No Big Surprise

Dry Ice Fun

Ooblek a.k.a. goop (cornstarch and water)

Vinegar and Baking Soda with a splash of food coloring for pizazz

It really wasn't a surprise when Logan decided he wanted a Mad Science Themed Birthday Party this year. So now we are full steam ahead in the planning phase. Logan is, of course, very helpful. "Get things that are messy, gross and if they explode, that would be even better!" Oh, dear, what are we getting ourselves into????? More Dry Ice Fun

"Two Thumbs Up and Triple Delicious"

That was the review Logan gave Grandma's homemade bread this weekend. He's been fixated on making bread with Grandma's breadmaker for weeks, so Saturday was the day. The recap goes something like this:

7 a.m. Mixing ingredients

7:05 Logan asks if the bread is ready for breakfast

7:10 Logan watches breadmaker, crushed that it will take FOUR HOURS to bake

7:11 Logan asks if the bread is ready yet, g-ma manages to distract for a while

8:00 Logan is crushed when he sees the breadmaker kneed the already "done bread"

8:03 Excited to see another button light up on the breadmaker

... you get the idea, it was a long, painful process, but the bread was worth it!

And what else do you put on homemade bread??? Nothing else but homemade peanut butter, of course.... I don't know where the boy gets these ideas, maybe I watched too much Rachel Ray when I was pregnant??

So today, we shucked (correct verb??) peanuts. About 3/4 of a pound later, we had enough to spread on the homemade bread for lunch and save a bite to share with Daddy tonight.

After we ate our peanut butter sandwiches for lunch, Logan turns to me and asks, "Ready to make jam now?"

Plum Crazy

While on vacation, our plum tree exploded. It was a plum minefield out there. But, oh how those plums are worth the clean-up. They are the sweetest, yummiest plums you have ever tasted, just like the ones I remember in my backyard when I was a kid. The kind that you have to eat over the sink because upon first bite, juice is running down your chin. (Or if you are Logan, juice is dripping off your elbow and the dog is licking the puddle below.)There is something so peaceful and rewarding when you can just step outside your back door and gather a basket full of tasty treats.

Splish Splash

Logan's good buddy Will joined us at the swimming pool today along with his sister Chetana and Ally and Zoe.

I finally was brave enough to put the camera in the water... check out the results-

Blub, blub...

The Grand Finale

On our way home, we stopped in Paso Robles for dinner (Shawn was determined to drive all the way home). We were intrigued by the GIANT BBQ sign right off the highway and decided to give it a try. BIG BUBBA'S BAD BBQ As soon as I opened the car door, I liked it, because it had music blasting in the parking lot. One step inside and you know you're in for a treat. The decor was wild west a la hamburger factory mixed with the waitresses from coyote ugly (they all ran to the center of the restaurant and danced when a song like "Ice, ice baby" or "hammer time" interrupted their boot-scootin' music. AND located in the corner of the bar was a mechanical bull. I didn't give it much thought since the boy hasn't even ridden a carousel horse since his traumatic experience on a pony at a birthday party over 3 years ago. But surprise surprise! He wanted to give it a try... And try he did! When the operator asked if he wanted to go faster, he yelled YES! Finally they called "8 seconds" and he was starting to slide off but he was determined as the group at the bar are cheering "Hold on Logan!". He survived the 8 seconds and bailed right at the end. WHAT A RIDE! And what a great way to finish a vacation.

San Francisco here we come again

On our way home we swung through SF again, this time concentrating our time in China Town and catching a cable car. China Town may be one region that has not changed in the 20+ years it has been since I last visited this area, in fact, I think they are selling the same souvenirs. We did find some yummy Chinese food though (not too ironic huh?). Logan discovered that he really like calamari or baby octopus as he called them

Being the city slickers that we are, we were pretty impressed by our hotel room on the 20th floor looking down on so much action and activity. We don't find this in Po-why.

The next morning we explored via a very crowded cable car to Lombard Street, "the crookedest street" And on our hike back, since every cable car was FULL for the rest of the day, we stopped at the ORIGINAL Swensen's Ice Shop where they make their ice cream on site. Good Stuff!

Almost Home!

Logan's Roadhouse

In the heart of Redding, CA sits the GREATEST restaurant. I may be a little biased since it carries the same name as the boy but it really was a fun stop. You get to throw peanut shells on the floor and they serve the most delicious sweet yeast rolls that just melt in your mouth. When our server found out Lo's name, she gathered up everything not nailed down that had his name on it. Very Sweet!

3 adventures in 1

I think the Shasta Caverns marketing team was referring to the boat ride, bus ride and the cavern as their 3 in 1 but our adventure was much more exciting with Ally, Zoe and Logan.

First the boat

It was hot Followed by the bus ride up to the cavern entrance The cavern maintains a natural temperature around 70 degrees which was WONDERFUL on a day like this one!

Followed by the boat ride back with the goofball triplets The caverns were very cool both literally and figuratively. It's amazing what nature can create.

California here we come

This was definitely the MOST BORING part of our drive, on the 5 with nothing but farmland as far as the eye could see. Somewhere along our trip I picked up a flyer on Shasta Caverns, so we figured we would check them out while we were so close. At our first sight of Lake Shasta, it dawned on me that Ally and Zoe and their parents were vacationing in this area during some time of their road trip, so I gave Kelly a call to tell her we were passing through the same area they had gone or were going and crazy enough, there were still there! We met up with them at Brian's Aunt's house for a 4th of July BBQ. It was so cool to see these guys on our trip. Logan, of course, was THRILLED! But it was hot, record breaking hot for Redding (which is saying A LOT). I believe it was 114 while we were there, so splashing in the pool was a cool break.

This may look like a tender moment but I believe they were really trying to drown each other

It was so very nice of Brian's family to include us in their celebration!

We did see a few fireworks that evening but since it doesn't get dark until 10, Logan said he would rather sleep than watch any more fireworks about 10 minutes into the display.

It was a HOT yet memorable 4th!

A bunch of Monkeys

If we could have harnessed the energy created when these 3 were together, we could have powered the city while we were there. Here is the proof- We did have a bunch of fun during our visit with the Ross Family. We saw a hilarious movie at a theater that serves pizza and beer(maybe why the movie was hilarious) and has childcare for the kiddos (Shawn and I are trying to figure out how to open this in SD). We also went cherry pickin' Click her for Bradi's account of this adventure http://conchodandy.blogspot.com/2007/07/employee-relations.html We also ate some super yummy sushi, which, if caught on video, would have looked like a feeding frenzy. Watch your fingers! And we got a taste of true non-Southern California. At the local park by Bradi's house they have a wading pool. She is the "keymaster" of this pool, where you turn a handle and water shoots out of a pipe, fills a small fountain like structure and waahla!, a wading pool. No Fence, No admission, no waivers, no security guard, just a hole in the ground in the middle of a park for all to enjoy. At this same park we also encountered 2 other antiques of yester-year, A merry-go-round and teeter totters! Shawn got into the fun too- Who says you can't turn back time??