Spring Break - Part 3

A highlight of our trip was seeing the Norman Rockwell exhibit at the Crystal Bridges Museum. When I was growing up, my grandmother subscribed to the Saturday Evening Post, so I grew up looking at the wonderful illustrations on the covers. Taking a two-year-old through an art exhibit brings its own pleasures—like when she pointed at the crying baby on one magazine cover and said, "That baby needs a hug." And, the scruffy clown painting she saw and said, "Somebody needs to clean him up." It was fun to see how much of the exhibit she actually took in.

But the very best times we had were just doing regular grandparent things—

...like getting ready for bedtime,

...picking out books for bedtime stories.

Daddy-O did things with Baby Sister, too.

She had her first hands-on lesson in using tools.

And our last night was reserved for dyeing Easter eggs. 

Somebody forgot to tell Baby Sister not to peel the eggs first. 

How different she is this year! Last year she just watched. 

This year she could do the eggs by herself. Sort of.

It was fun to hear all the new things she's learned to say since we last saw her. Phrases that regularly peppered her conversation—"Oh, my goodness!" "What in the world?" And my favorite, "Hmmm, I wonder....." that she said as she walked around her huge block structure trying to decide how to add one more block. How quickly they change.

We stopped by and woke Baby Sister up early (sorry, Mommy) for one last hug before we headed home. Won't be too long before we see her again, I hope.

Spring Break - Part 2

Since Big Sister was out of school for an entire week, we "girls" packed the car and hit the road. They are fairly new residents in their part of the country so exploring the surrounding cities as been a regular activity since they moved. Today the car headed to Kansas City, Missouri. This was my first time in that state.

I have said before that when I hear the word vacation, I think of beaches. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that you can have a great vacation smack in the middle of the country. 

Kansas City was a beautiful place. There were public sculptures everywhere. And there are enough fountains that you could even take a "fountain tour" of the city.There are many museums, too. 

But our trip was planned for Baby Sister and Big Sister. The first thing on the agenda was the aquarium where Baby Sister met the "meow fish"—which is toddler speak for "cat fish."

I had fun just watching everyone "watch." I don't get to see them often so that was pure pleasure for me.

There was so much that we didn't have time to do. Legoland and Hallmark's (headquartered here) Kaleidoscope for young visitors and the Crayola Cafe will have to wait for another time. 

But we did have lunch where our food was delivered by a toy train. And we made time for frozen custard before we left Crown Center. 

Remember the short sleeves we were wearing at the St. Patrick's Day parade just days ago? Well, the weather changed. We had fun at the Kansas City zoo, but the most exciting part for me was getting to see snow. Mommy pointed out that we knew we were not in South Carolina when bus loads of school children walked through the zoo paying no attention at all to the falling snow. Here at home any falling snow would have school officials beginning to think about school dismissal and all the mamas would be headed to the store for bread and milk.

Another day we went to the Science Center and the Planetarium at Union Station. The Science Center had activities for kids of all ages. Baby Sister loved spending time in the preschool room where she could touch and play with everything.

Big Sister talked me into paying $2 to go in the tornado booth with her where we enjoyed standing in 78 mph winds for a few minutes. Trust me, there are no photos of us coming out that booth. What grandmothers will do!

The funniest moment was in the railroad section. We had been through rooms and rooms of railroad displays. The girls had played with the model train display and climbed up into an engine car. But when we rounded another corner Baby Sister shouted, "Daddy-O!" She saw it before we did. The cattle car exhibit included a cowboy —

—a cowboy complete with a mustache. She didn't want to leave this "Daddy-O." So funny. But she had to leave him and we all had to leave Kansas City. There were still more things to do at home. My trip was only half over.

I promised I would share a few recipes from my trip. Here is one from Mommy. She made this yummy appetizer one night while we were there. And this first tray disappeared so quickly, she had to put together another batch.

She said she didn't have a recipe per se, but saw a picture of this appetizer on Instagram and figured this was close. The photo of the ingredients is pretty much the "recipe." It's a great combination of tastes and textures.

EASY SMOKED SALMON HERB APPETIZERS

1 package rosemary sea salt French rounds

1 container Boursin light garlic & herb cheese spread

1 package smoked salmon (she used nova lox)

fresh rosemary

Spread the Boursin cheese onto the French rounds. Top with the smoked salmon. Add a tiny sprig of fresh rosemary to each one.

The French rounds are crunchy which pairs nicely with the creamy cheese. And this is ready in minutes. If these exact ingredients are not available in your store, you could adapt this recipe to whatever version of these ingredients you can find.

Spring Break - Part 1

As my friends here who are teachers and parents get excited because spring break starts tomorrow on Good Friday, I'm looking back at our spring break memories from the past couple of weeks. Evidently spring break in the midwest follows a different calendar because everywhere we went (the week before Holy Week) there were hundreds of families and children enjoying time off.

I was so happy to see my family when I finally arrived after spending most of the day in airports. And Baby Sister was happy to see me. And my iPhone. She calls my phone "Old McDonald." It was a constant request while I was there—"See Old McDonald?" That's the first app I added for her. But she can zoom around that phone better than I can now, hardly slowing down for the actual Old McDonald any more.

And with this smile, I can't resist handing it to her almost every time she wants it. 

Mommy had a full calendar for my time out there. First thing on Saturday morning was the St. Patrick's Day parade—my first one ever. Baby Sister liked it all except for the "fireplace" that was too loud and made her cry. In two-year-old language, fireplace = fire truck. 

Several times she talked about the "loud fireplace that made her cry." But then she would go on to say after that then she was happy when they threw necklaces and candy to the crowd.

We also stopped by the most unique shops I've ever seen. There was a semi-circle of Airstream trailers, each housing a different business. We checked out the pie shop and the flower shop. It's so much fun to see things we don't have at home.

We did a little bit of shopping that afternoon, too. Big Sister and I got new Toms shoes. And Baby Sister picked out new glasses.

Daddy grilled his famous salmon that night and Mommy made this yummy dish for dinner on Sunday night. It was originally called a "casserole" but we renamed it a "hot dish" since Daddy doesn't eat casseroles. Whatever you call it, it's delicious. (The directions are long, but it's super simple.)

LAZY SUNDAY HOT DISH

1 (14 oz.) package turkey kielbasa or smoked sausage, cut into 3-in. pieces & split lengthwise
1 pound potatoes
1/2 pound carrots
1/2 bell pepper (red or yellow)
1 large onion
1 fennel bulb
2 garlic cloves
2 tbsp oil
freshly cracked black pepper
1-1/2 tsp Italian herbs
1/2 cup chicken broth
4 tbsp balsamic vinegar 

Peel the potatoes, wash them and cut each potato in four pieces. Peel one large or two smaller onions and cut them in wedges. Remove the base and stalks of the fennel, and cut into wedges. Slice 1/2 to 1 bell pepper in strips. Place everything in a big roasting tray.

Use a big bowl to combine the oil with the Italian herbs, grated or chopped garlic, and chicken broth. Season with a generous amount of salt (kosher salt would be great) and cracked black pepper. Cover the tray with aluminum foil and pop it in a preheated oven. Bake at 450 degrees for 45 minutes.

After 45 minutes the potatoes and vegetables should be fork tender. If they’re not, cover the tray with the foil and pop them back in the oven for a few more minutes. If they are fork tender, place the sausages in there and pour the balsamic vinegar all over. Place the tray back in the oven, uncovered, for 25 to 30 minutes. 

Take it out after 15 minutes, flip over those sausages and ladle some of the juices from the bottom of the pan all over the vegetables and sausages. Put it back in the oven for the remaining time, until everything is nice and brown. 

Check out the original recipe if you would like to use fresh sausages.