January's almost over

I'm SO looking forward to February so I can focus on Valentine's Day and Mardi Gras. This month has been kind of lazy because it has been so cold. Global warming my booty. Last Friday after dinner I went to a friend's house for a spa party and this was what the thermometer said in the Jeep.

When I went outside my nose hairs were freezing. Later that night when Jason was at work he said it eventually got down to -23. That's without the wind chill mind you. Yesterday it reached 50 and I was out without a coat and had actually contemplated wearing flip flops. I quit wearing gloves earlier in the week when it was in the 20's. Too hot for such nonsense, ha-ha.

Comfort food is one of our joys this time of year, so the kids and I attempted to make our own hot pretzels. For whatever reason I couldn't get the dough to rise. I'm thinking maybe my water was too hot and I killed the yeast. Or maybe it was the fact that I chose to make them on the coldest day of the year. But oddly enough they still turned out, so I'll keep the recipe. Might try cinnamon sugar, too.

Xander has been taking a sports adventure class thanks to our MRDD funding. He really likes it and lately they've been skateboarding. I'm hoping this class will help him with spatial awareness and coordination.

Jordis has been my little helper around the house while Xander's at school. She loves to do anything that makes her a "big girl." Remember, she's 2 going on 12.

Yesterday we went to the nursing home to deliver the snowflakes we've been making. Jason's parents gave me some old coffee filters when they got a new coffee maker, and then I quit drinking coffee at home. Always trying to find ways to be less wasteful it occurred to me that they would make great snowflakes, so the kids colored some with markers and then I cut them out.

They're getting much more comfortable being there, so I'm happy about that. Yesterday they led the way and I didn't have to drag them behind me.

And finally, one of the things I like about January is clearance sales on winter items. I got Jordis this adorable dress for about $4 and it was normally a ridiculous $32, so I was pretty excited about that.

I can't pass up a good deal on something I know we'll use. If I can find Xander a new winter coat in the next week or two I'll be golden.

Our weekend visitor

Xander came home from school Thursday with a big purple bag, and inside I found this...
There was also a notebook that stated our new houseguest was named Lily, and we were to document how she spent the weekend with us. Bubba was very interested in Lily.

Lily went to Xander's sports adventure class with him, and they came home and fell asleep in our bed waiting for Jordis and I to come home from somewhere else.


Jordis was kind enough to share her doll highchair so Lily could join us at the table for meals.

It was REALLY cold (as in below 0 degrees) over the weekend, so I thought Lily would be much warmer in this lovely Ohio State cheerleading outfit. It didn't prohibit her at all from participating in fun activities.

I was even nice and let her change clothes. Afterall, she is pretty furry, and once the temperatures climbed into the sweltering teens I thought maybe something sleeveless might be more comfortable.

We took Lily to have a late Christmas celebration with some friends, and she also played Geo Trax in Xander's room.


Today Lily had to go back to school. We had a fun weekend!

All Aboard!

Last week my friend Liz told me about our town's 4th annual Model Train and Railroad Christmas Show. It was yesterday from 10 am - 2 pm at the Columbus-Cleveland-Northern Railroad Building (which I didn't know existed), so after lunch we bundled up the kids and went to check it out.

I guess they normally give short train rides, but it was too cold for that yesterday due to the amount of time it takes to load and unload, so we didn't get to do that. The kids didn't know about it anyway since we've never been before, so they didn't know the difference.

First you had to enter into a small building that had a model train set up encompassing the whole room. Jordis of course liked the pink train the best.

Then we walked through some shelving full of Lionel train parts to get to an even bigger train display.

After that we went outside to an Amtrak train car that had two smaller displays set up inside. The caboose was last. Inside the kids got a free Cheryl's cookie and a really nice conductor hat.

After the train exhibit we took the kids to the nursing home to drop off their paintings. They spent a long time working on them and ended up making 30 total. I was hoping to make more than that but their interest was waning. Xander wasn't much for visiting but Jordis happily passed out a few paintings to some residents who were in the common area watching Holiday Inn. The rest of the paintings will be given to residents who aren't able to leave for the holidays. They're going to put them at their place settings for the big holiday meal.

Now the kids are just waiting for Santa. Luckily the presents they got on Sunday are holding them over in the meantime.

Zoo Lights

Last Sunday night we took our annual trip to see the Christmas lights at the zoo. We usually don't go this close to Christmas, but it's been so cold and we've all been sick since Thanksgiving. It was in the 50's last Sunday night so we figured it would probably be the warmest day to go, plus Jason was on his day off so we wouldn't have to rush out of there. Apparently everyone else had the same idea. Even though it was a Sunday and people had work and school the next day. And it was raining.

I've never seen the zoo parking lot so crowded. Ever. Seriously.

Of course Xander doesn't ever care about the lights, he's fixated on the animals, so he was ticked off as soon as we got there because it was too dark to see most of them. He wouldn't let us take his picture. But Jordis happily obliged.

We were going to go see the trains when we discovered that they had moved the train display. It used to be in one big room, all in one area, so you could get in line and walk by the whole thing. This year it's in a building half the size and split into sections. There was no room for wagons or strollers. Once you got up to a display you couldn't get out because of the people milling around. Can you say fire hazard? So we saw one or two sections before we couldn't take it anymore and tried to get out. Even that was an adventure and Jason almost had to get rude with these women who were standing in the exit chatting and drinking coffee.



After this incident, along with a few others on our walk to the petting zoo, I turned into my dad and came up with the following list:

Things-Not-To-Do-When-You-Go-To-The-Zoo-and-Can-Tell-Before-You-Get-Out-of-the-Car-That-It's-Extremely-Crowded
1. Don't let your 1-year-old who appears to have just learned how to walk try to do so. This is not the time or the place.
2. Don't let your pre-K'er, who isn't as tall as the stroller handle, push your toddler around the zoo, in the dark, in a stroller.
3. Don't walk 5 and 6 people across, so that you take up the whole path, and then stare at people coming the other way like they're in your way as they try to squeeze by you.
4. Don't walk in the middle if you are slow. I don't care what the reason is....you're browsing, old, handicapped, injured, whatever. It should be like the freeway....if you are slow, for ANY reason, whether out of your control or by choice, stay to the right.

Oddly enough (and I can't believe I'm going to admit to this - since I thought it was weird when my dad said it at the mall back when I was in high school), things would go much more smoothly if people treated public areas like the freeway, but on foot. Stay to the right if you're meandering, leave the left for those in a hurry or people needing to pass. Turn off when you get to where you need to go.

But alas, people don't think that way. We did eventually make it to the petting zoo after jumping out of the way of a few people and trying not to run over a few others (old, slow, in the middle).


Was too muddy to get to the reindeer and the kids were whining about this and that, so we left. It was an easy choice since we have a membership and can go back whenever we want. I think next time we'll go on the coldest day of the year if it means we can avoid the crazies.

Wednesday in Florida

I bet you can't wait for this Florida trip to be over with, eh? Rest assured, just a few more days. It was day two in a row of cold and cloudy and we ended up giving the kids a coma rest in front of the tv after their rip-roaring daily wake-up call that occurred between 5:30 and 6:30.

We got up and took the kids to this breakfast buffet we like in Kissimmee. There's nothing spectacular about it, but we like to occasionally pick and choose and it makes it easier to feed the kids. It's also really cheap.

After that we headed over to Old Town for some shopping. My dad started taking me here when I was 14. Then I went when I was older, and also on our honeymoon, so now we just can't go to Florida without stopping. I love to go to Black Market Minerals, which is one store that's still there after all these years. The kids pretty much had no interest in being here, but Jordis agreed to a picture so I took the opportunity.


Then it was time for date day. Jason and I had booked a couples massage at a little bohemian looking spa I'd found online before we went down. So we packed the kids some lunch and they spent the rest of the day with my dad and step-mom. They took them to the mini golf at our resort and then got dinner at one of the restaurants. After our massage we came back and got ready for dinner.

Our original plan was to eat at a restaurant where we dined 10 years prior when we were on our honeymoon. However, the restaurant has since moved to a different location, and upon looking at the menu we discovered there wasn't even anything much we wanted to eat there, either. This is only fitting since the place we met is gone, the place where we had our first date is gone, engagement location gone, wedding location gone, it's just a pattern with us.

So Jason found us a new place online before the trip, and it was incredible. At the host stand they asked for our last name so I just spelled it, which I always do, because if you say it people just ask you how to spell it anyway. Little did I know the man was from Shreveport, Louisiana and he said, "Oh, Cajun!" We were off to a good start.

The place was rustic Italian looking and we had a cool half-circle booth. The lighting was dim for ambiance, but not dark enough that you can't see anything. They even completely pulled the table away so we didn't have to slide all the way around the booth. When I ordered lemon in my drink the server brought me a plate of lemons on the side. Bonus points for him!

We decided to go there based on the menu but we both ended up ordering from the daily specials. Jason had some kind of steak with risotto and some grilled vegetables (that I ate, of course, except the broccoli).

My dinner was one of the most fabulous meals I've ever had. It was a butternut squash ravioli in a tomato cream sauce with diced tomatoes and fresh parmesan cheese. It was such a neat combination.

After we picked up the kids and put them to bed we ate our yummy desserts that we got to-go. Jason had a chocolate cake with mousse and ganache and I had tiramisu. No sharing here, we each found our favorites on the menu.

Such a sweet ending to a great day!

Epcot

On our 3rd day in Florida we decided to take the kids to Epcot. Our resort offered free shuttle service to and from the theme parks, which was great in theory for the sheer fact that it would save $12 in parking fees. However, in order to make sure you get on the shuttle you want to get there first, which means getting there early. And waiting. Then when you want to come back later the same applies. It's even worse when the shuttle is so full by the time it gets to you that it has to leave you there and drop people off before coming back to pick you up. It just doesn't work well with toddlers, which is why we gladly paid the $12 parking fee two days later when we went to the Magic Kingdom.

We were first for the shuttle, and dressed like this because it was supposed to be sunny and in the mid 70's. However, it never got over the 63 degrees it was when we left the resort, and the sun never came out either.

I'm a huge fan of Epcot and must say I was highly disappointed in what they've done to some of the classic rides over the years. But the kids didn't know any different so it was okay. I was glad they liked Figment, even though I had trouble getting a decent picture of him. And Xander was super excited to ride the big ball. Jordis wasn't big enough to ride the car racing ride, so Jason took Xander to do that while Jordis and I waited in line to meet Minnie Mouse. She did really good for the first 25 minutes. Then, as we rounded the bend towards the end of our wait she started this:


When there was only one group of people ahead of us she said, "Let's go now." I said no, which resulted in this:

She was deathly afraid of Pluto and wouldn't even walk past his line to see Minnie (who I must say was oddly small. I almost wanted to ask her if she was skipping school that day.) I had to chase her around and pick her up and carry her as she screamed, "No Mommy, no doggie!" at me. Which is why when we get to Minnie she looks like this:

After that we decided to head over to the countries, which is my favorite part. We were there during the food and wine festival, which is when there are more cities from around the world who set up shop with their local cuisine. We already knew that there was a Louisiana booth there, so we were quite excited. But first we stopped in Germany to get the kids some hot pretzels. I asked Jordis if she would give me a bite and she offered up a few granules of salt.


After the kids ate pretzels we found our booth and sampled some crawfish etouffee and bread pudding. It was so good. Then we got our free beads and the kids danced on the curb to some Cajun music.

It wouldn't be a day at Epcot without stopping in France for some dessert.

Jordis liked to meet the characters, but Alice was the only one she'd go up to by herself the whole week.


Next we went to the Nemo ride which was cute.


After the ride you can stay for Turtle Talk with Crush, which is really cool. Crush is the Turtle from the movie Finding Nemo and they have some computer generated program that makes it look like you're sitting in front of a tank and the turtle swims up and talks to all the kids. It's set up so that the turtle can pick kids out by their outfit and then he can actually have a conversation with them. Poor Xan actually wanted to participate, even raised his hand, and we felt so sorry for him because the one time he was interested he didn't get called on.

At this point we were cold and tired, so we headed back to our condo to eat dinner and put on warmer clothes. We drove to the Magic Kindgom and parked there (free after a certain time) so we could ride the monorail over to Epcot, as Xander had been fascinated by it all day.

We rode the boat ride in Mexico, did a tiny bit of shopping, then headed over near the lake to find a spot to watch the fireworks and laser show, stopping on the way for the kids to check out some drums.


I got a very expensive coffee drink from Morocco and it was so strong it just about made me sick, and wide awake to boot. The show was great, although the kids slept right through it. We thought for sure Xander would wake up with all the vibrating and very close fireworks, but these two were in little comas.

Epcot stands for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, but our shuttle driver says it stands for Every Person Comes Out Tired, to which we couldn't agree more.
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