Ode to Asparagus

Asparagus. It's delicious whether you are sucking on it or chewing on it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Midnight Rascals

These two boys love to party late at night. Lucas figured out that if he closes their door we can't tell they have the light on. Roman loves the company in his crib and Lucas is happy to instigate an all nighter. The only people who aren't thrilled with this new found love is me and Kyle (ok, we actually smile every time we catch them like this...)but then we have to switch into our "get back in bed it's midnight" commanding parent voices despite the fact that these boys don't seem to mind our getting upset.

Yummy Tummy Tuesday: Cougar Tail

Kyle got a "cougar tail" at the BYU game Saturday. An actual cougar tail might sound more appetizing than what this BYU cougar tail entailed.
Here's how my new football-food-love began...Kyle went down to the restroom and returned with a big plate and an excited grin. I looked at the plate to see what looked like a bratwurst sliced down the middle with a piece of flatbread on top. I figured they were out of buns and just found something to put the brat on because whoever was on the grill could see in Kyle's eyes just how much he loves bratwursts at BYU games. I was wrong. It wasn't flatbread. Nope. Kyle said it was all the rage and everyone was getting them and so of course he had to get one too.

So what is it? Do you want to know? Do you really want to know? I thought I did.

This cougar tail was a sliced up the middle bratwurst with carmelized onions, ketchup and mustard served on a maple donut cut in half. Sorry. Did you just throw up in your mouth? You are the one that kept reading. A hot dog on a maple donut? I gagged when he told me. I did not want a bite. But Kyle loved it. I looked at it again. They had sliced the donut so that you couldn't see the maple frosting - it became the out-of-sight-gooshy-bed for the bratwurst. Smart move BYU grillers. The carmelized onions smelled delicious. It looked warm and I was so cold. I decided to try a bite, fully prepared to spit it back out. I mean, I am a die hard cougar fan, but I don't need to eat a cougar tail to prove it. Right?
Alright, enough procrastinating. I had made up my mind. I would try this. It couldn't be horrible. I love maple donuts and I love bratwurst but I don't think I would like them together. I don't even like chocolate and fruit! I hate when syrup touches my sausage...what was I thinking? But it was too late. I had sunk my teeth into the most suprisingly delicious concoction and I was hooked. This combo was wonderful and eating it while watching our Cougars whomp on Air Force was pure bliss.
My mom knew the ingredients and passed so I made my dad try a bite without telling him what it was. He loved it (but when I told him what it was his face krinkled in disgust). So I hope I didn't ruin it for anyone. I guess it's not that crazy.
Next week when you are watching the Cougs stomping on Utah, why not enjoy a cougar tail to enhance your football experience. Really. Try it. You'll like it.

And GO COUGS!!!

Elf Scavenger Hunt

Cousin Friday is in effect! This last week we went on the Elf Scavenger Hunt at Gardner Village and the kids had enough fun to make the freezing cold a non-issue. They all worked very hard to find all the elves (there was a sugar stick to be earned) and got so excited each time they found a new one. The favorite elves were the elf playing the piano, the elf at the toy shop, the elf trying to string lights up up up in the tree, the elf riding a bike, and the elves by the campfire.

I Feel You

I was making dinner and asked Lucas if he would put all the dvd's back before Kyle came home. He looked at me with a tilted head and discouraged voice and asked "Mom, can I please do it after baby Rome goes to bed cause he is just going to pull them all right back out."

Yummy Tummy Tuesday: Whatever-we-had-in-the-Fridge Sunday Waffles

Sunday morning Kyle was preparing for a talk in church so I was in charge of breakfast. We didn't make it to the grocery store Saturday, thanks to lots of college football, so I was stuck with what we had...which wasn't anything like the Top Chef pantry. Lucas was begging for waffles and we still have lots of apples from my parents so I decided to make an apple compote to top our Bisquick waffles (a half step above Eggos!)

We got the corer/peeler/slicer down and Luc and I started to go to town on the apples. Baby Rome just kept wanting to eat the apples and since they were sliced thin and peeled that was just fine! Roman ate lots of apple rings and screamed if he wasn't being held by me, Lucas was super anxious to core/peel/slice anything he could find and I was sulking that we didn't have any bacon. It wasn't a pretty prep process. Things were not looking good for my Sunday breakfast.

Somehow when we sat down it tasted great! As in we would make it again great. If you are stuck Sunday morning with a box of Bisquick and no bacon try this:


Step 1: Slice and peel apples and put them on low heat with a little water, some butter and lots of brown sugar. Let that cook.

Step 2: Make your waffles.

Step 3: Rumage through your fridge for anything else that would make you smile. I considered candied pecans, I thought about toasting some coconut, I even considered caramel or chocolate to spruce it up. But then I found our maple butter from our banana pancakes. It was perfect! Here is the recipe for this yummy component.

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons honey
1 piece parchment or greaseproof paper
Directions:In a mixing bowl, using a spatula mash the butter with the maple syrup and honey until well blended. Roll it up in the paper, like a tube and twist the ends. Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. (I think we whipped it together)

Step 4: Cream. We had no whip cream, no heavy cream, no cool whip even! So I rumaged through the fridge again, this time for something creamy. I found sour cream!

Step 5: Have your low expectations blown away by a yummy funny breakfast. I didn't need any syrup with the maple butter and the apple stuff and sour cream. Lucas added peanut butter to his, Kyle drizzled a little syrup on and Roman just ate the waffles plain. We were all smiling and yumming on our hodge podge breakfast.

So Sleepy...

The other night Roman was so tired during his dinner but he was determined to keep eating. When he finally finished I went in to get changed and get something to wash him off and when I came out (30 seconds later) he was out for the count.

Three Cute Cousins...

who aren't quite sure what to do with their hands in a picture!

This Is It

I love Michael Jackson. I started loving MJ in 3rd grade when me and Jamie del Carpio and her sisters would stay up all night learning Michael and Janet's dances. I continued to love Michael. Loved him so much that when I wanted to get my 5th grade boyfriend, Chuck Ford, something special for Christmas I bought him the new Michael Jackson single (cassette tape) Black or White (he gave me 14k gold earrings and I thought it was a fair exchange...that is how much I loved Michael). I got in a HUGE fight with my parents when they wouldn't let me watch the world premiere of his Remember the Time video because it was on a Sunday night. HUGE fight (like writing mean stuff about them for pages and pages in my journal! pshycho!). I probably watched his Super Bowl performance 1000 times and have the whole thing memorized. I watched Jackson 5: An American Dream over and over and over and even though I was still in my own childhood, my heart hurt for the terrible childhood he experienced.

Despite all the craziness that surrounded Michael Jackson, he was a genius. A brilliantly talented musician, dancer, and entertainer.

Kyle took me to This Is It and it was special. Video footage that was never meant to be public, so it was a chance to see the real MJ. There was no agenda during the filming. No one was trying to make him look crazy, act weird, or be eccentric. The movie wasn't cut to make him look weak or drugged up. Watching the movie, I felt like I had a backstage pass into Michael's world. I watched how he was in rehersals. Realized how involved he was in every little detail of his upcoming concert. Witnessed the way people felt around him. Saw that despite being a perfectionist and a little difficult at times, he was respected and revered while he was working. I loved seeing his quirks. I appreciated that he was unconventional. I smiled a little grin flashed across his face and I could tell that he was pleased with how things were coming along. He was bizarre and eccentric and none of it weirded me out. He looked strong. He sang beautifully. His dancing still gave me the chills.

This Is It was not like anything else MJ ever did. It wasn't a massive over the top production, it was just raw footage that gave us raw Michael and we loved it.

Busy Boy

Roman's latest favorite past time is to empty all of our DVD's out and then stand and pound on the inside of the empty cabinet. He usually looks back at us right before he starts to tear through the place and so we know what is about to happen. DVD's are pretty easy to clean up and his squeals of joy and gigantic Roman smile make it worth the effort.

Yummy Tummy Tuesday: Rooster Dumpling and Noodle Bar

Rooster Dumpling and Noodle Bar, Hong Kong, Utah. Kyle and I discovered this tasty little haven on our anniversary...waaaaaaaaay back in August. I thought I did a YTT on it, but did not. I also haven't made his anniversary pecan pie yet so I am just....oh well.

This place rules. Their atmosphere rules. Dumplings rule. Food? Rules. Dessert...um...rules to the gajillionth power. Their location semi-rules. It's on University Avenue in Provo - I wish it was in my front yard.

Unfortunately, there is only so much food two adults can put down. Fortunately, we went back with 6 people in my family so we were able to try more things. Here are the consensus faves:

The jury is split between the pork and the beef dumplings. I, personally, like the beef dumpling dipping sauce on the buglogli beef dumplings, on the pork dumplings, on the shrimp dumplings, on my fork or even on my finger.

The best main course is the Thai Basil Rice. Spicy crumbled pork, sweet basil, seasoned rice and a fried egg on top. It's the RDNB version of loco moco. A extraordinarily good version. My only suggestion when ordering this dish is to share it with someone. There is so much flavor in this bowl that it can get to be too much. Be sure you are the person that orders it so that you have dibs on it until you have decided enough is enough.

Runner up main dishes are...


Hong Kong Spareribs, Ginger Chicken Stir fry, Beef Udon noodles, Chicken Curry Soup - all equally yummy tummy in their own right. The roasted beet salad with apples, jicama and feta also deserves a YTT shout out.

And now for the dessert. Do not fill up before dessert. I repeat: DO NOT GET FULL BEFORE DESSERT. I need to make this clear. Do not let yourself get to the point where you don't feel like dessert (I mean, I have heard that is possible, but such an atrocious thing has never happened to me). If you ate too many dumplings and feel like you can't put one more bite of anything in your mouth (I know the feeling) just take a breather. Drink some cold water. Undo the top button on your pants. Do whatever is necessary to ensure that you get some RDNB dessert onto your taste buds.

Each dessert is divine(yes, I have tried them all) but their Pok Fu Lam Village french toast tops them all. It has a secret ingredient and really, who doesn't love secret ingredients? A secret ingredient in a family recipe. A special recipe made by the mother of the chef/co-owner when she was a little girl growing up Hong Kong. Doesn't it sound special? It is. Trust me on this one. A very close three-way tie for second is the Cheesecake Wontons, the Hazelnut cream that accompanies the molten cake and the Chinese Doughnuts (because heaven knows, if there are doughnuts on a menu I will love them).

YTT loves Rooster Dumpling and Noodle Bar. Maybe it's because while we were eating authentic interesting food we looked out at scaffolding and construction across the street and both felt like we were in New York. THE city where we started our life together seven wonderful years ago.

Lucas Says...

Lucas was singing a song he learned in pre-school: "If a stranger says will you get in my car, SAY NO!!!!"
Brian heard it and sang "If a stranger says do you want some candy say.....?"
Lucas was quiet and then softly sang "thank you?"


On Friday I had Lucas, Weston and Bennett in the car and I asked them what they wanted for lunch. Luc replied "Tikka Masala! I love tikka misala! Do you like that Weston?"

When Kyle was out of town me and the boys stayed at my parents house (yeah, I am a big scardie cat). The third night Lucas fell asleep on the way over to their house and when I got him out of the car he popped his head off my shoulder and was all bleary-eyed and said "Are we sleeping at Grandma and Grandpa's house again? I can't believe I am such a lucky boy to sleep at my grandma's house 1, 2, 3 times."

We went bowling tonight and Lucas called Kyle and said "Dad, I played with Dylan at the park today but mom wouldn't let me go to his house and play because we are going bowling tonight. Dad, I am not so good at bowling. See you soon."

Vintage Kyle

We were going through some of Kyle's old boxes and came across this gem.

He made this shirt on Martin Luther King Day when he was 10 years old. "I have a dream to be in the Olympics...PS I want a Porsha too" Awesome.

I've Got a Feeling...That You Should Watch This

Tracey sent this to me and Luc and Roman and I have watched it 3* times now and had our own little dance party. I love Black Eyed Peas, I love to DANCE and if I only loved Oprah this would be the Melissa DeMordaunt TRIFECTA

Check THIS OUT

*Update - how many times does this play if you do it for an hour straight? That is how many times we have seen it now.

Dem Bones

Cutest little skeleton we've ever seen - even with food all over his face!

Yummy Tummy Tuesday: Halloween Candy

I love candy. Kyle's favorite is Laffy Taffy or Starburst, Luc's favorite are suckers and tootsie rolls, Roman likes anything with a krinklie wrapper and I will always go for skittles. What is your favorite?

Trick or Treat or Look at Decor

,




Trick or treating was a success this year. Lots of candy, lots of running, lots of excitement, lots of decorated houses, and did I mention lots of candy?

Lucas has the whole trick or treating thing down. He runs -- no sprints, from house to house. He looked awesome cruising down the street with both of his arms out (one to keep his treat bag from falling and the other to keep his golf bag from falling) and the pom pom on his hat bobbling away. What he doesn't have down is scoring good candy. At one house the lady told him he could pick four things (and she had awesome stuff - skittles, full size candy bars, starburst, chips, drinks) and he took one small thing of Nerds and ran off to look at her decorations. She called out to him "You get four! Don't you want some more? You can take anything you want!" Nope. He had moved on to her ghost that sang a song. He was over the candy after about 10 houses and was totally mesmerized by the decor. Our neighborhood goes all out for Halloween and Lucas was thrilled. He wanted pictures by the big ghosts, he wanted to see the scary talking heads talk over and over again, he wanted to hear the spooky songs from the witches 10,000 times before we left the doorstep, and he really wanted me to put my hands in the dry ice to "see how cool this is".

Roman was happy to be held, then not happy in the stroller, then happy in the stroller, then excited to be in a car but not strapped into a carseat, then only happy in his daddy's arms - all the while happy to keep his monkey hood on! He was a trooper and I think actually enjoyed most of the night's excitement running around by the light of the moon.

Isn't Halloween so much fun?

Happy Halloween

...from the coolest golfer and wiggliest Curious George ever! Who love each other very much (but one likes to hug more than the other...guess which one?)

Carving Pumpkins

It was cool to have Halloween on a Saturday. We carved our pumpkins, Lucas went golfing with Kyle and Grandpa Robert and we enjoyed the whole day.

4th Annual Pumpkin Carving Contest

We had another crazy carving contest at Matt and Steff's this year. Everyone's turned out great but mine. I couldn't find one that I was excited to do, so I decided to do Stephen Colbert thinking it would be funny. Not that funny. Not cool either. I have never professed to be creative or crafty - but I do think of myself as funny on occassion. I couldn't figure out something funny to do so I carved a funny person? So lame. Everyone else brought their A game as usual and we had some cool pumpkins at the end of the night. I was especially impressed with Kyle's free hand carving. The prizes were appropriate for our skill level, and Heather brought Muddy Buddies and we had frothy hot chocolate so despite my colbert debacle it was a fun evening.

Happy Fall

The Room Share

Having the boys share a room is the best thing ever. Last night Roman was fussing a little and we heard Lucas say "Don't cry baby Rome. You will be ok. We are having a SLEEPOVER!!!"

Hee Haw

We needed to get out of the house in a bad way come Saturday. We decided to expel our pent up energy at Hee Haw Farm (and go pick a pumpkin since Lucas was devastated that he missed doing that with his class). Have I mentioned how much I love doing things with all four of us instead of me calling Kyle and trying to give him details on how much fun the boys had? So happy. Kyle makes everything more fun (and easier...but mainly more fun). Plus, we all love doing farmie-fallish activities

We did all there was to do. Zoomed down the slides, chased each other in the maze, jumped in the hay, went on the horse pull swing multiple times, played in the corn, went in the haunted mansion, relaxed on the wooden swing (Luc loves to close his eyes on swings now and it's pretty...funny) and of course picked pumpkins. We are all happy with our choice - even though Kyle and I had to bite our tongue when Lucas picked his. Wouldn't have been my first choice, but perhaps he sees something in it that I can't!

Recovery

We are finally done with sick mode and into recovery mode. That little pig virus did a number on our bodies, but boy oh boy did it do a number on our house. We have never all been sick at the same time. Survival mode is not good for the order of a home. Our kitchen counter looked like a hospital or addicts heaven.

So now our bodies have finally recovered and after washing every sheet, pillowcase, towel, blanket and clothing item worn in the last week, our house has recovered too. Buh-bye influenza! We won't miss you.

Baby Food Debacle

I tried. Whenever I hear of someone making their own baby food I think "Whoa. What a woman! Magnificent mama! Domestic diva extraordinaire!" Lots of words that would never describe me.

Then my mother in law gave me a state-of-the-art fancy baby food maker. Then my parents had trees heavy with so much fruit no one knew what to do with it all. Aha! I decided to give the whole baby food making thing a go.

After a whole day of being elbow-deep in pureed plums and apples and pears, reading why my baby would be so much healthier and packed full of nutrients this way, and turning my kitchen into a purple, green, creamy white disaster I had a finished product. Lots and lots of baby food. Plums and apples and pears GALORE.

I was so excited to give Roman his first taste of gourmet baby food. Fresh. Rich. Natural. Homemade. I decided to start with apples. He loves his store bought apples so he would probably go ga-ga over my homemade ones. Oh yeah, he was going to love me alright.

I wound up and gave him the first bite. The anticipated squeal of delectable joy was in reality a shudder of disgust. WHAT? This can't be, I thought. So I gave him another, smaller bite. His whole face contorted, he dry heaved, his eyes began to water, he did another full body shudder and then he gagged. GAGGED!!! I took a bite to see what the issue was. All I tasted was delicious applesauce. I decided to give this one more try. He convulsed with hatred for what I was putting into his mouth and looked at me with eyes screaming "What did I do to you to deserve this?

I was completely dejected. I couldn't believe it. Poor guy. Poor me. Why do I even try? I am not mother of the year. I am not a domestica-fantastique. I can barely make adult food let alone baby food. Hmph. The one good thing to come out of this...when Kyle got home we got some classic video footage of the whole drama. It will always make us laugh and bring back fond memories of the homemade baby food fiasco. Here's to trying!

***UPDATE - he likes the plums! Woo hoo! He never got used to the apples or pears for some reason, but he LOVES the plums. Who knew? And they are great to add to that nasty store bought meat. Turkey, Lamb, Beef - plumbs seems to make everything better! He also loves to chew on asparagus so I am going to try to make asparagus and see if it's a hit too. This time, however, I will start with just one batch and try it out before I go buck-wild with my baby food maker again.

Stand up Guy

Weeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!! Roman loves to pull himself up to stand!

H1N1...

We've got. All four of us.

Cascade Springs put a Spring in the DeMordaunt Step

We took the boys up American Fork Canyon to look at the leaves and hike around Cascade Springs. Most of the leaves had fallen, but it was still a beautiful drive.

There was a little snow left on the peaks from last weeks storm and so the contrast of snowy peaks and fall leaves was breathtaking (not in the Seinfeld meaning - really beautiful). The drive took a little longer than expected and we were bummed to see Lucas on the verge of sleep and Roman in a deep sleep when we got out of the car at the springs. But alas, Lucas leaped at the chance to "lead" us down a path and Roman was kicking with excitement once he was out of his carseat and into the Bjorn. The fresh mountain air was invigorating and we were on our way. Our first hike as a family of four.




Lucas was so excited for every sign - so excited that after we read the heading he was running on to the next one.




Running running running. That pretty much summed up our day at the springs. Lucas was excited to find "new secret passage ways" and Roman was more than happy...er...giddy to follow. We all raced along the paths, and took each path, from each different direction several times.




At one point, Luc asked to stop and take a rest.





Then he really wanted to touch the water. He did a good job by himself, and then dad came to the rescue to make sure he really got to feel how cold it was. Roman was not happy about being left out of the water touching so we let him splash his hand (and then face) in it as well.






Fun family day. The boys were all smiles the rest of the day.

Yummy Tummy Tuesday: California Weekend

We were being silly when we wrote a list of 17 places we wanted to try on our trip to California. But then Brian and Liz were game, we heard the term "progressive dining" and next thing we knew, we tried 15 different restaurants ala DDD, BTIEA, and B/L faves in one little weekend.
Some were more yummy tummy than others. Some we could tell were good but just didn't live up to expectations set way too high, some were a disappointment, but there were a few that lived up to the hype and were culinary bliss.

Here is our list:
Fish Tacos at Fish Grille
Crustacean
Pepperdine Breakfast Burrito
La Superica Taqueria
Marmalade's
Crumbs
Wurstkuche
Mom's Tamales
Bandera
Kogi Korean BBQ Taco truck
Riva
Sunin
BJ's Pizookie
King Taco
Platas - Barstow, CA


Kyle was craving the fish tacos we had at a little joint off the PCH the whole trip. That was the first thing we ate in CA and the last thing he still wanted more of. Fish Grille gets a thumbs up!

Our Crustacean experience was super cool. We met Steve and a few collegues and the 7 of us had an unbelievable meal...experience. Steve's MGM assistant must have had some pull because we got the perfect table at the perfect time and had at least 2 waiters "waiting" on us full time. The head whoever came to our table and introduced himself to "Mr. Cooper" and to the rest of us. He then said there were some special-specials and did we want him to just order for us. The answer was YES. Our menus were taken and from that point on plates of incredible food were constantly being brought to our table for the next 2 hours. Course after course was brought out and served to us. The Crustacean staff did everything for us save actually putting the food into our mouths. It was fabulous.

As we were close to finishing our meal, the head waiter came out and said that Mrs. An (the owner and creator of the secret kitchen) wanted to meet us (read: Steve). She came out and daintily shook our hands, handed Steve a business card, asked if we were enjoying our food and then whooshed back to the secret kitchen. At the end of the meal we were given cards to fill out...oh, just VIP invitations to their upcoming opening event. We all filled them out and we are really hoping that ours made it into the "invite" pile and weren't weeded out to the "ha ha! yeah right we are inviting them" pile. We will see.

Favorites there were the noodles of course (and oh yes, I was shameless in my effort to get a to go box of them...so tacky! but they are that good!), the tuna tartar tacos, shaken beef, crab something, and apple sorbet. Oh...I am still drooling-dreaming about the tuna and the noodles.

Next favorite was La Superica Taqueria. Chorizo Especial. Oh it's special alright. It's a styrafoam bowl of cheese and chorizo scooped into fresh made tortillas. It doesn't look all that special, but I am not in the business of talking about special looking food, just special tasting food and this was...special. It was so so good. And so so cheap. And so so special.

Favorite number 4 was Wurstkuche. Thank heavens their exotic grilled sausages are far better than their exotic weird (kinda gross) restaurant name. Definitely get the fries there because they come with some divine dipping sauces. There are so many yummy sounding (not really yummy looking...raw sausages don't look all that appetizing, really) sausages and we loved all we tried, but especially the Apricot and Ginger, and the duck and bacon with jalepeno peppers. Their water on tap (in a keg really...it's a German restaurant) is so refreshingly delicious. Their secret? Cucumbers in the water. You can bet I will be trying that next summer (in a pitcher, not a keg). We will definitely return to Wurstkuche. Must. Try. All. Sausages.

And those were my tops. Honorable mention goes to Crumb's Dulce de Leche cupcake, Bandera's Banana Cream Pie, BJ's Chocolate Chip Pizookie (over the white choco macadamia nut...which is so unlike my taste buds), Riva's chocolate purse and Plata's carne asada and potato burrito. Mom's Tamales had potential but they were sold out of all their "famous" tamales. We might have to give them another shot.

I wouldn't say anything we had was bad. I would say we ate a lot. Yes, we definitely ate a lot.

We had a plan to take a picture at every place we ate...we weren't as successful at taking pics as we were with just eating. Stick to what you are good at, right?!

Picking Fruit

Gram and Gramp had oodles of pears, plums, apples and peaches. We all had fun picking...especially Kyle.

Side Pose

Roman has got a major love for being on his side. He scoots around all day and looks for things he can play with while lounging on his side. He relaxes on his side, gets into mischief on his side, finds treasures to play with on his side, eats things on his side, bangs toys on the ground while on his side, and sometimes puts his hand under his cheek and just watches Lucas run around...while on his side.

Speedy Scooter

Roman started scooting around like a maniac right before we left on our trip. He is so speedy and so happy now that he can get around by himself. Luc is very "helpful" and moves him if he is in a tough spot or sounds the alarms if he puts something into his mouth.

It's so fun to watch him proudly army crawl his way around his world.

Long Drive Home and Tuacahn

Our drive home was pretty uneventful. Lucas colored himself with markers (why is it that quiet 3 year old always means trouble?) Roman was turning and rolling his eyes to the side to try to smile at us in the front seat, we passed a funky named exit, Lucas fell in love with read along Curious George, Roman ate his hands and oh yeah, we drove in the wrong direction for a good hour.

We barely made it to our hotel in time to change clothes and give the babysitter some instructions. We kissed the boys and ran out the door and got to AIDA just in time for the second number. Phew.

Tuacahn. Ah happy late birthday to me. Last year Kyle took me to Les Miserables at Tuacahn and I vowed I would see a show there at least once a year. This year Aida was playing. I've seen AIDA probably about 20 times so I consider myself an expert on the play and wanted to see it done at Tuacahn. Kyle wasn't as excited as I was to see the play again but he was certainly impressed with the Tuacahn version. Fireworks. A real river. Dancing in water onstage. It was once again and incredible production of a play I have seen done incredibly well many times at many different venues. This was top notch. Everything except the fashion show (the costumes were LAME) but everything else was wonderfully done.

Another (COLDER) Beach Day

We had another day at the beach. The sun was warm. The sand was warm. The wind was not warm. Liz wrapped up in a blanket to stay warm, I cuddled with Roman to stay warm, Porter tried to crawl into the water to stay warm, Luc found some sand far away that was warm and laid his whole body in it to stay warm and Brian and Kyle went swimming...they didn't stay warm. But to warm up they dug a really big hole and as it turns out - that was Lucas' favorite thing he did in California...dig a really big hole with daddy and Brian.

Bird Chaser

Central Park or the beach, cold or warm, seagulls or pigeons Lucas loves to chase birds.

We're Going to Disneyland

Q: What are you going to do now that your husband doesn't have to work 90 hour weeks?

A: I'm going to DISNEYLAND!

We finally got the chance to take Lucas to Disneyland. Liz generously offered to let Roman stay and play with her and Porter so we just had Lucas and our Disney strategy.

We met our "guy" to get discount passes and made our way into the park. I was so excited to let Lucas experience the magic of Disney. He was overjoyed with the Mickey picture on the wall of the parking structure so I knew he would be overhwhelmed with joy once we actually made it into the park.

We hit everything on our list and more. We bumped into the Lewis and even got to go on a few rides with them. Here are some highlights:

**Lucas singing "It's a Small World" every time we got onto a boat ride

**Luc wasn't quite tall enough for the 40" rides (most of the rides) so for Thunder Mountain RR, Soarin, and Splash Mountain we put napkins in his shoes and spiked his hair

**By the end of the day Luc would ask "Do I have to measure?" before each ride...apparently the stretching and coaxing to "stand up REALLY straight" was a bit taxing...or traumatizing

**Lucas shouting and waving and screaming "MAD HAAAAAAAATTER" on the teacups everytime we spun close to where he was standing

**Running...running and running to make sure we fit in as much as possible into one day

**After Thunder Mountain RR Lucas squealing "I want to go again! Again! But not on the loud tunnel part, just the "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! (crazy waving hands in the air) Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee" part!

**Luc being totally thrilled and for the first time (maybe ever) asking for us to take his picture against a construction wall with a outline of Mickey. He was obesessed and wanted Kyle and I to line up against it and put our hands in the exact spot. He was very excited.

**Luc was ecstatic after every single ride and asked to go again after every single ride we went on.

**Complaining to management that they were too strict on the height limit and getting a "go to the front of any line" pass.

**Kyle giddy over the Toy Story ride - um, giddy.

**Knowing it was a good day filled to the brim with excitement because not 20 steps after our last ride on Thunder Mountain (at 9.56pm) Luc was asleep. Out cold. Couldn't even open his eyes to see the giant Mickey pumpkin. Worn out, passed out, all tuckered out from a day filled with Disney magic.

A Day at the Beach

We enjoyed a spectacular day at the beach. Brian and Liz live sickeningly close to a beautiful Malibu beach so we had to take advantage.

Roman loved the ocean. He concentrated hard as he watched the waves roll in and prepared himself for the water to splash him. Then he would kick and smile and bounce and flail his arms until he began to concentrate on the next wave coming to get him.

Lucas took a little while to warm up to running around in the ocean water, but not to playing in the sand. He had Kyle making him chairs, burying him in the sand, doing sand castles, having sand wars and just digging digging and more digging. Eventually he was chasing the waves and splashing around and enjoying the whole beach experience.

Kyle and I had so much fun watching our boys have fun. Porter was the perfect example of how to enjoy the sand and the water. He loves both. We rode some waves, swam and played in the warm sun. We loved our nice sunny day at the beach!

California Here We Come...

All four of us - together! We decided on Wednesday to go to California on Thursday. Lucas was out of school and the weather looked like it was going to be nice and there have been so many places featured on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives and Best Thing I Ever Ate that were in Southern California, and we missed Brian and Liz and Porter and we really wanted to take the boys to Disneyland, and it snowed on Wednesday and our car now has a DVD player...so off we went for a quick trip southwest.

We had a wonderful weekend that was filled with good food and good times and good company.

Roll around Brothers

Luc loves to hug baby Rome and roll around. My gut tells me this is not a good thing but Roman and Luc's faces and giggles tell me it is probably just fine.