Mammoth Cave Trip

We went on our first official trip of 2014 this past weekend.  We left Saturday morning after breakfast to drive to Louisville, KY to spend the night. 

We are just leaving the house in these pictures, and yes, that's snow outside.

Titus still quite proud of his newly lost teeth (from Thursday)

 

We broke the drive up into approximately 2 hour segments.  Our first stop was at a kart track outside of Indy.

Brian wearing the sweater I knit for him this winter.

 

We stopped at a really cool park in Louisville.  It was rainy, but much warmer than the snow that we left behind hours before.

 

We also stopped at a glass blowing place, which was really cool!  We didn't understand the tour information from online, so didn't see any actual glass blowing, but will probably go back another time to give it a try.

 

One of the kids favorite parts of any trip is the hotel.  Brian gets hotel points when he is gone for work, so we get great deals on fancy rooms.  I love hotel points :-)

After the required jumping on the couch, watching TV and swimming, we headed out for dinner.
We went to Chuy's.  It was awesome!!  The ladies making tortillas were so fun to watch.  Made the wait seem like no time at all.

 A good picture of me.

 Tortilla making.  These ladies are incredibly fast.

Sunday morning.

 Kids watching some cartoons waiting for me to get ready for breakfast.

 After breakfast we headed to the Corvette Museum in Bowling Green.  The kids had fun in the children's area and looking at all the corvettes.

 Titus pretending he's taking work orders at an auto shop and Isabele looking on.

Brian watching the kids play.

 Titus and Brian looking at a display.

After the museum we stopped at Sonic for some lunch and then headed to Mammoth Cave National Park.

 Isabele waiting for Titus and Brian.

Brian, Isabele and Titus posing in the cave.  We went on the Domes and Dripstones tour.  It took about 2 hours and was easy walking with about 300 steps down and 200 or so up.  Isabele was very intimidated at the beginning and Brian ended up carrying her down those 300 steps.  After we got down the steps, she got much braver and walked the rest of the tour.  She was thrilled that she didn't have to bend over in the small spaces and found it quite amusing that Brian had to duck a lot.  Titus was a trooper, followed the rules to a T and did all the steps on his own.

 

After we were done with our cave tour and a stop at the gift shop, we headed back to Indiana.  The kids did a super job all around.  After an hour nap before we stopped to grab gas and dinner, the kids managed to stay awake until we got home that evening at 10:45. 

 

Isabele's Easter Dress and Bolero Jacket

Here's Isabele in the dress I made her for Easter.  Both the dress and jacket are fully lined.  I had fun making the outfit. 

Cutie.

 She's trying out the twirl-factor of this dress.

 

 Spinning!

 

 

Looking like such a big, little girl.

 

Yes, I let her play in the sand a bit, too.

Saving Dinner 2014 week 12 Classic for 6

Day 1.  Citrus roasted chicken.  Good.  Would smash the rosemary more and use a bit less of it.

Day 2.  Beef and Tortilla casserole.  Tastes good.  Looks kind of gross, so not a for company dish.  Might look better if done puree the tomato and sour cream parts.

Day 2.  Red Bell pepper soup.  I made a half recipe and it would still feed 6 people.  Tastes good.  I froze the leftovers.  Haven't used it yet.

Didn't do Day 4 or 5.

Day 6.  Eggplant Marinara with Penne Pasta.  Really good.  Easy to make.  Feeds an army - easily 8 to 12.  Good the next day too.  Froze the leftovers, haven't used them yet.

Our First 60 Degree Day

After school I surprised them with ice cream cones for after school snacks, and let them eat outside, barefoot.  Life doesn't get much better than that, right?

 

Yes, they were both barefoot.  And yes, that's snow in the background.  Pictures were taken on       10-Mar-2014.

 

As I'm writing this post on 25-Mar-2014, it snowed off and on all day and the low tonight is 15.  Luckily the snow didn't really accumulate. 

The canal is thawed between the two bridges.  The lake was frozen over when I went past at 5:30 this evening.  Forecast is for above freezing for the next week (after it warms up tomorrow).  I bet there is still ice on the lake on April 1st, but hopefully it's getting closer to being ice-free. 

Titus Last Friday

 

He's getting so big.  This is what he picked out to wear to school on Friday.  Complete with real tie (and yes, as his mother, I can tie a tie).

So when you are old, Titus, and you say you don't have a first grade class picture, here is what you wore to school the day of your class picture that I didn't purchase. 

Easter Dress

 

Front of Isabele's Easter dress.

 

Back of Isabele's Easter dress.

 

I made this dress - just finished it today.  It is fully lined in the light blue you can see on the front view.  Isabele has had it on a couple of times for fitting, but hasn't had it on since I finished hand-sewing the hem.  Overall I'm very pleased with the way this turned out.  I'll add pictures of Isabele wearing it when it warms up a little and I can get some good outside pictures (which might take till Easter at the rate we are getting rid of winter this year).

 

I'll have to add some close-up shots to my sewing / crafting blog for my personal reference.

 



 

Saving Dinner Menu Mailer Paleo Vol 2 week 4 2014

I'm doing the menu-mailer again, thanks to my mom and sister :-).  One of the frustrating things about using this in the past is remembering which recipes were well liked and would be good to make again.  Since I have the menus and grocery lists downloaded to my computer, I just need somewhere to list what was good and why, and any changes.  So I'm going to try putting it here (then Mom and Hannah can see what I liked).  Here goes.

Day 4 - Lamb Ginger meatballs.  Good, not too complicated.  I used ground turkey and served with egg noodles.  I used soy sauce, regular flour and honey.

Day 1 - Fish with Mexican Slaw.  Spicy.  Wouldn't make for the kids, but Brian liked and used the leftover (slaw) on eggs several times.

Day 2 - Cashew Chicken Stir-Fry.  Okay.  If I made it again, I'd use shredded bagged cabbage for making cole slaw.  Storing the Cabbage in the fridge and then only needed half was a pain.

Day 5 - Honey Orange Pork Tenderloin.  Very moist for pork.  Everyone ate it up, including the baked butternut squash.

Day 6 - Spiced Roast Chicken.  Isabele said she'd eat the leftovers for lunch.  (Isabele hates leftovers)  Definitely would do this again.

I didn't make the day 3 recipe - Garlic Herb Slathered Prime Rib.