'Mileage'

Soo, the first night we were in California I asked Tyler what 'the plan' was for the following day - which is somewhat of a nightly ritual for us. I was referring particularly to the wedding we were there for - I thought there was a rehearsal dinner, or things to help with, etc. The conversation went something like this:

Tyler- I thought we'd head over to Santa Cruz in the morning - do the boardwalk thing and hit the beach.
Me- K. Sounds good.
Tyler- We probably need to head back fairly early though, so we have time to get ready. (Red flag! Red flag! My husband is planning out time for me to get ready? Something is not right.)
Me- Get ready for what? Rehearsal dinner?
Tyler - No, we have other plans.
Me- So, there's no dinner?
Tyler- I think there is a dinner, but we're doing something else.
(awkward pause)
Me- Um, isn't that kind of rude? I mean we're here for the wedding.
Tyler- Well, the boys are going to the dinner, we're just doing something else.
Me- So there is a dinner. What are we doing, and that seems even worse - your family is babysitting the boys during the dinner while we do something else. . .
Tyler- You know what we're doing, and they offered.
Me- Mm, don't know what we're doing.
Tyler- Yes you do (huge smirk covering his face).
Me- Nnno I don't.
Tyler- Yes, you do. What is there to do here?
Me- Ahhh, I don't know. This is your town. There are a million things to do in San Francisco. Why are you being so weird?
Tyler- Because you know.
Me- Ohmygosh, I. don't. know. what. you're. talking. about.

I won't put you through the next ten minutes of "yes you do"s and "no I don't"s - then you would be as frustrated as I was. Bottom line is that for months Tyler had been planning (plotting) with his family to surprise me and take me to Wicked. He had everything worked out and I literally had no idea. I love surprises! I love Wicked! First Tyler brought me a bunch of New York Times Crossword Puzzles for trip (which ties with flowers, btw. I love them so.), then this? The whole trip was like a honeymoon all over again - only driving in a Suburban with four restless boys and my mother-in-law, so not quite the same after all. But still very, very good.

The gorgeous Orpheum Theatre

A not-so-gorgeous shot of us after the show!

(From the day we came home Tyler has been dumbfounded that I haven't just blurted out "We went to Wicked" to everyone I see. 'Did you tell ____?, Did you tell ____?" He keeps saying, "I thought I'd get more mileage out of this". I'm thinking this counts. Thank you, Baby! Here's your mileage!)

(And a huge 'thanks' to Tyler's family for making our night out possible! You are all so great!)

Treats I Can Sink My Teeth Into. . .

Okay, so I can pretty much sink my teeth into (and am willing to sink my teeth into. . .) most treats. BUT I don't always want my kids to treat themselves to all the irresistible snacks that I would - at least without my supervision. Two reasons: First (and most importantly) - some treats are just for me. . . and maybe Tyler, if he's nice. I'm not talking about a secret stash of something BAD here, but let's be honest no three-year-old has a palate that would really appreciate a square of Scharffen Berger bitter chocolate. Might as well give them M&Ms, or even the fake M&Ms - they'll be just as happy. . . and so will I. Second - Maybe some kids out there have (and pay heed to) a "that's enough" warning signal in their heads. My oldest actually rarely overeats anything, including treats. The other two? Fuhgettabouditt! They'll eat snacks until they're quite literally sick if we let them. (ie: if they 're sneaky enough.)

The solution? Healthy snacks that are good enough the kids sneak those instead of the alternatives. Several years ago Tyler introduced me to the best dried apples ever. His mom had dried them from some of the trees in their orchard. I've never been a fan of most dried apples - mostly because I 'm not a fan of eating cardboard OR styrofoam which is what most dried apples taste like to me. So why were hers so different? She used a different variety of apple - Jonathons. Not Jonagolds, Jonathons.

Aren't they beautiful?

SO yummy, I swear. Unfortunately we took out the Jonathon Apple trees a few years ago and are left with a bunch of Red Delicious trees- which are not so delicious (although the boys and the horses like them just fine. . .). I always look for Jonathons in the stores and farmers markets and I was so excited last week when I found some. (Yay!) So we've been using one of my favorite kitchen gadgets - my apple peeler/corer/slicer and drying a ton of apples. (Alright, a couple of bushels or something, but it seemed like a ton.)

The boys take turns using the gadget and then run around the house eating the long strings-o-apple-peel. (and screaming of course, but that has nothing to do with the apples, that's just all about little boys. I don't know why. It makes no sense to me.) I even made a pie for no reason other than we had so many apples. I'm feeling so very Martha Stewart-ish. And now we're monitoring the dried apple consumption instead of the Halloween candy. Much better.