Awesome Trucks Day

Last Sunday was Awesome Trucks Day (yes, with Capital Letters!) at Topeekeegee Yugnee Park. So we had to go, out of curiosity and to verify the awesomeness.

My son got to verify that for himself.



There were, I don't know, 30 trucks of all kinds for kids to ogle and climb on. Bigger kids even waited in line for a ride in this:



Or to operate a front-end loader. With some help, of course.

Smaller kids scrambled up onto these:



But I am still wondering why one of them had a hood ornament:



A giant fire truck with a huge ladder was the biggest hit:





But the Man-cub was happy sitting in a street sweeper all the same.



The simple joys of childhood . . . .


Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Seagrape leaves

"Just 'cause you're chunky, don't mean you can't be funky"

I am not a big sports fan -- and neither is my husband -- but I can't believe I didn't know about the Marlins Manatees. They are the plus-size male dancers for the Florida Marlins baseball team -- the first for a major-league baseball team. The only reason I know about them is I happened to catch the news that they are having tryouts for the new baseball season. Dozens of large guys shaking their groove thang for the chance to attend the games, get free food and a little fame. The "Man"atees are in addition to the professional cheerleaders the Marlins have, called the Mermaids.

And people say California is weird.

Driving in the snow, South Florida style

Snow drifts? Roads that haven't been cleared? No problem!



The white stuff is no match for the snow tires on this baby.



Getting the frost off the windows in the morning wasn't even an issue.

It's been cold here, but not yet cold enough to snow. And the fact my son hasn't seen snow and probably won't for a while doesn't keep him from talking about snow at least twice a week. For all he knows, he really and truly got to play in the snow!

Oh, he's going to grow up so confused . . . .


Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

A rare sight

Last night, it got down in the 30s.

As in, close to freezing temperatures!

So my husband made a fire in the fireplace.

I know, a lot of people are scratching their heads over why we have a fireplace in our South Florida home. When we were thinking about buying this place, though, we thought it was pretty cool. We certainly didn't grow up having a fireplace.

There are only about three weeks out of the year we can justify having a fire.

But it sure makes the air outside smell great.

As the Man-cub said repeatedly last night, "Mmm! Smells delicious!"

Butterfly

Butterfly at Butterfly World in Coconut Creek

Counting

The Man-cub: "One, two, pwee, pour, pi'e, sick, senen, eight, mine, ten, nalenen, telb, EIGHTEEN!"

I'm so proud!

But wait, does this means he's already looking forward to becoming a legal adult?

Me? Be a do-gooder? Why?

This will probably seem shocking, but I don't come by helping other people naturally. Family, friends, neighbors -- sure, no problem. But growing up, I didn't understand the reason behind all the do-good projects that school groups wanted to do. Help someone I don't even know? Why?

Fortunately, I've overcome the bad example set by my parents (heh). Helping people in need is the right thing to do. If there's some way I can share with others, I should do that simply as a fellow human. And any time I have felt down, doing something for someone else -- no matter how small a kindness -- has made me feel better.

Last year, I raised money for breast cancer. I took my son to help stuff bags full of toiletries for victims of the hurricanes in the Caribbean. I delivered meals to moms I know (and some I don't) after they gave birth. My husband and I donated to causes like the Multiple Sclerosis Society and the American Heart Association. I wrapped boxes of Christmas gifts being sent to children in Third World countries and also gave gifts to a local organization. I donated my unwanted items to a local homeless shelter. My family bought food for Thanksgiving for some local needy families, and then I helped put food donations into boxes for delivery.

This year, I know there will be new and additional chances to help people. I'm not sure how much I'll be able to do with an infant (I'm 17 weeks along now!), but I'll do what I and my family can handle.

Maybe I'll look for easy ways to help, like those "click here every day, and you can feed a shelter animal / send clean water to poor countries / clothe an orphan" Web sites.

Or the easy way The Quaker Oats Company is donating oatmeal to those in need. From Jan. 12 through Feb. 28, for every UPC from a Quaker Oatmeal hot cereal product you enter at www.startwithsubstance.com, Quaker will donate one bowl of oatmeal to Share Our Strength, a childhood hunger organization. You need to be a Facebook member to participate.

Too bad Facebook sucks and that's why I don't have an account and won't be participating in this one, myself.

But I'll find other ways to help people. You can call it the Golden Rule or good karma or whatever.

This post was written for Parent Bloggers Network as part of a sweepstakes sponsored by The Quaker Oats Company.

Bougainvillea

The blooms are so pretty all year 'round but seem especially bright to me in winter.

Tropic of Mom's Quick Fries

Even though I made my son's organic baby food at home and still today carefully prepare his meals so he has a balanced diet (only to watch him eat nothing but the carbs), my son has developed an intense liking of french fries.

I blame my mother, who gave him his first fry while I bit my tongue.

Anyway, today as we were arriving home late from being out all morning and playing hard at the playground, I mentioned lunch and suddenly he was like, "Fries? Fries? Fries? Fries?" Because the Man-cub says something repeatedly until you acknowledge what he is saying.

"I don't think we have any fries, sweetie," I said. "We have lots of other tasty stuff, though."

But then I washed my hands at the kitchen sink and noticed we have a big bag of potatoes.

And I thought, Why couldn't we have some fries?

Now, to me, french fry making is serious business. I have been indoctrinated into the idea that you have to chill the fries in ice water for 30 minutes, pat them dry, and then fry them in peanut oil in a deep fryer.

But I didn't have 30 minutes to spare. And no peanut oil. And I didn't feel like dragging out my deep fryer and using a bunch of oil for a couple handfuls of fries.

So, I improvised.

And let me tell you, the fries were great! If I say so myself.

I know french fries aren't the best thing to eat, but at least homemade fries are natural and don't have a long list of ingredients you can't pronounce.

And they sure are tasty and Man-cub approved.

Tropic of Mom's Quick Fries

Ingredients
1 potato
Vegetable oil
Salt

Directions
Pour about an inch of oil (1/2 to 3/4 cup, depending on the size of your pot) into a saucepan and and place over medium-high heat.

Peel potato. Cut in half lengthwise, then cut in half again. Continue slicing potato into long, thin strips. Pat the fries dry.

Put the fries in the hot oil one handful at a time. Stir occasionally. When the fries turn golden brown (three to five minutes), remove them with a slotted spatula and place on a plate covered with a paper towel (or your own more environmentally friendly method of soaking up excess oil). Season with salt to taste. Serve immediately. Feeds one hungry mama and toddler as a side dish. Feel free to peel and slice another potato and use up that oil if you want seconds.

"A happy frog"

We have a hobo. He doesn't ask us for food, but he manages to scrounge up enough grub around the yard. And so far, he's never made a peep.

I suspect this is a Cuban tree frog, and for whatever reason, he has decided a window in the master bedroom (still covered by a hurricane shutter because my husband says he likes how it makes the room dark) is his home. He showed up a couple weeks ago.

At first, he was a novelty. Our whole family -- heck, even our cats -- would check him out every day.

I don't think he moved a single toepad for a week.

When he started looking skinny, I got worried.

"That frog is going to die there!" I told my husband. "What if he's stuck and can't get out?"

"He can get out if he wants," my husband assured me.

One day, the frog changed position.

The next day, he was gone.

I was relieved he'd finally moved on.

Two days later, though, he was back again -- and kind of fat.

"That's a happy frog," my husband said.

I don't know how you can tell when a frog is happy. If he wants to stay, fine. But he better not die stuck to my bedroom window.


Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Rrrrawr.

Tiger at Miami Metrozoo.

It's a new year -- I'm here and smelling gorilla B.O.

OK, when regular readers start asking if I'm all right, I know it's time to post something. I apologize for causing any worry. I'm at week 16 now in my pregnancy and waiting for the energy that supposedly comes with the second trimester to kick in at any moment now.



Still waiting.



Here I am, second trimester.



Thinking energetic thoughts now.



Well then, while I'm waiting, here's what my family did for the new year. We realized our annual pass to Miami Metrozoo is going to expire in a couple of months and that we'd better use it while we can.

I think Metrozoo must be the prettiest zoo in the country. Or at least one of the prettiest. The zoo has a new exhibit that just opened up about the Amazon. The most interesting animals were in hiding when we showed up, but we did get to see, um, a fish. And some snakes. But the exhibit itself is really beautiful. I wish I had pictures of it, but I wasn't really in a picture-taking mood. I was trying to keep up with my husband and toddler. And wondering how soon lunchtime would be.

The Amazon exhibit did have this nice interactive river for the kids to play with:



Besides that exhibit, we saw ring-tailed lemurs. I like lemurs. I like even just saying the word lemurs. Maybe I will name my baby Lemur. OK not really.



There was a huge playground for the kids, and other fun things scattered around the zoo for children to play on. But some of them were just a croc.



One of my new favorite animals is the okapi. It looks like a donkey zebra, but it's really related to the giraffe. This okapi got very close.



And then it started eating these plants right in front of us. Look at that long tongue! Just like a giraffe's! Hey, I have these same plants in my backyard. I didn't know I had okapi habitat in the making.



There were also these beautiful deer-type creatures. I can't remember the name. Gazelle? Antelope? Eland? Springbok? But the picture came out so good, I had to post it anyway.



We couldn't visit the zoo without stopping by the gorillas. And on this day, I learned just how bad gorilla B.O. smells. Let's just say the elephant dung smelled better. However, the people behind the glass were spared.



Finally, right before we left, the tigers woke up. I know it doesn't look like it in this picture, though. Cats are such sleepy creatures.



If you're ever in Miami, definitely check out the zoo!

Hope your holidays were happy!