Zoo Trip 2010

This year we became Friends of the Zoo. It is nice because we can use this on our trip to Austin to get in for half price at the Dallas Zoo and the OKC Zoo. Go us! Anyway, this was just the first of many trips to the zoo this summer. We happened to come across friends of ours that were already there so we had fun hanging out with them and their daughter, Skyler. These two were so cute to watch. I think they really had fun hanging out.

Bedtime Favorites

One of our favorite things to do in the Cummings house it to read books. Jay and I both read before bed so it was only natural for us to start that tradition with Caiden. We usually read three books after we have bathed and brushed our teeth and are snuggled into bed. It really doesn't matter what we read to him, he loves all books.

Here are three of my favorites that I would recommend to anyone with children. This first one makes me cry every time I read it.

Some Recipes!

Since my computer is being a little booger, I haven't been able to do the posts I wanted to do because they require pictures. So instead, I decided to share with you two recipes I tried this weekend that were both huge successes!

I would like to give credit for the first one to my friend Amy. She gave me this recipe that she got from her mother and it is super good and super easy to make.

Black Olive Salsa

1 Tomato (seeded)
1 Jalapeno (seeded)
1 Can of Black Olives
1 Green Onion
2 T. Picante Salsa

If you have a mini food processor to chop the veggies (finely) it is easier but I just used a good ole knife and cutting board. You can add more or less of any of these items to make it the way you like. I used a large can of olives instead of a small because I like them! Mix them together and serve with Scoops Chips!

The second recipe I tried was a homemade macaroni and cheese dish. I got this recipe from Mary Bell of Bell BQ Catering (she happens to be our school secretary and a phenomenal cook!)

Macaroni and Cheese

24 oz box of elbow macaroni cooked according to the package
2/3 of a 2lb block of Velveeta cheese (diced)
2 cans of Campbell's cheddar cheese soup
8 oz block of pepper jack cheese (diced)
1-1/2 sticks of butter
2 tbsp of granulated garlic
2 cups of milk (should be soupy)

Spray a baking dish with cooking spray and add the ingredients to it. Cook at 325 degrees for 60-90 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Dinosaurs Unearthed

So every parent wants to do nice things for their kids. We seek out all kinds of things that we can treat our kids to; candy, vacations, toys, you name it. Well, I heard on the radio about the new exhibit at Union Station that was opening this weekend and thought Caiden would love it. He has been really into Dinosaurs lately so I thought this would be perfect. We're talking Dinosaur Train every day, Dinosaur books, toys, movies, how could he not love this?!

Ho-ly Crap! I have never in my life seen him so scared out of his mind. From the second we got out of the elevator there were little boys screaming and crying and trying desperately to exit the building with their parents clinging tightly to their tiny, little bodies. The parents, of course, didn't want to leave because they paid $18.00 a person to be there!

It seemed like with every corner we turned there was a little boy begging to leave and that is just what Caiden started doing. You could hear the sound of dinosaurs roaring from within the exhibit and I think his imagination got to him before we could explain things. The entire time he was clinging to me telling me he just wanted to go home. I felt so bad but at the same time, we paid $50 for the three of us to be there! How could we leave?!

I am proud to say that he made it through the whole exhibit (even if I did speed walk through some of it) and he didn't cry once. He was very strong and even though I could tell he really really wanted to, he didn't. What a tough kiddo! Ironically, there were no little girls crying, just boys. Weird huh?

The funny part is that the whole way home he talked about the dinosaur poop we saw so we did a poop hunt out the window as we were driving. Good news, we didn't find any ;0)