The Whole Crew at the Zoo

Bran had this wonderful idea Saturday. He suggested that we spend the day at the zoo. He and I had been once before in the winter and there was no admission fee so we thought we'd try it again. It did end up costing us $7 but was totally worth it. It was around 3pm when we got there, close to closing time. We later found out that the combination of it being the off season, being cool out and being close to closing time was the golden ticket for a wonderful zoo experience. The animals were all active - we were lucky enough to have some close encounters. The kids weren't to excited to see it but even the octopus was right out in the open, clinging to the side of the tank, a rare sight for zoo patrons.

We were so jazzed about our zoo experience we wanted more! Inspired by Nessie on the Grand we decided to head into the city and check out the new Grand Rapids Art Museum. Also worth the cost even though it wasn't as enjoyable for the kids, I still think they got something out of the experience. Our night ended with dinner at The Pita House. One of Bran's old favorites he discovered while he was in college.

Oh, Christmas Tree...

We spent Black Friday as a family setting up our very first, new/old Christmas tree. It's actually the tree Bran's family used throughout his childhood. I couldn't decide whether to go with a theme or use the hodgepodge of Christmas decorations Bran and I have accumulated over the years. Because of the kids, I decided on colored lights and hodgepodge. It turned out beautifully. Who knew? Our living room glows lavender in the dim light, with speckles of rainbow light from the LED light strands we purchased yesterday. We accented it with discount pearl strands from Hobby Lobby. It's kind of a mess, but I like it. I got the star on top for a steal at TJ Max. It was originally $25. TJ Max price: $14.99. I got it for $8. It's like the icing on the cake. Although you can't see it in this picture, she's a beaut. I spent the rest of the evening refashioning hand-me-down decorations. We now have a lovely "new" wreath on the front door thanks to Bran's parents and some pearl garland I had left over from our wedding reception. The house is looking quite festive.

Thanksgiving Memories

As far as Thanksgiving's go, this was a fairly effortless event. All of the food was cooked on time. We only had one snafu... over-toasted marshmallows on the sweet potatoes - easily scraped off and replaced. The food all tasted wonderful and for dessert we drove down Holiday Road.
I highly recommend it! It's "the ultimate holiday light show - 14 houses with 200,000 lights synchronized to music." Little R loved it. Baby G was too small this year to really appreciate it. I'm not sure he was even tall enough to see out the window. The evening closed with some adorable photo ops via Bran, Baby G and Tucker (the cat). All in all, it was a wonderful, peaceful Thanksgiving. And now, to put up the Christmas tree!

My Little Pumpkin... Experiment

I have been trying to expand my cooking repertoire by testing a few new recipes each week. Focusing on dinner recipes, I decided to adventure out into the world of baking. Being as it's Thanksgiving week, I decided to make pumpkin cupcakes. I frosted them with cream cheese frosting and had Little R taste-test them for me. She seemed to like them... a lot. Between the two of us we polished off nine of the two dozen. I'm not going to divulge who ate the most, but let's just say I'm not too proud of myself.

The recipe was really easy. I got it from The New Cooking With 4 Ingredients book by Jean Coates.

Pumpkin cupcakes:

1 (18 ounce) package spice cake mix
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin
3 eggs
1/3 cup oil

• With mixer, blend cake mix, pumpkin, eggs, oil and 1/3 cup water. Beat for 2 minutes. Pour batter into 24 paper-lined muffin cups. Fill 3/4 full.

• Bake at 350 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. You might want to spread with commercial icing.

I followed the recipe close but chose to add more pumpkin because I like the taste. After baking the first batch according to the directions they turned out a bit burned, so the second batch was baked for only 15 minutes. That turned out perfect. I liked this recipe because it was easy and Little R loved them, but I didn't care for them with the icing. I think they would be better without or with a light dusting of coarse sugar crystals sprinkled on top.

On the Wagon

Well, I've done it. I've become yet another passenger on the blogger bandwagon. I was hesitant at first because I wasn't sure I had anything to say that would be worth reading. There is no particular topic I've devoted this blog to, however, being a stay-at-home mom does limit the amount of interests I can pursue on a day-to-day basis. Even so, it will be an adventure to see where it will go.