RANDOMNESS #1 - First Zoo Visit of 2018 -There was a day last week which was warmish and sunnyish and springish...
And Judith and I decided to meet Pop at the Zoo for lunch and a lion visit.
On any given Zoo Day, before heading to the lion den, we SIMPLY MUST stop at the barn to see the goats, sheep and pigs...
Then it is off to the bear exhibit to check on the black bears...
And the fox hole to say hello to the gray and red foxes...
And we can't be rude and ignore the red-tailed hawk, can we?
There may also be a tree (or two) that need to be climbed.
But none of those things can compare to the sight and sounds of the majestic King of the Jungle and his lovely mate.
Ten minutes.
We stood there ten minutes mesmerized by the two sleeping cats.
Huge cats...
But cats, nonetheless.
"Let's go ride the train now, Judith."
She shook her head, and continued to stare at the lions.
"The carousel? Would you like to ride the carousel?"
Again, the slight shake of the head.
Five more minutes passed.
That made a total of 15 minutes I will never get back.
At the age of 56, I try to be very careful how I spend my minutes, and I can assure you watching sleeping cats has never been on the list.
I finally lured her away when I offered to let her ride the lion ON the carousel...
TWICE!
I know what your thinking.
"If Judith loves lions so much, why is she riding the manatee?"
Simple.
The manatee went up and down, and the lion was stationary.
No self-respecting three year-old would be caught on a stationary carousel animal, thank you very much!
After all, Judith does have a reputation to maintain.
NOTE FROM ENCHANTING BELINDA - Any and all minutes spent on a carousel are always "worth it." (With or without a grand-tot.)
Time very well spent!
RANDOMNESS #2 - Samford Easter Egg Hunt with RT - RT participated in his first ever Easter Egg Hunt at Samford this past Saturday morning. He enjoyed every bit of it...
And so did we!
RANDOMNESS #3 - Palm Sunday/Easter - Faulkner Family Party of Nine celebrated Easter a week early on Palm Sunday. The weather was really nice and mild, and we were able to spend a leisurely Sunday afternoon playing with the grand-tots.
This was the set-up for our after-lunch activities.
The Wall-O-Cups refused to stay up even though there wasn't a breeze anywhere to be found.
I put the Wall-O-Cups up four times...
And Austin put it up once...
Before I made the decision to scrap the Wall-O-Cups.
Life is too short...
And I had already spent way too much time with the lions earlier in the week (see above).
Melia made Resurrection Gardens for RT and Judith. After Austin read the devotion, the kiddos and parents went on a stick/rock hunt to "add to" the Gardens.
Judith can add flowers and smaller rocks (and other nature "things") to the Garden the week before Easter.
The big rock will be put in front of the tomb the night before Easter (before Judith goes to bed), and on Easter morning when she wakes up, it will have been rolled away.
I had never seen the Resurrection Garden, and I really loved this idea for kids.
After working on the Gardens, it was time for an Egg Hunt.
As you can plainly see, RT wasn't very interested in the idea of hunting eggs again.
Not even a little bit.
Did I mention The Chick came home for Easter Dinner on Palm Sunday?
Well, she did, and all was right with the world.
Back to the Egg Hunt!
Last, but not least, I made a Spring Sensory Bin for the kids using Rice Krispies (six boxes from Dollar General), 16 plastic insects (The Dollar Tree), ten plastic Easter eggs, a hummingbird feeder, two butterflies and one bird (also, The Dollar Tree) AND two plastic scoops to pour Rice Krispies everywhere.
It was a huge hit with Judith and the baby pool filled with balls was equally fun for RT.
All in all, it was a very nice Easter celebration.
Quotable Quotes
"Life is like a camera. You focus on what's important. Capture the good times. Develop from the negative. And if things don't work out, take another shot." Anonymous
Joanna Gaines' Classic Quiche Lorraine
You will need the following:
1 baked 9" pastry shell
5 eggs
1 3/4 cups heavy cream
1/2 grated white onion
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
8 slices bacon, crisp-cooked and crumbled
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. In a bowl use a fork to lightly beat the eggs.
3. Add cream, onion, pepper, salt and paprika. Mix well.
4. In a small bowl, toss Swiss cheese with flour.
5. Add cheese and bacon to egg mixture. Stir to combine.
6. Place the pan with the pastry shell on a rimmed baking sheet. Gently pour in egg mixture.
7. Bake 1 hour or until set and knife inserted near the center comes out clean.
8. Cover edges of quiche with foil while baking if needed to keep crust from overbrowning.
9. Cool 30 minutes before serving.
NOTE FROM ENCHANTING BELINDA - I have made quiche before using several different recipes. However, following the instructions to the letter of the above, this dish was fluffier and tastier than any I had previously tried.
Well, I take that back.
I didn't use Swiss cheese. I substituted Cheddar once and a Colby Jack combo once. Both times, it was delicious.
Also, if you haven't already started reading The Magnolia Journal, you should remedy that immediately. Great magazine. Great articles, pictures AND recipes.
Have a lovely rest of the week. I will be back soon with a few "April" things to share.
Sincerely,
The Enchanting Belinda
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