Sunday, March 25, 2007

It's Springtime!!




It was a BEAUTIFUL day today, so naturally we headed straight to the botanic garden.


We've had a couple of weeks a really nice weather, so all the cherry trees and redbud trees were exploding with blooms. Carter said the trees looked they were full of bubblegum, and Erek thought they looked like cotton candy! Hundreds of them showing off their magnificent spring display! We've also been amazed by the wisteria blooms that have appeared seemingly overnight. And the tulips at the garden were gigantic!!


The park was full of people, mostly supporters of a run/walk event that was taking place. We bought a few packs of fish food and headed over to the Japanese garden to feed the koi. Beth and I chanted a plea/prayer that Erek would not end up in the water. It worked, although I think we were only successful in diverting the bad luck to another family next to us, as their little girl did take the plunge. Scared everyone for a second and once she was safe, Beth and I exchanged glances that we were glad it wasn't one of ours for a change!


After our usual trek past the Japanese garden, through the azalea walk, skipping the under-construction butterfly garden (going on three years now?), and meandering through the magnolia grove, we happened upon Carter and Erek's favorite spot: the secret playground (aka, the Prehistoric Plant Trail). Over the past year they have added a few dinosaur-themed additions, and the boys had fun riding the stone dinos.


After playing for a while at the "secret playground", we wandered through the woodland path that leads back to civilization and then headed out. Both boys had a great time and both carried home prized "artifacts", which were nothing more than dried out magnolia tree leaves they picked up on the ground.

Sunday, March 18, 2007

The Krusty Krab

Yesterday, to our shock and awe, Carter announced he wanted to eat crab for dinner. He had hinted at the idea earlier in the week, but we decided not to take the bait, so to speak, and pretty much left it with a "That's nice dear" response. However, yesterday he was much more confident with his declaration that he must have crab. So, he and Dad talked about the specific crab experience he was craving. We discussed the steamed crab approach that involves a lot of hammering and cracking and picking through the bony bits to find the "good stuff". We also discussed the crab leg approach, which also involves cracking, but delivers a larger payload of good crab meat with less effort (and mess). Thankfully he opted for the crab legs. So we headed over to the local Krusty Krab (aka Joe's Crab Shack) and waited 45 minutes for a table. Although the wait was long, the boys did well -- we waited so long that Erek fell asleep! The hostess was very entertaining when announcing names for seating: "Edwards! Don't be wimp, it's time to eat some shrimp!" or "Johnson! Where'd you go? It's time to eat at Joe's!".

Anyway, Carter took one bite of the crab meat and announced he didn't like it. We gave him extra credit for being adventurous and let him order dessert. And, being true to himself, he took one bite and announced he was full!

Hot Springs Mountain Observatory

While visiting Hot Springs, AR we stopped at the Observatory Tower. The elevator has a glass wall so you can see the view while ascending and decending. I snapped a quick video of the boys on the ride back down. You can also hear the interesting recorded narration from the park service.

Saturday, March 3, 2007

LOST FART

Norbit - Don't Adjust My Seat

Kindergarten Nursery Rhyme Day

The Jeannie Tate Show

Soccer mom JEANNIE TATE hosts a talk show from her minivan.

Celebration Mania

February is the month of celebrations at our house. First, there's Richard's birthday, then Valentine's Day and C's birthday, and lastly Beth's birthday. Actually her birthday is March 1, but all the preparations take place during February with the rest of the celebrations.

For Richard's birthday, Beth's mom had us over for authentic German Saurbraten, complete with Kartoffelkloesse (German potato dumplings) and red cabbage. It was de-lic-ious.


Kartoffelkloesse


Next, Beth and Richard celebrated Valentine's day by consuming mass quantities of sushi at Sekisui, including our favorite: Philly Cheesesteak roll (which is only available at the Cordova location as far as we know). We exchanged boxes of chocolates, each of which lasted almost 12 hours this year!

C's birthday party was at Pump It Up, a party palace with inflatable slides and such. C invited his whole class from school and almost everyone was able to make it (18 kids total!). C decided the theme would be puppies, so we had cupcakes made from Ms. Muffin in Germantown with the face of puppies:



On the real day of his birthday, C decided he wanted Steak for dinner (although he refers to all meat as 'steak', for his birthday he wanted the REAL deal) so we headed to Texas Roadhouse. C told the waiter it was his birthday, and during the meal the waiter came over with a saddle on a a sawhorse. C climbed onto the saddle and the entire wait staff sang Happy Birthday. C was ecstatic and mortified at the same time. We did not have the good camera with us, but I managed to snap a shot with my camera phone:

At home we had more birthday cake and presents: