Boonshoft Museum

These last few days have been SOOOO HOT!  And it's not going to get better around here for awhile.  To help beat the heat, we headed to Boonshoft Museum with a friend.  Both boys had such a great time.  I need to take them there more often.  The Boy was having a great time exploring EVERYTHING and The Baby loved the "Zoo" portion, especially the Otter.  At the end, we went to "find dinosaurs" and The Baby had fun bouncing a ball while The Boy dug away.  This is definetly something we need to do again, especially since it if free for military over the summer!



Playing at the water table



Playing at Space Station



The Baby watching




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Driving the Recycle Truck



A Feast

Tonight, I made a feast!!!  I found a Stuffed Pepper recipe last year, from Giada De Laurentiis, and made it all the time...then I forgot about it.  I found it not too long ago and I forgot how yummy it was.  When I make it, I use 4 different colors of peppers and it looks beautiful!  When I make it, I don't make the sauce and I use Craisens instead of Currents. 
We also had Zucchini Fries, from Martha Stewart Everyday Food magazine, and chicken cooked in a Merlot sauce then topped with a Merlot gravy...oh my heavens!!!  The chicken was soo juicy and the sauce was to die for.  I'm sad I used the last of the sauce for this dinner. :(  The fries are also delicious.  They have so much flavor with the Italian Seasoning in it and Parmesan Cheese.  And of course, the bread crumbs in the mix provide a nice crunch.  I hope you try this and love it as much as we do.  A great summer recipe after hitting up the farmer's market!!

Zucchini Fries

What you need:

nonstick cooking spray

1 1/2 cups panko

3/4 cups shredded Parmesan

1 1/2 t Italian Seasoning

1/4 - 1/2 t cayenne pepper

coarse salt and ground pepper
2 large egg whites

2 large zucchini, halved crosswise and cut into 1/2 inch wedges

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425, with racks in upper and lower thirds.  Lightly coat two rimmed baking sheets (I only needed 1) with cooking spray. In a wide, shallow dish, mix together panko, Parmesan, Italian seasoning, cayenne, 3/4 t salt and 1/4 t pepper.  In a medium bowl, lightly beat egg whites.

2. Working with one at a time, dip zucchini wedges in egg whites, then breadcrumb mixture, pressing to adhere.  Arrange on sheets in a single layer.  Bake until coating is golden brown and crisp, 20 minutes, flipping zucchini and rotating sheets halfway through (I did not have to do this).  Season to taste with salt and pepper; serve immediately.

Stawberry Picking and Splash Pad

Yesterday did not start off well.  The Boy and I were having a hard time.  He has a hard time sharing his toys so he is ALWAYS taking them away from The Baby.  When The Baby decided his nap was going to be short, I decided we need to turn this day around.  So, I took the boys to the Strawberry Fields at a local farm.  The Boy had such a great time.  He carried our bucket the entire time, even when..."Whoa mommy!  This bucket is sooo heavy with all these strawberries!"  He insisted to carry it the whole time.  The Boy also loves to pick out "the good strawberries."  I had t check our bucket every now and then to make sure we had the good ones.  Ya never know what this one will throw in!  The Baby, well, he had enough about half way through.  Poor boy wanted down to play so badly, but he was stuck on my hip.  That made a workout for me trying to get up off the ground numerous times.  Whew!!  Anyways...we had a great time.

Here we go!

The first pick

I loved the ones that we picked with the stems still on

All done!!!

YUMMY!!!

 After lunch,which we filled up on yummy strawberries, I took the boys to the splash pad.  The Baby was not even sorta interested.  I set him in a little bit of water and he screamed!  So he hung out in the stroller and watched The Boy run around and have fun.  Eventually, The Baby fell asleep.  What a great day it turned out to be!

Silly Boy

COLD!



Brotherly Love

Start of Summer

If we are not washing away with rain, we are melting in the heat and humidity!!!  Boy has it been hot lately...90's and humidity close to or above 90 as well.  Nothing else to say but HOT!!!!   We usually don't turn our air conditioner on until July, but with this heat and two little boys, we had to cave. 

Today, we took advantage of the heat though.  The boys and I spent about an hour or so out in the sprinkler.  I would have loved to spend the whole day, as would The Boy, but The Baby would not have it.  We ran through the sprinkler, played baseball in the sprinkler and had a great time out in the water and sun.  The Boy's hair is getting to be so light already.  I can't imagine what it will look like when August comes around. 


The Baby watching The Boy run through the water





Hello handsome!!!





Trying to spray me




Love him!!!




Hitting the water with a bat




My Honeysuckle is going crazy!!!




Love my Tiger Lilies



Top Ten Summer Activities

10. Vacations
9. Glass of cold wine/margarita/pina colada
8. Kids playing outside
7. Sleeping with the windows open
6. Sitting out in the evening
5. Pool
4. Beach
3. Sun Tea
2. Sitting out in the sun with a good book

1. Grilling with the family