The day turned out beautiful.....

After all of the rain, the day turned out to be gorgeous!

Elise reading Charlie a goodnight book.

Then Charlie got up later when Bridgette came over to say hi.... he didn't want to miss the party!

Whatever they are watching.... it must be good.

Charlie gets really excited when they bowl.

The trees were in full bloom.  Matt and Mollie have a beautiful Crab Apple Tree in the back yard.

Lauren talked Grandpa into a wagon ride.

Dad bowling on the Wii.... Elise and Lauren kicked his booty, it was hilarious!

A visit to the Plaza

Most of the fountains were on while we were there.  They have a ton of fountains and statues all over the place there.

Elise wanted her picture taken on EVERY single statue we saw... I have only posted a few but there are lots more.  This one was so cute because the stork's mouth has a hole in it.  There was a family ahead of us with a little baby and they put her in it and took her picture... it was sooo cute.

The tulips were in full bloom down there.... on March 23rd.  Crazy!!!

Lauren didn't really have a good time.  She was tired, bored and whiny... perfect for a day of looking around.  She would much rather be riding her bike, running around at a park or just outide playing.

I think I will just take a little nap right here.

A trip to Matt and Mollie's

We went down to visit Mollie and her family for the end of Spring Break.  Dad and Lucy flew down from Minneapolis on Friday morning.  Once the rain stopped later on Friday, it turned out to be a gorgeous weekend.

Baby Boomer or X'er... or somewhere in between???

I found this email from one of my very best friends that died in 2004, Jennifer Waymire.  She sent this to me on July 30th, 1999. 

"This is pretty funny, I am amazed at how many I can relate to...

YOU'RE LOST BETWEEN A BABY BOOMER AND GEN X'ER IF.....

1. You remember when Jordache jeans with a flat comb in the back pocket was cool

2. In your class picture you were wearing an Izod shirt with the collar up.

3. You know by heart the words to any Wierd Al Yankovic song.

4. You ever rang someones doorbell and said, "Land Shark!"

5. Three words:  Atari, Intellivision and Coleco, sound familiar.

6. You remember the premier of MTV, in fact, you remember the Friday Night Videos before the days of MTV.

7. A predominant color in your childhood photos is plaid.

8.  While in high school, you and your friends discussed elaborate plans to get together again at the end of the century and play Prince's "1999" until you passed out partying.

9.  You remember when music that was labeled alternative, really was alternative.  And when alternative comedy really was funny.

10.  You took family trips BEFORE the invention of the minivan.

11.  You rode in the back of a station wagon and you faced the cars behind you.

12.  You've recently horrified yourself by using any one of the following phases:  When I was younger.... When I was your age.... You know, back when....

13.  School house rock played a HUGE part in how you actually learned the English language.

14.  You ever dressed to emulate a person you saw in either Duran Duran, Madonna or Cyndi Lauper video.

15.  The first time you ever kissed someone at at dance came during either "Crazy for you" or "Leather and Lace".

16.  You remember with pain, the sad day when the Green Machine hit the streets and made our old Big Wheel quite obsolete.

17.  The phrase, "Where's the Beef?" still doubles you over with laughter.

18.  You honestly remember when film critics raved that no movie could ever possibly get better special effects than those in the movie Tron.

19.  You had a crush on either Ted the photographer on The Love Boat, Gage from Emergency or Ponch the motorcycle cop from CHIPS.

20.  Your hair at some point in time in the 80's became something which can only be described by the phrase, "I was experimenting."

21.  You've shopped at Benetton.

22.  You're starting to believe now that maybe having kids do to school year round wouldn't be such a bad idea after all.

23.  You're doing absolutely nothing pertaining to your major.

24.  U2 is too popular and mainstream for you now.

25.  You remember trying to guess the episode of the Brady Bunch from the first scene.

26.  You had a front row seat for Luke and Laura's wedding on General Hospital.

27.  Your parents wanted you to attend medical school, but you decided it was pointless since Quincy got all of the babes anyway.

28.  You know who shot JR.

29.  Loves Baby Soft was in every girl's  Christmas stocking.

30.  This ring a bell: ".... and my name is Charlie.  They work for me."

31.  You were unsure if Diet Coke would ever catch on after all.

32.  You know all the words to the double album set of Grease.

33.  You ever had a Dorothy Hammill haircut.

34.  You sat with your friends on a Friday night and dialed 867-5309 to see if Jenny would answer.

35.  "All skate, change directions," means something to you.

36.  You owned a pair of rainbow suspenders just like Mork used to wear.

37.  You bought a pair of Vanns and wanted to order pizza in history class just like Jeff Spicoli.

38.  You owned a preppy handbook.

39.  You were too young to go see the Blue Lagoon so you just had to settle for the second hand reports.

40.  You remember when movies were only PG and R.

41.  You learned to swim about the same time Jaws came out and still carry the emotional scars to this day.

42.  you remember when your cable TV box had a sliding selector to switch.

43.  Your jaw would ache by the time you finished those brick-sized packages of Bazooka gum.

44.  You remember Bo and Luke Duke.

45.  VCR's cost $2,000.

46.  There was nothing strange about Bert and Ernie living together.

47.  You remember rotary dial telephones.

48.  You actually  believed that Mikey, famed for his Life cereal commercials, died after eating a packet of pop rocks and drinking a coke.

49.  The theme song to Greatest American Hero still comes back to you on occasion (BELIEVE IT OR NOT I'M WALKING ON AIR...)

50. "Members only" Jackets, say no more.

I love to bake....

50 Tips for Baking Better Cakes (Sweetapolita)

Recipe Ingredients: 1. Ingredients for cakes should be room temperature (can take out of refrigerator approximately 60-90 minutes before needed). 2. To check freshness of eggs, put in a bowl of water--if they sink, they're fresh. If they float and stand on one end, they're not. 3. "Eggs" typically means Grade A, large eggs. 4. "Milk" typically means homogenized. 5. You can substitute milk with yogurt or sour cream, to experiment with different textures. 6. To create a replacement for buttermilk, add 1 teaspoon for every cup of homogenized milk and stir. 7. Weighing ingredients with a digital kitchen scale is the most accurate method of baking. 8. 1 large egg white = 37 grams, 1 large egg yolk = 20 grams. Eggs separate best when cold but whites whip best when room temperature or warm. 9. Egg whites in carton freeze well--just pull out of freezer night before you need them. 10. For best results, use pure vanilla extract (not from grocery stores)--what a difference! Heck, don't even be afraid to double the vanilla quantity. 11. To bring cold eggs to room temperature quickly, you can put the whole eggs into a bowl of lukewarm water (not hot) for 30 minutes. 12. To bring butter to room temperature quickly, you can cut into small cubes on a plate for about 15 minutes. 13. Semisweet Chocolate = Dark Chocolate. Bittersweet Chocolate = Extra Dark Chocolate. 14. Semisweet & Bittersweet Chocolate are interchangeable. 15. Unless otherwise listed, use unsalted butter for cake recipes. Mixing: 16. Incorporate dry ingredients together with whisk before adding to wet ingredients. 17. When creaming butter and sugar, get the mixture very pale yellow and fluffy--will take several minutes (around 5). 18. Always start and end with dry ingredients when alternating with wet ingredients (3 dry additions, 2 wet). 19. Don't overmix once dry ingredients are added. Just mix on low speed until incorporated. 20. Kitchen stand-mixers don't need to run at full-speed. A small mixer should run no more than speed #4, for most things. A large mixer no more than speed #6. You will add years to your mixer's life! 21. Be careful with your sugar--too much can cause a dark crust (one of several possible causes), too little can cause too light a crust or tough texture. 22. Watch your flour--too much can cause a cracked top (one of several possible causes). 23. Beat egg yolks with fork before adding to batter. 24. To retrieve stray eggshells in mixture, use the emptied half-shell--eggshell sticks to eggshell. If you don't get them all, they will sink during baking, so you can turn baked cake over when cool and retrieve them. 25. A pinch of salt brings out the flavours in sweet baked goods. 26. When folding, you should always add the lighter of the two mixtures on top, using a gentle folding motion, to avoid deflating batter. 27. When mixing egg whites for meringue, wipe all untensils and bowl with vinegar or lemon juice on a paper towel before they come in contact with the egg whites (including the mixer whisk attachment). Any trace of grease, will likely jeopordize your meringue. 28. Keep an extra set of rubber spatulas that you use strictly for meringue. 29. Use the electric mixer's splashguard for liquidy batters--that's what it's for! 30. If incorporating more than one flavour into a batter or icing, always start with the vanilla. Vanilla enhances most flavours. Baking Cakes: 31. For evenly-baked cakes, no domed tops, and no-fuss assembly, bake "layer-by-layer." This means if you're baking a 3-layer cake, use 3 of the same size/shape pan, and bake 3 shorter layers at same time. 32. Use a small offset palette knife to spread batter evenly in pans. Don't fill more than 1/2 full--2/3 at the most. 33. Get a separate oven thermometer for an accurate temperature reading--most ovens are either "hot" or "cold." 34. Always wait for oven to reach necessary temperature before putting cakes in oven. 35. Keep cakes away from sides of oven, and if possible a few inches from each other (when more than 1 baking at once). 36. Rotate cakes after 20 minutes in oven (don't disturb before 20 minutes). 37. Use middle rack, unless otherwise stated in recipe. 38. Typically, when in oven, cakes are nearing done when you can smell cake in the kitchen. Sounds weird, but you'll see! 39. Leave cakes in oven when testing for "doneness." When a skewer comes clean from center of cake, it's done. 40. Don't overbake! This is one sure way to end up with a dry cake. Cooling & Frosting: 41. Let full cakes cool in pans on wire racks for 20 minutes before removing from pans. 42. Remove cupcakes from pan immediately, placing individual cupcakes on wire rack to cool. 43. Once completely cooled, wrap cake layers in plastic wrap and place in freezer for 30 minutes before cutting and/or icing. 44. Always place cake on a thin foil-covered cake board the same size/shape as the cake for ease of icing/serving, etc. 45. Brush away any stray cake crumbs with silicone pastry brush before icing. 46. Apply a more even layer of filling using an 18" pastry bag and large round tip. 47. Apply thin layer of icing to seal in crumbs, then place in refrigerator for 30 minutes before second layer. 48. Use an offset palette knife/icing spatula for frosting top of cake, and straight palette knife/icing spatula for sides of cake. Use a bench scraper for super-smooth edges. 49. If you don't have time for frosting your cake, a good sprinkling of powdered sugar does wonders! Tastes and looks great on most cakes. 50. To give your frosted cake a glossy finish, you can use a hair-dryer on medium heat over the outside of the cake (right before serving). www.sweetapolita.com/blog

Hairball!!!

Hairball is a band that does cover tunes from all of the hair bands from the 1980's.  They even dress the part.  We had a blast.

Celebrating Eric's 40th Birthday at a Hairball Concert.

Good friends and neighbors Ryan and Katrina Davis

A little Twisted Sister

Kiss

Motley Crue

Easter Bunny 2012

We went to Valley West Mall to see the Easter Bunny.  It took all but about oh... 15 seconds per kid.  The Bunny doesn't talk so it's a little awkward at this age because they kept trying to have a conversation with him.

Elise 7 1/2 years

Waiting in line for the Choo Choo train and I told them this is the last time.  They were about 4+ years older than the average toddler riding the train.  I think they have outgrown it.  Elise didn't think so.  She said that it's her third favorite ride in the world, right behind Tower of Terror, The Rockin' Roller Coaster and then this itty bitty choo choo train... I don't get it, but she likes so that is fine :)