parking

like a lot of kids do, the bean loves to go to the park.  and while we were in texas, we managed to hit up a couple of fun ones that kept her busy and happy for hours.

klyde warren park is relatively new, and is right across the street from the dallas museum of art.  oh, and it was built right on top of a freeway. kind of random.  and since we were there in the middle of the week, it was pretty quiet.  there's a fun waterplay area there, though, and since it was pretty hot, the bean went to town and got soaked to the skin.

when she'd had enough (or, rather, when we were over it), we managed to tear her away by offering up a cold, icy treat.  like her mother, snacks are the best way to get her to do something she wouldn't normally volunteer to.

we also returned to the park where i'd done my boston marathon virtual 5K.  i knew she would love playing on the equipment there, and we all had a blast.

one day, we hit up this place:

this joint was 35,000 square feet of fun for all - arcade games, bowling, miniature golf, laser tag, billiards...you get it.  we all got one of these, which gave us all access to pretty much the whole place:

we played team air hockey:

did a little putt-putt:

threw in some faux bowling:

and had a blast with the video games.

i can only imagine how crowded this place must get on the weekends, but that day we practically had it all to ourselves.  the hub and i shot hoops and threw footballs, we did a little skee-ball, and it was really fun to just hang out and play.  when we'd spent all of the credits on our cards, we handed them to the bean and followed her here:

where she got to browse and pick out prizes worth up to 900 tickets.

between the airplane ride, staying at grandma and grandpa's house for a whole week, and all of the activities we did, i'd say the bean had a pretty darn good spring break.  and it wasn't even over yet!

mean girls, the unfunny version

yesterday, i packed the bean some lunch before picking her up from school.  she and MIL had a good, long list of various local parks that they visited regularly, and i thought it would be fun for her to munch on some grub while playing on the swings and slides. 

plus, it gets her nice and tired and ready for her afternoon nap.  hey, i never said i didn't have an ulterior motive.  i've got a bridal shower to put together for this weekend and i have a to-do list a mile long.

anyway, we headed to a playground we've been to quite a few times before.  we used to live around the corner from it, and so it's familiar to both of us.  when we got there, there were quite a few kids already there.  i forgot that our local school district has spring break this week (including the teen, who sadly is at her dad's for the whole vacay), but the bean is pretty good at handling herself when there are lots of others around.

i got us settled at one of the picnic tables at the edge of the playground while she got started on climbing and all that good stuff.  she came over to take a bite and a sip of juice, and then asked me to come with her to play. 

there was a little girl on the equipment she chose to play on, and she told me "i'm gonna ask her what her name is."  yet one more thing i'm grateful to MIL for - she taught her to start a conversation and be friendly whenever she sees other kids.  i heard her go up to the girl and say "hi, what's your name?" only to be completely ignored.  so she tried again:  "hi, my name is bean.  what's your name?" and this time the girl looked at her and said "i don't like you and i don't want to talk to you."  she turned around, ushered her little toddler brother along, and walked away.

the bean came back to me and said "she went away, mommy.  i'm gonna go slide."

after a few more trips back and forth to eat and play, we headed over to the little kids' section of the park, where she came upon two little girls who were playing with shovels.  i saw her go over, stand back and watch them quietly, and the girls glanced at her, grabbed their toys, and run to their mother.  i overheard her tell them "you can share, it's okay if other kids want to play with you," and turned back to her magazine.

those girls came back over, where the bean had moved on to something else, looked at her again, and went on playing together.  the bean was singing to herself, and they glanced at her again, giggled, and began to mock her made-up song.  i was furious, but sucked it up and told her "come on babe, wanna go swing some more?" and we walked away from those little brats.

what the hell?!?  i couldn't believe how awful these kids were being to her.  they were all a little older - maybe 6 or so - and yeah, i know how mean kids can be.  but seriously, she didn't do anything offensive aside from ask their names or simply be there.  what little bitchcakes.  i seriously wanted to slap them all across the head.  i mean, look at this face:

thank goodness she's still little and totally oblivious.  the snubbing went right over her head.  as we packed up our stuff and headed back to the car, she looked up at me with a smile and said "i had fun today, mommy.  i like people."

ah, the innocence of youth.

too much time on our hands

the teen's really getting into this photography thing. since they're doing STAR testing at school this week, she hasn't had homework assignments, which leaves us with a lot of free time to play. and yesterday, she decided it would be fun to grab the camera and her friend rock-el, get outside, and take the bean to the park.

the tunnels were fun:

and so were the swings:

there was even a mini-rock wall to climb, although the bean settled for playing peek-a-boo and offering up some wood chips, in case we needed some.

the bean has been really affectionate lately, since she's learned how to give and blow kisses. sadly for the teen, she doesn't do it on command. and she's also learned the dreaded word "no."

after running around at the park, we were ready for a refreshing treat. well, glendora's on the late train in regards to the recent frozen yogurt craze. we've got an ancient yogurt station (gah-ross) and have had a golden spoon for a few months, and while it's tasty, it lacks the delicious, sweet tart-ish flavor of our beloved pinkberry.

but a couple of weeks ago, a new joint threw open its doors, offering self-serve fro-yo and toppings - blizzberry.

we'd heard all about it - apparently, britney spears is a fan, and the owners of this particular pinkberry knock-off are friends of marky-mark wahlberg [cue "good vibrations"]. he was even present for the grand opening a couple weeks ago, according to the local paper. whee!

the teen and i tried their "tart" flavor, and were pretty bummed to discover that it wasn't very good. in fact, it was downright jack nasty. ew. so she and rock-el settled for "regular" flavors and toppings, while i opted for one of these:

somehow, as we always do *yawn* we started a trend. the store had been totally empty when we walked in, but within minutes of our arrival, the poor girl who was working solo at the counter was swamped. the girls got their yogurt and ordered my drink, but it took forever and about four days for it to be ready.

and when my drink arrived at last, i was just barely able to stick a straw in and take a quick photo before someone snagged it right out from under me - and i hadn't even tasted it yet.

little booger.

that same little booger, by the way, was quite fascinated with french whore barbie.

last night's dinner was out of my rachael ray cookbook - stir fried tofu and veggies with coconut jasmine rice. for the hub and me, i cooked some chicken separately and then mixed it in with the sauce and veggies after i'd served the teen. i can't find the recipe online, so just e-mail me if you're interested and i'll be nice and type it out for you.

as i cooked this, i thought for sure it was gonna be a bust. it's very different from anything else i've made, and i wasn't feeling too confident that my family would dig it. i thought it was pretty terrific - it smelled awesome and the flavor was really good, but i didn't have high hopes.

turns out, i should've had more faith in them. while no one really loved the tofu, the flavor of the rice, veggies and sauce was a big hit, and the hub and i liked the way the chicken tasted a lot.

oh! i got the teen to throw on her fabulous betsey johnson dress today and let me take a picture. we're calling it her "madonna-in-her-like-a-virgin-days" dress:

we're working on finding some awesome hot pink satin shoes and lots of strands of pearls for her to complete the ensemble. and i think we're going to curl her hair and throw on a white lace headband. it cracks me up that fashion from the 80's is cool again. hell, if i'd have known, i'd never have tossed my "boy toy" belt, lace bustier, and black rubber bracelets. ahahahahahahaha!

you think i'm kidding.

before i go, i must share this - just down the street from us is the locally-famous donut man. folks drive all the way into sleepy ass glendora from as far as west l.a. for their seasonal fresh strawberry and peach donuts, and their other offerings are really damn good. i rarely allow myself to stop in and pick up a snack, though, because their donuts are GI-normous. i kid you not, the one i got today was the size of my freaking head:

you like how i put a quarter next to it, to emphasize the sheer massiveness of this thing? it's a bavarian cream-filled, chocolate topped monstrosity that i happily devoured all by myself.

to make up for my ridiculously unhealthy afternoon munching (which also included a soft pretzel and iced chai latte at the mall, heh), i made some vegetarian yakisoba for dinner. i again don't have a recipe to post for this, as i totally winged it, but it was super simple: a frozen stir-fry veggie mix, a package of soba noodles, a half cup of bottled tonkatsu sauce, and a splash of sriracha sauce. and it was yummy:

healthy, yes?

springin' forward

weekend in a nutshell:

• naps.
• sleepovers.
• dinner with FIL at philippe's.
• pinkberry for dessert.
• harry potter movie marathon.
• homemade french toast sunday breakfast.
  
• playing at the park.

oh, and i forgot - the time change that totally screwed us up and made us miss all THREE services at church. oops. this is what they thought of that:

"let's get outta the house, guys!"

"daddy! you're driving like a maniac!"

"get used to it. i have."

"we're here. hey! we're here! whee!!"

running around at the park + yummy dinner + warm jammies =

what time change?