The Fair v. My Wallet

If taking a two and a half year old and an eight month old costs this much to go to the fair now, I am scared for how much it'll cost when the boys are actually old enough to ride the big rides, play the games, and want to buy all the ridiculous crap really awesome treasures the fair offers! 

Before we even made it into the fair, we emptied our wallets to the parking attendant. It seems so unfair and overpriced to charge $10 for my car to sit there. But, whatever, they get to make their own rules.

Parking: $10 Total $10

Surprisingly, the fair offers a discount entrance fee on Saturdays and Sundays between 10-11am. How sweet of them. Sixteen dollars gone before we even set foot in the gates. Oh, and I should mention that everyone and their mother gets there before 11am on the weekends.

Fair Entrance: $3 Total: $16

We went over to the Centennial Farms first. Landon loves animals. He talks about them all the time. When we saw the cows and enormous pigs, I think he was a little shocked that animals came that big! He wasn't as interested in the garden that was growing or the oddly shaped produce.

Next we headed to the kiddie ride section and quickly learned that any rides or games required your first born or your retirement savings. We opted for the lowest priced tickets since nothing holds Landon's interest for long. It's $5 for 10 tickets. Landon loves slides so we thought he would enjoy the enormous one you sit on potato sacks to ride down. 5 tickets...wait for it...per person!! Are you kidding me? It just cost us $5 to go down a slide.

Enormous Slide: $5 Total: $21

Lunch time!! This is the best part of the fair, right? The food!! The fried food! After surveying the options, we settled with a giant turkey leg, fried vegetables (artichoke hearts, zucchini, and sweet potato), and a soda. We found a "secret" courtyard for wine tasting with comfy patio tables and chairs. There was also a booth for Safeway handing out a fruit and nut bar (Score! Landon's lunch!). Shane gobbled his turkey leg, Austin had a fruit pouch and some puffs, Landon enjoyed the fruit and nut bar and shared my fried veggies. Shane and I had a precautionary pepto shortly after. Our bellies were happy...Our wallets were hurting...

Turkey Leg: $11.25 Fried Vegetables: $8.75 Soda: $5 Total: $46

We took the boys through the livestock. Austin was exhausted from being off his normal schedule and passed out in the carrier. Landon loved the horses and was shocked to see the camels. The little baby was so cute. We checked out the chickens and roosters, sheep and goats. Landon was fascinated by them all. And a little scared of the goats.

We passed a little gelato stand and got two shakes - Mint chocolate chip and caramel pecan. Far too watery and over priced - of course. Landon didn't care and sucked them down!

2 Gelato Shakes: $14 Total: $60

I'm not sure who won this one - the fair or my wallet. Landon had a great time and loved seeing all the animals. Austin was less impressed and took two days to get back on his sleeping schedule. I think next time we will search for some farm animals that won't cost us $60 to see!

Our Weekend in Pictures

Lately, I have been horrible in taking pictures. I'm hoping this blog can help me improve. As you can see, over two days I took four pictures of Landon, none of Austin, and none on Sunday. One day, these boys are going to look at me and say, "Seriously, Mom?? All this technology and THIS is all the pictures/videos/etc we have?!"

I may kick myself for saying this later. But we took part in, what I think, is one of the best kept secrets. Twice a month, Lowe's puts on a Build and Grow kids workshop. It is AH-MAZING! Over the summer they paired up with Disney and July was all about Toy Story. On Saturday, Landon and Daddy built RC. They give you a little hammer and apron, and when you are all done you get a patch to iron on. Landon gets so excited to build and hammer that hammer. We now have 4 wood toys added to our toy collection. Next month is Planes and this mommy is quite excited.

Landon was so sleepy on Saturday. He's been taking 2-3 hour naps every day. Of course, he is passed out on our busy Saturday. I had to wake him up for our back-to-back birthday parties, but not before snapping this picture of my sleeping angel. 

Back-to-back birthdays means double pizza AND double cake. Believe me, Landon didn't mind one bit! He loved the jump-jump and the pinata! He woke up Sunday morning asking for more parties and talking about all the goodies in the pinata. 

Sunday we had a lazy day of yard work and house work. After naps, we went over to Grammy's house to play trains with Vinnie and meatloaf dinner, none of which Landon ate yet Austin wolfed down some green beans!

Big Bear Getaway

All packed and ready to go! We headed up to Big Bear Lake last weekend to enjoy some time on Papa's boat. Landon was so excited, he dragged the cooler all around begging us to leave early. He even reminded us that "puppies stay here". We had completely forgotten about the dogs!

The lake was beautiful, as always. There were some clouds rolling in and it was a little chilly. We were still able to enjoy lunch and putt around on the pontoon for a little bit before heading in. 

Just as we were pulling back into the dock and Shane was tying up the boat, it started to pour!! We threw towels and blankets over the kids and racing back to the car. Of course, the second we all sat in the car, it stopped. Go figure! We went back to the cabin to clean up. Landon and I practiced our cry faces.

It was just about nap time for both boys so we got into the car for a drive. Austin fell asleep right away, but it took Landon a bumpy dirt road and a deer to fall asleep. We got about 5 miles in the mountain before we hit a dead end and had to head back. I snapped a picture of this enormous pine tree. The picture doesn't do it justice. Notice the beautiful blue sky that was not present on the lake.

The next morning, we woke nice and early (nothing new there), and went to the Grizzly Manor Cafe. Seriously delicious food. Their french toast is amazing with cinnamon and powder sugar. I always ignore that minor cinnamon allergy when we go here because the french toast is hard to resist. Landon got the Chase face - a buttermilk pancake with whipped cream smiley face and strawberry nose. Naturally, he ate all the whipped cream.

All in all, it was a fun overnight trip. Definitely more work than getaway with two little ones in tow. Landon loved the boat, and Austin did, too!

Little Man is 8 Months

Austin, you are eight months old today!

It has been the fastest 8 months of my life and probably the greatest. I love to see your little personality come out. You love your big brother and tackling him. You love to eat and eat and eat. Every chance you get, you try and sneak a bite of someone else's food. Sorry, kid, soon enough. You stand every chance you get and are cruising all around the living room. Gone are the days of leaving you in one spot and finding you there minutes later. You love your mommy more than anything. 

You still have a strong hatred for the car. Although you've gotten better, you sure are good at letting out the saddest cry ever when I strap you in, just to make me feel guilty. You don't quite sleep through the night, but last night you let me sleep from 10:45pm to 5:45am. 

I love you too much, as Landon would say. More than I ever knew possible.

Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese

I hate that I am going to say this. I have a picky eater. It's bad. It's almost on the level of Uncle Chris...almost. Landon changes his eating preferences daily. And by daily, I mean hourly. I once vowed to never make a separate meal for my children, and I've stuck to that for the most part, but, man, it's hard!

So when Grammie brought over a butternut squash from her garden, I couldn't wait to find a new recipe to test out. Naturally, I hopped on over to Pinterest in search of a sneaky recipe that Landon would actually eat. I settled on a mac and cheese dish and used this recipe as my guide.

Butternut squash has to be one of the most awkward gourds to slice. Is there an easy way? Please share if you know! After I sliced it, it simmers in a pot with milk, broth, and spices. Then, toss it in a blender, add some shredded cheeses, a dash of greek yogurt, blend, and toss it in the oven. The result was a delicious dish that even Landon ate. Ok, fine, he was hesitant, but he ate more dinner than normal. Ask any mom of a picky eater and that's in WIN in our book!

Sneaky Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese

Toddler Edition

lifeasakoenig.blogspot.com

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cubed butternut squash
• 3/4 cup chicken broth
• 3/4 cup 2% milk
• 1 tsp italian spices (I used a mix of oregano and basil)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp greek yogurt, plain
• 1/2 cup shredded Havarti cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/4 onion, finely diced
• 1/4 cup parmesan
• 2 cups uncooked pasta

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a casserole dish with cooking spray (I used a 9x9).

In a saucepan over medium high heat, add squash, broth, milk, spices, and garlic. Bring mixture to a low boil, then simmer about 10 minutes or until squash is tender. Remove from heat.

Place squash with liquid into a blender and puree until smooth. Add yogurt and cheeses, puree to combine. Set aside.

Cook pasta as directed, stopping just before pasta is fully cooked. Remove from heat and drain. 

Combine pasta, squash, and diced onion in the prepared dish. For extremely picky eaters, leave out the onion (I had to go back and hand pick out all the onions before Landon would touch it). Sprinkle parmesan on top.

Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, mine was pretty firm and had minimal liquid. Adjust your baking time depending on your preferences. Remove from oven and let sit a few minutes.

The Koenigs topped theirs with bacon and extra parmesan.

Landon knew something was up from the first bite, only by taste not texture. (The next day I mixed a little bacon in and he gobbled it up!)

Hello?

It happened.

The phone rang. Mr. K answered, "Hello?" The mutts took it as someone is HERE! They start their yapping... their non-stop, high pitched yap-yap-yap. And then, it happened.

"Shut up, puppies. Shut up, Tootsie. Shut up, Pepper," Landon said. He said it like it was nothing. Like it was just what you tell obnoxious dogs. So nonchalant.

After two and a half years, its time to watch what we say in front of the littles. No one wants the two year old airing out the Koenig's dirty laundry.