Cookie Baking Night (06/22/20)

 Tonight was Cookie Baking Night. In attendance this evening: Carissa, Allison, Rylar, and Enzo. Tonight was Carissa's birthday choice. She'll be turning 15 years old in about a week and a half. For supper, she chose macaroin and cheese and tator tots. For her "cookie" she chose her favorite for the past several years running: Dirt cups. 

First, we colored a few flowers to use with our dirt cups

Then we moved to the kitchen and started crushing the cookies to make the "dirt"

Then we layered the pudding and the cookie crumbs and added the flowers for decoration. 

As usual, a fun time was had by all. 

Happy Birthday, Greg!

Today is Greg's 50th birthday. 

He's kind of a quiet guy, so we celebrated in a quiet yet completely Greg-like way.

The one thing I knew he wanted to do today was get his picture taken next to a 50-mile-marker sign along the side of the road. We headed out at 9:00 am. When got in the car I said, "Your mission today is to get your picture taken next to 50 things with the number 50 in it". And he took it from there. 

Challenge accepted. 

The words were no sooner out of my mouth when Greg said, 

"There's a license plate with the number 50 in it. Take my picture."

Oak Grove, MN 

Bradford, MN

Cambridge, MN 

The one he wanted taken the most. 

(Cambridge, MN)

He's always been creative. 

Cambridge, MN 

North Branch, MN 

What? You haven't seen a boom box sculpture before? 

(Franconia, MN)

For the record, this triangle sculpture is 50 feet by 50 feet 

(Franconia, MN)

We had to time this one just right.

(Somerset, WI)

In light of COVID19, he was recently furloughed from his job. It does not hurt to keep one's options open. 

(Someset, WI)

Clever

(Somerset, WI)

Dresser, WI

Dresser, WI

Curve? Get it? 

(Taylors Falls, MN)

He calls this one "a picture with my favorite 50 year old"  Awww

(Hudson, WI)

Cute

(Woodbury, MN) 

Brooklyn Park, MN 

Brooklyn Park, MN

We started our hunt in Ramsey, MN and ended in Edina, MN --visiting many cities along the way. We left at 9:00 am and returned home at 9:00 pm. 

He met the challenge, and we got the 50 pictures (not all shown here). 

It was a fun day. I love that 50 year old. 

Happy Birthday, My Love!

Cookie Baking Night 06/08/20

After an unexpected hiatus (aka worldwide pandemic--COVID 19), we have returned to Cookie Baking Nights. Last we left off, we were all heading to Florida for a family vacation, but that has been postponed for the time being.

Uncle Greg and I did have some unexpected visitors to our neighborhood during that week, which was a bright spot in a very unusual (stay at home, literally) vacation -- social distancing and all.

We tried out a few Zoom meetings during our regularly scheduled Cookie Baking Nights in April and May---not my recommended method of communication with an audience 

mostly under the age of 10. 

The state of Minnesota opened the state up to group gatherings of 10 or more people recently, so tonight we resumed Cookie Baking Nights as we once knew them (but with a lot more hand washing). 

In attendance this evening was Carissa, Allison, Rylar, and Enzo.

It was very hot outside tonight (90+ degrees), so we made treats that didn't involve turning on the oven.

We made M&M Chex Bars

Ahh, the ever popular ingredients tower

And we made Rice Krispies bars

Our Bible lesson tonight was about how the Bible was written (by God through men) and how it is divided into two sections for the two covenants God made with his people. The Bible is divided into the Old Testment and the New Testament.

To wrap our heads around that concept we played a game where we searched out cups with the names of each book of the Bible on them and we put them in order from Old Testament to New Testament. 

At the end of this very warm evening, we spent some time playing with water. 

As the saying goes "a picture is worth a thousand words". In this case, at least 7 of those words are "a fun time was had by all."