Fun with friends July 2013

The week Kaitlin had region camp I went to pick our our Kulik friends for a day of fun~

It was rainy so our first plan was cancelled and we needed up at the movies to see Despicable Me 2-- so hilarious!  I mean really.  I laughed so much!  I think it was great!

The movie was at Memorial City Mall.. so we ate lunch in the food court before seeing the movie and the carousal MUST be ridden!

After the movie we had time to spare so went to a model shop in the Village and headed to The
Chocolate Bar afterwards for a little treat.  And The Chocolate Bar is always a treat!

16 years and couting... June 2013

Dave and I celebrated our 16th anniversary this June. 

16 YEARS!

I really can't believe it has been that long, or that we have an ALMOST 15year old!

Here is the beautiful Sea Wall in Galveston.

We were married at Moody Gardens so we opted to spend our day together in the sand and sun.  But with lack of funds we just did a day trip on the cheap! 

We drove down the Seawall and fondly recalled our honeymoon night at the San Luis. 

Dave has always wanted to drive over the San Luis Pass and with nothing else on our agenda and the open road ahead of us we went for it!!!

Over the Pass we go!!

On the other side there is this really neat beach access point and we opted to drive on the beach, along with the other 30 vehicles there!

  not quite white sand dunes, but pretty none the less!

until... you know what happened.... WE GOT STUCK IN THE SAND! 

Yes, we did.  I was in a little disbelief.  There were cars driving all over the beach, we though we were good and then WE WEREN'T.

So we got out and looked and Dave dug behind the tires and we pulled stuff out of the car like towels and out BACK plastic cover... so that he could put them under the tires for possible traction.

I was texting a FRIEND (http://familyrevised.blogspot.com/) because the are so often IN Galveston... however they weren't headed there until that evening.  She promised to come help if we were still stuck.  :0)

I thought FOR FUN I would include our texts.. which made Dave seriously laugh!

Finally, defeated and convinced he could do nothing more.. Dave headed across the beach to enlist help of some sort.

I sat on the beach doing this...

 

taking pretty, pretty pictures.  :0)


He came back with 7 large men, who so kindly PUSHED us out of the soft sand and back onto firmer Terra.  So thankful for these kind men!!!

We hopped back into our now VERY sandy vehicle.  Glad that we hadn't had to spend money we did not have on a tow of course and $10.00 dollars richer because we found a bill while searching for something to get traction with.  (I pointed our that we are SUCH GREAT financiers that we actually not only saved money that day BUT MADE MONEY!)  :0)

We headed no further down the pass--- Dave was a little over the trip by now and we had let air pressure out of the tires (an Internet tip) so we needed to air them up.  So we headed back over the pass to Galveston and found a pump.

and then to our favorite Italian on the Island.. a restaurant we have visited since we started dating!

and shared an amazing pizza!!  They do speak English BTW AND make a great pizza!

after that we headed home to just chill and relax until we needed to pick up the kids!

It was a day with trials and laughter.. JUST LIKE OUR MARRIAGE.

Karate... in uniform for the first day... July 2013

Emily and Mary Faith are taking K-A-R-A-T-E.

Emily ran off before I could get a pic of her first BELT TIE!! But here is Mary Faith!

They are having so much fun!!

streching out.

standing at attention! Ready to defend!

DEFENSE!

Fun outing.. putt putt and go carts! June 2013

We went across town to pick up our family friend Tim Kulik and opted to try ZUMA (which is a putt putt, go cart, game place)

The kids had SO much fun.  We had bought a pass, so they could ride to the hearts content.  In fact, they rode and rode and rode, then we left to pick up Tim's mom for lunch, then headed back to ride some more!

after go carting and bumper boats a zillion times... they headed to the putt putt course.

We had a great day!

Saige, An American Girl Movie Premiere Party July 2013

As soon as I heard of the release of the new Saige movie.. I put out the invite for another movie premiere party like we did for McKenna!

Because Saige is an artist we had to have a painting theme!!

The girls decorated a sign to "SAVE THE ARTS"

We had dinner.

They all got pictures in the "hot air balloon" that Kate and I painstakingly made. It actually turned out better than I thought, I just needed a taller roof!

and last but not least the MOVIE itself.... it was pretty cute, I think I liked McKenna better but still a fairly decent show.  All the girls enjoyed it!

Wordless Wednesday... Emily July 2013

Austin Girls Trip Part 2: May 2013

I had the entire trip in ONE post, but once it posted.. only half of it was there!  I have no idea what happened!  But, anyway, here is the rest of our wonderful trip!

We visited Whole Foods (it is the largest in the nation right now.... only one in London is bigger and Dallas now has the 3rd largest)  It is amazing to visit.. so much stuff!

We found this machine as we were leaving. It is called an Art- O- Mat. A group of artist used an old cigarette dispenser to dispense little art pieces. It is really neat!

we opted for Chinese delivery the second night... always a good choice!

We went to ALL THINGS CELTIC for the girl!

We had a great time gazing around the store.. we opted to NOT try the canned Haggis.  :0)

Next, we headed out of Austin toward San Marcos...

From there we headed toward Wimberly to the Wimberly GlassWorks for a tour, demonstration and just all out prettiness!!!

and from here we ate lunch-- just before the TSU college Graduation ended.. WISE!!!! and we got out of town quick! 

We had an amazing little trip.. got to just go and do as we pleased!  So much fun!!  I cant thank Vickie enough for our girls trip!!

Around the World in 180 Days-- Geography Unit: Africa week 1-3

We started leaning about Africa this week!!

We learned about the oceans, rivers and lakes in Africa.

We learned about a number of the continents major resources.

We learned and saw pictures about 12 of the "need to see" spots in Africa!

We learned and mapped a number of countries.

We learned a lot about Morocco and tried

Moroccan Tea

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon loose Chinese gunpowder green tea
• 5 cups boiling water
• 3 to 4 tablespoons sugar, or to taste
• 1 large bunch fresh mint (1 ounce)

• Special equipment : a 1- to 1 1/2-quart teapot

Preparation

Put tea in teapot and pour in 1 cup boiling water, then swirl gently to warm pot and rinse tea. Strain out and discard water, reserving tea leaves in pot.

Add remaining 4 cups boiling water to tea and let steep 2 minutes. Stir in sugar (to taste) and mint sprigs and steep 3 to 4 minutes more. Serve in small heatproof glasses.

These were the closest to a "shot glass" type glass.  

We also tried Fried Bananas

• 2 firm peeled bananas
• Knife
• Cutting board
• Medium shallow bowl
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tbsp. butter
• Large nonstick skillet
• Spatula
• Serving platter

Cut two peeled bananas in half across the center, then cut each half lengthwise.  Melt the butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Carefully put the banana slices in the skillet with the cut side down.  Cover with brown sugar Saute the banana slices on one side for approximately 30 to 45 seconds or until the cooked sides are golden brown. Turn over and again coat with brown sugar.

Do not let burn.

And lastly we tried apricot and pine nut couscous.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup pine nuts, about 1 1/2 ounces
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 cup dried apricots, finely chopped
• 1 cup chicken broth
• salt and pepper
• 3/4 cup plain couscous

Directions

• Cook nuts in oil in a 2-quart heavy saucepan over moderately low heat, stirring, until golden, 3 to 4 minutes, then transfer with a slotted spoon to a plate.
• Cook onion in oil remaining in pan over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, 2 minutes, then add apricots and cook, stirring, until onion is softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Add broth, 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper, then bring to a boil and stir in couscous. Cover pan, then remove from heat and let stand, undisturbed, 5 minutes. Fluff couscous with a fork and stir in nuts and salt and pepper to taste

It was ALL very tasty!!!

We learned about David Livingstone and watched a short YouTube on his life.

Each of the kids learned about one tribe.. and reported on it to the group.  Their religion, culture, jobs, dress.. etc.

**** tidbit of information learned. The Yoruba tribe have the HIGHEST number of twin births in the world!) and it is because of something they eat!****

We also learned about slavery and talked about civil wars and colonization.  

We made a wheel of a lot of the different flags from countries all around Africa.

We learned that Liberia is a country that was founded for freed slaves to come home to...

We also learned about different climates, animals and cultures about different tribes.

We designed our own Africa neck adornments!

and we ended with eating at an extremely authentic African restaurant!!

to his right is a silver bowl-- everyone had to cleanse their writing hand (the one they would use...)

the white stuff closet to Kaitlin is FUFU.  it is a "bread like substance" that tastes similar to instant mash potatoes but is made from Yam Powder.  You tear off a piece and roll it into a ball, then you use your thumb to press an indention into the ball making basically a "scoop".  All of this is done one handed.  It takes talent!  After you have made your scoop you dip it into what Kate is eating.. it is a three dish plate.. spinach, a curry like orange thing and a vegetable soup that is all pureed.  It was actually ALL very good!

this is a rice dish (which our waiter who was Nigerian and has been here less than a year and a half) said would be a normal everyday meal.

beside it are fried plantains.  YUM. :0)

This is tilapia (another main food) and as you can see it is whole-- eye and all.  The actual fish "meat" itself was fine.  YUCK on the eye/ bones thing!

there were more fried plantains and beans that were pretty much the same as re fried beans.

After we ate and asked a TON of questions which the waiter and hostess (possible owner) answered so nicely and patiently! We went around the corner to this African Farmers Market.  Um. it was interesting.  Lots of yams, powdered and whole.  fish, goat, meat pies (yum), imported spices, household items and health and beauty items.  It was neat to see... :0)


We finished up Africa and are headed to Asia next!!!