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It seems this summer went from busy to crazy busy starting around the Fourth of July and just not letting up. We have had more combined doctor's visits in the past month and a half than I swear, the past three YEARS. Between me and Bobo it's been crazy health issue central... combine that with a bunch of summer activities, my class, parties, visits, birthdays, home improvements, trips and general mayhem... wow.
So it was really nice to finally have a day just to veg out and relax with NOTHING looming for the ENTIRE day. Well, I did have to finish up my final exam, but it was the end of my summer class so that was a happy thing! Now I have three weeks until the fall starts, and I'm just going to avoid thinking about how nuts our schedule is going to be then, since I'll be taking a full 4-course schedule with at least two courses I know will be *really* brutal.
Anyway though, today was nice (aside from a 5am start with an upset tummy and an unfortunately active Bobo trying to jump on it) we had an early nap at 8:30 and then awoke refreshed for a very pleasantly hot day. I managed to finish up my final pretty quickly while Bobo played with his new cars, trucks and trains, which he loves. We spent a few hours outside floating around the pool with Momo and enjoying the warm sun. Then after a late lunch Bobo got to go out with Momo for ice cream while I got to *lay down and relax*. It was amazing! Tonight we just sat around, played and read books. Might not sound very exciting, but for me it was a pretty great day, and well needed after so much stress and not feeling good lately. :)
I hope this week will be similarly low-key. I have some home projects I want to tackle and a lot of Oracle stuff to redo and fix before the fall semester starts. Hopefully there will be no more dentist/doctor visits, but it looks like there might be! The following week my Mom and Carl rented a beach house up at Hampton so we'll probably go up during a few days that week, especially Saturday as it's her birthday! We might even stay over one night if I'm feeling brave and Bobo looks super exhausted. I might even try to get up more pictures and blog posts this week, I have so many I've been meaning to, as always. :)
Last week (or maybe it's two weeks ago now?) we decided to have ourselves a Harry Potter movie marathon, in celebration (and as a refresher) to the Half-Blood Prince coming out in theaters. We owned the first three, and then ended up buying 4, and then borrowing 5. Each night we would watch a different one. Bobo now knows how to say 'Poht-a' for Harry Potter, so cute, but he was less than impressed with having to sit through all those movies.
Anyway, by the time we got to HP 4, Todd had this excellent idea that we should make butterbeer! After sorting though thousands of recipes online and debating amongst ourselves as to what the delicious treat must surely comprise in the REAL Hogsmeade (because duh it's all real you know), we settled on a warm, butterscotchy, clog-your-arteries version.
We made two versions, and as we still have cream soda I am just waiting for the right moment to pull out a third version, but that will have to wait. Maybe I'll make it tonight for my second viewing of Twilight (thought it was super dumb the first time, hoping maybe it will be better the second).
So for the ingredients we decided on:- cream soda as our "beer" component
- butter (duh)
- butterscotch (also duh)
- vanilla ice cream
- marshmallows (for topping)
- whipped cream (for topping)
The first batch we made was successful and pretty good, but we decided it had too much cream soda 'beer' and not enough 'butter'. We started with a pot on the stove, putting in about a third or half stick butter, a few generous tablespoons of Mrs. Richardson's butterscotch syrup, and a few scoops of vanilla ice cream. We simmered the ingredients until they were nice and hot and combined, and then poured in the cream soda to taste... then let everything get nice and hot again because it tastes better all warm and cozy.
We topped it with canned whipped cream and marshmallows, and all in all it was quite good. I put a rather lot of cream soda to 'butter' mixture, so it had a definate bite and fizziness.
The second time we made it, a few days later, was even worse for you. This kind really, save for winter when you need to pack on a layer of polar bear fat. And also, I think it would be best served in small cordial glasses rather than by the mugful, because you just might get a heart attack.
So again I started by simmering together butter - a half stick; almost half the jar of butterscotch; several large scoops of vanilla ice cream and THEN I even added two generous handfuls of marshmallows (think rice krispie treats). Once it got thick and hot I slowly added some cream soda, careful not to make it TOO cream soda-y, stop before you taste too much of the fizzy kick.
Then we poured into mugs, bemoaned the status of our arteries, and enjoyed. This is a fabulous drink to keep in mind for winter time to change up the whole hot chocolate ritual, its super fattening and very comforting and will be great for snowy nights waiting for Santa to arrive. Cheers!
For Arin's Birthday, Uncle Todd, Jason (and others who later abandoned the effort) came up with the idea to make a Tower of Presents or something like that. What they ended up with, 65 boxes and 17 rolls of duct tape later... was this awesome Fort of Birthday Fun! If it wasn't great enough on its own, it's little nooks and crannies were filled with toys, books and candy!
These two spent hours and hours in the pitch-black bug infested night working on this crazy thing... lit only by the light of Bobo's green lightsaber (which did not survive the party, RIP lightsaber).
Bobo wasn't so sure about going into a crazy dark tunnel, as a matter of fact he was downright opposed to the idea. The only way we finally got him to go in was after much coaxing and the promise that there was CANDY inside. That did the trick!
The narrow entryway tunnel goes in an S-shape, starting of small and getting higher as you go, and then it opens up into a big room filled with lots of shelves to hold fun stuff, and windows so you can peek out or in.
It was a TIGHT SQUEEZE for big people to get in, especially the turns. By the end of the day it had been stretched out a bit, but you still needed to do some acrobatics to get in. Not for the claustrophobic!
Party inside the castle!
Todd and Jason pondering how they can improve upon their design for future birthdays. I told them to build a treehouse out of wood, so it wouldn't dissolve at the first storm!
There was a bag of lollipops inside that made the whole experience for Bobo.
One present Bobo got earlier was a car that plays music and 'dances', so someone brought it into the castle and a dance party ensued.
Grampy didn't go in, as far as I know... but Momo did! For those not brave enough, you could look in the windows and see what you were missing.
Thanks Todd and Jason, it was an awesome present and the perfect playhouse to have at his party!!
Bobo turned 2 last Wednesday, and we had birthday fun that day (pictures to come), but his big party was on Saturday. We spent all week getting ready, cleaning up and baking treats, and then on the big day lots of friends and family came over to help Arin celebrate his birthday! He had so much fun running around with all the stuff to do and people to play with, and didn't even get a nap in... he was so exhausted from all the fun that he passed out at 8pm sharp... which is funny because that was the 'end time' I put on the facebook invite, even though we kept celebrating much later.
We got a tank of helium to blow up balloons... unfortunately Momo was blowing up some on the porch when Bobo wandered in ... just as she overfilled one and it popped. He screamed, ran out of the room and refused to go near the porch or balloons for a while! He didn't even want to greet his first guest who arrived moments later, he was too busy hiding in the living room.
Sweet and sour (sort-of) meatballs... Bobo devoured a whole plate of these, which is shocking because usually he only eats a few bites of something and is done... (even ice cream), except Momo's stuffed shells that we 'sampled' the night before, he gobbled those up too.
Bobo got so many more presents at the party! He actually loves them all (well, maybe Mommy loves the clothes he got more than he does), and has been playing with everything non-stop. He opened presents as the mood caught him throughout the day... sometimes he would even sneak a present off the table and tiptoe off into the living room to open them secretly, all by himself. Too cute!
Auntie Juju got him these adorable little flipflops, which was great because he has outgrown his Adidas sandals and his aquasocks and has nothing to wear to the beach.
We had three Mary's at the party, and two of them brought wee little babies! Look at the two little munchkins, they were sooo precious. One little muffin was brand-new, look how tiny she is in her daddy's arms!
Exhausted from all the party prep, but having a good time anyway!
The car cake I made for Bobo... it did not come out as well as I had hoped, I sort of ran out of time and it was really hot so the cake turned into a giant melty-frosting mess. I should have used the fondant! Next year. :)
When we all sang 'Happy Birthday' to Bobo he got so shy! He just got this cute little expression on his face and was looking downward not making eye contact. So adorable.
Bobo actually blew out one candle by himself! I didn't think he would be able to do it so I accidently blew out the second candle a moment after he got the first one out. Sorry cutie!
And here Bobo is helping cut the cake. I think he only ate a bite or two of it, there was just too much other stuff to do, like open presents!
Phew! More pictures coming later. ;)
