Batter Blaster

Watch this short commercial first and then read this:

I stumbled upon this newest creation at the beginning of the summer. It was parked on the shelf next to the Egg Beaters that I purchase every week for my husband and daughter. I took the can off the shelf and read the ingredients list. Surprisingly it looked healthy so I added it to my shopping cart.

The kids were shocked to find me making pancakes from a can the next morning. But upon testing them, they were actually very good. One would have never known that they came from a squirt can.*Pancake face on the griddle.

We introduced them to my parents while camping and they too gave a good review. It was fun to create messages and faces on the griddle. You can form different pancake shapes well since you are squirting a thin line of batter as you go; compared to pouring from a spoon or bowl via the traditional pancake way.

It just so happened when we returned home from camping that there was an article about this pancake mix in our local paper. It gave a review and starred two thumbs up.
Give it a try and let me know what YOU think! Batter Blaster Up!

It was like an Amazon River

During our camping adventure, we enjoyed a gorgeous and busy lake to cool off from the 90+ temps and sunshine. Although we did not have the water craft for skiing or tubing, it was very fun to bob in the water and watch others, safely out of harms way, in our Intex Raft with small motor.
This lake was fed by two rivers. We ventured toward one of the rivers and were excited to see so many hidden lagoon type settings. Full of mossy tree lined coves with logs and birds. We anchored and fished and watch the boats travel past; all the while wondering what they were doing going up river. They were big boats, party boats, wave runners, skiers, tubers. From where we anchored, it looked like the waterway just got more shallow and slimmer and being a no-wake-zone, we were confused why all the traffic of these extreme-type-water-sport boats were traveling the opposite way from the lake.
So after we enjoyed the shade and our little piece of paradise, we pulled up anchor and went exploring further up river. We turned the first bend and it was amazing. We all gasped for the beauty before us and talked over each other about how much the view looked like a Disneyland Lagoon ride. It was so beautiful, it was fake looking. The pictures do not do it justice. At any moment it looked like a slow moving hippopotamus would emerge from the dark-green-light-green waters. And if you looked up into the trees, you thought you could see a tropical bird peering down at you or a snake coiled around a branch. It was fantastic.
There were a party of teens and adults and young ones jumping from a rather large cliff into the water with a rope swing tide to a large tree. The water was a beautiful green, and the sun streamed through the trees just right to capture the moss and over hangs. We sat by a waterfall that spilled off a cliff on the opposite shoreline and watched their party fun.Notice how this guy ignored the rope swing, climbed up the tree to get higher, before jumping. Can you see him at the top of the picture?

As we continued upstream we finally got to the clearing and realized why all the boats had been traveling in this direction. It was an enormous lagoon with lilly pads and fallen trees and rocks and shoreline and boats upon boats stacked on top of each other with people next to their boats, standing in the water, at only waste deep. It was fantastic. We wish we could have anchored and enjoyed the shoreline, but it was getting late and we needed to be able to get back to the boat launch before dinner. Next year ...
It was so fun to explore a new area and to become completely captivated and swept up in the awe of its surroundings. It was so peaceful. We could have stayed all day.

Julie and Julia

As soon as I saw the trailer on the television for the Julie and Julia movie, I ran to my email and typed my mom an invite to go see it with me on opening day. We added it to our calendar and the day finally arrived. Going to the first showing this morning, we thoroughly enjoyed the movie. We could see ourselves in both of the women during certain parts of the movie.

The scatter of Julie's life, the current day blogger who has thoughts and wants a purpose in order to focus herself on a challenge, was easy to identify with and we found ourselves laughing at her one liners and situations she's put herself into. Julia Child, the peppy woman who had a love for eating and no formal training in culinary expertise prior to moving to France with her diplomat husband, came to life on the big screen with Meryl Streep. We could relate to Child too, but in ways that would give some storyline away.

In the end, the movie captivated our hearts and made us both walk out of the theater wanting some really great food, to find a great cookbook and go for it, to have a purpose and a deadline to meet. So, we hiked it over to Red Robin laughing of course ... it was the only restaurant nearby and we were on a time line in our day!! How ironic.

A must-see. Relax and enjoy the movie with a girlfriend. Free your mind of all your to-dos, and then be inspired to just get to it when the credits roll and the lights come up!

I am off to my next journey of the day; an Art Walk which will feature my daughter's work from her Drawing Class. A cultured day; theater and an Art Walk! A fun Friday.

Presidential Treatment

Splash over heard that President Obama and his family purchased a Portuguese Water Dog last Spring and now Splash feels he is deserving of Presidential Treatment too. Take a look at Splash rafting on the waters of our camping trip with his owners; my parents. He looks like a mix of E.T. and a spoiled dog wrapped into one character. He is well cared for, and for his young age, well behaved too. I guess it is working. And, I especially love the picture of my mom with the umbrella because yes, she is as cute as a young Katherine Hepburn On Golden Pond.
Splash is also learning how to swim. A water dog should, after all. But it is an entire training process that my parents are learning from the breeder they purchased Splash from; it isn't just drop him in the lake and watch him go. He loves to retrieve his toy, but doesn't necessarily want to give it back to do it all over again. It was fun to watch my parents work together and encourage Splash to keep going. And, I think my parents look fantastic for (my dad said it was okay to say, but not sure about my mom, but *hint* she is years younger ... How's that, Mom?) Seventy!! When we were growing up, seventy was ... well, SEVENTY ... but now that my parent is there, it is actually very young. Thankfully.Both my children are taken by Splash. They love to be completely involved with his training (thanks, Mom and Dad ... I know not every idea is worthy, but you always make it seem so) and in return he gives the kids much love. He is a happy dog.

Lake Jumping

My children know how to swim but until this summer they never ventured into natural waters to swim. They would wade and play in lakes, but never swam where it was deep or shallow; they always kept their head above water. We went to a local lake a few weeks ago with friends and my son went for it and succeeded. My daughter kept her head above water. However, when we went camping they both ventured into the lake and got their head in to swim. Success.

They started off with goggles because they wanted to see what the bottom of a lake looked like; but it didn't last long when my daughter saw minnow fish swimming nearby and grassy weeds swaying. But at least she kept going and just didn't look. On the other hand, once my son saw the fish, he ditched the swimming and it became all about the catch and release.
For some reason we had this Ziploc bag in our backpack and a light bulb went off in my son's 8 year old head. He wanted to use it to catch Minnows. So over and over he would see a Minnow and try to scoop up the surrounding water. It took a few tries and then he became quit proficient. He caught a few, played with them in the bag, then would dump them back in the lake.My husband took the kids out on the raft for some fishing with a pole and when the kids got too hot, they would jump overboard. Eventually they tired of the fishing and the hot sun and swam to shore where I had been waiting in the shade. A peaceful afternoon on our first day camping.

National Night Out

Today has been a very busy day in our household and I am just now getting around to sitting down. Although the entire day was productive at home before having fun with friends at the park, and then onto my daughter's drawing class, the highlight was participating in our block's first-ever National Night Out. Although it has been around for twenty years on the East Coast (so says the police sheriff's representative), it is just starting to make its presence on the West.
Our block is a community that I would say is close-knit. We definitely know each other's names and numbers, and we know where each child on the block belongs, and we have about four events per year that get the neighborhood together. The benefit is that we are small; only 14 homes that spill out into a much larger neighborhood, but we are tucked away enough where we feel our own identity.So when our Block Watch Committee, which I am a part of, decided to host a National Night Out event, it was our intention to bring notice to block safety, rather than a meet and greet your neighbor type of evening. We had goody bags organized for the children with an amazing safety-themed coloring book created by our High School Senior on the block, we had organized games for the kids to enjoy, and we had desserts of all kinds to share. It started off feeling like a typical Block Party with my husband's iPod playing for ambiance in the background speakers, and decor lights dangling from our front yard trees, kids running around, adults talking. Typical, good American Block Party.
And then the surprise. Our HOA is made up of three leaders, my husband, and two other men, but it is fair to single out one of these men in particular as a born leader for tonight's event. He is currently living in an East Coast State working for a company he was recently transfored with, while his family stays put in our neighborhood so his oldest can graduate from High School in 2010, and he can maintain a job in this tight economy. Sacrifice. Working hard for his family.
And wouldn't you know, as he is working on the other side of the U.S., that he decided to call our local law enforcement and city council to casually mention our National Night Out plans. Thirty minutes into our evening we had: a Guardian One Helicopter fly by just prior to an entourage of cars and people come down our block who made up the Fire Department with Fire Truck, the K9 Police Unit, the Junior Police Force, the County Sheriffs, the Mayor and City Council Members, and the County's SWAT Team with their "intimidating" Armored Vehicle. It was incredible.
Our Firemen got into the action and played some four square with the kids.

Talk about Shock and Awe ... it was sensory overload for kids and adults alike. Some people just know how to get things done, and for that, we are grateful for the HOA Team that put this all together. What a great experience for our children to see and hear that we are living in a safe community that cares to bond together against crime and wrongdoers. So many people make that happen daily, and they all landed on our street tonight. Very cool.
My husband with the camera goofing around with his best buddy on the block.

Summer Camping

I have had my fair share of camping adventures when I was little and I loved them. However, we then switched to boating before the tween years, so I never went through the "Gross, no shower?" stage of camping. Lucky for my parents and sibling. My parents went back to camping the closer they got to retirement and have thoroughly enjoyed the relaxation of their adventures. They even took their trailer cross-country from West to East and back in three months shortly after they both retired (not camping, but using it as their hotel on wheels while they ventured to all the awesome tourist sights).

So when we have taken our children camping, it has been with my parents. The kids sleep in the bunks in their trailer, my parents in their bed up front, and their dog in his crate on the table that folds out to a bed. My husband and I are in our tent just steps away. It works brilliantly. We cook and eat outside, giving our children a neat experience among all the dirt and debris that can get kicked up and stuck in all areas of the face, arms and legs. They love it!!!

And for the record, the State Park bathrooms have very hot water and clean facilities; thus I get my daily shower. I am not a coffee drinker, so in its place I have to have my morning shower; it is a must-do for me to wake up, feel refreshed, and not grumpy. Had I known as a teen that park showers were not so bad, I just might have said yes to camping way-back-when.

Our adventure was beautiful. The campground was huge with hiking trails that lead out to one side of a river, another side to a lake, and the other side to another river. Perfect access for our boats to explore and fishing time to be done. The kids swam in the water, the dog swam in the water, forts were built from trees and ferns and moss, songs were sung around the campfire with guitars, stories were made and dramatized by my girl, Apples to Apples were played, a bird song book (where hundreds of bird calls are demonstrated after pushing a certain code and button on the book) was used every free moment by my son; who I am sure owes my parents new batteries as a result.

We had a wonderful camping adventure, and so many photos to show for it. I will highlight some stories and photos throughout the week. But for now, the laundry is calling for my attention.