Brown Sugar Chicken in Florida

The munchkin and I helped make dinner last night, and we tried a new recipe for brown sugar chicken. It was really easy and I'd have to say pretty scrumptious too. 

Brown Sugar Chicken

4 chicken breast 

4 tbs. of brown sugar 

4 cloves of garlic

3 tbs. of olive oil

Pan fry the garlic in the oil for about 5 min. (Warning: this smells up the whole house). Mix the garlic, oil, and brown sugar, and spread it on the chicken. Bake chicken at 500 for 20 min. ENJOY!

See, I told you it was easy, and just right for munchkin to help. However, the problem I have run into down here in Fl. is that I don't have her high chair. At home I can make her chair counter height and pull it into the kitchen, but here we have one of the booster seats that attach to a chair. So, we must resort to the good old sitting on the counter which just take a little more attention. 

She was very helpful when it came to stirring the topping. 

And tasting it of course. 

With the chicken we had some

Smashed potatoes and peas. Now I have bought munchkin puréed veggie food packs because she does not usually eat veggies the are not puréed, so you can imagine amazement when she ate about 5 spoonfuls of peas!

When dinner was over I saved the rest of the peas for Munchkin to eat for lunch today and guess what... They went straight to the floor (I have to remind her we don't have a dog to clean up after us here). Oh well, you know what they say, her love for peas was, "here today and on the floor tomorrow".  

Anyway, back to last night...

After dinner we went down to the boardwalk on the beach and walked. This was my favorite part of the evening because we saw something I have never seen before! We witnessed a guy catch a shark on the beach!

We watched him reel it on for about 15 minutes, and just when I thought he was fooling everyone he pulled this approx. 4 ft. Shark out of the water. Thankfully they took their pictures and set it free. However, I was really amazed when after they set it free the people who had been swimming on the beach got right back in and went about their business. 

NO THANK YOU

Then, we wrapped the night with Alex's favorite part... 

ICE CREAM!!!

By the time we got home she was exhausted and did not put up a fight with the bed at all. 

A couple other pics

Coming up... Lil Munchkin's first time in the ocean, and probably more food!

Pizza and the Ocean

Well Lil Munchkin made her first trip to the ocean. She usually wakes up around 7:30 in the morning which is about an hour before everyone else so we take that time to go on a walk just the two of us. The other morning I decided to walk up to the beach (it's about a half mile from the house) and show her the ocean. While I was walking I told her, "wow Alex this is your first time seeing the ocean" but then I thought to myself, "why? Why do we think this is such a big deal? It's just water".  But it is important, and this is what I came up with for why I think going to the ocean (especially your first time) is such a big deal...

1.  The oceans make up most of the world. 

2.  The ocean connects us to the rest of the world. 

3.  Everyone should experience putting thier feet in the sand.

4.  The sound of the ocean is one of the most calming sounds you'll ever hear.  

5.  The ocean holds some of the most amazing and intriguing creatures of the world (Munckin loves fish and I cannot resist dolphin watching). 

6.  Finally, looking out into the water, at the horizon, suddenly can make days seem brighter, troubles go away, and renew your faith that there is something greater out there than any of us. 

(Chubby baby feet in the sand)

I decided, while pushing my daughter in her stoller as it was just beginning to sprinkle, that i have good reason to be excited about taking her to the ocean for the first time. 

My own love for the ocean (well, and all things water) stems from my mother. I still remember everytime we went to the beach she would but her swim suit coverup in a bag, and for several weeks it still smelled like the ocean. This is kind of the equivalent of listen to the waves in a shell only you could smell them in the fabric. 

Anyway, back to me and the munchkin...

Here is a picture walk of our trip to the beach

Trip 1:

She was so proud of her first shells she collected. 

Trip 2:

We also had some great pizza. Every Sunday night everyone goes to an Italian restraunt called Nino's. Let me tell you it is some great pizza, and Munchkin agrees. 

Florida... An adventure

Well, after just over 17 hours, four movies, two naps, and about six various stops (which included one poopy diaper change on the side of the road) we finally made it to Vero Beach, Fl.  

Munchkin gave up her pacifier all on her own at about 5 months, but This blanket is her comfort, and she sucks on it while falling asleep. 

Lil Munchkin was crying about every hour through the night after we got here, and I can't blame her confusion. However, today is day one and I swear she is a little angel. 

We are staying with dad's grandparents and it is nice to be in a house with kitchen, washer/dryer, POOL, and anything else we may need. However, no one has been there since spring so we had to get groceries first thing this morning. As if driving through Atl. was not nastalgic enough, but shopping at Publix really made me remember our time living in the south. Munchkin loves going to the grocery (it's one of her favorite things). Usually when we go in Ohio she waves at everyone we see and a couple smile but most walk on by.  In the south when she waves that invites everyone to have a conversation with her. I love the friendliness, but it made grocery shopping much slower. 

By the time we returned Munchkin took a nap so she could wake up refreshed and ready for her first Fl. swim.

Too bad we only got to swim for about 15 minutes before it started storming (welcome to Florida). 

But for that short amount of time she was having the time of her life, and I can tell she is really going to enjoy the next couple weeks. 

We ended the evening with a nice home cooked meal, and Alex felt privileged to help her Grams and Great Grandma make meatloaf. 

We had a great first day, but Munchkin was exhausted and went to bed without a fuss.  The good thing about little ones going to sleep at 8 is that I have since been able to get in a run, shower, write this blog, and watch Royal Pains. 

Stay tuned for more vaca adventures, Florida eateries, and maybe a little cooking!

Mini Vaca.

  **I've been having some picture downloading trouble so this took me a while to write, but it's all good now

                Well Munchkin and I are headed to Florida next week, but unfortunately Dad has to work and can't join us (Much more to come on the Florida trip).  Since trips are more fun with Dad we decided to go on a little mini vacation this past weekend (and grandma and grandpa came too).  At 7AM Saturday morning we loaded up all the "stuff" you need to take the baby out for 24 hours and hit the road to Indianapolis.  I've been saying for a couple months that I wanted to take Alex to the children's museum there, and this sounded like to perfect opportunity.  It's only a little over 2 hours in the car (the munchkin didn't even make it all the way through Toy Story).  Once we arrived in the city we headed straight for the museum, but the rest of the story is going to be more of a picture walk so here we go...

At the museum and mapping out where she wants to go first

 THE DINOSAURS...

Our baby dinosaur just hatching from its egg

 Daddy teaching the munchkin all about fossils

 This is an area (one of many) where the little ones can play with the exhibit.  Alex preferred to observe the others playing; however, she did enjoy waving to all the dinos on display...

Daddy and Alex crawling into a dino cave (I didn't get a pic of it but once they got in there they could pop up into a dome in the exhibit).  It took some convincing to get her to crawl in there, but once she did she thought it was pretty cool.

Another play area

If you don't know me very well then you don't know that I am pretty bad at taking pictures, and remembering to take pictures.  So, this is the only one I have at the train exhibit, but Munchkin enjoyed going inside a real train and hearing the loud whistle.

Alright, this was ont of my favirite areas, but before I get to that I must point out the this was not a different day but Munchkin is wearing a different outfit (two words: Blow Out).
Anyway, if you look above us there are all sorts of colors on the ceiling.  That is an art exhibit with colored glass, and we were in the basement so we were under it.  However, they also had these plastic figures that looked just like the exhibit for little hands to explore.

 Alex and Daddy enjoyed playing and then they laid down on this rotating bench to observe the art above them...

Grandpa and Daddy enjoying the cars (Oh and Alex too).

Peek-A-Boo

Drawing a self portrait

Oh, this was my favorite!!!  Even though Daddy said Alex did not know the right face to make and they did not have a big enough costume for him.

 Playing with balls and wearing big shoes at the Avatar exhibit

 Room of mirrors

Tea party with Daddy and the teddy bears

The Carousel

And then came Alex's favorite part... 

Riding the horse!

Digging with Daddy

In the tunnel with Mommy (this is the only pic I got with her because I am usually the photographer)

 

 

 

 

 

 Daddy wanted to work the big crane so of course he had to take Alex because, well, it's a children's museum and you look creepy playing with the toys without a child.  It's OK though because Lil Munchkin found Mommy to wave at.

All tuckered out from a long day at the museum so we're checking into the hotel

Our friends, Ashley & Ava, were able to join us for dinner.  They live in town right now, but are getting ready to move to Iowa.  Ava and Alex are only about 8 months apart, and they are instant friends every time they get together.  We were so happy we were able to meet up with them.

Playing at the hotel (she stayed up so late that night, and did not want to go to bed)

Playing in the pool Sunday morning

After we checked out of the hotel we dicided to drive just outside the city to a creamery and farm.  We ate lunch there first, and alex had her first taste of chocolate milk staight from the farm (guess what she liked it).  Then, they said  we could tour the farm, see the animals, and walk a trail to the cows.  Well, we did see one chicken, but let me tell you about this "trail".  They took us into a wooded area where the trail often disappeared, and after a while we weren't really sure where we were.

 

But, eventually (with Munchkin reading the map) we came out of the woods onto this long path...

 That eventually led to...

 THE COWS
Alex loved them and continued to wave and blow kisses as we walked away


We had a really great trip, and were all exhausted by the time we reached home.  I'm so thankful to have such a great family to spend time with, and the Munchkin cannot wait for our next adventure.