Rod - I hope your day is very special! We love you and can't wait to see you again!! Hope it is soon.... summer reunion anyone???????
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Friday, April 9, 2010
quote for the week
Gretchen: Mommy, do you know what I used my wishing star wish for? I wished you would make an apple pie.
me: But you don't even like apple pie.
Gretchen: But Lindy loves it and then maybe he could come over and enjoy it with us.
(P.S. We invited him over for next Saturday! Of course, Lew told him this story and now I am obligated to make him an apple pie! Oh well, there are a lot worse things in life than being forced tobake eat an apple pie, right??)
(oh boy...P.P.S.!! I have since learned that Lindy will have someone visiting him from Germany and he is bringing his guest along for dinner! And, since it was my husband who brought me this info, he did not know if this guest was male or female and got no idea of the age. But, he did assure me he will find out if it is OK to serve meat. How much do you want to bet that is the only question he asks? I won't be surprised if he comes home still not learning gender, age or how Lindy knows the person. Still, it should be a fun evening!)
this is my blog... so I will tell it like it is... I make awesome pie crust! Look at those flakes!
me: But you don't even like apple pie.
Gretchen: But Lindy loves it and then maybe he could come over and enjoy it with us.
(P.S. We invited him over for next Saturday! Of course, Lew told him this story and now I am obligated to make him an apple pie! Oh well, there are a lot worse things in life than being forced to
(oh boy...P.P.S.!! I have since learned that Lindy will have someone visiting him from Germany and he is bringing his guest along for dinner! And, since it was my husband who brought me this info, he did not know if this guest was male or female and got no idea of the age. But, he did assure me he will find out if it is OK to serve meat. How much do you want to bet that is the only question he asks? I won't be surprised if he comes home still not learning gender, age or how Lindy knows the person. Still, it should be a fun evening!)
________________________________________________
editted to add photos...
here's the apple pie with wishing stars on it...
this is my blog... so I will tell it like it is... I make awesome pie crust! Look at those flakes!
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
first sand castle of the season
Gretchen & I went out to the beach this morning. We brought: 1 blanket, 1 pail, 1 sand castle mold and 2 shovels. That's it... no camera.
The weather was beautiful. The air temp was 84*. I looked up the water temp and it is only 58*! But, it is some states' spring break, so there were a few families there... and some were swimming! Brrr!!!
On the way home, we stopped at the berry farm stand close to home for fresh local berries. The lady gave Gretchen one to eat right there and she was in heaven! We got home just in time to eat a fast PB sandwich and a few more berries before we had to go get our boy.
While she ate, I asked her to tell me about the beach as I took notes. Here's her poem-like recap of the morning:
going in the cold water with our feet and we washed some sea shells with our feet.
building sand castles.
put mud in the bucket and play with it.
watched seagulls and somebody tried to feed one.
we picked up sea shells and went home.
when we were going to leave we stopped at the strawberry thing.
I have a lot of memories from the beach!
The weather was beautiful. The air temp was 84*. I looked up the water temp and it is only 58*! But, it is some states' spring break, so there were a few families there... and some were swimming! Brrr!!!
On the way home, we stopped at the berry farm stand close to home for fresh local berries. The lady gave Gretchen one to eat right there and she was in heaven! We got home just in time to eat a fast PB sandwich and a few more berries before we had to go get our boy.
While she ate, I asked her to tell me about the beach as I took notes. Here's her poem-like recap of the morning:
going in the cold water with our feet and we washed some sea shells with our feet.
building sand castles.
put mud in the bucket and play with it.
watched seagulls and somebody tried to feed one.
we picked up sea shells and went home.
when we were going to leave we stopped at the strawberry thing.
I have a lot of memories from the beach!
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Gretchen loves baking... and chocolate
Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Eggs
Wish you were here!!!!
16 oz package confectioner's sugar
1 1/4 c creamy peanut butter
5 tbsp softened butter (I melted it)
5 tbsp milk
24 oz package of almond bark (the chocolate coating, there are no almonds in it)
In a mixing bowl, combine the peanut butter and butter.
Add the powdered sugar and milk and blend together. 
If you spill the 10x, just clean it up.
Mixture is slightly dry, but should hold together nicely when you form eggs. 
Freeze eggs for one hour. Melt the almond bark coating as directed on the package.
OK, here's where we stray... the recipe said to use a fork to stick in the egg and then dip it. HA! That didn't work... the egg broke and fell back into the coating. So, here's our version......
Stick your entire hand into the chocolate and cover that egg!!!
Before we dipped the PB eggs, we did a few banana slices and strawberries... mmmmm!!!
Wish you were here!!!! Friday, April 2, 2010
Easter Egg Hunt
Well, today is the last official day of our vacation. Tomorrow is a regular Saturday. The cool thing is Lew had today off for Good Friday, so we got to do something I probably wouldn't have done with them by myself. I made reservations to go to the Egg Hunt at the battleship. You had to reserve your spot ahead of time, so I was expecting a big ol' crowd. Well, there were a good number of people, but it wasn't really that crowded. We were a touch early, so the kids got to play a couple games first. Both did the Egg Roll and then Gretchen played "pin the tail on the bunny". 
Then, we saw the crowd gathering over by the grass, so we headed over. They had separate areas for different ages. The eggs were just sitting on the lawn - not hidden. We waited for the bunny - a cool Navy Easter Bunny - to give the go ahead and then everyone dashed towards the eggs and picked up as many as they could. It was more of an Egg Scramble than Hunt, since all the eggs were in plain sight. I'm not kidding, the entire thing took less than 30 seconds! Gretchen managed to find about 8 eggs. Carl picked up 2. He was just as happy as she was! 
Then we headed over to the petting zoo. They had a llama and some goats and then also some yellow baby chick. These poor little chicks were being picked up by every kid there. Carl was one... he literally reached right in and grabbed one up. Gretchen wouldn't hold one because she said their feet were too sharp, but she did pet them. 
We did play one more game before heading out. They each did a bean bag toss. Gretchen stood back nice and far and didn't get any in. Carl stood about 4" from the target and got all 4 in! They each earned a lollipop - no penalty for getting too close, I guess!
Then, we saw the crowd gathering over by the grass, so we headed over. They had separate areas for different ages. The eggs were just sitting on the lawn - not hidden. We waited for the bunny - a cool Navy Easter Bunny - to give the go ahead and then everyone dashed towards the eggs and picked up as many as they could. It was more of an Egg Scramble than Hunt, since all the eggs were in plain sight. I'm not kidding, the entire thing took less than 30 seconds! Gretchen managed to find about 8 eggs. Carl picked up 2. He was just as happy as she was! Then we headed over to the petting zoo. They had a llama and some goats and then also some yellow baby chick. These poor little chicks were being picked up by every kid there. Carl was one... he literally reached right in and grabbed one up. Gretchen wouldn't hold one because she said their feet were too sharp, but she did pet them. Next was the pony ride! I thought for sure at least one (G) would be scared, but they loved it! They basically smiled the entire time. When they got off and came back out to us, we asked them if they wanted to go over and play some games. Carl replied, "I want to play this game again."
We did play one more game before heading out. They each did a bean bag toss. Gretchen stood back nice and far and didn't get any in. Carl stood about 4" from the target and got all 4 in! They each earned a lollipop - no penalty for getting too close, I guess! The whole thing was only about an hour, but that was nice. No one got buggy from waiting in lines or being there too long. And they had fun yet were happy to head for the car and their water cups.
It was a great way to end our vacation! We've had such a great week!! Oh. yesterday, Carl's therapist came over to play and chat. It was great! We managed to keep her here for an hour and a half!! As she was pulling out of the driveway with her window rolled down, Gretchen was yelling, "I love you Ashlie!" and so Carl yelled it, too... nice and loud!! I should have, too! It's back to school next week, but that's OK. I don't think we could keep up the fun much longer without some disappointment creeping in. Now, we're already looking forward to spending time in NY this summer!! No pressure, Guys!
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