Tulip Festival

I'm still catching up on my activities over the past several weeks. The first outing we took, as a family of five, was to the Tulip Festival. Of course the flowers were amazing, but the kids especially loved the koi pond.

I made good use of my wrap. Teddy Bear slept the entire time and the kids kept asking if I was having another baby. It was hard to convince them that the baby was in the wrap and not my belly. This was the week we brought him home, he was so tiny compared to now.

Such a fun time strolling with my silly kids. I was still recovering, but it was nice to be out walking. We did take the time to stop and smell the tulips, too.

I needed to rest by the time we got to the Italian garden. It was a warm day and they were nice and cool.

Sweet little Teddy Bear was still sleeping, but I had to take a minute to check on him.

Our photographer for the day, didn't want to be photographed. I snuck a shot in anyway. I couldn't have gotten through the trip without him.

It was an absolutely beautiful day. I look forward to more family outings this Summer.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Barnyard Boo

My kids and I took a trip to Farm Country for the annual Barnyard Boo this last week. We thought opening day would be majorly crowded. It turned out that we were first in line.
Here's Buddy and Jellybean, don't they look excited?

We got the pony rides out of the way at the beginning. Look at my cowgirl and cowboy:

Jellybean is riding Chief and Buddy is riding Erica. They were good ponies. This was the first time in a saddle for both of my kids. They were a bit nervous about it.

We were at a barnyard, there were a lot of animals to look at, but there were also tons of games set up for the kids. So, the poor animals didn't get much love. Buddy and Jellybean enjoyed a game of croquet and an obstacle course instead.

They both had fantastic technique (we had to let all of the other kids play through while they figured things out).

The hurdles were a bit tricky, but look at that form.

My sister-in-law joined us with her two girls. Buddy's cousin, A, is his best friend.  We enjoyed some more games and a horse-drawn cart ride with them.

Then we decided it was time to put the kids in jail:

Only A was properly contrite.

It was a good time, one that Buddy has been waiting all year for. Looks like we'll be first in line next year as well.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Princess Festival 2012

Jellybean and I went on a mom and daughter outing last Saturday.  We went to the Princess Festival.
Here she is dressed in her finest princess garb:

Jellybean doesn't go out for the Disney princess look. She has her own style.

We met some beautiful princesses who told their stories and posed for pictures:

Meeting Cinderella and Rapunzel

Jellybean tried on a new outfit...yeah, it freaks me out a little, too.

I'm a little confused about why the arms don't match...

Face painting by one of my old high school friends (go figure). I tried to convince Jellybean to choose a more elaborate design.  I wanted to get my money's worth, but this is what she picked.

She looks thrilled, doesn't she?

They had several craft stations set up.  Jellybean was a little young for some, but she loved making her own hair bow and coloring bookmarks to give away to other children. Such a kind princess.
Jellybean also enjoyed building a sand castle and joining in the dance party with Princess Sonrisa and Little Red Riding Hood.

 Before we left, we had to get Jellybean's nails painted.  This was the first time for her. She was so excited. 

She sat so still. Gotta love the hot pink.

We had a blast. I loved every minute of hanging out with my daughter; just us girls. I get such a kick out of my funny, amazing little girl.

One last carriage ride before departing for home.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Onion Bite

Photo via SarahLee Foodservice

Our family goes out for bagels almost every Saturday.  If you frequent Einstein Bagels and order the non-savory varieties (blueberry, poppyseed, cranberry, etc.) like we do, something will become apparent.  That something is what we lovingly call, "The Onion Bite."  The onion bite may sound foreign to you, so let me explain:  Imagine you've ordered a blueberry bagel with strawberry cream cheese (my standard order), you are enjoying it until, quite unexpectedly, you take a bite and it doesn't taste like the previous bite, it tastes like an onion bagel.  The horror!

I've posted this photo before, I still like it.

We don't know why this phenomenon occurs, but have discussed it at length. Do they work all of their dough on the same surface so that a portion of the blueberry dough picks up some of the onion? Do they store the onion bagels too close to the blueberry? Is it actually the cream cheese that is contaminated? Where did this errant onion flavored bite come from??  We don't know, so we've decided to make it a game.  You win the game if your bagel miraculously is missing the onion bite.  You also win if your onion bite comes at the beginning of the meal thereby allowing you to eat the rest of your bagel in peace.  You lose when the onion bite comes at the very end, ruining the entire bagel eating experience.  I hate it when I lose...

So, are we the only people who have noticed the onion bite?  It's entirely possible that we're just weird like that. 

Have a  Happy Day!

~MJ