An Educational Field Trip and a Happy Mom's Day

Mother's Day weekend, we decided to take a trip to WDW for an educational field trip. Danny's class was going to Epcot, and we gave him the choice of Epcot with hundreds of 4th graders or a weekend at Animal Kingdom. He chose Animal Kingdom with the family (see...I knew he was truly intelligent), and we headed down on Friday of Mother's Day weekend. We checked in at Animal Kingdom Lodge

on Friday and spent the evening enjoying the resort and the wildlife outside our back door.

The weather was beautiful, and we really enjoyed an afternoon swim, dinner at Boma, movies by the pool, and night vision animal watching. The next day, after an African-inspired breakfast, we made our way to Animal Kingdom park. We skipped most of the rides and opted to learn about the animals. The kids enjoyed Rafiki's conservation center, and we all loved Kilimanjaro Safaris. We saw giraffes,

rhinos,

elephants,

and zebras up close...

really close.

The kids went around to all of the explorer badge stops and took the time to learn about each animal or insect. George got some great shots of the birds

and the monkeys.

Oh yeah, and he got some great shots of our monkeys, too!

We all has a great weekend, and after a Sunday at Downtown Disney and lunch at Raglan Road, we made it back home for the rest of Mother's Day. Thank you, George,

for an awesome weekend and an awesome Mom's Day!

One proud Momma!

A couple of weeks ago, Danny finally achieved a goal he's been working on for months. He received his green belt in Kenpo Karate, and he was super stoked! Here is a pic of Danny with Sensei James and Xavier, who tested for his brown belt on the same day.

 

 

I can tell you this - I am one proud Mama. After all our little boy has been through this year, I am so impressed by his perseverence. Go Danny Boy!

Move over, Paula Deen

Our neighbor, Miriam, gave us a bag of summer squash this week, and I couldn't think of anything better to make with it than Squash Casserole.  My favorite recipe has always been Paula Deen's recipe from The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook. It's a simple recipe, but this time I put my own spin on it, and it turned out delicious. Here's how I made it:

First I assembled all of the ingredients.

I chopped the squash and onions, and I cooked them together.

The original recipe calls for cooked squash and separately cooked onion, but I always cook the squash with the Vidalia onion, as it gives the squash better flavor.  While those were cooking, my helper, Danny, crushed up some Ritz crackers.

This is where my casserole varies from the Deen recipe, as I used Bacon Ritz

to give it an awesome smoky flavor. Danny then mixed all of the ingredients together,

topped it with Ritz crumbs and cheese,

and we baked it until it became bubbly and browned on top.

I've included the full amended recipe below:

SQUASH CASSEROLE

 

 

Ingredients:

 

3 cups yellow squash, cut into rounds

1 large Vidalia onion, chopped

1 tablespoon butter, plus 4 tablespoons, melted

1 cup Ritz bacon flavored cracker crumbs, plus more for topping

1/2 cup sour cream

1 cup grated cheddar cheese, plus more for topping

pinch of salt

pinch of black pepper

pinch of garlic powder

pinch of onion powder

 

Sautee squash and onion together in 1 tablespoon butter until pan sizzles. Add 1/2 cup water and cover, cooking until squash is tender. Pour into a strainer, and then squeeze all of the water out using a towel. Place the squash/onions into a bowl with the 4 tablespoons melted butter, 1 cup cracker crumbs, 1 cup of cheese, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. Sprinkle remaining crumbs and cheese on the top, and bake at 350 F for 25-30 minutes.

 

 

 



 

Family Fun in T-ville

In May, on my birthday weekend, George and the kids took me to Thomasville for some family fun. Our first stop was Liam's for Saturday brunch.

Liam's serves seriously good food in a down-to-earth atmosphere, and we all enjoyed the gourmet meal - even the kids who both got specially made omelets. It was also super hero Saturday, so we felt right at home with our fellow nerds/comic book fans.

Our next stop was one of my favorite places in Thomasville, The Bookshelf. While I perused the shelves for something special, George and Danny played a game of chess on the local board.

We all love the store, and we could have spent the rest of the afternoon there. However, no visit to Thomasville is ever complete for me without visiting two of my favorite shops, Relish (the best Le Creuset store ever!) and Sweet Grass Dairy Cheese Shop.

If we have time, we always stop at the Dairy for a cheese board and a glass of wine (or Mexican coke for the kids). Leaders of the local slow food movement, we've been visiting the dairy since they raised the goats for their famous chevre. Now, they just focus on the cheese making, and we all enjoy tasting the flavors they pair. Megan and Danny are quickly becoming connoisseurs of cheese and good food in general.

In all, it was a great birthday weekend. Thank you, George, Megan, and Danny, for the wonderful time!

End of the school year activities

It seems like activities leading up to the end of the school year start earlier each year. This year, the festivities began in March with an art show at the public library downtown. Danny created a painting of flowers, and his painting was chosen to be in the show. My heart swells with pride even now.

Next came field day. Danny's class dressed in bright green,

and I would have taken more pictures, but I was too busy volunteering for the day making snow cones in 40 degree weather. Fun stuff!  Then, in early May, the fourth grade held their annual musical, "I Need a Vacation!"

Danny participated in the chorus, and his favorite song was the ditty about going to Disney World. I think his opinion was influenced by the fact that he was looking forward to Mother's Day weekend at Animal Kingdom. Before our trip (for a separate post), Danny participated in Take Your Child to Work Day.

He skipped the kiddie activities, and he hung out with his mom all day in the DOE building. The next activity was open house, where I got to see various projects he had done throughout the year. My favorite thing to see was the decoration on his teacher's door, on which each student had expressed his or her favorite thing about his teacher while dressed as the teacher.

I loved seeing all the blond curly hair! 

Last Thursday, Megan's year culminated in her final middle school orchestra performance. She did very well, and even got to announce one of the songs.

Friday morning, George and I attended a very crowded 8th grade ceremony, where she received her advancement certificate and some recognition for club involvement.

Again, I am so proud of my kids. Even more so, though, I am so happy to see the end of school year 13-14. Woo-hoo!