Fun at the museum

I took the kiddos on another play date on Thursday to the Kohl's Children's Museum and they had a blast! It was great, I got in free with the kids thanks to my new friend and the parking was also free because it was out of the city. I loved it so much I'm going to become a member so that we could go often! There was so much to do and it was very clean. We stayed for four hours and still didn't get to do everything! It's not as big as the children's museum in Indianapolis, but so much to do that the kids were happy to play with what was there.

I discovered little Cassia's love for music at the museum. Here favorite rooms were the music room where she was rockin' and dancing, and the water works room where she loved pushing buttons to get the water flowing.

Look at all those teeth!

Kai was a master at the pretend grocery store and spent about an hour playing with the kid sized digger. He wouldn't stop telling me how much he loved me...I take it he loved the museum!




We took a break at the Kim & Scott's pretzel cafe in the museum. I got Kai to twist and decorate his own pretzel. He did an excellent job decorating with marshmallows, sprinkles, chocolate chips and cinnamon.




On the ride home the kids crashed hard while I spent an hour and a half in rainy traffic. By the time I was almost home, Jimmy was clocking out so I went to pick him up from work. Then we all went out to our favorite local pizzeria and had a delicious meal.

Taking the kids out this week has me too busy to tackle my business plan, but Jimmy is off tomorrow so maybe I'll get a few hours in tomorrow.

A new friend

Finally, after complaining endlessly to my husband about not having any friends here, I forced myself to make a mommy friend who also has a three year old boy. Yesterday we had our first 'play date' thing. We took the kids to the zoo and I had a great time! It was different having a new adult friend that is not a coworker. You really have to work hard at trying to keep the conversation going! You don't know anything about this person except that they too have a child. So the work begins of asking the basic questions....oh so tiresome, but necessary. It's not like when you're a kid all you had to do was play, now you actually have to plan things in advance and communicate. The friendship is still so new that you just can't spring outings up with a phone call or just 'pop in' for a chat.

It was the first time for me going to the nearby zoo and I would definitely go again, besides it is free except for the parking, but that's not too bad at $14 for three hours. Kai loved the mini train ride, indoor climbing maze and ice cream. He's not too into the animals yet, just kept saying 'like in my book' every time we see an animal. Cassia had a fun time too, except for when it got too hot and close to nap time.

Tomorrow I might join my new friend and her son at a new children's museum. Today I started on our business plan with the help of Jimmy (dragging me out of bed at sunrise and making me coffee ^_^). I was so motivated a few months back about starting a business and getting things up and running before turning 30, well, that is about a week away and I haven't even finished a business plan. So 42 steps in nine days, lets hope I can accomplish that task. I would feel a sense of some sort of accomplishment.

Write the plan, write the recipes, test the recipes, test the products on people, find a location, find the financing, convince the husband to quit his job to help start business, work endlessly to get shop open, open shop and live happily ever after, or something like that; but first I must write the plan!

So why am I stalling? I'm not fully awake yet. I have writer's block. Kai just woke up....ummm, I haven't updated my blog in a while....hmmm. Out of excuses, ok so back to work I go.

Did I tell you about wanting to start a new blog about my opinions on new products, but someone is already doing that and using the name I wanted to use, but I guess that's what happens when I don't jump on an idea when it occurs......so back to my business plan I go---really.

back to the daily grind

I've been busy the past month with three kids and have come to the conclusion that the thought of more kids will have to be squashed! I love babies, but can't handle toddlers and preschoolers! give me a roomful of babies over loud overly active preschoolers any day! I am sad at the thought that my baby will soon turn one and will no longer be my little marshmallow. She is already starting to cruise on furniture!

We were recently in New York City, and covered a lot of ground. We seriously ate our way around NYC. It was my first trip there and I would go again, just not with three kids in tow! Imagine walking from the southern part of Central Park all the way down to China Town with kids ranging from 10 months to 4 years old. Not easy, it was amusing but not easy! I didn't encounter the 'rude' New Yorker until we were at the airport checking our bags to return home! People opened doors and said hello. They gave smiles and some wished us luck with our kids, but no one was rude. The smell and sight of trash is a reason I wouldn't like to live there. It really is dirty. We were there for a week but time just flew by. Everything is on hyper speed there; when we returned home I felt like my big city was the country!

I'll write about the most memorable places first and rant about the not so great later.


Here we are after dinner at Jean George's Spice Market. (I know I said I would rant later, but this was such a horrible experience...I'll share now.)

The restaurant's decor was phenomenal! It felt like I was somewhere in Thailand! The food and service was unfortunately not as wonderful. Our server was practically rolling her eyes at us in front of us! We could tell that no one wanted us to be in there just because we had three kids with us! Whether or not it was true, that is how they made us feel and that is not very hospitable. Our server lacked basic knowledge of the beverages and how to be nice. The food was another story, this is the third Jean Georges Vongerichten restaurant that I have dined at and was again disappointed! I don't know if it is because of the high expectation or just because the food was ok. I wanted it to be something spectacular, but it was just barely edible. We went to another restaurant (Momofuku) afterward so that I could actually eat! I'm sorry Jean Georges, I really wanted to like your restaurants, but after three strikes I think you are off my list of people/places to try. I do however, recommend Spice Market as a place to go for drinks and decor. I also appreciate the idea of dressing the service staff in brown to match the wood decor and give a feel of seamless service, but again the service we received from our waitress was less than spectacular. It's too bad that her support staff/ server assistants were better than her.

I may seem harsh in my reviews, but after working in the hospitality business for over 12 years and having been everything from dish washer, waitress to a general manager, I feel qualified to be a judge of good food and service.

New Chocolate and falafel

Last week we took a road trip to Canada and I have so many pictures to show, but I will start with the most recent thing that is still fresh on my mind: Terra Nostra organic Ricemilk chocolate bar with almonds.

We stopped in Michigan to spend a few hours with the grandparents which was so much fun for Kai and Bella (plus we got to rest while Grandma Mack played with Kai- Thanks Mom!).

Well, as you know we always stop into Joe's Produce when we are in town for their huge grapes and butter pretzels! I noticed a new chocolate bar while I was waiting to check out; I debated for a bit because Jimmy was just at the Callebaut Chocolate Academy for class and brought home four boxes of chocolates for us. I reasoned that 1) It is non-dairy 2) gluten free, 3) organic and 4) it was made with rice milk! All of which is not common and something that Jimmy does not make so it would be good for research and I'm really the ultimate consumer!

I am not a fan of milk chocolate, but I could have finished the whole bar myself if I didn't have to share it with my hubby (who also enjoyed it by the way)! Yes, it really is that good! Jimmy says that he can taste the rice milk, but me the not-so-chocolate-expert-as-Jimmy didn't notice; besides if you normally drink milk alternatives then you wouldn't notice. I now want to try their other varieties. I have some friends who would love this because they have dairy and gluten allergies. They make regular chocolate too. I was just pleasantly surprised and wanted to share my new discovery.

We also stopped in Ann Arbor for falafel sandwiches at Jerusalem Gardens. Jimmy frequented this restaurant when he lived there and has made me a huge fan. I have to say that they make the BEST baklava and falafel! Well, they make the best Middle Eastern food! Everything that I've had is the best, I think that I have dined at enough Middle Eastern restaurants to say that. Back to the baklava, it is the crispiest, butteriest, tastiest ever! It's not too sweet and if you are like us and buy a dozen at a time, you will find that even three days later they are still crispy!
If you are in Ann Arbor, you have to give this place a try, and the best part it is very affordable!