Aquarium Field Trip

We don't have much going on here in Vero Beach/Ft. Pierce but if you look hard enough and are a bit resourceful you can plan a nice educational afternoon. Beats sitting at the table with the dreaded Math Book. We enjoyed lots of different local habitat exhibits, hands-on learning and a touch tank. Check it out...

http://www.stlucieco.gov/marine_center.htm



We headed outside for lunch and playground time. Still a bit hot this time of year but we managed to squeeze in about an hour or so of outdoor time.

 My beautiful babies near the main aquarium.

Taylor checking out the skeleton x-rays.

Carly spent the most time at the touch tank and asked lots of questions. 

Checking out the Star Fish

Carly will touch it!!

 Taylor "looking" at the touch tank, he is not so sure he wants to touch anything.

He decided, instead to work on a matching/shapes display.....

 Horse-Shoe Crab

Conch!

A short video discussing a Sea Cucumber, Grandma Dee asked if they were edible and we learned that they are although not enjoyed so much in the US, but in other parts of the world are considered a delicacy.

Lobster Exoskeleton

Checking out the live "Monkey Shrimp".

Look at my little scientists : )

Taylor at the Shells and Exoskeleton display.

We then headed outside for lunch ..

Carly helping Taylor out

My favorite pic of the day.

Love them XOXO!

Better than Chick-fil-a

Since I am a little mad at Chick- fil-a these days, but lets face it their chicken is AMAZING especially that pickle..man I love that pickle...I decided to try this simple recipe I found on Pinterest. The secret ingredient being none other than.....(drum roll) ....pickle juice!!! I chopped, marinated, dredged and fried it up and it was darn good. When I gave it to the kids Carly said it was so good and tasted "like that chicken from the mall"! Success!!!

Here is the original recipe and my version. Almost the same except I only had EVOO. Plus if you come to our house to eat, we don't care who you are married to as long as you are happy. : - )


http://iowagirleats.com/2012/03/01/chick-fil-a-bites-with-honey-mustard-dipping-sauce/comment-page-1/#comment-1045866

 Started out with cutting about about 3 large breasts, marinated for about 2 hours in milk, eggs and pickle juice.

Coated the chicken in flour and a little powdered sugar, salt and pepper.

Seems legit : )

Looks about right

Carlys dinner. 

: )

It was really good, next time I will use vegetable oil and maybe a different flavor pickle!!!

Scrapbooking

We have kind of been lacking on art projects lately and need a little creative release from all the boring book work we always do. We also joined a new co-op and have decided to cut school work down to 4 days and have a field trip, park day or social day, weekly.

This week we started a scrap-booking project. I ordered about 70 prints from Walmart of the kids pets and friends. We then went to Michaels and both kids were allowed to pick out a scrapbook each, 2 packs of stickers and 2 packs of decorations (can't think of the proper scrapbook term right now). The good news was that all scrapbook supplies were 50% off... yippee!!! Carly was pretty into it while Taylor could take it or leave it. We spent the next day doing a little geography and math and then scrapping' the day away. Thank you God and Mother Nature for providing us with a lovely rainy day. Carly has been working on her book for almost 3 hours and has completed 5 pages. Taylor completed 2 pages, but that's ok.... Very happy for my girl who is back to her sweet, creative self. Praying it stays this way. XOXO



Here is our stash....

 Taylors  Book w Dylan on the front cover xo

Taylor at work, he picked very colorful paper...such a happy guy!

 Carly working and her cover with Dylan and Kasey. She chose Femme Fatale Paper...of course : )

 OK So when I took this one the sun was shining but trust me, we got our mid-afternoon storm and it is still going on. I love rainy home days.

A page from Carlys book, she really did a great job and is happy with it herself.

Look out Mary Kay...

The summer is down to a crawl and I am anxious for the days filled with school books and pencils, I will even take the complaining. The kids are pretty good about filling days and when it is just the 3 of us, there really is minimal complaining and arguing. Aside from our evening swim, Taylor fills his days, mostly with video games, Lego's, and spongebob etc. Carlys days are filled with Littlest Pet shop, Animal care and making videos. She also frequents Pinterest on occasion and came up with this little science/beauty school project. The instructions were to take vaseline, melt it in the microwave until it turned liquid and then add powdered kool-aid packets for taste and color. She tried it with a cherry kool-aid packet and it seemed just "ehhh". Uh oh! Keep this going, what do I have? what do I have? Thank God for Jello, I had several boxes and they actually worked better! SUCCESS!!!! whew......

This is the first attempt with the Kool Aid...the Kool-Aid was kind of dry and sort of separated from the vaseline but like I said "ehhh".

Time for the jello, I gave her one box, tried to keep the others for my next jello shot weekend but seeing that it made her as happy as it did, I sacrificed my remaining boxes all in the name of science, and of course love XOXO

 So many colors and flavors, she had strawberry/banana, tropical fruit, blueberry, and black cherry (my fav).

 Look she's HAPPY !!!!!!!
and proud...

The finished product..they set in the fridge overnight and are quite lovely. Great job Carly !!!!!!!

Slutty but in a good way....

In an effort to stay away from the drama and catastrophies of Facebook, I have been scouring the Internet in search of creativity. I am hooked on Pinterest where from there have compiled quite a collection of favorite blogs. My current favorite is the Londoner 


http://www.thelondoner.me/  


If I ever come back reincarnated I would like to end up as her....A young beautiful woman in her 20's living the good life in London, where she travels, has a super cool career and in her free time, makes yummy, decadent desserts while maintaining her size 4 shape. Well the truth is I am an aching/aging 40 something, trying desperately to maintain my size 8 figure while cleaning dog doo, kitty litter and managing somehow to get my two darlings a good start in life as well as a good kick in the butt every now and then. Oh yeah , also loving wifey to Papa Bear who actually deserves credit for inspiring me to cook and bake. He is always thankful and appreciative of my efforts...hmmmm why am I so mean to him again?????  Anyway, via Pinterest, which let me to Rose (of course her name is Rose) I found the most ridiculous recipe for Slutty Brownies, the reason she calls them slutty is because they are filthy and easy lol....she is right..a bag of cookie mix, pack of Oreos and brownie mix and you are in business. My whole family devoured this concoction in under 18 hours...Marc had it for breakfast and Carly shoved a piece down on her way through the kitchen . Definitely making these again. Heres how we did it.....


First, the cookie mix..

Then, layer on the Oreos (best cookie ever invented, hands down) 

Next, Mix up the brownies and pour on top, Oh yes you read right , pour it on...

Into the oven it goes....

The waiting is the hardest part......

And FINALLY.......

See what happens when you get off Facebook..or at least re-direct yourself....So good, definitely  making these again...

Enjoy XO

Random Pics

What Taylor is working on....

OH , we took a large bowl, combined water, chicken broth, the remains of his bones and some carrots...froze the whole thing and plopped it on the ground for Jack to play with..he shared with Joy and was happy for his surprises. We have another one in the freezer for later today...

Good Dog XOXO