Baby and our 100 Hour Vacation

Okay, maybe not exactly 100 hours. But "the 99 hour and some odd minute vacation" just didn't sound as cool.

My best friend needed me so out to North Carolina I went. I needed this trip too. Needed to get away.

So Baby and I packed up and boarded a plane for NC!


She did well. Really well.


From Hour 3 to Hour 5, we had a layover in Houston and planned on meeting some friends while there. But I couldn't figure out how to get out of the secured area of the terminal and had no idea where they were and I finally realized that I was in the wrong area for my next flight and once I took the train to the right terminal (yes, I took the train... through the airport... well more like monorail... but lets not get hung up on the details there) it was easy to find them! I was so happy to see them and they were so happy to see Baby! They moved out of my state in January, like a week before Baby was born.




Then we got on our scary little puddle jumper plane to get to North Carolina.


At hour 8 and some random number of minutes, we landed and rand and squealed and jumped in the loving arms of Wonder Mom and Wonder Dad. Really. We squealed. Okay, I did. I was squealing so loud I wouldn't know if anyone else was.


Around hour 9 we made it to a place called Cook Out where I had to choose from a million different preparations for my burger and a gazillionty different kinds of milk shakes. We need Cook Outs here in Cali. Wonder Mom had half a banana in her shake!

Somewhere near hour 11 I finally crashed in a bed. I tried so hard to wake up the next morning, but the time difference was killer and I didn't wake up til hour 18.

At hour 20ish, my Dad came and picked up Baby and me and we took a scenic tour of NC. And ended up in South Carolina! And promptly came back to NC. I wish I had taken my real camera. I would have loved to get pictures of the trees and buildings and animals and tractor crossing signs. And the guy driving his ride-on mower down the street.

Baby started getting hungry and we were all in need of lunch, so we went to Cracker Barrel! I was quite excited about this. I had heard a lot about Cracker Barrel but we don't have any out here.


My Dad and I both had the Chicken and Dumplins. Spell check is going crazy trying to put a G in that word. No, they're not "dumplings". They're "dumplins".


After lunch we headed back to Wonder Mom's. She needed a new outfit so we ran to the local mall. I found Bass Pro Shop. Daddy Bear doesn't think I went in. He'll never know for sure though!


Then we had dinner at Bob Evans. Good food. Better service. Overall, a nice, casual family meal. And they included me! I think it's mostly because I brought Baby.


Sometime close to hour 34, we were back at Wonder Mom's beautiful house and getting ready for the next day. Saturday was long but beautiful, but more on that later. Now, I must recover my normal sleep cycle.

Pinky and Milk

At the risk of offending or grossing some out, Pinky has had some digestive issues that have inspired us to investigate a possible lactose intolerance. This first involves purging all lactose from her system for a week. Easy enough, right?

No milk? Check.

No cheese? Check.

No ice cream? Sadly, check.

*sigh* That girl loves her ice cream.

No bread? What? Really?

Yup.

Okay, but most proteins should still be okay, right? She loves chicken nuggets!

What?

No!

Really?

Yeah, sorry.

Most breaded chicken uses milk as a binder to get the breading to stick to the meat.


I was so careful to order her hot chocolate at Starbucks with soy milk and no whip. Forgot the chocolate syrup part of the hot chocolate.

Daddy Bear wanted to spoil the Bambinos with doughnut holes for breakfast. Milk. Darn.

There's only one pizza place in the area that doesn't use milk in their dough. Thank you Papa John's!


So we're on the hunt for lactose free foods. And it isn't easy. I'll update next weekend. If her digestive issues haven't been resolved, we move on to something else.

Kiddos and the Zoo!

We got memberships to the Santa Ana Zoo yesterday. What an adventure! Got there later than we hoped, fed the kids lunch, got in, ran into friends, went back out to hang with them through their lunch, got back in, Pebbles scraped up her elbow, saw some monkeys, and headed home.

They finally have a Bald Eagle there again.


"Spirit" is a juvenille Bald Eagle on loan from the US Dept of Fish and Game. He's beautiful!

All in all the kids had a grand time and we look forward to many more trips this summer to fill up our lazy dayz!

Pebbles takes her hydration very seriously!


Angel ponders the swans...


...and the swans ponder back.


Pinky and Baby are excited to see "Spirit"!

Kiddos and The Fourth of July

Actually I need to back up to the 3rd of July. A local high school does a neat fireworks show every year on the 3rd of July. Sure, there's great seating inside the stadium if you pay the very reasonable fee... but we don't do that. We much prefer the adventure of camping out for hours across the street and hoping that at the end of it all we haven't been crowded out of our space and we can still see everything over the heads of our new found "friends". Other traditions on the 3rd of July include forgetting how cold it gets once the sun goes down despite the fact that it was 10,000 degrees mere hours earlier, always saying next year we'll bring chairs, and meeting up with friends at the Starbucks that was nice enough to position itself right next to where we waste away the hours after the show is over. This year was particularly uncomfortable and we've decided to spring for the $5 per person next year to get a spot inside the stadium so we can enjoy the show in comfort.

Now, on to the 4th... First we were in the Association's parade with Angel's Cub Scout Pack. We've been in this Association for four years and have never attended or been involved with any of the holiday celebrations until this past weekend. The parade was slow to start but once we got going, the lap around the block wasn't too bad. I'm still not comfortable in my Cub Scout Leader uniform, could be something to do with the neckerchief feeling like a noose. Or having to wear real shoes. Or how unflattering the bagginess of the shirt is since I had to find one that fit my bust and not the rest of my torso. But I digress... back to the parade.




(Yeah, we're going to have to work on my photography skills some more this summer...)

A few key points were overlooked by the current leadership. One, the kids watching the parade were expecting some kind of treat to be dispersed by the parade participants. When we passed by without flinging candy in their direction, it was not a good sight. Two, "those who wish can bring their bikes or scooters" is not adequate language for "every year every boy rides his bike or scooter and if you don't want your kid to feel left out and dissolve into a puddle of 'it's not fair', bring the darn thing". Angel was not happy, but thanks to a quick thinking Cubmaster, he became a banner holder and all was right with the world. Three, it get hot fast when you're standing around doing nothing, I would have brought water if I had had as much experience with this as some of the other members of the leadership. Ah well, there's always next year.



After the parade was over, we took The Bambinos home for lunch and a bit of a rest. Then we began our big covert op in surprising Nana for her birthday! Nana had to work for a few hours and while she was at work, Daddy Bear went and took her car without her prior knowledge to get it washed. Then the lines of communication broke down because Daddy Bear left his phone at home. I got to the designated meet-up place a few minutes early and ended up waiting over half an hour for Daddy Bear to get back. He didn't see me waiting there and took off to get back home to pick up his phone. The number one problem with this was that he had the rest of the tools for the plan in his truck. So I headed home to chase him down, got there as he's leaving, and we raced back to Nana's place of employment to finish the work we began. I grabed the window chalk from the truck, Daddy Bear got the older three in the back of Nana's SUV with the balloons while I decorated and then got Baby ready for me to go into Nana's work to execute the plan.











I took one red balloon and Baby into Nana's work saying that I came to pick up the stroller that had been left in her car. We were almost at her car when she saw the decorations, then she opened the back to "help me with the stroller". The kids were perfect in executing the "Happy Birthday Nana" when she opened the door! I loved it!

We had a bit of a down time before dinner with friends. Nana wanted steak and potatoes so we headed to Lone Star Steakhouse. It's a new favorite... they had Nana dance with the waitstaff!



And Pinky loved Nana's dessert!



Nana, Angel, and Pinky were feeling a bit under the weather so Nana suggested we go home and catch some pyrotechnics on TV. An hour or so passed and we decided to go to the park and see if we could see the Association fireworks from a distance. They were nice. It was odd not hearing the music, but it was a good length show and we ended the nice day with a round of "Happy Birthday" to Nana.

Next year Nana turns 50! I better start planning now!

Kiddos and Camping

I keep promising to get this post up and I keep getting interrupted. Or my computer does something wonky (technical term there) and I have to restart causing a loss of my nearly finished post. Or my Pinky comes by and does something very "cool". yeah.

So here's the basics of the camping trip we took just over a week ago:
-It was our first Cub Scout Family Outing
-It wasn't so much camping as pitching a tent in our almost backyard
-Since we need two tents for Family Outings, we need a more efficient way of corralling the kiddos while Daddy Bear and I get the tents pitched.
-Overall, it was a blast and I'm even more excited about being a Cub Scout leader!

And here's our campsite!

Baby and Cub Scout Training

Angel is finally old enough for Cub Scouts! Daddy Bear has been chomping at the bit for the last 3 years or so for this moment. And here we are, Cub Scout Training! Daddy Bear and I did BALOO (Basic Adult Leader Outdoor Orientation) training today. Baby came with us and for the most part it was manageable. I even held her while she slept and made my own foil pouch lunch. Sorry, I wasn't skilled enough to take pics of the process too. Next time. :P Next time the opportunity presents itself, I will document the entire process.

I'm super excited we're doing this and I can't wait to get started with the Den. I'll find out on Tuesday if I am the Den Leader or not. There was another mom who was interested but she just moved to the area and might be too busy to do this right now. If she really wants it, I'll still be assistant leader and I've already met another mom who wants to help, but not have an official position.

BALOO was fun, next training: Cub Scout Leader Specific Training in two weeks!

Now I'm off to bake "fairy cakes" ;) for Pebbles!

Pebbles and Baking

Pebbles and Pinky have a birthday party at the end of the week and I'm on the hunt for a good cupcake from scratch recipe for said event. Pebbles loves strawberry so I started with this Strawberry Shortcake cupcake recipe from Cake Central. Pebbles was a great help in the kitchen, pouring, mixing, and good conversation. I ended up adding a bit more milk to the frosting, about 1 1/2 Tbsp, it was really stiff when I was mixing it. The cupcakes came out looking a bit dense and dry, I got worried. I only baked them for 10 minutes and they were probably done closer to 8 minutes in, these are cuppies to keep an eye on.




















This is the frosting with about 1/2 cup of strawberry preserves. I like the look of some whole fruit in there. I let it sit in the fridge through dinner to set.



After dinner, I pulled the frosting out of the fridge and frosted the cupcakes. Pebbles was getting very excited.



The kids gobbled them down in the time it took me to take these pics, as did Daddy Bear.



Overall, they were alright. Not as dry as I initially thought, but very dense. I should have refrigerated them after frosting them again, as the frosting oozed down the sides once the wrapper came off. I've got a few more chilling right now to test that theory.