This is finally the year where we both have a membership at NARA park _and_ we use it. Shocking! We had a membership before a couple years back, but didn't use it. Last year, we went a bunch, but paid each time. This time: got the early bird discount and have already been as a family. Success!
Wow, I really don't like sun and heat, and today had plenty of both. Also, I did not get T. into his swim trunks and UV t-shirt at home (did that with A.), so R. tried to do that with T. at Nara. Disaster. I overheated, took A. into the lake and could hear them screaming from the lake. Return. Try to calm everyone down. Do a bunch of threatening when Calm Does Not Occur. Got R. to put sunblock on my back where I cannot reach. Sent him and A. off to ride in the pedal boat since She Would Not Quit Asking For a Boat Ride. Shepherded T. into the lake where he promptly decided he wanted a turn on the boat. We hollered to R. (wow, were we the obnoxious family at the lake today :( ) that T. wanted a turn. R. and A. came back. T. and R. headed out in the boat (after a beach ball retrieval for other people there, hopefully compensating in part for our generally uncivilized behavior, etc.). A. and I cooled off some more.
Then it was off to Joe's for lunch, after a brief stop at the house to get R. and me out of our wet clothes. Lunch was pretty successful, but by the time we got home, A. was tired and the kids were fighting, so A. went upstairs for a nap with R., and T. started asking for Oreo Pie. W.T.F. And then I remembered he came home with this sheet that he read out loud to me (pictures for all the words, and I helped with a few) about making pudding at school. I think, hey, maybe he wants an oreo crust and a pudding filling. So off to Roche Bros. for pudding and crust. Also, Ritz crackers.
So we get the pudding and a couple crusts because, bizarrely, I had been thinking of making a chocolate tofu pie for the last few days and even bought silken tofu to do so. I had intended to make a flour crust, but, you know. If I'm buying one oreo crust, I might as well buy two.
http://www.seanet.com/~rla/cookbook/tofu_chocolate_pie.html
But before we went to Roche Bros, I asked T. to go into TJ Maxx with me, and all I can say is that after online shopping does in all other retail, TJ Maxx will still be there doing a ton of business. I bought some cheap summer cross body mini bags (okay, perhaps a bit larger than a mini bag, but still small), a 6' kiddie pool (no inflation required), two inflatable swim tubes (for the kids -- hopefully Nara will allow them), a Sponge Bob snorkel set nominally for T. but it turns out too small for him but just right for A. There may have been something else, but I think that was all. Just under $100, and I had been to three or four other stores recently in search of a pool since ours had a hole and the inflatable part at the top wasn't holding air any more.
When my m-i-l was visiting, she was very excited to go shopping at TJ Maxx, since where she currently lives there isn't much shopping nearby. I'm remembering why I used to like TJ Maxx, before I gave up going to stores because it was such a nightmare dealing with the kids in them (well, I never gave up on Gymboree, because they're _very_ tolerant).
The tofu pie is in the fridge. It will be interesting to see what the kids think about it. I hope they don't like it very much, because I feel unusually greedy. However, it will require pacing, because there are Consequences if you eat too much tofu all at once.
ETA: Alton Brown's version of this thing uses coffee liqueur to melt the chocolate chips; I use unsweetened soy milk. He also adds 1 Tbsp of honey; I have no idea why. Very oddly, while it is referred to as dairy-free or moo-less, the crust recipe includes butter. Go figure.
Wow, I really don't like sun and heat, and today had plenty of both. Also, I did not get T. into his swim trunks and UV t-shirt at home (did that with A.), so R. tried to do that with T. at Nara. Disaster. I overheated, took A. into the lake and could hear them screaming from the lake. Return. Try to calm everyone down. Do a bunch of threatening when Calm Does Not Occur. Got R. to put sunblock on my back where I cannot reach. Sent him and A. off to ride in the pedal boat since She Would Not Quit Asking For a Boat Ride. Shepherded T. into the lake where he promptly decided he wanted a turn on the boat. We hollered to R. (wow, were we the obnoxious family at the lake today :( ) that T. wanted a turn. R. and A. came back. T. and R. headed out in the boat (after a beach ball retrieval for other people there, hopefully compensating in part for our generally uncivilized behavior, etc.). A. and I cooled off some more.
Then it was off to Joe's for lunch, after a brief stop at the house to get R. and me out of our wet clothes. Lunch was pretty successful, but by the time we got home, A. was tired and the kids were fighting, so A. went upstairs for a nap with R., and T. started asking for Oreo Pie. W.T.F. And then I remembered he came home with this sheet that he read out loud to me (pictures for all the words, and I helped with a few) about making pudding at school. I think, hey, maybe he wants an oreo crust and a pudding filling. So off to Roche Bros. for pudding and crust. Also, Ritz crackers.
So we get the pudding and a couple crusts because, bizarrely, I had been thinking of making a chocolate tofu pie for the last few days and even bought silken tofu to do so. I had intended to make a flour crust, but, you know. If I'm buying one oreo crust, I might as well buy two.
http://www.seanet.com/~rla/cookbook/tofu_chocolate_pie.html
But before we went to Roche Bros, I asked T. to go into TJ Maxx with me, and all I can say is that after online shopping does in all other retail, TJ Maxx will still be there doing a ton of business. I bought some cheap summer cross body mini bags (okay, perhaps a bit larger than a mini bag, but still small), a 6' kiddie pool (no inflation required), two inflatable swim tubes (for the kids -- hopefully Nara will allow them), a Sponge Bob snorkel set nominally for T. but it turns out too small for him but just right for A. There may have been something else, but I think that was all. Just under $100, and I had been to three or four other stores recently in search of a pool since ours had a hole and the inflatable part at the top wasn't holding air any more.
When my m-i-l was visiting, she was very excited to go shopping at TJ Maxx, since where she currently lives there isn't much shopping nearby. I'm remembering why I used to like TJ Maxx, before I gave up going to stores because it was such a nightmare dealing with the kids in them (well, I never gave up on Gymboree, because they're _very_ tolerant).
The tofu pie is in the fridge. It will be interesting to see what the kids think about it. I hope they don't like it very much, because I feel unusually greedy. However, it will require pacing, because there are Consequences if you eat too much tofu all at once.
ETA: Alton Brown's version of this thing uses coffee liqueur to melt the chocolate chips; I use unsweetened soy milk. He also adds 1 Tbsp of honey; I have no idea why. Very oddly, while it is referred to as dairy-free or moo-less, the crust recipe includes butter. Go figure.