The family who cycles together...stays together

Best pep talk ever given.  Say "I CAN DO THIS!"

Too bad he didn't have to confidence to do this earlier in the Summer.  However, told him we were taking off the training wheels, with much resistence.  Literally, 30-seconds later he was riding all on his own.

P.S. Pop Pop, Little Brother wants to make sure you see this video.  Told him you wouldn't check until you return from Africa, but would send you the video to look at then.

Sweetest Place on Earth

Who knew that being able to leave for a weekend trip at 3:30 AND not driving South on I-95 made weekend trip enjoyable!  That AND getting to go to a place with wonderful, gracious hosts in an area where fields and pastures and rolling hills haven't been overrun with advertisements and neon signs alerting customers they are Open in flashing neon lights.  

Hershey turned out to be much more about the people that our original destination: HersheyPark.  The kids rode on one rollercoaster, the Comet, and Big Sister started crying stating, "Maybe coming to HersheyPark wasn't such a good idea after all!"

We had a blast with two kids who enjoyed being their age riding rides that suited their personal tastes.  The best part was that almost every ride that Big Sister rode that Little Brother wasn't tall enough to ride, had a junior sibling ride that Little Brother loved riding!  Little Brother did join Big Sister on The Pirate as their last ride.

No child of this Mama will ever have to leave this chocolate lover's paradise without a Giant Hershey's bar:-)

Who are the parents?

I am usually happy to follow the general rules, but they need to be clear.  In the gray area, we shouldn't have to worry that our parenting choices might end with the police questioning the child and arresting us in front of our children.

I realize that laws and rules are made for a reason and unfortunately as a result of a poor choice or decision.  However, if no one is hurt or negatively impacted, let's get CPS involved rather than arresting parents as a form of educating people to be better parents.

http://www.examiner.com/article/nicole-gainey-arrested-felony-charge-for-mom-who-let-her-son-go-to-park-alone

Garden sitting: the tale of too much zucchini and too many tomatoes

We have been garden sitting a neighbor's community garden this week.  The kids love the idea and have actually started to eat some of the tomatoes like cherries.  

Tonight we harvested another round of fresh zucchini and tomatoes of all sizes and shapes.  We gave one bag of tomatoes to a man asking for help at an intersection.  However, there are still plenty of tomatoes and zucchini.  So, what to do with these garden delights?  And, how can we use these goodies to fulfill our requirement to bring an appetizer/side dish AND a dessert to tomorrow's swimming group finale potluck?

My mind always goes to dessert first.  Yesterday, I saw a post on Super Healthy Kids for Chocolate Zucchini Cake, http://www.superhealthykids.com/healthy-kids-recipes/treat-of-the-week-chocolate-zucchini-cake.php.  (This is a great site I you haven't seen it before.)  So, let's get to pumping it up and removing the gluten with my working recipe for tomorrow.

In a bowl combine:

• 1 cup Wheat Flour  (2/3cup brown rice flour and 2/3cup ground flax seed)
• 1 cup white flour (2/3cup ground quinoa)
• 1/4 cup 100% cocoa powder, unsweetened
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt

In a separate bowl:

• 3 Large eggs (4Tbsp ground chia seeds in ~3/4cup water for vegan cake)
• 1/2 sugar (3/8cup maple syrup or honey)
• 3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4 cup canola oil (1/8cup flax seed oil and 1/8cup canola oil)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 cups shredded zucchini.

With the wet ingredients mixed, and the dry mixed in a separate bowl, combined them just till moistened.  The key to quick breads is to NOT over mix!!  This step can not be stressed enough. The only way to ensure the ingredients are properly combined, is to mix dry and wet ingredients separately, so they can be folded into each other with minimal mixing.

Then, pour batter into two well greased loaf pans, or one large bundt pan.  Bake at 325 for 45-60 minutes, depending on how small your pans are.  Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick or knife and if it comes out clean, it is done.

Daddy-O decided on something simple,  Daddy-O cut up all the tomatoes into bite sized pieces, added salt, pepper, and basil to taste with some olive oil.  Voila!

Meme makes a tomato pie that Daddy-O loves, but the recipe will be one that needs some substitutions.

1 Deep Dish Pie Shell (Pet Ritz is what I use)
4-5 Medium Tomatoes Sliced
1 Cup Mayonnaise (I use Hellmans)
1/2 Cup Fresh Chopped Basil (1 tsp. dried basil may be substituted)
1 1/2 Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1 egg
Salt & Pepper 

Thaw and Prick with fork Pie Shell. Pre-bake 7 minutes at 350.  Let cool. Mix Mayo, cheese, egg, basil, salt & pepper.  Placed sliced tomatoes in cooled pie shell.  Top with cheese-mayo mixture and spread to edges to seal.  Bake 35-45 minutes at 350 or until golden brown.  Let cool before slicing.  This makes a great side dish or as a meal with a salad.

Big Sister made us so proud

Summer school started last week.  Little Brother is going to "big kid" school this Fall too so they are riding the bus together to Summer School.  Big Sister is being just that, the Big Sister.  I have been receiving self reports from Big Sister as well as from other parents about how she has taken him under her wing and is watching over him.  

One day last week, the bus arrived at the stop (parents and students still not sure where the real stop is) at least 15 minutes before the published drop off time.  The driver announced the stop.  Big Sister's friend went to get off the bus and realized no one followed.  She got back on the bus and the driver again announced the stop.  Big Sister and her friend didn't know what to do as there were no grown ups waiting at the bus stop.  Feeling pressured to get off the bus, the Big girls shepparded Little Brother and a classmate off the bus before it pulled away.

There were so many things wrong with this scenario to set up the kids for failure:

1. Confusion over bus stop location.  Since last week was the first week of a new bus route and routine, I expected there to be some mild confusion with the bus pick up and drop off.  (I haven't actually taken them to the bus stop as I need to be a work before the bus arrives at the stop.)  The last two Summers there has been confusion the first week about where the stop should be since it varies from the regular school year stop.

2. Drop off time exceeded the maximum 10 minutes prior to the published time.  there is always confusion about what time the bus will come to the stop (much like any other form of public transportation).

3.  There were NO adults at the stop to collect the younger children like Little Brother and his classmate as per County policy.

The two Big girls worked together, formed and executed a plan, had to reevaluate after the original idea didn't pan out as they thought, and continued to persevere until the found a solution that got the results they desired.

Colony of Ants

Clearly Summer is here.  We had a major infestation of ants this weekend.  A few ants here or there don't bother me, but an entire colony is a MAJOR problem.  I had no idea one crust of PB&J could start such craziness.  How do they even know its there?

After spending much of Saturday cleaning, laundering and recleaning our kitchen I think I am currently the controlling power.  After it was all cleared up, I was able to research environmentally friend ant repellants.  We have always used cinnamon as our first line of defense, but will try some of these alternatives in the future http://www.peta.org/living/humane-home/tips-humane-nontoxic-ant-control/

They worked so hard!!!

Yesterday, Big Sister and Little Brother participated in their first FINS races of the summer.  Big Sister has been doing this for 2 summers already.  However, this is the first Summer that Little Brother participated too.  I don't know if I could be any prouder of both of them.

Little Brother swam the whole length of the pool without a noodle.  The first time he'd ever done that.  (There was a little bit of a pride challenge by Mom to get him to do it.). However, he then went and repeated the act.  (There was a little bit of crowd excitement and peer pressure involved in the second swim.). Most importantly, he worked hard and swam hard and made it to the end of the pool by himself both times.

Big Sister had excitement and experience fueling her.  She had to swim twice to the end if the pool.  The last race was her true challenge, down the pool and back. She rocked it and finished on her own too (with the help of a few pushes from the bottom of the pool).