Great Wolf Lodge

We took G to the Great Wolf Lodge last weekend. It was a great time, and he really liked it. It was quite $$$, but we had a blast at the indoor water park, watching the animatronic show (that was totally horrible, but G loved it) and looking around in amazement at all the money that could be spent at the spa, little kids spa, game room, scavenger hunt, restaurants, candy shop, etc. The developers of this property were marketing geniuses!

The hotel rooms were not fantastic for the price, so we called it a Holiday Inn with an indoor water park. I would say that we won't go back, but never say never... :)

Rocket Chair

Aunt Kelly, Uncle Brian - Here's the Rocket Chair you got me for Christmas! I love it! XOXO.

Book Review

My cool Auntie and Uncle bought G two more neato books for Christmas. The first is Llama Llama Red Pajama. It's about being afraid of going to sleep at night. It's adorable. We love it!! It has a lot of emotion and is very true to life if you've ever had a young one that you try to get to go to bed over and over...so much fun. It looks like there's at least one more in the series called Llama Llama Misses Mama that we'll have to investigate. I've been very impressed so far.



The other book he received is call If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. This is just one in a whole series of If You Give A... books. G received another in the series from his teachers for Christmas. They are so good and talk about process - if you give a mouse a cookie, then he'll want a glass of milk, and then...it then cycles back to the mouse wanting a cookie. Very smart and sweetly illustrated with lots of details.

Bonkers!

I took G to a place called Bonkers last night. It's so hard to explain, so I posted a pic. It's a two story warehouse where they built these play things made of parachute straps that you can climb on and inside are slides, bridges, and other fun things, etc.

The first time I took him he was only 15 mo. old and needed a lot of help to get around. That is my speed in this thing. Now he can run through it in a matter of seconds. Next time we need to invite a friend to go with him because mommy is not fast enough. Now he never complained, mind you, but he just kept saying, "Come on, mom." "I'm waiting for you mom." The height of the openings is such that he can just run through it, but I am on my hands and knees crawling the entire time. Not ideal for work clothes or jeans. Anyway, we were crawling over a bridge where these soft pylons were hitting us in the face, and G turned around in the middle of the bridge and said, "I love you mom!" And then just kept running. Too cute! Great bonding time, I guess. ;)

Giving him some culture

At Montessori they have extra classes you can add in the afternoon like art, music, Spanish, gymnastics, etc. You can take as many as you want to pay for. We decided that one per semester is enough. We tried Gym-jitsu last semester, and this semester he is going to try music. The music teacher's credentials are impressive to say the least. She's been a composer for the children's TV show Barney, studied at the London Conservatory, and the list goes on and on. I think he'll have fun at the very least, plus you've seen his Elvis on the drum skills.

Then a lady in our neighborhood is offering a six week mommy and me art class, which is cheaper than the art class at school. I thought we could try it. It starts in a couple of weeks.

And today I signed him up for Spring Soccer. He really wants to play again. It remains to be seen if Coach Joe will volunteer again. I wrote him a nice email asking him to return. :) Soccer starts in March and runs through June with all the games on Saturday morning. That makes it easy on mommy.

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

On G's new video collection, we've been watching this. I had heard about the book from Aunt Kelly and Z, and it was his favorite book, but I had never heard of it before. We love it! I thought I would include the video for Z.

Alligators All Around

This was one of my favorite songs from school that Ms. Isch taught me. Now G is learning it, and we are having fun! Here it is for you to watch.

More cruise pics

I got copies of pics my sister and mom took of the cruise. We really did have a great time. Here is the slideshow. There are a lot of pics! :)

Thanksgiving

I thought I would show off photos that my talented "sister"azzi took of G and me at Thanksgiving. Also, I threw in a self-portrait of me and my look-a-like cousin, Sarah. :)



Tickle monster!

Favorite Recipe

I made this for a dinner party over the weekend, and it's one of my favorites. Remember this for next year! :) It's super easy and really delicious. It's a great alternative to cookies. Just remember to soak the cranberries overnight; it's a must or they taste terrible.



Sugared Cranberries

Because of the contrast between the tart cranberries and sugary coating, the flavor of this snack pops in your mouth. The berries are steeped in hot sugar syrup to tame their tangy bite. When entertaining, serve these in place of nuts. For gift-giving, package in parchment-lined tins. Present with a small bottle of the reserved cranberry cooking syrup for the recipient to use as a cocktail mixer. If you can't find superfine sugar, make your own by processing granulated sugar in a food processor for a minute.
Yield

9 servings (serving size: about 1/3 cup)
Ingredients

* 2 cups granulated sugar
* 2 cups water
* 2 cups fresh cranberries
* 3/4 cup superfine sugar

Preparation

Combine granulated sugar and water in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring mixture until sugar dissolves. Bring to a simmer; remove from heat. (Do not boil or the cranberries may pop when added.) Stir in cranberries; pour mixture into a bowl. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.

Drain cranberries in a colander over a bowl, reserving steeping liquid, if desired. Place superfine sugar in a shallow dish. Add the cranberries, rolling to coat with sugar. Spread sugared cranberries in a single layer on a baking sheet; let stand at room temperature 1 hour or until dry.

Note: The steeping liquid clings to the berries and helps the sugar adhere. Store in an airtight container in a cool place for up to a week.
Nutritional Information

Calories:
118 (0.0% from fat)
Fat:
0.0g (sat 0.0g,mono 0.0g,poly 0.0g)
Protein:
0.1g
Carbohydrate:
30.4g
Fiber:
0.9g
Cholesterol:
0.0mg
Iron:
0.1mg
Sodium:
0.0mg
Calcium:
2mg

Cooking Light, DECEMBER 2003