The Zoo

   Calgary has a pretty decent zoo... I mean it doesnt compare to the Houston Zoo, which had animals that I hadnt even heard of... but its still pretty decent. I love zoos. I have tried and tried and tried to convince my kids to enjoy the zoo too. I havent been successful at all! What kid doesnt love watching animals?!?! JAXON... he loathes the zoo.. he wants to get in and out of there as soon as possible. Any time I stop to look at something he says "Lets keep moving on!"
  I thought I had Owen convinced that zoos are cool... but now not so much. I dont think he hates them... but just not his thing.  My kids are way too active for the zoo I guess.
  But I still drag them there every once and a while.

There favorite part of the zoo is the giant park in the center of it. Owen loves the slides

Jaxon loves to climb... owen would too but he is just a little too short.

They do love the telephones that tell you about the animals...but Im not sure if they actually listen and learn anything... or if they just like holding them up to their ears

Owen has gotten very independant the last little while... he insists on putting his sunglasses on by himself and he insists they do on up side down...

Telus Spark

   A little while ago Calgary got a new Science Centre. We finally checked it out this summer. I am so sad it took us so long to go. It is amazing!!!! Its called Telus spark and it is easily Jaxon and Owen's (and Tim's) favorite place to visit now. We are lucky and have season passes so we get to go alot! It is a little expensive, but no more so then other tourist attractions in town. WHY DOES IT COST SO MUCH TO DO FUN THINGS?!?! Admission is $20 for grown ups and like $12-15 (or something like that) for kids... kids under 3 are free. But really its awesome
   They have one gallery called the Creative Kids gallery. its a giant play room. There is a climbing struction, a climbing wall. a theatre, a water station, a toddler zone and tons of little tables with magnets, and bulding blocks, and letter cubes, etc the list goes on and on!!!
  The other galleries are a little more grown up. meaning they have more infomation and learning, but they always have hands on stuff to go with it. So my kids love those galleries too. In the energy one there is a treadmill you walk on to generate electricity and a set up where you bounce balls down drums. Its all just so awesome!!

These blue foam blocks are in the foyer. My Kids love building towers.

Jaxon was building a fortress of solitude.

What a couple of nuts!

Making patterns

Playing in the water!

 I would highly recommend going!!!

  
 

Bubbles with Mama

When I had Rohn (7weeks ago now!) my mom was awesome and come into town to help me out. My boys adore their Mama and they definately ran her through the ringer. Im pretty sure she slept great at night after playing with them all day. One thing they loved to do was blow bubbles in the backyard.

Owen is really noisy when he blows bubbles... he cant just blow.. he sorta hums and gets louder inorder to make bigger bubbles. It cracks me up!

Jaxon is a pro bubble blower.

We are sad that mama and papa are back in Texas... Jaxon tells me everday how much he loves mama (and papa) and hopes they come back soon!

Splash Park

I adore summer time (in case you havent noticed) I love the HOT weather. Although in my eyes Calgary doesnt get hot... I love the out out 30 degrees + weather. I love playing in water too... or at least watching my kids play in water.

We are lucky, where we are located on the far south side of Calgary means that we are only 10 mins from Okotoks, which is always far less crowded then places in Calgary. So we have taken to going out to the Okotoks splash park almost weekly. Its a nice small area where I can keep an eye on my kids with out running all over the place. Plus its never very busy.

Jaxon always runs right in... but Owen is still very tentative of the whole thing! He will run around the edge for about 20 mins before getting his feet wet. Even then he doesnt jump through any of the sprinklers. Maybe next time!

They have a giant bucket that fills up with water evey few minutes and then dumps out onto the kids in the splash zone. This is Jaxons favorite part!

Owen just runs away

Oh and side note... Here is a shot of our garden growing away. Jaxon takes alot of pride in our little garden.

Calaway Park

Since Tim has gone back to work, after having 3 weeks off, I am now on my own with all three kids... needless to say we have not had many outings. We are all starting to get cabin fever and are missing all the fun times we had when daddy was home. One of my boys most favorite places to go is Calaway Park. The big news this year... Owen is now tall enough to ride the Log ride. He loves it! My kids love all the rides really. Tim does too... and I am quite content to watch, take pictures and push Rohn in the stroller. Its always a fun time... the only thing we need to work on his Owen's Patience when it comes to standing in line!

Just after the Big Splash!

All Wet and loving it!

Jaxon!

Owen Driving a truck!

On the Little roller Coaster

One Time Auntie Amanda, Autum and Colton came too!

My favorite part of going to Calaway park is....

A quiet car ride home! (Owen)

Jaxon

Even Rohn

Mama and Papa

This is a post for Owen. He has been asking to see Mama and Papa for the last couple of days... so sad that since they are back in Texas we won't get to see them until March 22...long ways off. But no matter how hard I try to explain this to my 2 yr old he just doesnt get it... or he doesnt care. He askes me multiple times a day "Mama? Papa?' and everytime I put on his coat he gets all excited because I guess he thinks we are going to see mama and papa but then he cries when we get to a store and he shakes his head... "No mama and Papa" sad I know... (mom, feelign guilty yet for being so far away!?) So here are a few posts (yes the pictures are from this summer) of some of the reasons why mama anda papa's house is so much better then ours.
Above is owen feeding tokens into a game at chuck e Cheese. He loves that place. He is catching on too. He loves collecting tickets.

Auntie Rachel and Jaxon seeing just how many tickets we have

Then there is the piano. My boys love playing on it. It's our piano now but since we dont have room (and I dont have the patience for the noise it will bring) yet its still at Mama and Papa's house. Its the great temptation they face every morning when Im trying to keep them quiet as normal people are still sleeping...

Baby It's Cold Outside

We have been hit with a serious artic chill this week. The daytime highs has been around -30 with the windchill making it feel like -44 degrees or so. It's brutal! We have spent all week indoors only venturing out to take Jaxon to and from school. The boys are handling it really well and only have a mild case of cabin fever. We've watch tons of movies (toy story 1, 2 or 3 are big hits right now) and lots of curious george for Owen and done lots of crafts. But we are still looking forward to the warm up next week! My Poor Little Owen's hands cant take much more of the cold. Little Owen has hyper sensitive skin... and the cold seems to make it worse... I forgot to put gloves on him for the walk from the back door to the car and by the time I got him in his hands were bright red and starten to stiffen up... yep I know Im a great mom.
So in a hope to try and warm myself up a bit I thought I'd post some pcitures from this past summer, warmer days... oh how we miss you and look forward to your return.
One of our favorite spots in the Summer time is Heritage Park. The boys love the rides and the candy shop and getting cookies at the bakery. I love all the different activities they have like day out with Thomas and Rail days and the Harvest sale. I also love how close it is (unlike Calaway Park another one of our favorites, but that takes a whole day where as Heritage Park only takes a couple hours!)  
Jaxon on the Merry Go Round!

Owen on the Merry Go Round

The Boys on the little Ferris Wheel.

OH this is a big week in our house. Owen is now Officially off the soother. YAY!!! We took it away Sunday night and he has gone 3 whole days and nights with out it! YAY! he has been asking for it alot today... but I think its just that his teeth are bugging him... he has his hands in his mouth alot today! But Im not giving in. He is doing great! We are now a soother free house (ok... for another 5.5 months until the new baby comes)

Tomorrow is Mesa Monday!

Ok... so I spent last week up at my parents house in Edmonton. We did do a Mesa Recipe, but it wasnt on monday and Im not typing it out... it was insane! when I say we...I mean mom... bytheway... We did Shrimp and roasted garlic corn Tamales... They were super yummy... but they took like 3 hours to prepare... so I have kept the recipe and may make them... once a year... but there is no way Im taking the time to type out that one for you... it was intense... so if you really want to try them and you have 3 hours to prepare dinner then get the book and turn to page 98.... there ya go!
  Tomorrow I am going to stick with Mesa Monday... I have a few more recipes to try... This time its.....

Red Chili-Honey glazed Shrimip

(bobby flay uses salmon....but I dont have any in the house and I have shrimp... so voila!)

1/3 cup Honey

1 Tbsp Ancho chili powder

1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

 (nothing beats a 3 ingredient recipe!)

So since Im using Shrimp Ive had to tweak the method a bit... here is my plan

1)Whisk everything together.

2) Pour over shrimp and allow to marinade 4 hours

3)Grill

DONE AND DONE!

Hmmmm.... what can a tell you about Edmonton... it was fun! My boys always love seeing mama and papa... I love having them baby sit for us! YAY date nights. Tim and I went out and say Captain America... Yep i was just that desperate to see a movie... I really want to see Harry potter 7... Tim say it without me and that makes me sad....after the movie we went to Montanas for dinner... it was awesome! I had this massive burger with Onion strings and deep friend Jalapanos adn Tim got this dinky wrap... I laughed so hard because when the waiter brought it out he totally thought tim had the burger and I had the wrap! BAHAHAHAHAHA

   Owen is starting to talk more... He currenlty can say; Dad, Bro (jaxon), Cracker, Cookie, No, Papa, Pop, Cheese and Holla... oh and his newest two work phrase Im sad... when he is crying and throwing a fit if you are ignoring him he will start whining... Im SAD IM Sad over and over until you acknowledge him. Its cute! Also... no I did not forgot to put Mom on the list... he wont say it... loser

   Jaxon is pretty sick of summer holidays and is ready to head back to school... I told him we still have another month. He  was sad... but I think he will perck back up now that his BFF Krysten is back in town. he sure has missed her.



More Mesa Monday

Ok... so I know its really a few days past monday and I havent posted how monday went. Life has been a little insane the last few days. Tim got home late-ish on Monday... in time to put the kids to bed. Then tuesday Tim had to work a 14 hour day (boo) and didnt get home until 10pm and then Wed we had an ice cream date night (thx Ashley for watching the boys) and I had a YW Pres. Meeting... and top it all off... I am supposed to be writing my talk for sunday... Keywords;Supposed to be. if only I could find the time! HAHAHAHA I better work on it soon though... Sunday is right around the corner.
So.. Mesa Monday.. last monday was the grilled prawns with Habanero-Toasted Garlic Vinaigrette. It was ok. I enjoyed it... but I wasnt blown away like I was with the other recipes Ive tried. So I probably wont make that one again... So onto This coming up monday....
Grilled Shrimp Brushed with Smoked chili Butter
1 1/2 lbs large Shrimp, shelled and deveined.
1 Tbsp Olive oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small shallot, chopped
12 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temp.
2 canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
juice of 1 lime
1) Heat oil in a small saute pan over med. heat. Add garlic and shallot and cook until soft, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
2) Put butter in a food processor and add shallot mixture, chipotle chiles and lime juice. process until smooth. Scrape chipotle butter into a bowl
3) Brush shrimp with oil and put onto the grill. grill shrimp brushing with chipotle butter every 30 seconds. (should take about 1-2 minutes per side)
Sounds good to me!
While tim was away on his "Dudes reunion" I had the boys all to myself. it was exhausting and we had some pretty long days... but we all survived and even had a little fun! One day we went to get slurpees... yes it was a rainy day but we went anyways. This was Owens first Very own Slurpee... he wouldnt let go of the cup!

this is his "Touch it and Die" look

Also while tim was gone We went to Jaxons buddy Elizabeth's bday party. That was an adventure. They had a bouncy castle with an Elephant on it... While owen is terrified of cartoon elephants (yeah I know totally weird) So he was in hysterics the entire time we were outside. it was not awesome at all. Then we went in for cupcakes and to make a craft. The kids made masks. Ashley had Princess ones for the girls and pirate ones for the boys. But Jaxon insisted on doing a princess one.. I was a little worried about my boy until he said "if I make a princess one I can bring a girl home with me" now Im worried but for a whole other reason!

Another Great one

Mesa Monday yesterday was another real good one. I think i still like the Yucatan chicken better. But those two I had last night were awesome too! Plus i made use of my Mandoline which is always fun! Oh I will say... when I made the Potatoe Gratin... there was no cheese... so I added a layer of grated cheese on the top of it... I know I know... Im sorry Bobby Flay... but it needed CHEESE!
So whats on the Mesa Menu for next monday...

grilled Prawns with Habanero-Toasted garlic Vinaigrette
1/2 cup, plus 3 Tbsp canola oil
6 cloves of garlic, peeled
salt
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 habanero chile, chopped
2 tsp honey
1 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme
1 1/4 pounds large prawns

1) heat 1 tbsp oil in a small saute pan over med. heat. add garlic, season with salt and cook until golden brown on both sides (about 4 minutes)
2)Transfer garlic to a blender and add vinegar, habanero, honey and thyme. Blend until smooth. With blender running slowly add the 1/2 cup of oil and blend until emulsified. (hmmmm I wonder if I should use my blender or my food processor....)
3) Preheat grill to high. Toss prawns in remaining 2 Tbsp of oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill for 2 minutes on each side.
4) Transfer to a platter and immediately drizzle with the vinaigrette.


So these pics may be repeats... I can remember if I added them here or on facebook or both... But I love them!

Jaxon at the zoo!

Jaxon making paper towel butterflies. When we made them he insisted on making to take over to his friend Krysten. He Adores her and reminds me every day that she is his best friend!

Owen enjoying a popsicle. My Kids LOVE LOVE LOVE popsicles and freezies. Owen (the non talker) actually busted out Purple when I gave him this popsicle... has he said it again... of course not

Summer Success

Yesterday was our first Mesa Monday. It was awesome! I think I am really going to love Mesa Mondays! I started by making the BBQ sauce... it was amazing... then I marinaded the chicken and man... that combination of Chicken and BBQ sauce was AMAZING!!! i even used the left over bbq sauce for dinner tonight! It was wonderful! So Next monday I am making Ancho Maple glazed roast turkey and Potato, sweet Onion and sage Gratin.
Here are the recipes
Ancho Maple Glazed Turkey
1 1/2 cups maple syrup
2 tbsp dijon mustard
3 Tbsp ancho chili powder
1 (18 lb turkey) Ok... Im not cooking a turkey... so I will lower the recipe quantities and do it on chicken breasts!
20 Sage leaves
8 Tbsp butter, melted
1) Whisk together the maple syrup, mustard and ancho powder.
2) loosen skin on the turkey... or chicken... and place sage leaves under the skin. Rub entire surface with melted butter... I may not do that... hmmmm...
3) They do a bunch of different stuff here since they cook an entire turkey... but Ill place chicken and glaze in a baking dish and back at 350 degrees... basting every 5 minutes until cooked through.
Yes I know Im altering this one alot... it makes me nervous.. wish me luck!

Potato, Sweet Onion and sage gratin

2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 large sweet onions
3 tbsp finely chopped sage
4 large idaho potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick
2 cups heavy cream (I always cheat and use whole milk)

1) Preheat over to 375 and butter a 9 inch baking dish
2)heat oil and butter in a large saute pan. Add onions and cook until soft and caramelized. Stir in sage
3)Place a layer of potatoes on the bottom of baking dish. Top with 1/7 of the onions and 3 tbsp of cream. Repeat for 7 or 8 layers. Press on top to submerge potatoes in teh cream. Place dish on baking sheet and cover with aluminum foil.
4) Bake for 30 minutes, remove foil and bake for another 30-45 minutes.

YUMMY

Another Summer time success... the splash park in Okotoks! LOVE IT!!! We went last wed with some friends and have now decided to make it our Wed ritual. Jaxon LOVES it... owen not so much... but he will get used to it. I was actually quite shocked how much Jaxon enjoyed it. Normally he doesnt like splashy water. but he was all for this!

owen sat on my lap the entire time... wearing my shades no less. I was hoping that tomorrow would be a better time for Owen... but today he burnt his soles of his feet on our deck box... so he cant walk on them.. so I think it will be another snuggle with mommy day.

jaxon was running every where. He LOVES this picture of his running... "Im super fast mom"

Yeppers... we Love summer!

Welcome Summer

I live for Summer. Yes I know I live in Calgary and I know that I will only get summer weather like 3 weeks of the whole year... ok thats an exageration but its close. but i live for the sun and warmth. All my friends know... Amanda HATES winter and cold and rain and wind... I like to lay in the sun and burn and sweat and yeah.... SUMMER.
   Today it was summer! After days and days of rain the sun came out and spread some love! YAY! To celebrate we had an awesome friend get us into Lake Chaparral. Its a glorious thing! but the down side is it makes me miss all my chaparral friends like mad... how I wish I lived in chaparral! Anyways... Thanks Brooke for the super fun morning! My kids and I both had a blast! I wish every day was and beautiful as today. It just makes me happy!
  Another fun warm weather activity that my boys love is water guns. these Pics were taken a few weeks ago... but hey... why not share them right..

owen shoots all gangsta style with his gun all tilted to the side... cracks me up!

Jaxon likes squirting me... I try to convince him that getting the grass, or car, or fence is way more fun the getting mommy... but so far he doesnt believe me

Owen loves his slide.

Oh and an added treat! I have an ice cream maker... LOVE IT! I was lacking the ingredients to make ice cream... but I was craving some soooooo bad... so I looked around and I thought... sorbet would work and I have everything I need for that!

 So I made Peach Starberry Sorbet... yep it is even better then it sounds... and its crazy simple

here is the recipe

Peach Strawberry Sorbet

2 cups water

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 cups peaches

2 cups strawberries

make a simple syrup by heating the water and sugar in a pot until the sugar is completely dissovled. then add the cut up fruit. (I used frozen... fresh would be fine too) Allow the fruit to simmer in the syrup for a fwe minutes until the are really realy soft and mushy. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Blend mixture until smooth... I used my blender... but an immersion blender would work too. Then refridgerate for 3 hours... or over night. then just pour into the ice cream maker and press start... Mine took only 10 minutes! YUMMY!!!!!