Because I Care What My Kids Put In Their Bodies
Srsly?! Chocolate AND marshmallows?! Junk food heaven or dental hygienist hell?
If it’s true that “you are what you eat”, then my kids are large globs of high-fructose corn syrup covered in a crunchy candy shell.
With Hershey’s syrup on top.
And maybe a few sprinkles.
But no cherries, because that would involve a plant product. And that’s just gross.
Calling It The “Pitts” Is Rather Unfair
Oh, y’all. It’s going to take me several posts to tell all about our Spring Break trip last week. We had a great time and lots of laughs. How could you not laugh when you’re traveling to another country with five kids punching each other in the back seat? It’s either laugh or beat someone senseless.
We began our trip by driving to Pittsburgh and spending a day there sightseeing. Do other people go to Pittsburgh on vacation? (Other than Steelers fans, that is.) It’s actually much prettier than you’d think. (Unless you think the faucets run with beer and the streets are paved with Hershey bars. You guys are just going to be disappointed.) Our first stop was the Carnegie Museum. Just a side note to set this up for you: my man does love to save him some money. He loves getting a deal. So he had checked out the museum admission info online and found that military ID holders got in for half-price. SCORE! But wait! When we got there and fanned out all of our ID’s, the woman let us all in for the great price of FREE, baby! So, pretty much the high point of Sugar Daddy’s vacation was achieved in our first day of travel. It was just icing on the cake when they gave us the free dinosaur poster as we left. I think I saw Sugar Daddy weep in happiness.
Now, Sugar Daddy, the big kids, and I had been totally talking up the dinosaur exhibit to BabyGirl. “We’re gonna see BIIIIG dinosaur bones!” “Do you want to see the GIANT dinosaur?” That type of thing. We walked into the first exhibit room and BabyGirl exclaims, “Blue fire extinguisher!” That was a new extinguisher color for her collection. I kid you not, for the rest of our visit, as we tried to show her treasures of history that some people pay top-dollar to see (not us, of course, but some people), she was more interested in the fire prevention measures put into place by the Carnegie Museum. Some of her sightings:
She’s strange, but she’s really cute, so we overlook the eccentricities. (Seriously? I thought I would get questioned by security because who the hell takes pictures of fire extinguishers? Only an arsonist casing their next torch job.)
We did see dinosaurs, too.
Wait! Isn't that another fire extinguisher in the corner?!
Our next stop (OK, the only other stop) was the Duquesne Incline. We had ridden several funicular trains when living in Europe, so we were able to add this one to the list. From the station, we had great views of downtown Pittsburgh.
Duquesne Incline Train (I think it had a fire extinguisher on board.)
Told you it was sort of pretty.
After our sightseeing, we checked into our hotel. We went to dinner and then decided to stop for a six-pack of beer as Sugar Daddy’s reward for a day well-driven. I don’t know how you people in Pennsylvania can live like this. We spent half an hour driving around and could NEVER FIND ANY BEER. We Googled it later and it seems that in Pennsylvania you can only buy beer by the case, and only in specially designated stores. That’s just crazy talk.
The next morning we got up to head to Canada. I should tell you that in the week leading up to the trip, I had repeatedly lectured the kids on what clothes to pack. No shorts, no short sleeves, bring your heavy coat, not your light jacket, etc. ad nauseam. As we left the hotel, it was quite chilly and I reached to get my coat from the back. Only . . .it wasn’t there. I hadn’t packed a winter coat, only a sweatshirt. It was supposed to snow the next two days. Sugar Daddy had lots of choice comments and eye rolls for me. So we had to stop at the local Wal-Mart for me to buy a coat. I was shocked they even still had coats out in April.
We spent the day driving to Niagara Falls. As we listened to the radio, we learned the term “Snow Belt” and heard forecasts for the snow on the way. (Note foreshadowing for next post.) Can someone please remind me why we are going NORTH for Spring Break?!
To be continued . . .
They’ve Canceled Passover?!
I don’t even know how it’s pronounced, but I have a big pan of matzo brei going on the stove right now. Huge bowl of charoset in the fridge, a torte made with matzo meal on the cake stand, and two value-sized boxes of matzo crackers. Yeah. I’m not Jewish.
Last spring, I told you about how my Ladies’ Bible Study was doing a Passover seder. Our study leader decided that we’d go ahead and hold this year’s seder a week early. She sent an email asking for volunteers to bring various seder plate items as well as additional Passover food. (One of my Jewish girlfriends said, “If you wanted to celebrate one of our holidays, you could have picked one that wasn’t such a pain in the ass. Passover is a lot of work.”) I volunteered for the above-mentioned items and have been grinding nuts, chopping dates, and beating egg whites for the past few days.
BabyGirl tossed her cookies the night before our seder meal. It’s like she had it planned all along. Knowing we’d be around several other families, I did the right thing and told them I couldn’t come. But I offered to bring all of the food over. What am I gonna do with two quarts of chopped fruit and nuts? This morning, our leader decided to cancel the whole shebang.
The big kids were thrilled to have the torte when they got home from school today. I put a little scoop of the charoset on the side. And the matzo brei was their dinner (I made it savory with onions and peppers). Dessert? More charoset. My family is going to be getting a year’s dose of their Omega-3 this week with all the walnuts they’re eating. When Sugar Daddy got home, he ate his charoset on TOP of his matzo brei. Is that done? (I was going to ask if that was kosher, but didn’t mean it literally.)
I was telling a friend about all my cooking and she sent me this Facebook flair:
It’s like the Facebook Flair Team knows everything going on in my life.
To all my friends celebrating next week: Chag Pessach Sameach.
