tomatoes (or any fresh tomatoes), diced (Some people insist they must be skinned. This is riDONKulous.)
1 medium-sized onion, color of your choice, diced
3 cloves fresh garlic, crushed, chopped, or thinly sliced
2 tbsp. olive oil
small handful fresh basil
2 tsp. sugar (depending on sweetness of the tomatoes)
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the onion, cook on medium heat for five minutes or so. Toss in the garlic, lower the heat, cover, and cook for ten minutes (stirring occasionally), or until quite soft.
2. Add the tomatoes, basil, sugar, salt, and pepper, cover and let simmer another ten to fifteen minutes, stirring occasionally. Cook your pasta.
3. If you don’t want a chunky sauce, throw it in the food processor. If you are a person who likes good things, skip this step and eat that stuff in all its chunky glory straight from the skillet. Feel free to add red pepper and Parmesan cheese to the finished product.

Dinner at Parcel 104 - Again

2009-08-06T17:58:00.000-07:00

I am the world's worst food blogger. Every time we go out, I mean to take pictures of the dishes so you can see how wonderful they are, rather than just relying on my descriptions. Instead, we get about halfway through the meal before I remember, and then I start to eat each subsequent dish before I again remember to take a picture. So I've got one picture of a half-eaten plate of foie gras from last night that definitely doesn't do justice to how fabulous that dish tastes.

With that in mind, here is what we ate last night. I have no idea what was actually on last night's menu since we never saw it - we sat down at the counter by the kitchen (my favorite spot and where you should really plan on sitting if you go) and Chef Anthony and Chef Carlos just started bringing us food. I don't know how they do it, but I think it gets better every time we go.

Amuse buche: Corn mousse topped with arctic char roe (beautiful little yellow spheres that tasted of the ocean), topped with herbs, served on an interesting curved silver spoon.
Course 1: Dungeness crab salad with avocado and cashews, rolled in thin slices of cucumber with a drizzle of green curry sauce.

Course 2: Pan-roasted salmon with summer vegetables. I could eat this every day. It's still one of favorite dishes.

Course 3: Northern California seafood plate: two steamed mussels; one raw Tomales Bay oyster; one Monterey Bay spot prawn; one steamed Sacramento Delta crawfish; one squid, separated into steamed tentacles and the body stuffed with potatoes that were mashed with the concentrated liquid from the mussels; a piece of fish, called mero, or Japanese sea bass, that was coated in salt and pan-roasted; and uni; all topped with some kind of foam and garnished with seaweed. This is a new addition to the menu and honestly not something I would have ordered if I had just seen it on the menu. It was absolutely incredible, though, and I'm so glad I ate it! I had never heard of this fish before and it is the most flavorful, succulent fish I've ever eaten. I hope Chef Anthony uses this fish more often, because it is really amazing.

Course 4: Barbecued foie gras, served with cranberry beans and corn dumplings. We've had this several times before, but Chef knows it's one of our favorites, so he always serves it.

Course 5: Round steaks cut from the cap of the ribeye, served with thinly sliced and layered potato and fresh garbanzo, butter, and cranberry beans. So simple, yet so incredibly good.

Course 6: Watercress and nectarine salad, with pluot sorbet. Something nice and light to move us into dessert. The sorbet was fantastic!

Course 7: Carrot cake "sandwich" with cream cheese filling, vanilla bean ice cream, and candied carrot.

Course 8: "Coffee" A small glass of Bailey's Irish Cream, an espresso cup of coffee ice cream with a small piece of cake and foamed milk on top, and coffee creme brulee. This is a new one for Chef Carlos and the creme brulee was fantastic!

Course 9: Trio of sorbets: peach, raspberry, and mango. My favorite was the raspberry.

It was, once again, a fabulous meal. It's always fun to see what the chefs will come up with and to chat with them throughout the evening. It's also amazing to watch the kitchen in action. Everyone works so well together and there is a wealth of talent putting the food together.

If you ever go, let us know what you think of it.

Pictures from the Week

2009-08-01T23:24:00.001-07:00

My poor bruised toes. They've been a lovely shade of purple for about a week now.

The kids had a fun time at the park on Thursday. Lots of time on the swings, running around playing tag, going down the slides, and playing in the sand. It was a gorgeous day, so it was great to be outside enjoying it.

I have a small cooler with a pump that circulates ice water through a pad on my food. It's much easier than constantly switching out ice packs. Zatarain discovered he could flip the lid open on the cooler and have his own bowl of ice water right there in the family room.

The girls came downstairs thie evening dressed in their finest. When our older daughter, who loves to help Mike with the grill, found out that we were grilling for dinner, she asked, "Can we be your flower grill fairies?"

We have a very small backyard. This picture actually makes it look bigger than it is, but that doesn't stop Mike and our son from practicing baseball while the ribs are cooking. Our daughter was the cheerleader in the background.

The Week in Review

2009-08-01T22:26:00.000-07:00

It's been an interesting week, in spite of the fact that I still have to take it easy on my foot. I went back to the doctor on Monday and got the bandage changed. He gave me a boot cast to wear when I'm out and about, which makes it easier to walk, but is really heavy, hot, and uncomfortable. Needless to say, I only wear it when I have to and stick with the very attractive shoe the rest of the time. On the down side, I do end up yelling, "Don't step on my foot!" an awful lot.

No one was in camp this week, so it was me and the three kids entertaining ourselves since Mike went back to work on Monday afternoon. They got a bit stir crazy and watched more TV than they normally do, but we survived. Our son did an evaluation for a pre-competitive swim team on Tuesday and will be able to start swimming with them in September. He was very excited to watch the huge number of kids in the pool (there were probably 20 lanes swimming at the same time between 2 pools) and can't wait to join in. I don't know how thrilled either of us will be when he's swimming in the dark in November, but we'll give it a try for the fall and see how it goes.

Everyone had swim lessons on Wednesday morning. I couldn't go in because of my foot, so I paid a friend's daughter, who is in high school and is a swimmer and a lifeguard, to take our little one in instead. It was fun to sit back and watch all 3 of them for once. I also found out that she will be old enough to take lessons on her own starting this fall, so it's the last session of lessons that I will have to be in the water. It's the end of an era - I think I've been in the water with one kid or another for the better part of 7 years!

Our son has done tae kwon do at school for the past 3 years, but they dropped the program at the end of the year, so we need to find a new studio for him. His old teacher recommended 2 places, so we checked one out on Wednesday evening. The class they had us sit in on was their basic class, where they work on discipline, basic skills, and their core values. It was not at all what our son expected and he absolutely hated it. I'm hoping I can get him to check out their forms and sparring classes to give it a fair shot, but he wants nothing to do with it right now. We may go see the other studio and see if he like it any better. I'd hate to see him give it up because he's actually quite good at a lot of the skills and he's worked hard at it for a long time now.

Thursday we went grocery shopping. Under the best conditions, it's no fun to take all 3 kids to the store and with my foot in the boot, I really wasn't thrilled with the prospect. I decided to take them to the park first to burn some energy, with the understanding that I was going to be sitting down the whole time. They managed to find a little girl to play tag with them and had a great time running around. Shopping went well after that and our son got to play Safeway Scavenger Hunt while we were there. I send him out to find things from my grocery list, and he has to hunt them down and bring them back to the cart. He's gotten pretty good at it, but we do seem to end up with more bags of chips than I sent him out to get.

The older kids went to Great America with friends on Friday. I didn't tell them about it until Friday morning, and my son's reaction was, "Are you serious?" Being the smart ass I am, I of course responded, "No, I'm kidding." He looked very confused, so I reassured him that it was true and that he needed to get his stuff together for the day. I kept our youngest and our friends' 17-month-old for the day, which our little one loved.

I took the girls to the Y for my Pilates class, my first exercise since having my foot done. It was so good to do something besides sit around! I had to modify some things, but found I could actually do a lot more than I had expected. I'm dying to do some kind of aerobic workout, but this will have to hold me at least until the stitches come out on Tuesday.

Today we just stayed at home. Mike cleaned out the garage, I cleaned up the garden and the dog run, and the kids and dog ran around like the lunatics they are. We had dinner together - ribs, potato salad, coleslaw, garlic cheese bread - and watched the Giants game (they won!). The night ended with fireworks from Great America.

So it's been a good and busy week. Next week, our older daughter is doing a gymnastics camp and that will be the last camp of the summer. Our son's 8th birthday is Monday and he and his sister are beside themselves excited about it. It should be another fun week!

Monterey Bay Aquarium

2009-07-26T21:29:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, we took a trip down to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It's about a 90-minute drive for us, which to the kids means they get to watch videos on the way there and back. A win-win in their book - the aquarium and TV in the car! We've had a membership there for years now, so we never feel like we have to see or do anything in particular when we go. This time, that was a good thing since the place was packed. We hadn't seen it like that in a couple of years, mainly because we tend to time our trips for afternoons during the week. This was a Saturday during the summer, reminding us that Monterey is, actually, a tourist town.

The one exhibit we really wanted to see was the newest one to open - The Secret Lives of Seahorses. Our older daughter absolutely loves seahorses - they've fascinated her for as long as we can remember - so we knew that was the one thing we needed to see this trip. It was well worth dealing with the crowds to see. The sheer numbers of seahorses and variety of species they had on display were amazing, including leafy seadragons, which are a particular favorite of mine. There was a video - on a VERY large screen - showing a male seahorse giving birth to babies. Our kids then had to recreate that scene for us, which would have been extremely embarrassing in any other location! Luckily, the people around us just thought it was funny. If you're in the area and have a chance to see this, it's fascinating.

We hadn't planned on staying for the entire afternoon, but the kids were enjoying themselves and were being very good, so we just kept moving from place to place. We finally realized it was dinner time and the aquarium was staying open until 8:00 and offering dinner at the restaurant, so we managed to get a table and eat before leaving. The food was okay, but the kids were remarkably well-behaved for the whole meal, which lasted about an hour and a half. Even the server commented on how good they were the whole time. The kids thought it was very cool to be in the aquarium when it was closed and can't wait for the chance to go back and do it all again.

iPhone Apps

2009-07-25T19:49:00.000-07:00

I've added a new Gadget to my sidebar - Favorite iPhone Apps.

What are your favorites? Let me know in the Comments!

Just Sitting Around

2009-07-25T18:16:00.000-07:00

I've discovered that my tolerance for laying around on the couch is 3 days. Two of those days were in a Vicodin-induced haze, so my real tolerance may very well be much lower, but it's now day 4 and I'm sick of sitting on the couch.

There have been some pluses. I've read a book and a half so far, kept up with the happenings on Facebook, and increased my score in Bejeweled. My kids and my husband have been waiting on me hand and foot, which is quite a treat. I can take a nap whenever I want, which is less frequently now that I've taken a bunch of naps and stopped loading up on pain meds. I haven't had to cook for anyone in 4 days.

But for someone like me who rarely sits still, it's hard to feel useful in 10 minute increments. I should be making better use of my time sitting around. I have pictures to put into frames; I could be training the dog; I have outgrown kids' clothes to fold and pack away; I have a photo book to finish and a pile of "stuff" from the desk to sort out. Instead I'm sitting here not doing any of those things. Ah well, there's always the other foot.

Foot Surgery

2009-07-22T22:28:00.000-07:00

For several years now, I've had pain in my big toes. I had x-rays done for a broken foot about 18 months ago (Zatarain stepped on my foot and broke it - that's when you know you have a big dog!) and the doctor asked at that time when I was going to get my toe fixed. Even I could see that the x-rays looked bad, with huge bone spurs and arthritis, but I still had a baby to carry around, so it just didn't make sense to undergo surgery yet. Now that my little one walks on her own most of the time and the pain level was getting to the point that it hurt to press the gas pedal in the car, it was time to get my foot fixed.

I chose to have my right foot done now so I wouldn't be stuck unable to drive during the school year. The operation involved shaving off the bone spur and contouring the bone so it doesn't stick out so much. This alone will make it easier to find shoes that fit. My doctor also cut the bone and shortened it to open up the joint, cleaned the joint out to remove the arthritis, and drilled holes that will fill with blood and eventually form a fibrous cartilage to replace the cartilage that has been destroyed. He said no one my age should have feet that bad and was very pleased with the amount of movement I had at the end of the surgery.

I now get to spend the next 5 days laying down with my foot elevated to prevent swelling, with the exception of 5 minutes per hour where I need to be weight-bearing. I should be able to drive by Monday and my activity will progress depending on how I'm healing and how I'm tolerating increases in my activity. I should be healed in 6 weeks and able to have the second surgery done in 3 months.

Mike is taking the next 5 days off to take care of the kids and me. The kids are fascinated by this whole process. Our son has appointed himself my timer, making sure I'm not up on my feet for more than 5 minutes at a time. Our older daughter wants me to give her jobs to do to help out. So far, she has help gather the laundry so I could sort it, fed the cats and fish, gotten the mail, and taken charge of the garden. Our youngest has enjoyed snuggling in bed with me and wants to bring me "presents". At one point this afternoon, all three kids were sprawled out in bed with me, Ben was laying on top of me, and Zatarain was in his crate next to me. I guess no one wanted me to be lonely! I wanted Mike to come up and take a picture, but I didn't get a message to him before everyone started to move.

As you can see above, Dr. Chicory has also been taking care of me. He kept me company during dinner tonight (Mike made ropa vieja) and has been laying on the couch with us this evening. You can see the blue tubes for the ice machine that circulates cold water through a pad that is under the bandages so I don't have to constantly change ice packs. I've had these for other surgeries (this was number 10) and they make a huge difference in keeping down the swelling and making me more comfortable.

Hula Hoop

2009-07-17T23:22:00.000-07:00

My older daughter learned to hula hoop for the preschool circus this year. She took her job as head hula-hooper very seriously and worked and worked at learning how to keep that hoop going. I finally got her a hula hoop for here at home and she was showing us her skills the other day. This video cracks me up every time I see it.

Round-to-it Recommends - Chocolate

2009-07-17T22:25:00.000-07:00

El Rey Icoa white and Gran Saman dark chocolate

This is the most amazing chocolate. Mike and I love chocolate and we try every new chocolate that we see, especially the really dark ones. I, frankly, don't even like white chocolate, but this stuff is amazing. It is the first white chocolate I've had that actually tastes like chocolate and it is absolutely irresistible. Mike says it is the only non-deodorized white chocolate ever produced, which is why it actually tastes like chocolate. It is also the only white chocolate we have ever seen listed with a cacao percentage (34%). The dark chocolate is 70% cacao, which is lower than we usually like, but it has a lovely complex flavor, with a nice wine foretaste and berry aftertaste. The discos melt really well and are great for dipping. Mike found these at our local Whole Foods a couple of weeks ago and we've been indulging in them ever since.

Waterworld

2009-07-16T23:27:00.000-07:00

I took the kids to their first water park today. We have one that is about 20 minutes from our house, but it's in a questionable neighborhood, so I head to the one that's about an hour and a half away when i feel like a day of waterslides. Aside from the bother of driving that far, it's a fun way to spend a hot day.

Our little one was not at all impressed. As soon as I put sunscreen on her, she wiped it in her eyes and spent the whole rest of the day with running, red eyes and a very bad attitude. The only time she was really happy was during lunch and when she finally fell asleep in the parking lot as we headed home. My normally insanely water-loving child wanted nothing to do with the water or the slides, so she spent the day standing in the water in the kiddie areas or sitting in the stroller.

The other two had a great time, though. Our daughter loved the kid areas, with the smaller slides and even got over her disappointment of having to wear a life jacket in the wave pool (anyone under 48 inches tall has to wear one, no matter how well they swim) once she realized how much fun it was to bounce around in the waves. Our son was happy to try out some of the bigger slides on his own. He ended up in the wrong line at one point and went down his first speed slide. He didn't like it - he said it was scary and really hurt - but I was seriously impressed he even tried it. He did love the regular body slides, though, and did then several times.

So even though our little one didn't enjoy herself, it was a good day. The older kids said they definitely wanted to go back again, so we'll have to make another trip up there in the future.

My Current Favorite Dinner

2009-07-15T19:13:00.000-07:00

We managed a night out tonight and, of course, we went to dinner at Parcel 104 before heading out to see Harry Potter. I have had this dish 3 times now and I just love it. It's pan-roasted, wild Alaska salmon with a very crispy skin, served on barely cooked vegetables. This time there were tiny yellow and orange tomatoes, peas and pea pods, corn, green beans, radish, and cucumber. There was also a good sprinkling of dried beet pulp, which adds a great tang and crunch.

So very tasty!

Sick Day

2009-07-14T21:53:00.000-07:00

I managed to catch a cold that my husband brought home from a trip to visit his sister and her family. Fever, headache, post-nasal drip, just lovely. The kids, God bless them, let me sleep in this morning and then we just hung out at home for the day. They watched insane amounts of TV and managed to occupy the day without killing each other. The little one took a 4-hour nap and I managed to get through a week's worth of newspapers while drinking copious amount of tea. I did take them to the pool after she woke up, and the sun (it was HOT today) and chlorine seemed to help my head.

Our son has pulled his Sky Coaster set out for the last couple of days and this is his latest creation. It was slightly modified by his little sister when she stepped on it and released his loop to form a corkscrew. He thought it was much better that way and thanked her for her help.

The First Pumpkin

2009-07-12T16:06:00.000-07:00

I've tried planting pumpkins before and they've never grown into anything. This year, I've got vines all over the place (which are really prickly, by the way) and the leaves are the size of a small umbrella. I had no idea they got that big! There have been lots of flowers, too, which are really pretty when they open up. Now we have our first pumpkin starting to grow and it is growing really quickly! In the last 2 days, it has gone from about the size of my thumb to 6 inches long and 4 inches wide. It will be interesting to see how it develops and how big it actually gets.

Great America

2009-07-10T22:33:00.000-07:00

We went to Great America (the amusement park that is 5 minutes from our house) for the day yesterday. I took the kids in the morning and Mike joined us after his lunch meeting for the rest of the afternoon. The last couple of years it's been basically useless for me to take the kids on my own, because our son wanted to do the bigger rides, but needed an adult to go with him and the girls were too little to do much of anything. This year, our son is tall enough to do most of the rides, with the exception of the most dramatic coasters, on his own and he is very set up with himself over that. It makes my life dramatically easier because I can let him go on a bigger ride while I take the girls on something more tame in the same general area. The same was true in the water park - he went on the big slides on his own and I watched the girls on the smaller slides and in the pool.

It was a very fun day for all of us. It was great to have Mike there for the afternoon so we could divide an conquer and everyone got to do the things they wanted. It was a long day - we were there 10:30 to 7:15 - and our little one fell asleep as soon as she got into the car. The kids can't wait to go back and do it all again and it was so much fun that I'm actually willing to go back, too.

New Friend

2009-07-10T22:20:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, I was filling the bird feeder and as I walked back out of the rosemary bushes, this little grasshopper jumped onto my arm. I carefully carried it back to the kids and my older daughter was instantly in love. She handled this little guy very gently, catching him and scooping him back up several times when he jumped away. She even named him Jumpy. She finally let him go in the plants nearby so he could go on with his day.

Barbecued Pork

2009-07-10T21:40:00.000-07:00

I decided to pull out the crockpot again today and did a pork roast for the first time. I shredded the meat after it was cooked and we ate it on hamburger rolls with cheese and coleslaw. It was really good! This is definitely a recipe I'd do again. (Sorry I don't have pictures - we ate it before I thought about photos.)

Here is the link to the original recipe. My version is below.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds boneless pork shoulder
1 onion, sliced in rings (I used a sweet onion, but any should do)
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup barbecue sauce (I like Stubbs)
1/8 cup warm water
1/8 cup apple cider vinegar
1/8 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions:
Use a 4 quart crockpot. Trim meat, and place into your crockpot. Add sliced onion, ketchup, and barbecue sauce, then pour the warm water into the measuring cup and rinse. Pour the saucy water into your crock. Add vinegar, brown sugar, Worcestershire, Tabasco and salt.
Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours, or until meat shreds easily with a fork. Remove meat, shred into small pieces, and then add back into crockpot. Turn it up to high and vent or remove lid to reduce sauce for 1-2 hours, until desired consistency.
Make sandwiches on rolls or sliced bread, adding cheese of your choice, mayo (I like Miracle Whip, but I'm the only one), and coleslaw.

Garden Makeover

2009-07-05T23:02:00.000-07:00

I've had plans for a while to make some changes to my garden. The bark I had down on the path really needed to be replaced and I wanted to add an arbor for the morning glories that came up. Since we didn't have any plans for this weekend, I decided it was as good a time as any to put my plans into action.

After a trip to Lowe's, I got started with cleaning out the old mulch. My older daughter really wanted to help, so I raked while she scooped it up and then dumped it around the outside plants. Then, I put up a screen around the air conditioning unit, which sits next to the kids' sandbox and gets it's fair share of sand tossed inside. We're hoping the screen will stop that little game. I spread the new mulch over most of the path, and instead of using wood chips this time, I put down rubber mulch made from old tires that have been chopped up. My kids think it's the coolest thing and it should keep them from getting splinters in their feet when they head out to the sandbox.

My final task was to build the arbor, which turned out to be a lot easier than I had expected. It only took about an hour to put together and my girls were fascinated by the building process. I didn't have time to get it stabilized, but it was put together and standing up by last night. I took some time this afternoon to get the stakes in the ground and attach the legs to them, so it's pretty stable now. I still want to use a couple of L-brackets to attach the arbor to the planter boxes, but I don't think it will go anywhere before I can get to doing that.

I spread the last couple of bags of mulch and trained the morning glory over the side of the arbor (after trimming it way back - I had no choice since it was impossibly wrapped around the hook holding the hummingbird feeder). I also have a tomato heading up the opposite side of the arbor, which should keep it from being trampled as the kids go in and out.

I am so happy with how it all turned out. We have such a small yard that it's nice to have this little jungle where the kids can run in and out and play. The girls were already deep into a game of flower fairies by the time I was done, so I know I'm not the only one who will enjoy it.

Catching Up

2009-07-02T22:24:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy couple of weeks. Our summer started off nice and calm, with a good rhythm to our days. And then camp started and everything went crazy. My son did one week of camp and loved it so much that he asked to go back this week. Since they had open spots, including for swim lessons, we signed him again. So instead of just having one kid in camp (my older daughter), I've been juggling two and my poor little one has been suffering with very short naps the last few days. The up side is that all three kids have been going to bed very early, so my evenings have been pretty quiet.

I finally had time tonight to get some little chores done that I've been putting off. My older cat, Ben, has always had an amazing coat. She sheds like a German Shepherd and I periodically have to really go over her to get her undercoat out or she mats badly. I've put it off too long this time and now I do have to battle big chunks of fuzz under her coat. She is not a happy kitty when I start working on her and she lets me know loudly. It should at least decrease the hairball puking, if nothing else.

I also sat down and trimmed Zatarain's feet. Leonbergers are pretty low-maintenance as far as grooming goes. They have a lot of coat and do require brushing, but you aren't supposed to do any kind of fancy trimming. The one thing that does need to be done on occasion, though, is trimming the feet. Audubon's mom, and therefore Zatarain's grandmother, had amazingly fuzzy feet and both of my dogs ended up with the same. Left alone, they start to look like snowshoe rabbits. It's not the best look for a Leo, so I trim Zatarain's feet when they start to get furry. I let them get pretty long this time, so it took a while to get them under control. Zatarain closely monitored my scissoring, resting his head on my left arm while I trimmed his feet with my right. It was very cute and he was very patient, wagging his tail when I would talk to him and tell him how handsome he looked. He was less happy when I started working on his nails, but he cooperated better than usual and I was able to get them done fairly quickly.

I've also been trying to work out more the last few weeks and that takes up a chunk of time in the morning. I'm having foot surgery on July 22, so I want to get into the best shape I can ahead of time since I won't be allowed to work out for a while afterwards. I try to run on Mondays, do a cycling class on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and do Pilates on Fridays. I just added the cycling back in after 2 1/2 years and it's been miserable getting back into it. I'm finally feeling better during and after the classes, so I think I've gotten past the worst of it. I'd love to add one more day, but I've never been good about working out on the weekends.

So that's the update. Hopefully I'll be more timely over the next couple of weeks since our pace will be slower.

Round-to-it Recommends - Identification

2009-06-25T16:39:00.000-07:00

Personal identification can literally save your life, even if you don't have a specific medical condition that requires you to wear it all the time. Here are two companies that I have used and can recommend their products.

1) Road ID
I have the wrist ID for myself for when I work out or race and I have them for each of my kids for when we travel or go to places where they might get lost. They know that once we go through security at the airport, their wrist bands go on and they don't come off until we get to our destination. Their bands have their names, my and my husband's cell numbers, their blood types, birth dates, and allergies. Mine has my name, contact information for my husband, and my medical information.

2) Lauren's Hope medical ID bracelets
In the past, if you had to wear a medical bracelet, you only had the option of a silver chain bracelet or a dog tag, both of which were noticeable and not attractive. This company designs interchangeable bracelets that are really pretty, but still attach to a medical tag to let responders know about your medical condition. I have ordered from them a couple of times and their bracelets arrive very quickly and look very nice. You can also buy just a new bracelet and attach it to your old tag, so you don't need to get a new tag if you want to wear a different bracelet. The one downside is that they don't have an online contact service, so if you have complicated medical needs that can't be easily explained on a tag, these won't really work for you. But for most people, these will work just fine.

The Latest Fashion Statement

2009-06-24T18:53:00.000-07:00

This was how my 5-year-old dressed my 2-year-old last night. That would be a nightgown that is 2 sizes too big, sunglasses left over from a birthday party, and tap shoes that are several sizes too big. I believe she was also christened with the name Princess Blue Flower. I'm not sure of the significance of the shopping cart, but it was a required accessory in her little mind.

Gotta love little girls!

Turf Wars

2009-06-20T22:08:00.000-07:00

My peas and pumpkins are at war. I have potatoes taking over one of my boxes. The beans are starting to make a tee pee. It's a crazy year in my little garden and it's been fun to watch it grow. I put my garden together haphazardly, letting my older daughter pick what goes where and just seeing what comes up and how it does. Sometimes we're successful and sometimes it's a flop, but it's always fun to keep track of the plants.

This year, I put my tomatoes on the front porch, since they will take over the garden and prevent anything else from growing under them. That left plenty of room to plant some new things, like the potatoes. I had never seen potato plants before; I just thought they'd be fun for the kids since you can't see the tubers as they grow. Turns out, potatoes grow huge plants above the ground. Mine are about 3 feet tall, have pretty little pink flowers, and are producing some kind of fruit from the flowers. I just had to "corset" them today with string to keep the plants from completely blocking the path between the boxes. Apparently, when the tops start to die back, it will be time to harvest the potatoes, but I have no idea how long that will take. So far, they seem to be really happy and green, so I assume it will be a while.

I've planted pumpkins before, but the plants have never done very well. They'll grow for a little while and then they'll either wither or something will eat them, so I've never gotten a pumpkin to grow. This year the pumpkins are VERY happy. I have 2 plants and both are climbing like crazy and have lots of blooms. Pumpkins have huge leaves, a fact I hadn't realized before, and the stems are really prickly, making it even trickier to keep them trained upwards because they fight back when I try to feed them through the netting. I hope I get at least one pumpkin off of these vines. My kids will be beyond excited if we do.

I planted peas next to one of the pumpkins, not knowing that the pumpkin vine would be so enthusiastic. The two sets of vines are fighting for space on the trellis netting and I have to keep untangling them to give them each their own space. My older daughter is keeping close tabs on the peas and harvests them as they ripen. So far, they haven't made it into the house because she eats them as soon as she picks them. I don't mind, though. How can I complain about her eating peas? She also keeps a close watch on our blueberry bush, but those fruits either go to her brother or into the fridge since she is allergic to them (she vomits within an hour of eating raw blueberries; she's fine with cooked ones).

She has also done some random planting in my tree box. There were a few seeds that fell as we were planting, so she took them and stuck them in the soil of the big box. We now have another pea plant growing up between the lime tree and the tangerine tree and a sunflower starting to appear in a bucket that she filled with soil. And we have a tomato volunteer that popped up in the middle of the tan bark from a tomato that fell last season. It's starting to flower, so we'll probably get a few tomatoes from it, too.

Reading Time

2009-06-19T15:51:00.001-07:00

Each afternoon my kids spend some time doing independent reading. Our son has really gotten into Harry Potter (he is loving Prisoner of Azkaban right now) and our older daughter is finally able to sit down and read on her own for a bit. We still do reading time together in the evenings, but this is their chance to tune out on their own for a bit.

We actually went to the library yesterday. For most people, this wouldn't be worthy of mentioning, but I happen to dislike libraries. The thought of reading a book that has been handled by so many other people, and the smell of those books, makes my stomach turn. But I figured my kids really should understand what a library is and how to find books, so I got the two older ones their own library cards and let them loose on the stacks. Our daughter had a bit of trouble with the concept of just borrowing the books - she didn't understand why you have to give them back - but she was really excited by the news that you're allowed to check out 40 (!) books/videos/CDs at a time. No way that will happen - I am not going to try to keep track of 40 library items in my house! They did get a few books, though - horses and Star Wars were the hot themes this time - and are happily reading them. Hopefully this will give them the chance to read some things they may not have seen before since the book stores only have newer titles. And I'll just have to invest in the industrial-sized bottles of Purell to read with them.

Entering the brave new world of biking

2009-06-16T23:27:00.001-07:00

Our youngest has finally learned how to pedal a bike. I can't remember how old the other two were, but it was probably around the same age. It's a new phase of mobility and she'll be able to keep up with her siblings a bit better as they play outside.

Check out the video.

Round-to-it Recommends - Vacation Items

2009-06-16T15:48:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the things we have found to be really useful when we travel. Feel free to add your suggestions in the comments!

1) Phil & Ted's Traveler portable crib
We have the older (slightly heavier) version of this crib and it has been fantastic. I much prefer having my own crib for my little one, so we don't have to keep our fingers crossed that the ones where we stay are safe/clean/comfortable. This one is small and light enough to pack in our daughter's duffle bag and still have room for her clothes and toys. It is also great for a little one at the beach to keep her out of the sand and give her a place to sleep at nap time. Well worth the cost!

2) Waterproof camera housing
We have a Panasonic Lumix digital camera right now, but many of the higher end digitals have a housing available. We keep our camera in this most of the time and are able to take pictures while snorkeling, in the pool, and anywhere else without having to worry about it getting ruined. Some of our favorite vacation photos have been captured because we were able to take our camera in places that would otherwise have destroyed it.

3) Inflatable booster seat
We have gotten tons of use out of our seat. It has lasted through 2 kids and would definitely last through more. This one collapses down fairly flat, so it is easy to pack (in the same bag with the crib) and weighs almost nothing. It's also good to have at home when friends come over with their kids. Definitely beats using the phone book!

4) UV protective rash guards
If you look back at our vacation photos, you can see that we all wear rash guards any time we are out in the water. We learned long ago that getting burned is just miserable and this is the best and easiest way to keep that from happening. the kids are currently wearing the ones from Lands' End and I really like the the quality of the fabric. My favorite ones for me are from the Pacific Whale Foundation store, but those are harder to come by. Wearing these also means it takes about half the time to sunscreen everyone.

5) A really good guidebook
Since we mostly travel to Hawaii, I can recomend one series of books. Maui Revealed (and the books for the other islands, as well) is the absolute best guidebook for travel to Maui. We're not completely fond of their food recommendations, but aside from that, it is spot on for things to do and safety considerations. Even though we have been to Maui many times, we still take the most recent version of the book along with us for reference.

6) Headphones
This may seem silly, but they make all the difference for when your kids want to play video games or watch the movie or beg you to do something on your computer to kill time. We have simple over-the-head ones for our kids, but there are lots of options.

7) Handheld video games
We're not big on letting our kids plug in and tune out, but for travelling, we do what we must to pass the time. Our kids have the Leapster (for the younger two) and the Didj (for our oldest). The games are educational and for the Didj, we can set the learning level for the games by hooking it up to the computer. It keeps him challenged and he is working on math skills he hasn't gotten in school yet.

Mike's Birthday Dinner

2009-06-11T21:47:00.001-07:00

Today was Mike's birthday, so we, of course, went to Parcel 104 for dinner. Chef Anthony and Chef Carlos put together a fantastic dinner for us. Unfortunately, we didn't think of taking pictures of each dish until after we finished eating, so you'll just have to imagine how fabulous everything looked. Here is the menu:

Amuse bouche: Silken egg white with caviar and creme fraische
Course 1: Lobster corn soup
Course 2: Pork belly with passion fruit purée, curried coconut
tapioca, and grilled mango
Course 3: Grilled sockeye salmon with garden vegetables
Course 4: Hickory-smoked barbecued foie gras with cornbread "gnocchi"
and corn pudding (to die for!)
Course 5: Corn and morel mushroom fettucini Alfredo with black truffles
Course 6: Grilled New York steak with corn and grilled mushroom ragout
and fried polenta
Course 7: White peach and watercress salad with peach sorbet, cheese
beignet, and peach compote
Course 8: World's best flan
Course 9: Chocolate pot du creme
Course 10: Molten chocolate cake with grand marnier, vanilla ice
cream, and sliced strawberries
Course 11: Sponge cake with berries and lemon verbena ice cream

Thank you once again to Chef Anthony and Chef Carlos of Parcel 104 for
the absolutely phenomenal dinner! You always make our special
occasions memorable.

School's Out For Summer...

2009-06-10T22:05:00.000-07:00

My kids got out of school last Friday for summer vacation. I am so happy that they are done! I am ready for a break from the constant driving, the early mornings, and the crazy evenings that go along with the school year.

It's taken a few days, but we're settling into a routine. We go out in the morning and do errands or go to the Y or go on a "field trip". After lunch, the little one goes down for her nap and the older kids have reading and work time. Their school sends home a packet of worksheets for them to do over the summer, which they are supposed to work on over the course of six weeks. My son finished his yesterday (in 3 days) and my daughter is almost done with hers. I knew that was going to be the case, so we went to the teacher supply store yesterday to find some extra workbooks to challenge them a bit. They are both very excited to start working on some more challenging stuff. Have I said that my kids are weird? Better that than hating school, I suppose!

I need to get them to the library to sign up for the summer reading program. I'm not a huge fan of libraries. Handling books that have been read by who-knows-how-many other people really grosses me out, so we tend to go to the book store instead. I feel like the kids really should know what a library is, though, so we'll make the effort this summer. I do remember really liking the summer programs as a kid, so hopefully my guys will, too.

Aside from that, our summer should be fairly laid back. The older kids each have a couple of camps they are doing, and all three of them will continue to take swim lessons. The rest of our time should be spent at the pool, going to the beach, going to the Y, and checking out some new hiking trails. We're all looking forward to these few weeks off!

Wednesday Wash Day

2009-06-03T22:24:00.001-07:00

Wednesday and Sunday are my laundry days. Why, you may ask? Because it means the fewest number of uniforms for the kids (3) and the fewest number of wash days. Brilliant, no? Anyway, I really don't mind doing laundry. Filling the machine, adding the soap and softener - and always Oxi Clean, folding, hanging, putting away, I don't mind any of it. The one thing that really gets me is the sorting. And that's because as I sort the laundry, I have to empty pockets.

I'd always heard stories about the things moms find in their sons' pockets. Marbles, rocks, frogs, string are all the stuff legend. My son isn't too bad in that regard, though. I just generally find empty snack containers and lint in his pockets.

My daughter's clothes, though, make me cringe. I usually have a large collection of the cleanest rocks in town sitting on top of my drier, since I've had to dig them out after listening to them bang around in the load of clothes. She will pick up literally anything and stick it in her pockets, only to leave it there for me to find as I go through the laundry. I've come across hair clips and rubber bands, sand, crackers, raisins, paper, small toys, feathers, paper clips, bracelets, her watch, and rocks. Lots and lots of rocks. She's so obsessed with rocks that one of her friends tried to find her a rock-related birthday present, but gave her a selection of soaps and lotions instead (not sure what she was suggesting with that one, but my daughter loved them anyway). I've tried to tell her that it's gross to pick that kind of stuff up, and even more gross to carry it home with her in her pockets. It hasn't had any effect.

Now my youngest has discovered pockets and specifically asks to wear pants with pockets. So far, she is only putting her hands in them, but I'm sure if she is anything like her sister, she, too, will be collecting weird stuff and leaving it for me to find on laundry day.

I Need a Fashion Intervention - Photos

2009-06-03T21:57:00.000-07:00

You asked for it (Jason!), you got it! I recreated the look for all the world to see. Obviously, I have no shame. Your fashion advice is certainly welcome, because as you can see, I shouldn't be allowed to dress myself.

I've also included a photo of the Curious George lounge pants. My kids love them, but they might not be appropriate for the grocery store.

I Need a Fashion Intervention

2009-06-01T21:48:00.000-07:00

I had a "What Not to Wear" moment the other night.

Let me first say, that I would love to be nominated for the show. I have begged my friends to submit me for it. I happily admit that I am the least fashionable person I know, with pretty much the most boring wardrobe on the planet. I only wear make-up for really fancy occasions, and even then I barely manage to look passable. It's actually so bad, that my husband prefers it when I don't wear make-up. I have had the same hair style for probably 10 years (at least it's not a reverse mullet!). I've tried to change my hair color, but my hair revolts and will now only be blonde. So I know I need help and I just keep waiting for Stacy and Clinton to jump out at me and offer to take me off to New York for a week to make me over.

Every once in a while, I leave the house in an outfit that I know would make them cry. I imagine that there is a hidden camera somewhere nearby capturing how pathetic I am for all the world to see, over and over again in syndication (I definitely need a hobby). And yet, I still go out wearing it.

Here's my latest example. Saturday night, Mike and I were trying to make popcorn the old-fashioned way. We realized that we needed more popcorn and oil, since our last experiment had gone seriously wrong. I left for the nearby Safeway, at 9:45 at night, wearing an old t-shirt under a dark green, fleece-lined hoodie, with shorts, crew socks, and my slippers, already wearing my glasses, and my hair in it's end-of-the-day state. And being the environmental geek I am, I walked into the store carrying my pet store reusable bag. It was quite the picture, and I got a number of weird sideways glances as I loaded up my bag with popcorn, oil, and Junior Mints (the ultimate accompaniment to popcorn). I could easily picture a cameraman hiding around the corner of the freezer case, laughing his head off as he got prime footage to take back to New York.

I hurried home, and am now biding my time until I get "ambushed" as a result of my incredible lack of fashion sense. My only consolation - at least I wasn't wearing my mint green, Curious George lounge pants. That might have been too much even for Stacy and Clinton.

Flip Flops

2009-05-28T21:27:00.000-07:00

Our youngest is obsessed with flip flops. I have no idea why, but she has been taking every pair of them she can find and wearing them around the house. Her sister's, which are a bit big, but are pink so that makes them appealing. Her brother's, which are brown camouflage and several sizes too big. Or mine or Mike's, which she can barely keep on her feet. They are all fair game and I find them all over the house.

I figured that she might as well have her own pair, so we headed to Old Navy to find her some. Turned out they were having a sale - 2 pairs for $5 - even better! I found a cute pair of white ones with butterflies and purple straps and she put them on as soon as we got home, took them off long enough to take a shower, and wore them until she went to bed. Best $2.50 I could've spent!

The Cookie Monster

2009-05-26T23:33:00.000-07:00

No he's not blue, but he did eat 2 dozen oatmeal raisin cookies this afternoon.

I made a batch of cookies this afternoon for my son's birthday celebration at school tomorrow. They finished up just in time for me to leave to pick the two older kids up from school, so I left them on the counter to cool, covered by towels. I had a brief thought that they might be in jeopardy, but I really didn't have any choice since they were too warm to put into containers. I just hoped that Zatarain would ignore them and I could put them away when we got home.

No such luck. We got home and Zatarain immediately went out to his dog run and didn't come back in. Never a good sign. I walked through the kitchen and sure enough, he had eaten all but 6 of the cookies. We'll see how this comes out in the end (get it?). I'm sure it won't be funny when he's running for the door at 3 am.

So I had to make another batch, but I didn't have any Crisco left and I had to take Zatarain to his obedience class (fat lot of good that's done!) this evening. That meant heading to the grocery store at 9:00 tonight to get Crisco, and since I was there, I figured I might as well get the things I need to make soup tomorrow. I finally got home at 9:40 and got the cookies finished by 10:30. At least I don't have to go to the store again tomorrow. And I get the adoration of my son for making him the cookies he asked for, which makes it all worth while.

Chewy Oatmeal Cookies

2009-05-26T23:26:00.000-07:00

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 cup Crisco
1 1/3 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups oats, uncooked
1 cup raisins (optional)

Directions:
Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add Crisco, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Beat smooth, about 2 minutes. Stir in oats and raisins. Drop by heaping teaspoonful onto greased cookie sheet. Bake in preheated 300 degree oven for 15 minutes. Remove from tray when cool.

Round-to-it Recommends - Dog Shampoo

2009-05-25T16:58:00.000-07:00

Buddy Wash and Buddy Rinse
I love this shampoo and conditioner! It leaves the dog smelling clean, but not perfume-y, the conditioner leaves Zatarain's coat incredibly soft, and the effects last for at least a week. It takes very little of the shampoo to wash the whole dog and even less conditioner to keep him soft and detangled. It may be more expensive than a lot of dog shampoos out there, but it's well worth it for how great the dog looks afterwards.