Is it too late to post summer camping?

Of course not! It is cold in the North East and who doesn't want to be reminded of the scorching hot days?
Guess where we went? 

Ya, Fransted. 

We spent some time at Whale's Tale

 we watched a parade

 and spent even more time in the water

I can't remember the last time we went to Whale's Tale, Spotty had a blast...as long as he didn't need to climb any stairs. So that pretty much cut all the water slides out. He did love the wave pool, and truth be told I am perfectly content here as well. The lazy river was ok, not fab, but worth a trip around.

The parade is a low key affair, we get candy tossed at us and we get to clap and cheer, I'm good with that. 

Then there is the water. I think a trip to big rock is going to be one of our "must dos" for the next few  years. 

Dear Spotty Chop you were 91 months old 9 days ago

You are doing a great job at the dentist! Your dad had to take you and the cleaning went without a hitch. This baby is why you need to brush your teeth. So your dentist appointments are pain and scare free.

We went to Nannie and Papas so BoyToy could help Papa move furniture and stuff, then we went uptown. The town did its first Luminary Night and we walked through a labyrinth and got popcorn. We should have brought warmer jackets. You were having a blast walking around and looking at all the lights. We had dinner over Favorite Uncles and Froggy’s. You were playing on Froggy’s IPAD and you were playing a game they had been playing for months. They were kind of blown away about the stuff you were able to teach them, even after only playing for 20-30 mins.

I went to NYC for the first time in years. I did an overnight, I should have gone for 2 nights as there was a lot to do, but we do what we can. You and your dad had a great Dude’s night. Neither of you will tell me what you did, but I know it involved take out and late night gaming. Your teacher wrote to tell me that you missed me. I missed you too kiddo.

You got your wish to go to a hotel. We went down the cape so I could go scrapbooking. You and your dad swam and bowled and explored. You found a shell that looked like the foot of a turtle statue that had been broken off. We remembered that the food for dinner kind of sucked so we went to the British Beer Co instead…we missed the ice cream so next year an earlier dinner! Also breakfast was beautiful right on the water, but expensive as hell for what we got, not sure what we will do next year…Someone misplaced the PSP so there was drama at the end of the scrapbooking…We will have a drama free trip someday. We were planning on leaving early anyways so you could get to a classmates birthday party. You had a great time more bowling, video games and laser tag! I have no idea what we are going to do for your party…

Thanksgiving was nice. It was the first time you actually ate what was prepared, but you thought the turkey was tasteless as well as the potatoes…You had a great time with your cousins…I think one or two of them kind of treated you like shit…I could have been reading into things, you weren't upset.

We went to cut down our Christmas tree. You had the best time ever. You were nervous because you remember getting a cut from last year. But for some reason you took to the saw like it was made for you and were cutting everything in sight.

A friend of mine was stranded one morning at the train station due to train problems and I explained that after I dropped you off I was going to pick her up. As we were getting ready you were very concerned that she had nothing to eat and drink along with being outside in the cold,  so we called her back to see if we could make her anything. She was very touched. As was I.

You are a such a great kid. We still play angry bull and trot trot. You love to sit on my lap when we watch TV and you have started playing with my hair again when you need comfort. You haven’t been playing on the gaming consoles much, but you can’t get off the computer.

Love ya baby

2012 Cookie Battle to the DEATH

1st - I planned on posting this on Friday but a kidney stone broke for freedom and it was a sucktasticly pain filled weekend.

Thursday was Bride's  2012 cookie swap. I'm not sure if I have ever written about this. Every year she hosts a cookie swap. I am not a baker, but I love the Bride and any opportunity I can find to spend time with her I will. There is always a theme to the swap, there are 3 judges, there are awards and prizes. I usually get a consolation prize. I did win one year  for my Irish Lace cookies (theme international). And last year I won most colorful story for my peppermint rod and flail cookies. (theme ancient gods/goddesses)  I was with Jmans mom, Campbell until about 10:30pm and then I had to make 6 dozen cookies, with a recipe I had never seen before, (that is part of the fun for me. I never try the cookies out in advance, when I find the recipe I make sure I know what the ingredients are, but then I don't look at it again until  the day I make the cookie...Its the thrill of imminent disaster.) and I didn't know you had to chill the dough, or how long it takes to chill 6 dozen cookies, jumping up and down on candy canes may have been involved.

This year I won 3 awards!!!! Campbell came with me which was a lot of fun. She liked the Bride, the Bride liked her...it is nice when friends like friends.

Enough of that, you want to know about  Cookiepocalypse 2012

The theme? Favorite Children's story. Mine? The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander. Lloyd was a contemporary of Tolkien. Fantastic series about an assistant Pig Keeper and his battle with the Horned King. My cookie? Hen-Wen's Oracle cookies.  (it wasn't just any old pig he watched) A Candied Bacon Chocolate Chunk cookie. How did I find this cookie? Google - and thank God for This woman

The Awards?

Best Disaster Story – So have you ever eaten candied bacon? HOLY SHIT IS IT GOOOOOD! It is soo frelling good that if you are eating it directly from the oven and the molten lava that is the caramelized sugar falls upon your face it will burn the hell out of you and leave you blistered and scarred...however you will NOT stop eating the bacon.

Weirdest Cookie – this is the award “as seen from a child"

And finally?

Crowd pleaser – mine was voted best by the other cookie bakers

Did I win the judges pick for BEST cookie????  NO! Some Bavarian Byotch who’s favorite story was Hansel and Gretel, who wore a GD COSTUME!!!  And apparently had a cookie cutter shipped from Germany and cut over 144 cookies, and the worst part is, the cookies were delish (or so I heard, had nuts in them so I couldn't try)

Ps one of the judges was a vegetarian…just sayin  

Next year? I'm dressin up!

Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum,

How lovely are your branches!  We were on a quest this weekend...to  Pell Farms. 

Boy Toy found this place last year and we couldn't get over how easy it was to get a tree compared to the Mt Everest climb we had to do (with a 10-12 foot tree) at the place we had gone to for a few years. Spotty wasn't at all interested in this. He seemed to recall that last year Boy Toy had him "saw a tree" and he got scratched. I wish I could help calm his anxieties.

 We told him that he didn't need to saw anything, but this was something that we really looked forward to every year and we wanted him to come. Guess who had a great time? 

Yes that is mud you see, our Tree needed a bath when it got home

Too small

 Too cute

 Mad sawing skills

 Nope, this one wont work

 Sawing everything in sight!

 What about this one???

 Not in the least bit proud of himself

 More tools, more fun!

God forbid we ever find a tree closer to the entrance 

Hedgehog Bakes a Cake

Spottychop has a reading assignment every week for school. Its called "the story of the week". Spotty brings home a large storybook and reads me a story. Then I read him the same story. (there are all sorts of combos, I could read it twice, he could, but this is how Spotty likes to do it.) At the end of the week they get quizzed on the story they read. Spotty always does well with this. I am so lucky I have a child that reads!

This weeks story was Hedgehog Bakes a Cake. Hedgehog wants to follow a recipe, his friends show up to help, but they don't care about the recipe. I won't spoil it for you in case you want to read it. At the end of the story was Hedgehog's Yellow Cake Recipe

¾ cup sugar

½ cup butter

3 eggs

1 ¼ cups self-rising flour

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Ask an adult to set the oven to 350

Then, butter a 9-inch round pan

Mix butter and sugar together in a bowl

Add eggs, one by one

Add Vanilla

Mix in flour

Put batter into pan and bake for half an hour

Eat warm with a glass of milk.

Guess what Spotty wanted to do after we read the story? LET US MAKE CAKE! he yelled. We baked a cake. Spotty was happy. I was happy. And the cake? Well I am sure it too was happy, happy to be eaten! While I did have some issues with a new spring pan that Boy toy had bought me last Xmas. We were able to sort them out. 

Full disclosure the recipe actually said "if desired add vanilla", which I feel is an absurd statement. "If desired?" who the hell doesn't desire vanilla? Especially if someone (I won't mention any names that rhyme with WHO) teaches you how to make your very own vanilla. We also didn't eat the cake with a warm glass of milk. Spotty had black cherry kool-aide, I had iced tea.

Dear Spotty Chop you were 90 months old a few weeks ago

Good God where does the time go? I haven't blogged in forever. 

Lets see, you starting private swimming lessons. You are really enjoying them. You have been doing something really weird with your body when you swim. We tried to help you correct it during the summer but it didn't work, so we figured we would let the people that know what they are doing try. It seems to be working, but apparently it is common in kids your age. 

Halloween big success, there is a post in there somewhere. I am sure it will be done eventually. You slept over Nannie and Papa's so your dad and I could go to a Halloween party. We had a great time, you had a great time. They let you stay up WAAAY tooo LATE and watch movies together. Papa chases you through the house with a broom still. You think that its the most fun ever!

I got to be the mystery reader in your class. YOU were so excited. Your class sang me a welcome song and you sat next to me while I read. I brought 2 books, because I am a rebel that way. While I was reading you linked your arm with mine. You would lean against me and you would give me a content little sigh. I learned some of the "signs" you use when someone is reading to show that you agree with what I read or could make a connection to something you had read. After I read your friends got to ask me questions. I had such a blast! When school was over you ran off to go to the after school program. Apparently you had no interest in coming home with me, you wanted to go hang out with your friends. 

We went to your cousins birthday party. You had a good time. When we left we hit Walmart (it was right before hurricane Sandy) then went out for Chinese food. You decided to try won-ton soup, vegetables tempura and sushi. You like the soup and the veggies, you weren't crazy about the sushi, but YOU asked to try these things. SO frelling proud of you I can't stand it. 

You also went to a classmates birthday party. It was a sports party and you were so upset that during baseball you got out a few times. I tried explaining that you don't play baseball and this was only the second time you have ever held a bat, and when you got out it wasn't because you struck out, you hit the friggen thing EVERY TIME, but then you hit the ball that allowed the birthday boy to run home and win the game...you were happy after that. 

Finally to wrap things up...this is how you have been coming home from school... Apparently you are the talk of the school. 

What I will tell you? If you drive past me and let go of your dad again? YOU ARE DEAD MEAT BABY!

Is everyone over the Binders full of Women?

I'm not. These Tumblr thingys   make me laugh and laugh. Some things just don't get old to me.

 Here are a few of my favorites. I have no idea how Tumblr works. I had no idea what a meme was (but yes you will be seeing some of my favorite text from Hillary....why the hell didn't I know about this...) The internext is sooo cool!

My Very Favorite? I just can't stop giggling

Dear Spotty Chop you were 89 months old...2 weeks ago?

I know I said I wasn't going to obsess over these letters any more. In my defense I was hit with the barf bug, and then....we were doing stuff, and I was writing about it...

Let's see, we visited Grammie and Grumpa. Something we had not done in...months. I have told Boy Toy that he needs to initiate contact with his folks, I can't do everything. Anyhoo, Grammie wanted a photo of you so she could bring it to work and show all your old preschool teachers. Then she wanted a picture of you and Grumpa. You have only known Grumpa as being in a wheel chair and not speaking which is too bad. He has a hard time communicating (and even back in the day, he would communicate by telling you to get the hell out of the way of the TV ...whatever sport of the day he was watching.) You were standing next to his wheelchair when you suddenly got a glimmer in your eyes. You casually put your arm behind Grumpa to give him "bunny ears", and he caught you. You laughed so frelling hard, the two of you went back and forth for 15-20 mins, you laughing like a loon and Grumpa with one of the biggest grins I have seen. It was probably the best interaction you two have ever had. 

Soccer has started up again. You would rather be playing video games which i totally get. And I explained to you that you would be playing a team sport so deal. You have so much fun when you are there and after the game or practice you say how much you love it. But the next week it is the same argument. I wish you knew why you act like you do before we go. I've asked, and you don't know. All I can tell you is I love you.

We had a fun week where Jman's mom dropped him off at our house every morning so i could drive the two of you to school and she could get to her meetings on time. The two of you had so much fun together.

You loved the wedding up in New Hampshire and you were such a gentleman leaving the cabins with wood stoves for my cousins who just had babies or had no idea how do deal with the woods. But the best part of the weekend? Being able to show Nannie and Papa FransTed!

When I sent this photo to Moo (insisting that I needed her on the phone and sitting down) her reaction was everything I could ever hope for. I love that you only know Nannie as the wonderful loving Nannie that you know and not the MOTHER that Moo and I dealt with.  Nannie thought that when we camped it was like an African refuge camp. She is crazy...CRAZY IN LOVE WITH YOU..as am I 

love ya kiddo

Thematic Photographic 217 - Drink up

Carmi has a new photo theme up and I wanna play. This weeks theme is "Drink Up"  a celebration of any form of consumable liquid. 

Carmi has a beaut of a shot and if you like cool photos you should go here here and drink up the fun!

I actually didn't think I would be able to play, I didn't think I took any shots of consumable liquid recently, but low and behold.

During one of our camping trips this year Spotty Chop made me something to drink. I'm partial to Crystal Light's Ice Tea. You may notice that not all of the ice tea made it into the jug, but having my favorite child make it for me? Well, as you can guess it was the sweetest tea I had ever tasted.

Again, camping, this year (that I have yet to post photos of). We went to Whale's tale. We reserved a cabana due to the fact that when I mention the word S.U.N. I come up with a 2nd degree burn. This however was just some mosquito netting, not exactly what I was thinking of. As luck would have it, there was no sun that day. Except for the sun we brought for Spotty. His drink of choice if available. You can also see the beverage that keeps boy toy running. It in fact keeps America running. That's right Duncan Donuts ice coffee.

The ice coffee container is an ever present part of our lives. And sometimes in the lives of others. Cheese Please would always know we had been around if she spied it in the trash. Sometimes boy toy would purposely not toss it out so she would know he was thinking of her.

Some people can also be  beastly DOOOOSH BAGs if they have no caffeine...just sayin 

Get your motor runnin'

Head out on the highway

Lookin' for adventure

                                                         And whatever comes our way

Yah Darlin' go make it happen

Take the world in a love embrace

Fire all of your guns at once

And explode into space...

I like smoke and lightning

Heavy metal thunder

Racin' with the wind...

                      

Like a true nature's child

We were born, born to be wild

We can climb so high

I never wanna die

                                                                    Born to be wild

                                                                    Born to be wild

Where the hell are the Apples?

This past weekend we had our annual apple pickingpalooza. The usual people were there:

Moo – bossy as ever

Hippy Chick – I may need to change her name to kodachrome

Freak Show – need I say more?

CR – he can leap tall trees in a single bound

Cheese Please – who did her best not to khill me when I was describing the last episode of Avatar that we saw

My boys –

The trees at Honey Pot seem to be VERY picked over. Not that it stopped us from getting perfect apples.

One of Spotty’s favorite things to do when he is here are the mazes and this year Honey pot unveiled a new one “The green monster”.   When we got to the green monster it was about 4:30pm and the sky had turned from blue to black. After Spotty and Boy Toy went through Moo overheard the attendant say “I know what time it is, but I just didn’t want to say no.” Apparently the big maze is supposed to close at 4pm. Spotty would have been so disappointed if he couldn't go through it. I love running across teenagers in jobs where they have the ability to help kids out or toe the company line. Sometimes it’s at arcades where someone will give the kid a prize they really want, even if they don’t have enough tickets. Sometimes it’s at a place like this where perhaps they recall what it was like to be a kid.   I always think “thank God there is hope for humanity.”  

There was also (we think) an air show going on. We got to see some pretty cool planes.

Once the apples were picked and the mazes were mazed we headed back to Moo clans fortress of dorkitude. Where they fed us great food, and let Spotty entertain them with his death defying circus act (that I took no photos of whatsoever…I think I hate my camera). Moo and Spotty went on a nighttime hunt of things to put on pizza, like Basil, chives, peppers and…strawberries. We were also sent home with cans of LOVE. Peach marinade and peach preserves, and PEAR STUFF!!!! Moo makes this pear sweet liquid gold that this time is actually a jelly and I bet is just as good as the liquid gold although Moo doesn’t think so. There were a bunch of other canned goods that I will have to take a look at. My brain stopped working after I saw I got a jar of PEAR GODness.

So Moo said we complained about the trees last time we went, and that may possibly be true as last year’s trip seemed to be the same weekend as this year’s trip. So apparently we need to go apple picking in September…perhaps before labor day? Which to me seems like an abomination…I guess we will have to see. We did get pears this time and approximately 20 bags of donuts. Spotty has decided that he likes them, but not the sugar ones (whose son is he?) As long as there are apples in September (Moo also says that we used to do the apple picking in September, but I do not believe her, I can find no September evidence) and the Moo clan we will be fine.