Mommy & Shara Day

First let me say that I do realize I can't have a day off of work, especially with Shara, where ice cream isn't involved. And I'm not apologizing. So there. Alan got to play Wednesday & Thursday, but Friday was my day. Shara & I both slept late and took our time getting up and out of the house. We had to deliver the presents Shara bought at the school store for all her relatives, which we forgot to bring with us to New York. It was very disappointing because Shara used her own money to the school store, and is still very excited and proud of what she picked out for everyone. But no fear, we dropped them off at Liz & Jesus' and they will be delivered this weekend. So we had to take a trip to Watertown, and I realized that it was very close to one of my favorite family lunch places - Cabot's Ice Cream. This is the second trip Shara and I made there and this time she ate about a tablespoon of her sundae. So not to let it go to waste, I finished it. She decided to go for the oreo ice cream with hot fudge and marshmallow. I had the coffee ice cream with bittersweet hot fudge and marshmallow. Both were wonderful, but the oreo was the better one. Shara thought I'd prefer vanilla and I almost went with her suggestion, but changed at the last minute.

The next stop we had to make was at the market to get our first night badges. We then took a quick stop home to go to the bathroom, but the groceries away and then headed out to the playground. It was already getting a little dusky, but this is the event Shara was most looking forward to. She even passed on going to the movies. We had a lot of fun. First we ran into her bus driver and talked to her while on the swings. Then we played some tag and I think we ran around for about 20 minutes before going to the play structure and playing hide and seek. That was lots of fun. She first looked for me near the big slide because that's where Alan hid yesterday - he laid himself down in the slide and she didn't find him right away. The area is probably designed to not allow anyone to go unseen. There is no place that is totally obstructed, between the mesh and open areas, it was quite a challenge. But where I had the advantage was in my speed. She'd try to get me to come up to her, then I'd start and wait for her to think I was committed, then turn around and run flat out and get her in the other direction. Then I got clever and tried to run up a slide and wiped out, somehow hitting my chest. Oh well, I recovered!

We then had to leave since it was almost dark and dinner was calling. We did our French Fridays dish today - cauliflower au gratin. We all ate it but Shara said she didn't like the broccoli taste. I think she ate it because she wanted pop-rocks for dessert. She had them and it took her about 1/2 hour to eat them all. The pop-rocks lead to us showing her the life cereal commercial and talking about how we used to eat them when we were kids and what happens when you chew them? Another resurrection from my childhood this week - the game Mastermind. We've all had lots of fun playing, though sometimes it can lead to tears. Just sayin...

Great visit with grandpa & nonie

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First time holding a baby

Shara got to hold her little cousin lily today at bubbe's hanukkah party. As you can see, she was very excited.

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Christmas

Had a very nice day yesterday at Oma and Jidor's. I came into the office this morning to start having my coffee and Shara came out of her room, took one look at a pink office chair that was at her desk and her eyes lit up. "What's that?" she asked and got so excited that Santa brought her an office chair that fit her and her desk perfectly. I wish I had my camera to get a picture of her face. Too cute.

A little early

Celebrating christmas a little early, at oma & jidor's.

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Food is Beautiful: Snowflakes

Food is Beautiful: Snowflakes: Decorated yesterday with Shara. She was very impressive with the pastry bag! We had a very nice time with these.

Present wrapping

Even though Shara was home sick today, she did have the energy to do a lot of present wrapping. Pooped out before she could finish but she did a great job and what a big help!

As for sick, she has alan's cold. No one likes to go to school or work with a runny nose, but she did relax in bed much of the afternoon. Then we had fun playing Sorry. then we had a cranky evening. She went to bed fine but we gave her some medicine so her nose would stop running to give her a chance to fall asleep. She had to go to school tomorow, at least in the morning. She should feel good enough early in the day to go for a couple of hours or so.

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Traditional Christmas

Last night I was looking at what was happening this weekend and came across the Old Sturbridge Village candlelight Christmas festivities. I thought it sounded interesting, but really didn't want to go out in the cold to walk around with no good idea of whether it would be fun or not so I asked Alan and Shara what they thought and Alan thought it sounded good and Shara thought it sounded really good, so we gave it a shot.

We got there about 5:30 pm. It opened at 4 pm and went until 9 pm. Right after we got out of the car we could tell it was going to be beautiful, if nothing else. The had white christmas lights on all the fencing and as we left the main building in search of Santa, we saw the paths were lighted with candles in lanterns. The houses were decorated as well. The didn't get rid of electricity, but it was only used for the christmas lights. Everything else was how you would find the place at a regular time of year. We decided to wait to see santa in favor of going to the carole sing-along. We were in a house with benches throughout the room and two men at the front, one playing the guitar and both sang. They let the kids pick what songs to sing from a song booklet of the classics and gave a short history on each.

We then decided to get to the next presentation that was of interest and that was How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Not exactly period, but that was ok. Then on to Santa, with a stop at the general store to play with old fashioned toys like tops and a jacobs ladder and then to the middle of the green where they had a nice fire and chestnuts, hot chocolate, and cider for sale. We got a hot chocolate and bag of chestnuts, which are rather difficult to eat while walking. Santa was great. He talked to each kid for about 5 minutes each and was very funny but kind as well. He even weaved some Santa history and folklore into his conversations. When it was Shara's turn, she said she wanted a castle in the backyard. Santa wasn't sure it would fit in his sleigh but he'd see what he could do. After Santa we checked out the barn where they were teaching the dance from A Christmas Carol and then grabbed a carriage ride around the green. We were going to leave then, but I thought we should go into at least one more house and what a good one! It was the tavern and they were showing how chocolate is made, from the roasting of the raw beans to the grinding on a Molcajete. We even got a sample of spiced hot chocolate. Across the room they were making Marzipan and learned a little of that history too, such as in the middle ages, at feasts, in between courses they brought in elaborate designs in Marzipan, which was then served as dessert.

So it was a great evening, ended with cookies in the main building. Shara slept all the way home and only woke up to help me get her out of her seat and plop her into bed.

Gravy?

Last night, after dinner, Alan was cleaning up and from the kitchen asked, "what's that on top of the chocolate mousse?" I answered, "the gravy". Shara asked, "Gravy? Gravy on the mousse?" I said, "yes, you know, the chocolate dessert." Shara, "Gravy ... is ON ... the mousse?" Me, "Oh! the container of gravy is on top of the container of mousse!".

Thanksgiving

What a fun holiday. Shara loved visiting with her family and really seemed to have a good time playing pool with auntie chris. She also enjoyed sharing kids bop and dancing around the dining room. She doesn't remember specifics, just that it was a lot of fun.

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Sleep over

Shara's at her first big girl sleep over. She kicked us out after changing into her pajamas and getting d&g. They' re going to watch ramona & beezus and half of the girls need to leave in the morning, so they should all be up pretty early and ready to go. She isn't really friends with any of the girls, it's hannah's birthday party, but she wanted to stay anyway. Alan and I were saying when we were her age wer would never go to a party where w didn't know anyone and be excited and comfortable. Not 100% but pretty close!

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A bit of catching up

Alan just moved over to the android-side and Shara's got his own iPhone. She's thrilled. I asked her if she now has everything she wants and she said, "Yes. I don't need my castle anymore!"

Tonight we started reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. She was hoping Cassidy would bring back the Harry Potter pop-up she borrowed from the library. She did and as we were going to bring Alan to pick up his motorcycle from the mechanics, she said, "I hate me." Obviously I asked what she meant and she said she forgot her library book at school. It was the Harry Potter pop-up, so after dropping Alan off, we went over and got it from her desk at school. So, what an opportunity to start reading the real book! I'd been wanting to for a while now and am so happy we are.

Halloween planning was a lot of fun. Shara picked the theme and it was easy to put together, especially since she's so easy going and is more into having fun creating than the final result. Though we all liked the final result as well. So it was a cold Halloween and she was bummed that we weren't able to go out trick-or-treating with her neighborhood friends. Next year we'll plan the evening activities a little better, but it was a good evening.

We actually made it this year to the King Richards Faire. It was probably the most relaxed time we had there. I took the advice of someone on the Web who suggested eating lunch before going. I never thought the savory food was very good and it's so expensive, so this was a great idea. We grabbed subs and then ate the good stuff - ice cream, kettle corn, huge chocolate chip cookies, hard cider. We saw 2 jousting contests, a funny musical with a talented cast, and a couple of silly shows, including a rat circus. Shara got inspired by the circus and tried to train Brutus to jump through a hoop.

One thing both Alan and I noticed recently is the huge amount of energy Shara's had lately. The past year I had thought she was just a calm child that didn't like much physical activity, but I had seen the lack of energy. I now realize it wasn't because of her demeanor but how she was feeling, I assume. Now that she isn't getting the stomach aches anymore and eating better, it's obvious she happier and healthier. I guess that's a good place to end this post!

Ice Cream and Sushi

Yesterday at the market, Shara and I had a very fun time. Too much fun, which lead to bringing home too much ice cream. Normally I only have Edy's Light, or similar, but I love Edy's. She talked me into getting Ben and Jerry's. She was introduced to it in Vermont on our vacation last summer, then had it again at her bubbe's and yesterday saw it at the market and said, "oh mommy, can we get a pint? This is the flavor I had at bubbe's! It's Vermont's finest!" I took a few minutes and noticed they also had the coveted and very difficult to find "Schweddy Balls" so I caved. I told her we couldn't get both the Ben & Jerry's and her ice cream sandwiches, because when it comes down to it, she will forget about it and not eat much, and I'll be the one to finish it anyway!

For dinner we went to Asia steak and sushi.

Our boat!

This morning, after being up for about an hour, Shara finally looked out the window and freaked - "it looks more like the day before Christmas instead of the day before Halloween!"

Lunch

This had me written all over it

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Girls are made of

Cinnamon, spice and everything nice, thats what girls are made of. Snakes and snails and puppy dog tails, thats what witches are made of.

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Yom kippur

Friday, Shara and I picked up liz at her new apartment and we all took the trip to NY for the weekend. It was a beautiful ride, once the traffic cleared. We saw tons of deer and an amazing sunset. We got to jill's at about 7 pm and had a nice dinner of gigantic beans and a really good sausage soup. This was a good night for an early bedtime. We took advantage of not having to set an alarm and both slept until after 7 our so.
After a nice morning visiting, we drove to bubbes, picked her up after a short stop to say hi to aunt susan, who was dropping of a gorgeous challah, and went to shul. Nothing changes. After 40 years it's the same and now shara gets to experience it too. Shara happened to be wonderful during the service. She sat and read Charlotte's Web and didn't complain at all.

After yiskor, bubbe said she wanted to stay longer so shara and I went for a walk down union st. to see my old familiar stomping ground and get something to eat. We ended up going all the way down the street to Gershons and got to see tony and even ean into a couple other familiar faces. We had a lovely lunch on their patio, then realized we were late and walked back to pick bubbe up. Next stop was the bagel bakery, then to bubbes. The rest of the afternoon was spent getting break the fast meal together with a stop to play a game of uno and then some time outside to play catch with our make shift applegrams ball. It worked out great because it may have been hard, but it was also padded.
Shara had fun when all the kids came over and she got to play with all the different cousins. There wasn't much she could actually play with then because they are a bit young still. But we all had a nice time between ear-splitting shreaks from christopher. By the time we left, I think it was after 9:30!

So a late night but shara's been a ball of energy these days, so the trip back didn't bother her. We went on a short side trip to pick apples and then to a bbq place near the highway. It was very good but pretty sweet. The apple picking was interesting. Many of the apples had mold but this place didn't spray, so i'd rather have not so pretty but tastes good. And the mold scrubs off, which I didn't know until I cleaned then later that day. We filled a #20 bag and shara really wanted a hayride so we piled on just before it left and are lucky we didn't bounce right out! I got rather familiar with the man sitting behind me and would have grabbed him if I came any close to falling out. Luckily I didn't.

So the rest of the ride was rather uneventful. Shara watched a movie and I day dreamed. Another quick rush home and then we were off again, this time to oma and jidors to celebrate alan's birthday.

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Food is Beautiful: Cake Experiments

Food is Beautiful: Cake Experiments: Tonight Shara and I baked our favorite chocolate layer cake. This was her first time cracking an egg and most of it got in the bowl. At the ...

Around the neighborhood

Well it's finally happened. Shara didn't want to join me to pick up the farm order the other day because she was too busy playing with the neighborhood kids. How fun! She went over to her friends the other day and came traipsing home with several kids in tow. It looks like they played tag a bit, ran through the house to the front yard, back through the house to the basement, got some juice bags, back outside, then it was time for them all to go home!

new sneakers

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Virus alert

If shara's week couldn't have gotten any worse, Saturday afternoon she came down with a virus, a fever and then throwing up a few times. Luckily it ended early yesterday.evening and she's been hyper ever since.

Monday Shara went to the dentist and had a great report. Later she had her 7 year old checkup and we talked to the doctor about her stomach aches. To make sure nothing serious was going on, Shara had her first blood test. That wasn't very pleasant, but then the x-ray wasn't bad. We got good news that she doesn't have celiac (wheat allergies) but she does need to drink Miralax daily for a couple of months. After that, she'll need to make sure she continues to drink a lot of water and eat her veggies and fruits. Probably have to lower the amount of dairy as well. The doctor said some people need to eat well all the time. We'll see how things go once her tummy starts feeling better all the time. She'll probably have a better appetite and then eat more, so she'll get enough of the good stuff.

Last night we got to go to school and meet her teacher and see her class. That was fun and it was great to see Shara so excited about being in school. She really loves it. We can see how the teachers are gearing up for the MCAS though. But it makes sense to memorize adding numbers because when the problems become more complex, you don't want to be wasting time counting on fingers.

Today though was a sad time for all of us. We went to pick up the CSA order and when we got home, couldn't find Alan. My phone wasn't getting a connection so I couldn't hear the voice mail he left, but he called and said he was at the animal hospital with George. We knew he was getting thin, but everything else seemed ok. Yesterday he actually let Shara pet him, and that's what got Alan suspicious. He was certainly happy, but when Alan came home today and pet him, George almost fell over. He also got sick when Alan fed him some tuna juice to try to get him to drink something. Then it looked like he was trying to go to the bathroom but couldn't. So he packed him up and took him to the vets and they were pretty sure they felt a tumor and it wasn't a blockage. They couldn't be sure without several tests and leaving him overnight, but we decided long ago that we wouldn't put another pet through what Scratchy went through and decided to end any potential suffering. The doctor said his body had already started shutting down. Shara and I went to the hospital to say goodbye and he was very tired looking but purred the whole time. Alan stayed with him as he died and it was quick.
Good bye Georgie. We miss you.

RIP Scratchy and George

Cat day

Today shara is having"cat day". The refrigerator is being delivered now and she is working hard to keep the cats occupied.

She had a very busy week. This was her first week with dance and she's happy to be back. It doesn't seem as though having 2 classes back to back is going to be too much for her.

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School's Great!

Oh it was a fun first day of 2nd grade and she knew lots of kids in her class. Today was gym, it was fun, and she saw some friends from last year during lunch, so it sounds like they'll have recess together. It's rainy so it was indoor recess today. I think the only thing she finds disappointing about school is that she's almost never pictured or a mention in the newsletter. I told her it was probably because I wasn't at school as often as the other moms and they're the ones who take the pictures. That it has nothing to do with her. I really believe that too and it's natural to take pictures of your friends' kids rather than someone you don't really know.

However, she was very happy when I got home this evening. She even helped cook dinner - she asked if we could have the bacon wrapped dates (we got the ingredients at the market yesterday) and I was thinking it would be good to have because she wasn't going to like the eggplant I had planned. Originally she planned on making them with me but then lost interest last night. I thought she'd like to today and she did. I really just got her set up, showed her how to do one and left her alone to do the rest while I cooked dinner. She must have eaten 8 of them. And I'm just remembering we forgot to put in the nuts - just prosciutto and blue cheese. Yummy. She wants to take the leftovers (only 3 left!) for snack tomorrow.

Big second grader!

First day back and very happy to be starting her new school year.

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Sister's chicken

My sister Jill raised several meat chickens and I was lucky enough to get a couple. I roasted this using Dorie's method from Around my French Table. Looks great, assuming it will taste good too!

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Salsa

Yesterday we made salsa. Shara helped stir and even got dressed for the occasion. It took me a while to realize when she said fesh, she was trying to remember the word "chef". We had a good laugh. She was such a big help though. All day she did little jobs here and there that really added up to big time savers for me.

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A Day At the Races

 Last weekend we picked Shara up from Aunt Jill's. She had spent the week there and had a great time. Maybe some day she'll post some memories about it. We picked her up Friday and had a leisurely morning getting all Shara's stuff packed up and spending some more time visiting before heading to Saratoga. I grew up in the area, spent lots of time in Saratoga, my dad, Grandpa Bobby, even had a horse that raced at the harness track, but I had never been to the flat track before. It's one thing to read about it and see it on tv but completely different to actually be there. So much to see and smell and hear. Had I gone when I was younger, I would make sure we went every year or so. We happened to go on Traver's day to boot. So what we experienced may not have been the norm, but I'm guessing it was pretty close. Women of all ages in hats of all styles and heals of all heights! We watched a couple of races, bet and lost on one, then made our way toward a very late lunch. We hadn't gotten there until about 1 PM, but our schedules hadn't been regular since before vacation, so who cared if we had lunch at 3 PM? We went searching for the Shake Shack and boy was it worth it! Shara ate a whole cheeseburger and we split fries and a special dusty track shake? I can't remember the name but it was a salted caramel shake topped with ground chocolate. The salt may not have been very noticeable from the salt on the fries. Didn't matter, it was great. As we were heading out, trying to beat any rain from Irene, who did we run into but cousin Howard! Out of all the people we spotted him!

I'm glad we did because it had been a very long time since I'd seen him and he and Shara got to meet. I say this all the time, but we really need to go to the Capitol District for a much longer stay. It's always a whirl-wind. One of the things Shara got to do during her week there was spend some time with Bubbe as well as the Lookers. Bubbe took Shara to Jumpin' Jack's. Crazy that the next week they were under water. This is why it's so important to get out and go place and experience all that's around us. You never know when that chance won't be there. Jumpin' Jack's as well as the strong people of Vermont will rebuild, but to think that the if we had planned our vacation two weeks later, we would have had to cancel or go elsewhere. I feel we've been very fortunate in so many ways.

Stowe Vacation, day 8

Today was pretty sad, but we were brave and kept busy with a really fun event - the Alpine Slide! Shara and Alan were psyched to go but mommy chickened out. Shara said that sometimes we have to do things even if we're scared. She was scared but was still going to go. Right she was, but after I watched a bit of the action, I didn't feel scared and wished I had gotten a ticket. Well the fates took over and Alan and Shara were behind a woman who went really slowly and her husband gave me their third ticket! Pretty cool! Shara was thrilled because she really wanted me to go. We tried to keep the goodbyes quick and no one cried.

A girl with a purpose

Stowe Vacation Day 7 - Day of Vermont Food Tastings

- Dutch pancake cafe (2nd visit) Just as good, if not better than the first. Shara got the dutch chocolate chip pancake with a side of bacon. I had basically the same as the first time, but added strawberries, of which shara shared 1/2. Bubbe got the apple blueberry too. Alan had eggs blackstone, a sort of benedict, papa had a traditional breakfast. All was delicious and I was talking to a desk clerk at the inn side and she have me a copy of the recipe.

- cabot creamery factory tour, cheese and maple candy


- cabot creamery annex store, more cheese, crackers, maple syrup tastings; apple syrup tasted like very good applesauce, ginger syrup was mildly gingered

- green mountain coffee roasters, Had easy to grab, and healthy lunch at the cafe (chili garlic tofu and california roll) and got a couple bags of coffee. Prepared coffee was very good and cold without being watered down. Shara tasted my iced, black coffee and didn't spit it out. Good that she was forewarned though! alan and i also participated in a taste test of ice coffee for the keurig but neither of us thought either of the trials had enough coffee flavor.

- Cold Hollow Cider Mill, cider doughnuts, cider syrup jelly


After filling up, we decided it was a good time to let shara get the t-shirt she was promised the other day if she behaved herself and acted like a happy, human being. She mostly managed to, so bubbe, papa, and daddy waited in the car while shara and I took the long way to the general store with the life is good section. We got a little nervous because the stack of shirts shara wanted were moved, but we found them, and her size. The lady at the counter suggested shara use the changing room to switch shirts because she was going to put it on over the one she had on. So she changed and then we went back to the car, realizing we could go out the back door and be right near the car. Glad we didn't notice before.

We ended our day out by heading back to the condo and packing our stuff, munching on some normal foods, and playing one last game (headbandz), before calling out a night.

Mommy was glad to be busy with packing because it kept her mind off not seeing shara for a whole 5 days! Shara, on the other hand, laughed at mommy for starting to get emotional. She'll be just fine.

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Stowe Vacation, day 6

I have no pictures for today but we took a drive up Mt. Mansfield and checked out Spruce Peak via Smuggler's Notch, "A shorter and easier route to this scenic pond leaves from the parking area at the top of the Notch. The trail is steep and rocky for the first half mile, then flattens as it traverses Spruce Peak. It is another half-mile to Sterling Pond and a round trip total of 2 miles." We only went about 1/2 way. After going up the steep and rocky part, Shara wiped out on a tree root and called it a day. That was fine because Bubbe and Papa made really good time and were basically ready to meet us at the resort. After they settled in, we went to get tickets for the local theater production of Oklahoma. We thought we'd be able to get dinner in the village, but could see that wasn't in the cards, so headed back toward the resort and ate at Piecasso. I didn't think very well and didn't mention to the waitress that we had tickets to the theater, so had to hunt her down to let her know. Then things got speedier.

Shara loved her first experience of musical theater. What she didn't like were the gun shots, but we were warned before the show started. The next day I downloaded the soundtrack from the movie and got it onto her mp3 player. Then I heard she saw the movie at the Lookers!

Stowe Vacation, day 5

Today we went bike riding on the recreation path and then had dinner at the Alchemist. Shara rode on a trail-a-bike attached to Alan's bike, which was a good thing because I wiped out. I have great balance, but not on a bike and certainly not the confidence or skill needed to support another person. Shara was scared at first, but we took it slow and she ended up loving it.

The way into town was downriver, but back to the rental place was all up and she really helped peddle. Alan said she was a huge help. The path was really neat and the woman at the bike place gave Shara a list of things to look out for on the ride. We saw most of the things, including tall cairns, sculptures, and a man galloping on a horse (that wasn't on her list, but very cool!). We also made a stop to search for a geocache near one of the bridges. Alan found this one and Shara traded her fairy doll for a couple of sillybandz.

We stopped when we got to the start of the trail, which is in the village of Stowe. We walked up to Main St. Alan and I got a sandwich to split and Shara got a lemon soda in place of an ice cream. After the sandwich we got ice cream. More maple - a creamy for me and a maple walnut hard ice cream for Alan. Don't worry, Shara had several tastes of each and again wished she had gotten what I had. But all was good and we forced her to eat some peanut butter pretzels. Before getting back on the bikes, Alan checked and found a geocache nearby. Shara had the sharp eyes and found this one, even though it was really small. We signed the log and got back on the path. We seemed to make less stops going back but it was uphill so there were more short stops for water and to walk the bikes up a hill or two. The shifting was difficult and there were several sharp turns that came right before hills, so it was harder to get the speed up enough to make it up the hill.

When we finished the path, we went back to the resort so we could get ready for dinner. We needed to get there early so we could miss the two hour wait. We were successful! Shara had root beer and pizza and some of my rice & beans. I had beer and rice & beans, and Alan had beer and a burger & fries. We skipped dessert but on the way back to the resort, made a pit-stop at Ben & Jerry's. Shara couldn't believe I made this suggestion. She kept asking, "really? now? we can really go?" Well it was open and we got in to the 7 PM tour. There were a few others there. The tour leader reminded Alan of Samantha. She was about the same age, enthusiastic, cute, and very personable. She also had fun making silly cow jokes. Here was another tour where they weren't actually packaging anything, for some reason, but we still saw the movie, the equipment, and had a sample. They were making  chubby hubby, but the sample was Americone - the Stephen Colbert flavor.

Mooo!

Stowe Vacation, day 4

Mornings were great. We all slept LATE and then lazed around until brunch time when we made our way to The Dutch Pancake Cafe. Yum! Shara had traditional chocolate chip pancakes & bacon. Alan had a bacon & cheese pancake and I had the apple/blueberry pancake. Shara ate all of her pancakes, except for the couple of bites that daddy had to taste, and all her bacon. She didn't bother with the egg and who could blame her?

The chocolate fest continued when we drove to Lake Champlain Chocolates for their factory tour and tasting. It was pretty interesting. We heard about the process of their chocolate making and learned where the chocolate comes from and how the cocoa beans go from the pod to edible chocolate. We then had a taste of white cocoa butter (white chocolate), milk chocolate and then the dark. We weren't able to see much in the way of chocolate making, but we saw the equipment and then had another chocolate sample - milk chocolate peanut butter pumpkins.

After some more samples, and being assured that Shara wasn't hungry, we headed back to the resort. Shara had no interest in going to Shelburn Farms and wanted to go swimming instead. Alan agreed to swim with her while I went for a walk on the recreation path.

For dinner we tried to get into the Alchemist, but there was an almost 2 hour wait so we took a walk down the street and ended up at Ocha Thai restaurant instead. Shara and Alan had some pot stickers to start and I ordered the eggplant salad. Even with all of us sharing, there was still some leftover. For dinner Alan got his usual chicken basil. It was harder to find something for Shara but I thought she'd like the sweet & sour chicken. She sort of liked it but preferred my Garlic Crab, which I was happy to share. There were three huge soft shell crabs and the sauce was very savory, but also rather salty. This did get her to eat a lot of spinach, since it was slathered in the garlicky sauce. It was a fun meal and the atmosphere was very relaxing, unlike it would have been at the Alchemist. After dinner we took a little walk down the street and since it was getting late, thought it best to head back.

Stowe Vacation, day 3

It rained all day! But that didn't stop us because we had rain coats and hats. We went swimming in the morning, inside, and then into town to check out the village of Stowe. It was pretty busy there and we went to a beautiful craft store and Shara found a shirt she really liked and was told she could get at the end of the vacation if she did a good job behaving and having fun. She did!

We had dinner at Frieda's Taquaria, in the village.

Vacation Day 2

We decided to go to Burlington to check out the Maritime Festival. It was sort of a bummer because there wasn't much happening at 11 AM or even when we left the area at around 1 or so. We did get some Phish Food from Ben & Jerry's. They really give away a lot of ice cream! We also had a bit of lunch. Shara mostly had french fries and the ice cream. We found out that Shara (and mommy) need good food regularly or crankiness occurs. I know, we knew that already, but somehow being on vacation the good rules seem to go out the window. So after some food we walked around the waterfront some more. That was really nice. We also took a walk around the downtown and that was less nice since there was some street construction going on. It wasn't the type of town I was expecting, or else we were in the wrong area. There weren't a lot of interesting shops or even too many people. Maybe it was too early, or Sunday? Not sure.

I think this was the day we went to the glass blowing studio. Shara was completely uninterested, until we got there and saw the glass blowing in action. It was very cool and mesmerizing.

We went back to the apartment and checked out the pool. It was actually quite enjoyable once you got over the chill. We swam around for a while and then headed in to think about dinner. By that time Shara was done so we had a quick meal of leftovers and called it a night.

Stowe Vacation, day 1

We had a long but peaceful drive to vermont today. Shara watched the smurfs much of the way but also listened to her songs; justin bieber and selena gomez. We stopped in concord, nh for lunch at a bagel shop that served sandwiches too. I had an eggplant panini with other grilled veggies, shara had ham and cheese, and alan had a meaty cheesy one. We got a nice table outside and had a nice time people and dog watching. We then strolled down the street and stopped into a kitchen store. Had a lot of fun trying to figure out the various gadgets, including a butter curler. Found out rolling pins are good for massaging backs and also liked glass marker suction cups that matched the owners personality.

The rest of the trip was also unremarkable, other than getting to vt and viewing the gorgeous scenery. We came straight to our resort because we were well past checkin time and wanted to see the place and get settled in. It's a great space and clean. There are two bedrooms on the top floor and two bathrooms, also on the top floor, which is a bit odd, but works. The living space is comfortable and we have room for scrabble and puzzles.

After we cleaned up, we decided to find someplace to walk to for dinner. We started off down the road and ended up at the Shed. It had lots of good reviews, but seemed very touristy, which it was. Alan and I split a ski of beer, their sampler, and I had a spinach, chicken, craisin, blue cheese salad. Shara had a 1/2 rack of ribs and fries, alan had wings and a salad. We all enjoyed our dinners but all felt sticky afterwards. Mine wasn't messy but the beer was slopped all over.

We cleaned up, went back to the apartment and decided to head downtown for the antique car festival. The main street was closed off and the cars lined the road. We got to walk around and look at the beautiful autos. We accompanied the looking with the local favorite ice cream from I.C. Scoops. Shara had a chocolate creamey (soft ice cream), alan had a scoop of maple bacon, which tasted great but apparently the texture of frozen, chewy bacon bits didn't work as well for alan as everyone else. But he still enjoyed it. I had the tart frozen yogurt parfait, but instead of granola, asked for hot fudge with the fresh blueberries and strawberries. Very good. I also got the bonus of finishing shara's cone. The cars could only hold their magic for so long, even with a dj playing oldies and people dancing in the streets, so we called it a night and headed back.

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Drive-In

Last night was Shara's first trip to the Drive-In. What was playing, the Smurfs! After being gone all last weekend, on Monday I picked Shara up early from Tina's and took her to... the Smurfs. We had a good time both times, but last night we had the bonus of being with other kids from school. Actually Shara only new one, but she was more than happy to see her and boy was Shara excited. She talked non-stop, all the way to the Mendon Drive-In. We all followed together so we could get spaces together and ate, played a bit, then the movie. It was fun and I'd like to do it again.

Food is Beautiful: simple slow-roasted tomatoes - French Fridays w/ D...

Food is Beautiful: simple slow-roasted tomatoes - French Fridays w/ D...: "I've made similar tomatoes before from Vegetables by James Peterson. His recipe called for removing the seeds. This may be simple, but very ..."
Shara helped me make these. Apparently didn't like the tomatoes. I thought she ate a bunch, but yesterday she said she didn't like anything about them. She prefers most of her vegetables uncooked - right off the plant. Nothing wrong with that!

Enjoying dinner from the farm

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Bubbe's Birthday

Yesterday we had a great day with family. We got to spend the trip to Bubbe's with Lizzy and then visited with Susan's family and the Lookers. Shara was really funny with the card for Bubbe. The other night we went to Borders to get her present and Shara found a candle she really liked - it had a sticker of a cupcake on top. She got that and then found a card to go with it - a birthday card and it had a cupcake on the front and said something like, "how old are you? well candlelight is very forgiving". They went together prefectly and when it became the family card, she wasn't too happy. I signed it first, then Alan and Shara signed it, "from Shara, the real person who gave the card" - mom, please comment on this post with the actual wording she used. It was so cute, I don't want to forget it!

pre-party lunch from Bella Napoli

Nice picture Shara took of Liz & Sam

Whale Watch

Last Monday we had a very nice time going on a whale watch from Plymouth. We didn't see the whales super close, but boy there were a lot of them. Shara was so excited to go that when the whales started jumping, I think she was  a little disappointed because they were farther away. The boat can't get too close, and they didn't come right up to us. She did take a nap on the way back to the harbor, and has very happy memories of the trip and wants to go on another, so that's really the tell-tale sign of how much she liked it!

Farewell AFY - until next year

We had a nice treat today and got to see what Shara's been doing for the past few weeks at Arts for Youth camp. A lot! She learned 3 dances, 4 songs, 3 "plays", and produced at least 10 pieces of artwork. We got to see all of it today! She also did yoga in the open review.  It was very cute and amazing to me that she loves performing so much with people she hardly knows.

During the opening review we saw some of the play/pretend fighting they had learned. Shara showed us this earlier in the week and we took our turns "punching" and "kicking" each other. She was pretty good at it too. Well, today we find out that she didn't actually learn how to do this but saw them doing it on stage and figured it out. So we were letting a seven year old take swings at us and she wasn't even professionally trained! Tonight she wanted to play fight again and all of a sudden I was nervous! But she is careful, I have to admit.

We left before the 2nd review. Shara was dead tired and it was pretty hot in the art studio we were in just before going down to the review and when we left the studio she said she wanted to leave. I made her go with me and tell someone so they wouldn't be expecting her to be there. It didn't sound like anyone would have been - I guess the whole camp was going to go across the stage like a finale, but no performances. On the way home she really lost it and just started crying. She was so tired! When she finally calmed down and got herself together we all decided we needed ice cream and a swim. And that's what we did.