Berkshires Vacation - Day 7

Ah, our last day here in the mountains. We got a very late start - Shara didn't get up until close to 10:30, and I had to wake her. I guess this vacation schedule is getting a bit out of hand. Today we decided to take a hike and found the Ice Glen in Stockbridge. We grabbed some lunch at The Housatonic Cafe in Lee. The Yelp reviews sounded great and indeed it was. It was also slow, as stated, so best not to be there when you have somewhere to go. I had the Everything veggie - Lettuce, tomato, cukes, olives, roasted red peppers, onion and fresh basil with honey mustard on an herb-cheese ciabatta roll. Shara had the Brooklyn Bridge - First-cut pastrami shaved with Baby Swiss, sauerkraut and spicy mustard on sour dough bread. Grilled for the thrill! The bread was amazing as were the sandwiches. This was honestly one of the best sandwiches I've ever had. I think it was the combo of the calamata olives, peppers and onions. But tomorrow we're going to get more of this bread. I found it's Berkshire Mountain Bakery bread and it is incredible - chewy and perfect for sandwiches.

Once we got out of there we went to the car and helped someone out with a jump. I had to get the manual out, but refound how to open the hood of the car. He was most grateful. On to Stockbridge to find the Ice! And find it we did. I stopped at town hall to ask exactly where it was and the tax collector gave us the directions on getting to the trailhead. We were parked where we should be to get to it, so all was perfect. The weather was nice but we still put on bug spray. The trip into the woods was very nice - old growth forest with tons of knotty roots to climb over. We made the decision to go to the ice glen, rather than the fire tower and this was a great decision. Shara led the way up the boulders and down and through the narrow paths, It was a lot of fun and cool and cool - the boulders stored lots of the cold in between and made little caves that could hold ice through summer. We didn't see any ice but did get cooled off nicely. On the way out it started to rain and luckily we were in the forest so not a big downpour on us. Shara then took a look at the nearby playground and then we headed back to the resort. On the way back we stopped at Chocolate Springs for a treat. Shara chose the Coffee Mousse Cake and I got some dark chocolate basil discs to have at a later date because I was wanting to try that Wow Cow "ice cream" again.

Back at the resort, Shara hung out in the bedroom while I had a conference video call with church, then we went to dinner. You can see the Yelp review but one comment Shara made that didn't get into the review was, "the wings are like little bites of heaven." We had a fun time being girls on the town. and didn't get back until after 10 PM. That was bad enough but then it turns out she read for a while, slept for a bit and was then up for 45 min. around 12 AM. Obviously she's still sleeping so I will pack around her.

Today we'll head back and will stop at the Berkshire Mountain Bakery to get some of that amazing bread and try to recreate the sandwich experience we had yesterday. Also need to stop and get blueberries. The ones we had the first day tasted like what blueberry flavoring is modeled after! All in all, this was a great vacation, despite the sadness that reminds us to appreciate all of these times as much as possible because life is short. Not just the big vacations but the everyday events and the people we're fortunate enough to share them with.

Berkshires Vacation - Day 3

We had another leisurely morning, having some of the breakfast supplies bought the day before. We discussed some ideas of what to do and decided to check out Mount Greylock. It's only about 8 miles away from the resort. We went to the visitor's center and got a map and some hints from listening to the ranger at the desk and decided to head to the summit because they were giving a tour at 1 PM. When we got there we listened for a few minutes but found it rather boring so decided to take a walk until 2 PM, when a scavenger hunt began. We found the Overlook Trail and walked in for about 10 min and then walked out. It was in the woods and very pretty, but rather moist, as the ranger had warned us about. Not a big deal though - down hill then back up. Went about 1/3 mile and on the way back to the map, which is by the parking lot and where the scavenger hunt was to begin, we got to walk on the Appalachian Trail. That was a real treat! We found a rock with a Thoreau quote saying basically learning about nature was just as important as a classical, college education.

We got the scavenger hunt list and set to work. It took us about an hour and a half and we were all over that summit! It was great and we learned about the subalpine trees that grow there - the only subalpine forest in the state and the war memorial, which to me looked like a chess piece. I mentioned that to Shara and wondered if it was the king or queen. She thought it looked like a pawn and that was a great observation and we discussed the use of the pawn in chess and how it could be related to the use of soldiers in the military and if that's what the designer of the monument may have been thinking. We also spent some time looking at the surrounding landscape, which was simply amazing. What an oxymoron! Here's what we saw:

Shara demonstrating her fear of heights:

Eventually she made it farther down to where you can see the people in the distance. It wasn't bad at all - just look at the few yards ahead and not out in the distance.

We also split a linner at the Bascome Lodge - a grilled ham & cheese which came with coleslaw and potato salad. It was good and the dining room took full advantage of the overlook. After eating we decided it was time to head back to the resort. Shara wanted to practice riding her bike. She fell the other day and skinned her knee and is still freaked out so the practice didn't go so well and she's wanting to give the bike away. We'll figure that out later. Since shopping cures all ills, we went to Pittsfield and checked out one store that was still open at 6 PM on a Sunday - Brits R' Us. A great store with a very nice owner who truly understands customer service. He was waiting for some people and if he's there, he's open. And not just open but also very nice and welcoming. We had a nice talk while Shara counted her change to see if she had enough for a Chocolate Frog. She was just short but of course I bought it for her and she'll "pay me back". We also found real Cadbury candy and got a couple bars to sample - flake and crumble (honeycomb). I think I'm trying to show Shara that less sweet is a good thing. It was fun looking around the town and reading the medallions in the street, marking the original buildings. Very cool, old town and certainly one that's being reinvented (gentrified). We did think it would be a good idea to get some dessert though and again went back to the resort to have a bit of healthy fruit and vegetable before doing so, We went to Krispy Cones, a traditional soft ice cream stand. Shara got a dipped cone and I had a sundae, which is the best way to have soft ice cream, in my opinion. It wasn't exactly ice cream though. I tried something new called "wow cow", an all natural, water based frozen dessert. I wouldn't want to have it on its own but as a texture in the sundae it was great, and only 60 calories per serving!

To end the evening, we went to the indoor pool again. There were kids in the outdoor pool but it's not heated and there's no way I was going to go swimming in 66 degree weather. It was hard enough walking to the indoor pool, not to mention walking back dripping wet! So another very late night and fun-filled day for both of us!

Boston Public Market

Shara and I had a fun trip into Boston to mingle with other foodies at the Boston Public Market. It's the new indoor market with various local vendors such as farms, bakeries, etc. We tried a cup of beef chili (Lilac Hedge Farm), Shara sampled the watermelon fudge (Red Apple Farm?) and said it was great, we then split an Amazing Brown Butter Hazelnut Crunch doughnut (Union Square Donuts) and while in line,, grabbed a taste of a green apple vinegar from Mangé. We did go back and get the bottle after trying a few more. Across from the vinegar was a farm selling green plums and I had to get some of those. We also tried a few nuts from Q's Nuts and decided on the Chocolate Blood Orange Almonds and the Hot Peach Cashews. I believe we'll be getting some blue cheese, which we didn't think to pick up at the time, and make a salad with the plums, cashews, and green apple vinegar.

doughnut!

Shara eating the doughnut!

After the market we went across the street to the Puerto Rican Festival. The nut vendor mentioned the food over there was better than at the market, so I had to drag Shara to see if that was true. It was. She wasn't hungry so only had a bite but I ate a fried sweet plantain stuffed with meat. It also was amazing. Must be something about fried food?

On the way back to the T we took a walk through the Holocaust Memorial. At first Shara wasn't interested but then she started reading some of the facts changed her mind. She wondered if Aunt Jill or Aunt Susan would have cried like I did and I said probably not. As most things, I was fine until I read a quote, a fact, etc. then the tears sprung. I explained to Shara how I grew up with it and it meant a lot to me.

We made it back to Braintree and home. Chilled for a bit and then headed out to the pool. Water was practically hot compared to the nice, cool air. Had some races, played tag, practiced surface diving, and had a generally nice evening.

rock the casbah

Last night we had our goods and services auction party, rock the casbah. Our Moroccan feast went well. Good company, food and entertainment. A lot of work but it didn't go unappreciated. We get to do a mini-version for two couples who couldn't attend, and that will be nice too.
Shara provided the after dinner entertainment with her belly dancing. We got her costume, adult-size, and she did a remarkable job pinning it up so it looked perfect. Nice that this will last several years.

Menu:
Fresh Tomato & Caper Salad
Grated Cucumber (Feggous) Salad w/ Orange Flower Water
Roasted Beet Salad w/ Cinnamon
Sweet & Spicy Moroccan Eggplant
Sweet Potato Salad (Arabesque Cookbook)
Cooked "Wild Greens" Salad
Crushed Spiced Carrot Salad
Marrakech Tagine Bread
Potato Tagine w/ Olives & Harissa
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Tagine of Baby Calamari & Shrimp w/ Red Pepper & Tomato
Chicken & Fennel Tagine
Couscous
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Mint Tea
Passover Baklava Cake

Chef Shara

This should have been posted about two weeks ago. Didn't realize it was still a draft.

This morning I asked Shara if she's be able to cook the rice by herself tonight because Alan had to meet with a fence guy and I had to go to a meeting. She said sure and suggested I write the directions on the white board. She did a good job! Alan had to put some things in the oven. He did a good job too.

Kitchens where all the fun is!

So this is Holly. She came back to us last night and is already causing trouble. She kept us from eating the Cardamom Orange Spritz Cookies Shara & I made Thursday night.














This evening we were at church for the annual Holly Faire.Shara was a big help in the kitchen. She was much more focused and efficient before she started eating the bakers dozen of cookies she bought herself. As you can see, she had a very fun time!

More Family Visits & Photo Catch-up

This weekend we went to Schenectady for my 25th High School reunion. Shara spent a nice evening with Bubbe and papa - they had dinner and watched the Yankees (eek). Earlier in the evening we looked through old family photos and found several of me when I was in high school and just after. Shara's comment about all of us back then was, "you had a lot of volume" - talking about our hair! I never realized how high it was at the time, but yup, looking back, there was quite a lot of it! We also went through the older generations and put names to the faces and tried to tell some stories. I need to get more pictures of the family so Shara will know who they are.

When we got back at 11 PM to pick her up, we found her half asleep on bubbe's lap. We then packed everything up and moved on to the next stop, Aunt Jill's. Crazy Aunt Jill was still wide awake and making Aunt Susan's apple crumb pie. You'd think Shara would have fallen right to sleep, but it took her over 1/2 hour to settle down and feel sleepy enough. About seven hours later we were up again and having a nice morning visit. Aunt Jill made a hearty breakfast and the girls all had a piece of the yummy apple pie. We all took turns showering and getting ready to go to the Empty Bowls Project event.

We met my friend Susan S. there and all got to know each other while waiting in the fairly long line. But with good company it went quickly. Shara found her favorite bowl right away. It's very different - footed with a textured pattern on the inside and out of pretty maroon/brown ovals. Alan picked out a beautifully shaped bowl in a greenish/brown color and the one that finally called to me was one that was the same shape as Alan's but blue. I hadn't even seen what he picked.

We went in to start sampling the soups. It was a little difficult to have all of us stick together, but we managed to cross paths and enjoy the soup as well. Shara's favorite was the Squash Bisque from Finnbar's Pub. I hadn't realized there was another Butternut Squash soup from Potter's Restaurant at Sterup Square. I would have loved to try that one too. I'd have to say my favorite was the Beet Borscht (Red beet broth with red beans, potatoes, and sliced beets.) from Muza's and the Broccoli Smoked Gouda from Chef Jackie Baldwin. Alan liked the broccoli the best as well.

We then said our sad goodbyes, made easier by bringing Liz back with us. We had a nice ride home - and even designed the menu for Thanksgiving. Shara discovered Netflix on the phone too. Oh yea, more tv! Hopefully she'll be refreshed tomorrow and not too exhausted after our whirlwind of a weekend!

More photos from the past month - follow this link.

Beach Day

Amazing how time goes by so fast at the beach. We left around 11:30 am, I didn't realize it took over an hour to there. We went to Roger Wheelers park in narragansett. We had to make a stop on the way because we forgot the swimmies. We also didn't bring a chair for shara because her little folding chair is a bit on the small side for her now. At the market we found the swimmies and a chair. It was hard to tell the cost but I asked shara if it's $30, can we share a chair or can you sit on the towel? She had no problem understanding that was too much to spend for this. We also picked up a couple pieces of pizza for alan and shara since she didn't like anything in the house and I thought it would be better for her to have one thing, rather than try to get her to eat the various items I brought to make up an actual meal. The pizza was a good idea. She ate it in the car and ended up eating nothing at the beach. Much more interesting things to so there than eat!
Turns out we didn't even need the swimmies we bought. Shara had a fine time trying out body surfing with alan. She drank some of the ocean, said she nearly drowned but was able to save herself, and was very happy swimming around. The water was warm and calm. The sand was soft and fine. I think it is much nicer than the beaches on the Cape. Alan & Shara were in the water most of the time. When she wasn't in the water, she was being buried in the sand, digging in the sand, or complaining about not being in the water.
After the beach we went down the road to Auntie Carries seafood  restaurant & ice cream for dinner and dessert.

Girls' Day Out

It was all about eating, as usual. We went to the first show of Mirror Mirror. At home we popped corn on the cob in the microwave, in a paper bag. I know we're not supposed to being in food, but it's so much better than what we'd get at the theater. Shara requested butter and salt on hers. I melted the butter in a zip lock bag, then added the popped corn, tossed, added some salt, and she ate about a 1/2 gallon's worth. I loved it just plain. On the way to the movie, Shara continued to listen and read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. We were one of five cars in the lot so we didn't worry about getting tickets. The movie was really fun for both of us. My eyes were covered for me during the one kiss, but other than we laughed quite a bit.

After the movie we headed to 5 Guys Burgers and Fries. Shara had a small bacon cheeseburger with no toppings. I had a small hamburger with lettuce, tomato, pickles, grilled onions, and mustard. We split a regular fry and had plenty to bring home to daddy. Shara also wrapped up the little bit of burger she had left. At dinner, when he ate it, she said, "I wrapped it myself and smashed it." We dropped off the fries to the car and headed over to Hilliard's in the hot April heat. I asked her if she was going to really eat a whole scoop because if she didn't, I'd be finishing it and she said she would. We both knew I didn't want to eat it but would because I have no will-power. She ate about 1/4 of the scoop and yes, I finished it. Hers was much better than mine. Their frozen yogurt would be perfect if it weren't for the bit of tang (yogurt flavor). Not all froyo has it, but this does. The coffee flavor was strong and the toffee mix-in was their candy, so of course it was great. I shared my marshmallow topping, but she didn't want any of the hot fudge. Shara got the Cookies and Cookie Dough - "We make our cookie dough from scratch, we couldn't bring ourselves to use commercial frozen dough pellets found in other ice cream." Topped with chocolate jimmies too - and these are real chocolate - crunchy flakes, of very chocolaty chocolate. The woman put a very large spoonful in the bottom of the cup and topped it with at least 2 more spoonfuls. I really enjoyed this and need to remember next time. But I probably won't. I'll ask Shara to remind me.

Then we went to the market and needed to pick up a challah because this is the closest market where they get really good, traditional challah - from a bakery in Brookline. Then we got into the hot car and headed home. Shara then spent the next 2 1/2 hours! reading/listening to more Harry Potter. She's now up to chapter 12. After we left her room for her to go to sleep, I hear her calling me. I went in and she tells me she's scared because of Harry Potter. I told her she shouldn't read it anymore if it's too scary. She assured me it's only when reading at night. She asked if she could sleep with me and when I said I wasn't going to bed yet, she asked if I could come get her when I did go to bed. I'm guessing she's been asleep for a while now.

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.

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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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 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.

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!

Real Birthdays

The next day, before going to Aunt Jill's for Father's Day, Shara lost another tooth! What a nice time we had visiting with family. Grandpa and Nonni were there, and so was Aunt Susan and almost the whole family, who we haven't seen in at least 2 1/2 years - Jimmy, Billy, Jenn & Holly, Katie and her sweet little boy Christopher, Danny, and Annie's children Angel and Rosie. Even Rickie called to say hello. Jill invited Anne and Sid and it was obvious that dad appreciated their coming too. Shara had a fun time with all the kids and seemed to feel like the big cousin. She also showed me the pigs and we watched the chickens for a bit as well as getting a little tour of the garden. We took back quite a bit of yummy bounty - bok choy (3 kinds!), broccoli rabbe (excellent and not at all bitter), and lamb's quarters (haven't tried it yet). Along with the bag of veggies, we also brought back Liz. Despite the traffic, we had a great time playing with Shara's United States trivia cards and then Alan and Liz played Word-friends against each other (yes in the same car, but over the air) and Liz teamed up with Shara and the two of them did very well. Shara finally fell asleep on the way to our house, about 10 minutes after leaving Liz's. But it was still too much for her and the next evening, after a miserable evening, went to bed at 7 PM. Not soon enough!


However, it was the best thing because today she woke up happy on her real birthday and last day of school! She really had a fun-filled day. The school lunch was fruit loops fun lunch but she opted for a homemade one - leftover broccoli rabbe w/ garlic & leftover chocolate raspberry cake. I thought that was a good choice. Then I got to be her special birthday guest and came in to read "Oh Say Can You Say" to the class and was able to hear her whole class sing to her. It was very cute. She had a special birthday crown she wore for the story too. What a nice class she was in. She's sad school is over for the year, but very excited that she has changed so much. She got out her September journal and her June journal and had Alan and me read a page from each and it is amazing the difference. She went from an almost non-reader to me having to tell her not to read the very adult book on my nightstand!

When she came home, we read the birthday cards from her class and she finally got her root beer that she's been waiting for since Saturday! We then went out for sushi and she had her usual Idaho maki (sweet potato tempura), but also had some edamame, miso soup, salmon sushi, a piece of spicy Rose roll - spicy tuna w/ eel & tobiko on top? some complicated special. She really liked the tobiko and ate just that off another piece.

Alan & Shara making pasta

Carlsbad Vacation - Day 3 - Zoo

At the zoo I saw monkeys, giraffes, and elephants.

Today we checked out the world famous san diego zoo. We saw elephants, giraffes, and monkeys. Shara's favorite animals were the monkeys, because they were so cute. The skyline was very fun too because we got to go up in the air and  it was like a ride. My favorite part of it was was was um was the last part of it because the last part you would go
back down really fast. Oh oh oh, and the pandas were so cute too. The walking part was very boring. The maze wasn't like really cool because we kept getting lost trying to find the pandas and we felt really frustrated. And you could even have a root beer float, but I didn't have a root beer float. All I had was a plain root beer. But it wasn't just a plain root beer. It was bigger than Shara's head! and cost a bizillion dollars!

After the zoo, we went back to the resort and Shara and mommy checked out the pool while daddy had a nap. The water felt much warmer when we tested it the day before. Today it was oh so cold! But we got in anyway and had quite a fun time swimming around and jumping. We stayed for just a short time because we wanted to go out to dinner and needed to shower/bath and get dressed. Getting out of the pool was an experience. THe pool temperature was about 70 degrees, but the outside temperature was probably 62 and it was cloudy and breezy. We made a dash for the towels and managed to get dried off a little before freezing to death. On the way out of the pool area, we dropped off the towels and took a look at the ice cream snacks in the freezer at the pool. THey had very yummy looking treats and the person at the activities desk asked if we wanted any. I asked if we needed to keep them at the pool, and she very nicely said we could bring them back to the rooms. They ranged in price from $1.25 to 3.75. I said thank you and it was good to know they were available. I then told Shara, quietly, on the way back to the room, that I thought they may have been free, but I guess not!

So we got back to the room and cleaned up. After last night's terrible sushi we all wanted some good food for dinner. The vote was cast and sushi won, but only really good sushi. According to chowhound.com, Kaito sushi in Encinidas was supposed to be the best sushi in the world, it would seem, so we headed there. Bonus that it was only about 15 minutes away. I had thought it was all the way in downtown San Diego. We got to the restaurant and Shara's a beautyful girl. i learned to eat with chopsticks. they're very fun! I LOVE SUSHI! We also were able to get seats at the sushi bar and decided that this is the best way to go. The meal began with us receiving our place settings of ginger, wasabi (they were nice and didn't give any to Shara) and a small bowl of pickled rice noodles. Shara ate both her's and daddy's, with chopsticks! We looked at the menu for the sweet potato tempura maki and it wasn't there, but they had no problem making it on request. Shara also ate a whole bowl of edamame along with her 1 1/2 sweet potato rolls! The sweet potato was white, not the usual orange we get back home. She was a hungry bunny. Alan and I ordered saki, uni, since we thought if any place would have it done properly, it would be here, and a roll called spicy crispy. The spicy crispy had cream cheese, which I don't normally like, but the roll was battered and deep fried and the cream cheese melted into the tuna, jalapenos, and something else none of us remember. It was very good. The uni was also really good and made both Alan and myself feel confident that we gotten a bad batch the first time we tried it. It reminded me of tomally - lobster liver. Shara even liked it. It's very rich though, so I couldn't eat more than one piece. I also tried the eel - sea, not fresh water. The sushi chef told me to eat it with my fingers because it was very tender. He was right and it was also very good. Not too sweet or overcooked like other eel. It was a fabulous meal and much deserved after the dinner we had the evening before.

Cupcakes - finally a photo of all of us!

Photo By thomasglobal

No Great Wall

Saturday we had a real treat. We met Aunt Jill, Liz, Samantha, and Jesus in Chinatown for Dim Sum. It was a lot of fun. Shara read her Junie B. Jones book all the way there. We got to Chau Chow City and went upstairs. The place wasn't very busy yet but immediately we had a bunch of food put in front of us. Shara wanted to sit next to Samantha, of course, and didn't want to be anywhere near mommy. She really liked the food too and wants to go back. I asked her later what she liked most about it to want to go back, thinking she'd say family, but she actually said the food. Not that she didn't love spending time with family, but she definitely separated the two. While we walked around a bit, Shara kept mentioning the Great Wall of China. We told her it was far away, in China. Just tonight she mentioned it again and said she really thought we were going to see it that day. At least we got to see the cool gate.

On the way home, we stopped by the AAA travel show. After a piece of candy, Shara was much happier and decided looking at possible vacations wasn't so bad. So we got the Disney cruise and adventure brochures and also picked up a bunch of other pamphlets. Not sure what we'll do. We have our trip to CA to think about first, but a cruise is very appealing. And so is New Orleans, and the national parks...