I tried to capture how nice they looked this weekend.  They just weren't having it.

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zoo

We were fortunate to be invited to spend the day at the zoo with some friends.  We were a group of three adults with seven kids age four and under.  They were all so well behaved and it was a great day.  My favorite part was seeing the chimps.  Their muscle structure is so similar to ours.  It's so funny to watch them.  This one stared right at me with his ancient looking face chomping away at some greens.

Reminded me of this book we are enjoying right now by Chris Van Allsburg called The Wretched Stone, where the crew of a sailboat are all transformed into chimps.  It's a fun read.

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Rose Rice

So I love that pic of James and Libby in their "window seat".  Cute huh? But not really what I wanted to blog about.

I love our street.  We have some of the best neighbors ever.  Every afternoon all the kids play together outside.  (To the mean neighbor's dismay.). They catch caterpillars, play soccer or baseball, ride bikes, or make up their own games.  Our street is great for kids.  But it's nice for grown-ups too.

Last night we had kabob patties and Rose rice.  "Rose Rice" is a dish named after my next door neighbor Rozita.  When we first moved here she started bringing us Iranian food, and we fell in love.  I get so tired of the same old boring flavors, and she taught me how to make something new.   More importantly she became a dear friend.   She is the one I go to when I need to talk, or I need an egg, or I need someone to look at a suspicious bump on my back to make sure its not a tick.

Anyway... if you want to make something different, try this.  I probably don't do it exactly right, and most of what Rose makes is super complicated, but this isn't.  You just need saffron (pictured above).  Saffron is super expensive, but you only need a little bit.  You need to grind it to powder.  Morter and pestle would be nice, but I just used the back of a spoon.  In true Rozita style (always super generous), she gave me this packet of it that probably cost $75.

The "kabobs" are just ground beef with onion.

Blend half an onion in blender to liquid.  Mix with one pound beef add salt pepper and shape.  Then grill.

For Rose rice, use basmati rice.  Prepare as directed.  Add a dab of butter.  Take half tsp of ground saffron.  Mix with a couple tablespoons (2-3) of hot water, pour over cooked rice.  Grill some tomatoes to go with it.

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Want to be five again?

I'm really happy with my grown up life, but this place was so cool that for a couple minutes I wanted to be five again.  It is the "storyville" at a local library.  And can you believe, it is "free"?  It has a store, house, forest, bus, construction zone, post office, and theater.  All with costumes and props.  So much detail.  The house had a window box with flowers that grew when you turned the crank.  Play money in the cash registers, a play washing machine with laundry in the house.  Every detail you could imagine to make it realistic.  It wasn't too crowded and the parents were engaged with their children, not just on their phones ignoring them.  My only complaint is that you have to be five or under to play.  I understand why they do that, but the imagination isn't quite at the point to really appreciate the place.  A six, seven or eight year old (heck, I'm not going to lie, I probably would have wanted to play here at age twelve) could really enjoy acting out the different roles in a place like this. 

James and Libby LOVED it.  We'll definitely go back again. 

But a part of me can't help wondering, if we create it all so real for them, do they have to imagine at all?

Kind of like a quote from that Anne-girl (of Green Gables).  Something to the effect that gold gilded sunbursts and marble halls would be lovely, "but there's more scope for the imagination without them."

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Old things

I spent the day up at my parent's house yesterday.  I found some real treasures there while I was rooting around.  I found a scrapbook that my parents made together when they were dating.  It was awesome.  It includes their handwritten separate accounts of many of their first dates and college experiences.  It's full of nicknames they used to use for each other like "meathead" or "dingbat" or "cin cin".  It's full of receipts, cards, and brochures.  Like one from Hershey Park when admission was $3.50.  They loved to watch Archie, and they liked to get pizza.  And one year they crashed my dad's parents New Years party because my Dad's friends couldn't get dates and their party fell through.  My mom danced the polka with my pap-pap. Lots of great stuff in there. 

I also found a book of bible stories given to my Papa on his fourth birthday in 1933.  It has beautiful illustrations.  A real treasure.

I also found this pic of my grandparents.  They are on a railroad track and he has some sort of handgun in his hand.  They were just being playful.  Posing for a silly picture.  But somehow seeing them in their youth makes me feel like I can know them better.  Sorry I don't have more pics, I didn't have my camera with me.  But next time I will because I'm going to explore my great grandmother's trunk full of telegrams, pictures, and newspapers from WW2.

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Imagination

James is downstairs talking while I clean.  I hear the name of several transformers.  I go down to take a peak.  He has his Starscream action figure, but for the other characters he has substituted shampoo bottles and the picture of megatron on the DVD from the library.  I watch for a few minutes, thinking it is the coolest thing I've seen in a long time.  I remember for a couple minutes some of my own childhood games, and old friends...marker people, shrinking valley,a game wawa and I called "imagination" that we played with her music boxes.  I feel grateful and happy.

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NPR

I love listening to NPR. I just like to learn about all sorts of different things. I often hear something and think, "I need to tell Jer about that..." but then forget about it by the time he's home or I'm off work. Here are two tidbits I learned recently.

Yesterday: There are two different species of tree frog that look identical. The only difference between them is their number of chromosomes. A female of either of these species can detect a difference between the croaks of the male frogs and is only attracted to the croaks of the frogs whose chromosome count matches her own.

Today: The secret service will control every aspect of the president's trip abroad. Even at dinner at Buckingham Palace, the president will get a plate that looks identical to queen Elizabeth's plate, but the food will be purchased and prepared by secret service chefs. Interesting. I wonder if other Heads-of-State do the same thing when dining at the White House.