Two recommendations, do not try to do the Zoo in the middle of July or after a night of little to no sleep. Little would be me, no would be Mike. As often happens with our little family, nothing goes quite as planned. After arranging to have last Thursday off to make up for working that previous weekend we were going to get the girls out of the house and take them to the Zoo. The plan, to get up around 6:30 and try to be at the Zoo when it opened at 8am. Simple, easy, I had snacks packed, breakfast was to be on the go, we'd be there early enough that we'd eat lunch on the way home.
Then a simple fix at work turned into a 24hr haul at work as Mike got home Thursday around 5am, about 24hrs after he left for work the previous morning. He collapses on the couch that I am not occupying and we try to catch a bit more sleep. Apparently the girls internal clock knew about our original time frame because they awoke us at 6:30am ready to get going.
Two sluggish parents attempt to get up, get people dressed and ready to go. We end up not getting on the road after gas and caffeine for the adults til around the time we had hoped to be at the zoo.
Add in a few wrong turns even with GPS Navigation, we get to the Zoo a bit after 10am. Not realizing there were two more parking areas we sought out street parking and ending up adding an extra mile round trip walk to our journey. This is where the recommendation to not head out to the zoo in July comes in. It was hot, very hot, and while the zoo had cooling stations every tenth of a mile, the streets leading away and to did not. Also, if you are tired and overheated, don't go into the Amazonian exhibit. When they say its muggy and hot, they mean it. :)
The girls though, were happy, excited and enjoyed themselves immensely. Well worth the trip in the end. :)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/blueladystudios/sets/72157606276848876/
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Eggless Cookie Experiments
So I've been testing out eggless cookie ideas/recipes.
When Tara was first diagnosed with her allergies we mostly stuck with the expensive boxes of mix. Those often contained rice though and the taste was a bit granular.
So I looked at my alternatives. Ener-G egg replacement was out, the stuff works but leaves a chemical taste. Ground flax see was another option but no, not for cookies.
So I went for the bananas.
If you love the taste of bananas this is the option for you.
Take your normal, well loved chocolate chip recipe and instead of eggs mash up 1.5 to 2 small/med bananas. A little banana gets you a dense cake like cookie, larger amount gets you a thin batter that makes a crisp but chewy cookie.
These are a big hit, but I decided to try out pumpkin as I was a little burnt out on the banana.
2-3 tablespoons of pumpkin puree for the egg worked really well. I threw in a dash of cinnamon for the hell of it. Mike says he could definitely taste the pumpkin but I didn't really notice it. They tasted like typical chocolate chip cookies to me. The girls love them so they passed the big test.
This fall I may skip the chocolate chips, up the pumpkin and throw in some more cinnamon and ground cloves for a really nice spice cookie.
On the list for future testing: applesauce!
When Tara was first diagnosed with her allergies we mostly stuck with the expensive boxes of mix. Those often contained rice though and the taste was a bit granular.
So I looked at my alternatives. Ener-G egg replacement was out, the stuff works but leaves a chemical taste. Ground flax see was another option but no, not for cookies.
So I went for the bananas.
If you love the taste of bananas this is the option for you.
Take your normal, well loved chocolate chip recipe and instead of eggs mash up 1.5 to 2 small/med bananas. A little banana gets you a dense cake like cookie, larger amount gets you a thin batter that makes a crisp but chewy cookie.
These are a big hit, but I decided to try out pumpkin as I was a little burnt out on the banana.
2-3 tablespoons of pumpkin puree for the egg worked really well. I threw in a dash of cinnamon for the hell of it. Mike says he could definitely taste the pumpkin but I didn't really notice it. They tasted like typical chocolate chip cookies to me. The girls love them so they passed the big test.
This fall I may skip the chocolate chips, up the pumpkin and throw in some more cinnamon and ground cloves for a really nice spice cookie.
On the list for future testing: applesauce!
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
PCAGOE May Floral Challenge
Vote for your favorite floral entry at pcagoe.com from May 1 to midnight on May 3. All voters will be entered in a random drawing to win a prize!
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Working, working, working
The purpose of posting a picture of my wall. To keep me motivated, hopefully to get these projects done while working on Blue Lady stuff and taking care of the girls. I've finally gotten the front room(aka Mom's Art Room) painted. Now I need to finish it up by painting the stairwell and hallway. We're going from a mocha color to Navajo white. Not pure white, a bit of color, but it lightens that room up nicely and since I spend a great deal of time working in that room its a good thing. As you might have noted, my girls have been using the hallway as an art gallery. Featured in this show is Katy's Picaso inspired painting.
Yes, the artwork will go back after the paint dries!
So this weekend's task: To paint the hallway. (Yes, Mike, this means I've decided to postpone the bathroom.)
Yes, the artwork will go back after the paint dries!
So this weekend's task: To paint the hallway. (Yes, Mike, this means I've decided to postpone the bathroom.)
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Such a cute face, such a pity she's a toddler....
Slipping away are the days when I referred to my youngest as the good one. Sadly, I must report that at one and half years of age she is turning into a toddler.
Yesterday my middle girl, Anna comes to me as I'm working online and tells me there is a funny smell downstairs. I'm assuming some little one needs a change. Turns out there isn't anything funny about the smell as I'm greeted to this awful acrid burnt smell, I think it must be the furnace and turn it off, verify that the house is not in fact on fire and settle in to air out the house and call the heating company to check it out. An hour or so later the smell is still there, seems to be getting stronger, I'm about to call the gas company or the fire department when I decide to check the thermostat one last time before we leave. Its off, but the dial on the box next to it is set to 70.
The old baseboard heating sytem is on. The baseboard that my couch is sitting against, is on. A quick visual check shows nothing burnt, so the smell was most likely a couple decades worth of dust inside the unit burning off.
So I had two suspects, Anna knows better then to mess with it, Tara on the other hand is delighting in her new found height and abilities to get into things she should not so it is over. I must face the fact that my baby, my youngest is a toddler.
Yesterday my middle girl, Anna comes to me as I'm working online and tells me there is a funny smell downstairs. I'm assuming some little one needs a change. Turns out there isn't anything funny about the smell as I'm greeted to this awful acrid burnt smell, I think it must be the furnace and turn it off, verify that the house is not in fact on fire and settle in to air out the house and call the heating company to check it out. An hour or so later the smell is still there, seems to be getting stronger, I'm about to call the gas company or the fire department when I decide to check the thermostat one last time before we leave. Its off, but the dial on the box next to it is set to 70.
The old baseboard heating sytem is on. The baseboard that my couch is sitting against, is on. A quick visual check shows nothing burnt, so the smell was most likely a couple decades worth of dust inside the unit burning off.
So I had two suspects, Anna knows better then to mess with it, Tara on the other hand is delighting in her new found height and abilities to get into things she should not so it is over. I must face the fact that my baby, my youngest is a toddler.
Monday, November 26, 2007
The question isn't what can't she eat, but what can she?
My youngest Tara has always had issues with eczema, we planned to get her in to see what was up the first of the year since it had not cleared up on its own like her sisters. That timetable got pushed up when a week ago when her lips quadrupled in size after eating fish sticks.
Today was the day, she got tested for a bunch of things. The good news is that she is not allergic to dogs or cats so Zoe can rest easy and Anna's wish for a kitten can still be something to hope to have one day.
Milk, soy and wheat all came back clean which is a sigh of relief.
The bad news is Peanuts, Tree Nuts, Egg, Fish, Rice, Turkey(the irony of it being right after Thanksgiving is not lost on me), Chicken.
Peanuts, Tree Nuts and Fish are total bans. The others are to be avoided for the next month and she will be retested.
Anna, the peanut butter addict is not taking it well, but I am on the hunt for Sun Butter in hopes of giving her a Tara friendly alternative.
I can only hope she grows out of most of these, though peanuts and fish are likely for life.
Today was the day, she got tested for a bunch of things. The good news is that she is not allergic to dogs or cats so Zoe can rest easy and Anna's wish for a kitten can still be something to hope to have one day.
Milk, soy and wheat all came back clean which is a sigh of relief.
The bad news is Peanuts, Tree Nuts, Egg, Fish, Rice, Turkey(the irony of it being right after Thanksgiving is not lost on me), Chicken.
Peanuts, Tree Nuts and Fish are total bans. The others are to be avoided for the next month and she will be retested.
Anna, the peanut butter addict is not taking it well, but I am on the hunt for Sun Butter in hopes of giving her a Tara friendly alternative.
I can only hope she grows out of most of these, though peanuts and fish are likely for life.
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