Gobble Gobble

We made turkeys! Elle made Christians a Jamacian turkey with beads on his feathers. =) And Elle's is 4 "fingered" (she is still getting the hang of using scissors to cut on the line) and 3 legged... They had a lot of fun (well, Elle anyway, Christian just kept trying to eat the glue and suck on the feathers...). We talked about how when we were back at the farm we'd raise some heritage turkey's. Elle is really excited. Happy Thanksgiving month! =) We are so thankful for our family to be all together.

The New Critter

Well, we didn't even make it two weeks and we have a new little critter. We got the kids a hamster. Elle named her "Betty." She is a sweet little hamster that so far has been extremely active and great entertainment for the kids...and us...not to mention MUCH less work and "overhead" than our other beloved farm animals.

I really do think that children need animals...And let's be honest, they are wonderful "baby siters". =)

Cast Iron Skillet Steak

I never think food pictures look nearly as good as real life....maybe it's because you can't smell a photo...

I want to preface this post with the statement that I do not consider myself a very good cook. I haven't done it enough, I have always tended to just do what I knew and not really branch out much. I don't know the "rules" of cooking or the basic "ideas" or anything like that...I was just never taught it and haven't taken the time to learn them. But it is one of the things I am working on here in Miami... and tonight... tonight I really out did myself! =) The most incredible steak I have EVER had, sauteed mushrooms, and mashed potatoes/carrots.
I got the long wanted cast iron skillet here and have loved cooking with it... feels sort of old fashioned for some reason... I couldn't find a broiler pan at any store here (odd?! Target-no, Walmart-no, grocery store-no...) and we aren't allowed to have a BBQ at our condo so I had to figure out how to cook steak in my cast iron skillet. I looked at a number of websites and a couple food chat forums. There seemed to be quite a dispute between salting your steak first or not salting it first, but everyone agreed that upon removing it from the fridge, it needs to sit at room temperature for 30-40 minutes. (I never knew this). I decided to just salt my salt a little- with Coarse Kosher salt.- there was a consensus that table salt should NOT be used. I heated the oven to 500 degrees with the cast iron skillet in it. This oven here takes FOREVER to pre-heat so this took the full 40 minutes. In the mean time I cooked bacon until it was crispy and sliced some Monterrey Jack cheese.
 I also started the mushrooms. I used about 2 Tablespoons of butter, 1 Teaspoon of Olive Oil, 1/2 teaspoon of Balsamic Vinegaret (sp?), 2 cloved of garlic minced and 1/4 of an onion sliced, then added the mushrooms- about a Cup and a half... wasn't quite enough for 2 adults, I would do at least 2 Cups next time. I had these is a fry pan on the stove between medium and low- a little closer to medium.
Once the oven was preheated and that skillet was, literally, smoken hot- I brought it out and put it on an already HOT burner (burner on high, turned on about 2 minutes before putting pan on it) on the stove top and put the meat on there (by the way, this was new york strip steak, but I'm sure the same method would work with T bones or other kinds of steak). Everything I read told me not to move it once it was placed on there, the point is to sear the outside to hold the juices in. So after about 2 minutes (my steak was about an inch and a half thick) I flipped the steak and did another 2 minutes on the other side. Then I put the oven on Broil 500 degrees. (It was already so hot from heating the pan it didn't take any time to pre-heat) and put the pan with meat in the oven. I cooked EACH SIDE for about 4-5 minutes and this gave me a little more than medium well done... you would have to adjust your time based on how you like your meat and how thick your steak is. As soon as I pulled it out of the oven (and cut in to it to check that it was done to my liken) I put the slices of Monterry Jack cheese and bacon peices (that I had cooked and cut up earlier) on top so the cheese would melt. It was INCREDIBLE. I honestly do not have too much to compare it to, I don't normally order steak at resturants or anything, but it was JUICEY, not chewy, flavorful and in my humble opinion, tasted DELICIOUS.
The mushrooms were also remarkable, although I must admit I have only had sauteed mushrooms one other time in life and they were soggy, I liked these with a little firm texture still to them. (they took about 20 minutes on the stove top). REVISSION: I have had sauteed mushrooms another time... Shantrel mushrooms our friend, John, made us... THOSE were incredible... a completely different playing field, so they didn't even occur to me in thought about this... he sells to the local stores in Olympia, and all over Western Washington and does cooking samples for them... incredible...
Yummmmm...

Elle's Imaginary Friend

My 3 year old (nearly 4) has an imaginary friend... or two... Before we came to Florida this was the friend she talked about raccoons with, the friend she had "circle time" with and taught how to do things like sit quiet, write her letters or clean her room, etc...
There were a few times it got a little confusing when Elle actually BECAME the imaginary friend who had an imaginary friend named "Elle"... (did you catch that?) Yes, when I would speak to my daughter, "Elle, what do you want for lunch?" She would say- "no, no mom, I am NOT Elle, I am Tootsie (or whatever the pretend name was for the day), thhhaaaaat's Elle." (with a point to the blank space beside her). "oh, I see" I would say...
Well, now... Elle's friends and dolls speak "Spanish" and she interprets for them... it is histerical! She'll throw and "uno" or a "dose" or "dainata" in the string of absolute jiberish and it's "spanish". Too funny... she LOVES to correct me when I pretend to "understand" what they are asking for... who knew the world of imaginary friends was so confusing?! I really hope we meet some families here soon so she can have some REAL friends. =)

History of Thanksgiving

Elle and I took this rainy day without or van (they towed it! accidentally...) to start to learn about the history of Thanksgiving. Maybe it's just me but I have a real void of that knowledge other than the photo images that are marketed of Indians sitting with pilgrims at a big table loaded with food with a boat in the background that says "Mayflower" on the side.
I thought I would share what we learned and if anyone else has anything to add please do! I have a new found passion to learn about the holidays our family celebrates and to educate our children on the real heart of what they stand for.
I got this information from about 5 different websites and then sort of put in my own words... http://www.history.com/ was the main site used.

After 66 days on a boat 102 passengers came over from Plymouth, England in September 1620. They first landed in Cape Cod-far north of their intended target, the mouth of the Hudson River. They mainly stayed on the boat (the Mayflower) all winter and were quite exposed to the elements and come spring, only half of them were still alive.
Upon moving ashore in the early spring they were greeted by and Abenaki Indian who spoke English. He came back days later with another Native American, Squanto, a member of the Pawtuxet tribe who had been kidnapped by an English sea captain and sold into slavery before escaping to London and returning to his homeland on an exploratory expedition. Squanto taught the pilgrims (who were desperately weakened by illness and malnutrition and lack of knowledge of the new territory) how to cultivate corn, extract sap from maple trees, catch fish and avoid poisonous plants and insects. He also assisted them with an alliance with the local Wampanoag tribe.
In the fall of 1621 Governor William Bradford organized a celebratory harvest, including the Wampanoag Indians. The event lasted 3 days. Turkey may or may not have been served. It is more likely that lobster, seal and swans were on the menu... certainly no pies with the depletion of the pilgrims supplies since the earlier fall season.
During the American Revolution Continental Congress designated one or more Thanksgiving days/year. In 1789 George Washington issued the first Thanksgiving proclamation by the national government of the United States. In it he called Americans to express their gratitude for the happy conclusion to the country's war of Independence and successful ratification of the US Constitution.
John Adams and James Madison did similar during their presidencies.
Other facts:
In 1817 New York was the first state to officially celebrate the holiday.
Sarah Josepha Hale- author of "Mary had a Little Lamb"- was credited as one of the most individuals responsible for making Thanksgiving a national holiday.
Ben Franklin wrote in a letter to his daughter that he was disappointed that the national bird was not chosen to be a turkey- as he had hoped- and was to be a bald eagle. He wrote of the eagles "bad moral character".
Thanksgiving is celebrated on the 2nd Monday in October in Canada.
And lastly... the heaviest turkey ever raised was 86 pounds!!! Jeepers! =)

Have a wonderful November. May it be full of thanksgivings and shared times with family and friends. I encourage you all to create a new tradition this year for yourself/your family.

veggie-speghetti

I love my new cast iron skillet! I made this for dinner in it last night. I have never made speghetti like this before but really liked it, so I thought I'd share. Here's what I used:

1 lb ground beef

1 Cup of sweet corn

1 Cup of diced green pepper

1 Cup of diced orange pepper

1 Cup of  sliced mushrooms

1 1/2 Cup of diced celery

1 jar of roasted garlic speghetti sauce

1/4 Cup of Sugar (I always put sugar in my speghetti...yumm...)

This is enough for about 6 adults, so adjust accordingly. I browned the meat first and then threw everything else in and cooked for about 15 minutes. The veggies were still real crunchy (which I like). You could cook those separate for a little bit if you wanted them softer. Or you could keep it on the oven on low for an hour or so and that would soften them. (Michael didn't get home for dinner until almost 2 hours after he thought so it simmered on the stove for him for a LONG time and his veggies were softer). So just cook your noodles and drain them, pour some of this on, add some parmasean  cheese and woo-la! =) It was really easy, pretty fast and a really good way to get a lot of veggie's in. I would have added black Olives too if I had had any. And I thought about carrots too, (didn't have any) maybe grated?... next time... Enjoy!

Braclet

Elle made me this braclet. She is really in to tying knots these days.

I got her a bunch of craft stuff when we first got down here. She has been making all kinds of things.

I maybe should have re-thought buying the bells.... she certainly knew where I was all day. =)

Observations

There are A LOT of bail bond locations here. HUGE signs that say "drug dealers destroy communities" and "Meth Kills"... Olympia has huge signs that say "Plant a tree" or "Buy Local".
Olympia...bring your own bag to the supermarket is a staple for many families...here...it is almost a contest to see how many bags they can give you at the store...one can of tomato soup for one bag...one bag for the chicken noodle...oh and this huge case of 24 soda's with a sturdy carboard handle- let's throw that in a bag.
Olympia... "poop scoop stations" EVERYWHERE... bags for your dogs provided at every park, at many points. Many along sidewalks, etc... here.... I think someone would look at you the same way as Olympians do when you DON'T clean up after your pet- if you DID....disgusted...
Olympia- recycle stations everywhere- electric car hook ups in parking lots... Our condo- (nor anywhere else that I have seen) No recycle option and a $50 fine for putting cardboard down the garbage shoot.
Washington beaches...windy and cold even on the nicest of days. Beaches here... let's just say I had rollarbladed nearly 4 miles and the kids in the stroller  when they wanted to play in the sand and I was happy to stop and dip my feet in to cool off.... not even REMOTELY refreshing... in fact I think the water was hotter than the inside of my rollarblades! White sandy beach, paddle boarders and wind surfers everywhere.
Olympia...travel 4 miles...takes maybe 7-10 minutes... Miami....15-25 minutes
Olympia...umbrella's are used for rain...Miami...umbrella's are used for shade from the sun. I am yet to see if it is mostly "foreigners" (people who did not grow up here) that use the umbrella's here... I know in Olympia- not many who have lived there their whole life ever use umbrella's... I myself have NEVER owned one except when I was a child and used it more like a boat in the puddle or to fly like Mary Poppins rather than to cover my head.
Cold packs...the kind you can freeze and then use in your cooler and then re-use. Next to impossible to find here....here-where a cold day is 75 degrees... I went to 6, yes six, stores (Grocery stores, home depot, walgreens, etc...) to try and find some for Michael's lunch cooler for work...NONE had them, 2 had never even heard of them. I finally went to Wal Mart thinking that they would at least have them... they did! They were about the size of...well, even smaller than my fist! I had to buy them out of the 15 they had just to be able to keep one cooler cool! Is it just me or shouldn't those be a staple here?

Ballet

Hungry for interaction with other kids, since we have no friends here, Elle is taking ballet. She had her first class yesturday. The teacher was excellent, very clear spoken, fun, made eveything a game or a story... Elle really enjoyed it. The other kids have been in the class since early September so for the most part they had the motions down, Elle sort of reminded me of myself when trying to do work out videos... as soon as you figure out what to do, they move on to the next thing!  HA! But she enjoyed herself and half the fun was dressing up in tights, tutu, and ballet slippers and getting her hair all put up (yes, she IS my daughter...WAY more girlie than I ever was). She got to do some tap too. Loud shoes... a child's dream...a mother's nightmare....=)

On the way home from here there was a TERENCHAL (sp?) down pour! I had the wipers on full blast and still couldn't see 5 yards in front of me. The roads became rivers in just a few minutes and there was thunder crashing and lightning stricking all around us. It was incredible. Poor Michael was working in it...but it was pretty spectacular. I love thunder storms and this one was definately the most dramatic one I've ever been in.

Children's Museum

The place was PACKED. I could hardely believe it. Elle was enthralled (sp?) with all the kids. I think there were at least 6 bus loads of kids there from schools, plus all the other individuals. I have still never been to the Children's museum in Olympia so I have nothing to compare this to, but it other than how packed it was and you couldn't hear eachother even from 2 feet away, it was nice. Elle really enjoyed it. I think it'd be even more great for 5 year old's and older. It was not stroller friendly and it was tough on my own to keep my eye on Elle and chase Christian all over the place-as he is in the "run away" phase and could care less if he stays where he can see me/I can see him. They both LOVED driving the remote control boats in in the pool, there was a puppet show of the 3 little bears that Elle really enjoyed. Elle even went "fishing" off a boat and caught three "fishes"- she was so proud of herself... and me too, those fish are tought to catch! (the magnet kind, with the magnet "hook" and magnet in the fish's mouth) The best part of all, that I need to create at our place is the pretend grocery store. They had little carts, all sorts of fake food, real registars and check out stands. She absolutely loved it. She could have played that for hours. I think I am going to start saving food boxes and cans to tape back up and set up a store for her. Christian enjoyed putting things in and out of the cart as well.

Where are the Florida oranges?!

First Africa, now Austrailia..... no grocery stores have oranges from...ahem... FLORIDA! Someone educate me... do oranges not grow at this time of year? They don't store well, what? What possible reason is there that no grocery stores down here sell FLORIDA oranges? There are at least a dozen billboard signs as you drive into the state with pictures of lucious oranges and statements of encouragement to purchase these juicey delites...my mouth has been watering for them since....but where are they?!

PRIDE

Pride has completely changed my daughter. We go to the pool daily and every day she pushes herself to do more and more things learning how to swim. Other than the one day on Sunday when Michael watched Christian while it was just her and I at the pool, I basically just watch Christian and keep my eye on her. I am not involved with what she is pushing herself to do- the ideas are hers and the execution is done out of my reach. (although I am ready at every moment to pounce if she ever did go under.)
The last 3-4 days have totally changed her. She is so proud of herself. I consider myself to be a positive mom. I give positive reinforcement to her regulary during the day (even hourly)... you know, "way to listen first time", "oooo, nice letters you are writing", "wow! I didn't know you could..."...but this is so different. She would be just as proud of herself if I wasn't even commending her for her bravery and skills in the water. This is a pride that no one would be able to take from her if they tried. It is a true experiance for her. I can see her process her fear before she jumps, her focus, her concentration with how far she is from the wall or the steps in relation to how far she was the last time, I can even hear her talk herself through it at times...and she triumphantly does it! She jumps, her face goes under water and she keeps it under water intentionally (to push herself as this is a new skill) and kicks and paddles to the step before bringing her face up with a conquering smile.

It absoluetly affects our entire day. That hour in the pool changes her. She is obediant, doesn't argue or try and debate me, she isn't just happy, she's joyful. Her confidance gained carries her through things that otherwise would be difficult for her or "worth the battle". The way she is able to CONTROL her fear while jumping and going under water, makes controling everything else (where we are going, what she is eating, what tone of voice she should use, how she is dressed, etc...) no longer as important to her. It is a truly remarkable transformation.

So...therefore, I am sold. Children need this kind of pride and confidence. They need to be given the opportunity to become successful at something difficult (even if it's just difficult in their minds) and feel like they did it themselves.  I'm not saying I 'had' a bratty child, or even a disobediant one, or anything like that. I actually think we have always had her trained well (certainly with failing moments...but overall...) and she's always been a very happy girl (except for maybe the hours between 8pm and 8am for the first 3 years of her life)...but it is just different now.  So FIND IT, find what your child wants to learn (something that would be challengeing) and figure out how to enable them to learn it on their own or with you "behind the scenes" as much as possible.
 I can't express how much easier my day is because of this transformation. There are no longer those petty battles with her, or "control" battles, she doesn't get jealous of attention given to Christian anymore and is just all around a more confident person, happy to do what we have taught her is right.

Also, I know this is the "right" kind of pride because she immediately wants to share the joy of it with others. She anxiously tries to teach Christian to do it too "come on, it is so much fun", or "you can do it!" and tells me that she can now give me "swim lessons" if I want, because "she is ready". =) She wants to help others to be good at what she is good at and that's how I know it is a pride/confidance that I want to encourage.
On a lighter note, she did tell me this evening that maybe she still needed swim lessons so she could "learn how to breath underwater"...  ;)

four chairs and a sheet

I remember making forts like this when I was a kid. My brothers and I were only allowed to eat sugared cereal (lucky charms was my favorite) on Saturday morning. So we would make some magnificant fort and eat a rediculous ammount of sugared cereal and watch cartoons. I had totally forgotten about it until Elle made this one. Great entertainment for young kids... almost more time (and fun) in "building" it than actually playing in it.

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

I was itching to bake yesturday, to make something from scratch, to fill this foreign smelling condo with a "baking scent"...so Elle and I made Cinnamon Rolls. I have literally been to the grocery store 6 (yes, SIX) times since I have been here, and I have not even been here a week. It is amazing how many things you just have when you cook/bake often that lasts a while and you don't really consider often. Well, here I started with hardly anything- I brought along some recently purchased items from Azure Standard like organic flour, sugar and black beans- but other than that I mainly brought baby food and child's snaks. Every time I try and make a meal I find myself realizing I don't have a very basic ingrediant that I always would have had on hand back home.
Homemade meals really are cheaper than eating out (not to mention way healthier) all the time, but when you are starting with having to re-buy everything like baking soda, baking powder, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, spices, seasonings, etc... it gets spendy fast!
So Elle and I made these cinnamon rolls after carefully checking the ingrediants and going to to grocery store to get all that we needed. I put them in the fridge to chill overnight with the plan to get up an hour before Michael had to leave for work to set them out and cook them and put icing on them so they could enjoy them warm that morning.... As they were cooking, I began to make the icing (which had a separate ingrediants list)... and had no powdered sugar! It was 4:30 in the morning and no grocery store close enough to make it there and back in time, let alone worth risking who knows what being out in this area in the dark... so the kids and I had icingless cinnamon rolls this morning... but we made our 6th grocery run this afternoon and I got powdered sugar, so we'll try again tomorrow. =)

Here's the recipe: (altered from Better Home and Gardens Cook book)
Prep: 45 Minutes    Rise: 1 hour     Chill: 2-24 hours (or not at all)
Stand: 30 Minutes (if you choose to chill)   Bake: 20-25 minutes 
Oven: 375 degrees    Makes: 24 rolls

4 3/4-5 1/4 Cup of all-purpose flour                                      Vanilla Glaze:
1 package dry active yeast
1 Cup milk (I think whole milk works best)                           In a small bowl stir together 2 1/2 Cups
1/3 Cup butter                                                                        powdered sugar, 2 teaspoons light colored
1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar                                                      Olive Oil, 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla. Add
1/2 teaspoon Salt                                                                    enough half and half to reach drizzeling
3 eggs                                                                                      consistancy. (about 2-4 Tablespoons)
1 Cup packed Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup all-purpose flour
1 1/4 Tablespoon Cinnamon
3/4 Cup butter
a few Tablespoons of half and half
1 recipe of Vanilla Glaze

Optional add ins:
Raisins, pecans, chocolate chips, peeled and diced apple chunks (I used these)

1. In a large mixing bowl combine 2 1/4 Cups of the flour and yeast. In a saucepan heat and stir milk, 1/3 Cup butter, granulated sugar, and salt just until warm (120-130 degrees F) and butter almost melts; add to flour mixture along with eggs. Beat with electric mixer (or a strong arm as I did...) on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping bowl. Beat on high speed 3 minutes. Stir in as mush of the remaining flour as you can.
2. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough of the remaining flour to make a moderately soft dough that is smooth and elastic (about 3-5 minutes). Shape dough into a ball. Place in a greased bowl; turn one. Cover; let rise in a warm place until double (about an hour).
3. Punch dough down and turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide in  half. Cover; let rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, lightly grease two 9x1 1/2 inch round baking pans or 2 baking sheets; set aside. For filling, stir together brown sugar, the 1/4 C flour, and cinnamon; cut in 1/3 Cup butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
4. Roll each half of dough into a 12x8 inch rectangle. Using 1/2 of remaining butter on each rectangle, spread butter evenly over dough. Sprinkle filling over butter. If desired sprinkle any optional add on's at this time. Roll up each rectangle starting from a long side. Seal seams. Slice each roll into 12 peices. Place cut sides down in prepared pans or baking sheets.
5. Cover dough loosely with plastic wrap, leaving room for rolls to rise. Chill for 2-24 hours. Uncover; let stand at room tempature for 30 minutes. (Or, to bake rolls right away, don't chill the dough. Instead, cover loosely; let dough rise in a warm place undtil nearly double, about 30 minutes.)
6. Break any surface bubbles with a greased toothpick. Brush dough with half and half. Bake in oven at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until light brown (you may want to cover the rolls with foil the last few minutes to prevent over browning). Remove from oven. Brush again with half and half. Cool for 1 minute. Drizzle with Vanilla Glaze. Serve warm.

The trash commitment

I have never used a trash shoot before. It is unbelieveably stressful! You take the bag full of garbage down the hall, open the door, pull the metal handle back and drop in the trash bag... it should be simple... but once you drop it...it's GONE! I just can't seem to get over it... What if something was in there I will realize later that I need? What if the kids dropped something in there I didn't see? A bill? My cell phone? A phone number on scrap of paper? A sentimental toy? ...I am not a material person, we don't have very many nice things let alone anything that I would be really upset if I lost (basically just the ring on my finger, a couple of stuffed animals of the kids and some furniture that I didn't even bring with us) but it still never fails me to hesitate before dropping the bag and then standing there for a moment after waiting for that "moment after memory" to occur that never fails to kick in when it is already too late, and then all the way back to the room I go over in my mind what "might have been in there"...
My conclussion on the trash shoot is that the stress far out weighs the convienance... I miss having haul my garbage to the can off the back deck and then 700' down the driveway to the curb... at least then I had a whole week to rummage through and get anything that accidently found it's way there or caused too much remorse to get rid of... this being said... I cannot think of a SINGLE time that I have EVER gone and "retrieved" ANYTHING from the trash...humm... maybe the garbage shoot isn't so bad.
This city living is making me crazy... a post about garbage?! What am I thinking....

Here's a capture I got of Elle the first full day we were here. I was putting things away and she was playing in our room building a "boat". I noticed it got quiet and went to investigate and found this. She slept like this for over an hour. Cozy kid.

We have been practicing Spanish since we've been here. I will probably butcher the spelling (much like I do with the English language as well) but I thought I'd share what we're learning and if anyone wants to teach us a few essentials- that'd be great. It is so fun learning with a 3 year old- languages come so easy for them. Rapido=fast. Coma-es-ta?= how are you?. Muy bien=very good. Gracias=Thank you. Daynota=you're welcome. Ola=hello. Senta=jump. and of course the numbers 1-10. Minuteo=minute. Porfevoir=Please. I think that's it. She has got them all down except for Coma-es-ta? she usually says something like "Coma-mushy-tineo"....so funny.

I have to just throw this in because I'm not sure where else to put it and it was such a shock. We went to the grocery store and started in the produce section and I was excited to get yummy Florida oranges... I saw the oranges and started putting them in the bag.... until I saw... "grown in Africa"...AFRICA!? I put them back and looked thoroughly for the other section of oranges... there were none... they had NO Florida oranges, only ones from Africa! That would be like a grocery store in Washington not carrying any WA grown apples! I was shocked.

Alligator Farm

These are the geese I wanted to get last year when we got Elle's chicks....but they're over $50 per gossling... but aren't they beautiful!

They look fake!

My little man is growing up fast!

Elle touched the tail when I was holding it... then she asked if she could touch it's mouth.... nope! =)

Elle kept asking to see the Aligators and Crododiles since she learned we were moving to Florida. When I was teaching her states I "tagged" each state with something to stand out for her and those were Florida's (Montana's where the cowboys go... Maine's where the lobsters live etc... I made it into a song for bath time and she loves it.). So we went to the Alligator farm today down by the Everglades. She loved it. I feared she was all talk and when it was time to see them up close, she would burrow into my chest, but she didn't. It was fun. We didn't stay too long the kids are still getting climatized and it was HOT out, but I started a new tradition (if you could call it that) I got the kids a book from the gift shop. I am going to try and buy them a book each time we go do something special and then write in each book where we got it, what we did that day, how old they are, etc... I thought that'd be a fun sort of educational way to remember where they've been.