Easter Egg Hunt Adventure

We went over to West Park in Carmel for their Easter Egg hunt.  Karen (our au pair) came along too for the cultural experience.  Zander waited mostly patiently for his turn to hunt/scramble for eggs.  While we were waiting we went to check out the Easter Bunny.  Let's just say that Zander was not impressed.

That Easter Bunny is big and SCARY!

Karen with Zander and the Easter Bunny

We went to play on the park equipment and then got a nice banana as a snack.  Zander liked that better than the Easter Bunny.

There were several fields with eggs layed out (for different age brackets).  Zander and Daddy wandered the rest of the park while Karen and I held his spot.

Waiting for time to hunt

Then it was time for the hunt/scramble.

Look at them thar eggs!

I got one!

Humm...what is it?

I shall put it in my basket!

And more eggs!

Zander wasn't allowed the candy inside the eggs so we gave it to Karen instead.  More cultural exchange.

All in all, our first Easter Egg Hunt was a success.  As long as that scary bunny stays away!

Emergency Preparation Adventure

The last thing we want to think about is disaster.  But, sometimes, a little planning ahead can give you peace of mind.  I hope none of you ever actually need to use your kit.  The start of a new year is a good time to think about such things!

Have a plan:

• Have an emergency kit and keep it in a designated place. If you do need to evacuate, you will want to take your kit with you and if you may not be able to spend even a few minutes running around and gathering supplies.
• For us, some of the kit items overlap with what we take camping.  I keep those items slightly separated from the other camping supplies so that I could grab them quickly.  For example: sleeping bags and blankets and our first aid kit.
• Have a safe meet-up place in case your family is not together when disaster strikes.
• Fill out the FEMA Emergency Plan and make sure every member of the family knows the plan.
• Understand the emergency plan at work and your child's school.

Basic Emergency Kit Supplies:

• Water - You'll need at least three gallons per person -- one gallon per person for three days
• Food - Enough to live on for three days.  Good ideas are:
• Canned fruit and vegetables
• Peanut butter
• Jam
• Low-salt crackers
• Cookies
• Cereals
• Nuts
• Dried fruit
• Canned soup or meats
• Juices
• Baby food and formula if you have a baby
• Food and water for your pets
• First aid kit (I keep my normal first aid kit near my emergency kit, no need for two)
• Various sized sterile gauze pads
• Various sized  adhesive bandages
• Adhesive tape
• Elastic bandage
• Antiseptic wipes
• Hand cleaner
• Antibiotic ointment
• Antiseptic solution (like hydrogen peroxide)
• Hydrocortisone cream (1%)
• Acetaminophen and Ibuprofen
• Antihistamine
• Tweezers
• Sharp scissors
• Safety pins
• Instant cold packs
• Calamine lotion
• Alcohol wipes or ethyl alcohol
• Thermometer
• Plastic non-latex gloves (at least 2 pairs)
• Blankets and/or sleeping bags -  I leave our camping bedding supplies near the emergency kit.  Ready to go!
• Moist towelettes, garbage bags and plastic ties for personal sanitation.
• Pictures of each family member in case you are separated or someone is not home when the disaster happens. (for bonus points, also put these pictures in each family member's go bag).  Don't rely on your phone for this.
• Basic Tools
• Manual Can opener
• Flashlight
• Radio – battery operated
• Batteries

Bonus Points:

• Create a go-bag for each family member and a go-bag for your pets
• Warm clothes, hat/gloves and rain gear
• Personal hygiene items including toilet paper, feminine supplies, hand sanitizer and soap
• ID
• Whistle
• Dust mask
• Pocket knife (for those old enough)
• Emergency cash
• Photos of family members and pets (for identification purposes)
• Some water and food
• Copy of health insurance and identification cards
• Toothbrush/toothpaste
• Copy of your family's filled out FEMA Emergency Plan
• Cell phone charger and an extra charge cell phone battery
• Water Purification system
• Plastic sheeting, duct tape and utility knife for covering broken windows
• Tools such as a crowbar, hammer & nails, staple gun, adjustable wrench and bungee cords.
• Large heavy duty plastic bags and a plastic bucket for waste and sanitation
• Permanent marker, paper and tape
• List of emergency point-of -contact phone numbers
• Extra prescription eye glasses, hearing aid or other vital personal items
• Extra keys to your house and vehicle

Maintenance:

• Check the food, water and batteries every six months to make sure that they are still good
• Store in a cool dry place.
• Keep new items towards the back and older items towards the front.

Resources:

• http://72hours.org/
• http://www.ready.gov
• http://kidshealth.org/parent/firstaid_safe/home/firstaid_kit.html

Taste of Indy Adventure

Taste of Indy was July 5th.  It was downtown by the White River State Park.
It's a great festival featuring an army of food trucks and some live entertainment.  We went early for lunch.

Tomato enjoyed the pulled pork nachos and running around looking at the river.

Tomato also tried some of my tamale, but it was a little bit too spicy for him.  Ooops.

Afterwards we took a walk through the White River State Garden.  All in all it was a great day with the family here in Indiana!

"Ready to Pop" Baby Shower Adventures

It's our first post where Tomato is not the star.  Instead, my little sister is!   Meet Meg who is expecting a little boy in the back half of July.


We had  a "Ready to Pop" themed baby shower for my sister Meg!  And at 36 weeks she feels ready to pop but she looks super cute (she gets that from me).  My sister Ashleigh and I along with my mom organized the party for her.  Ashleigh had it at her house and we worked together on the food and decor.

I love themes for parties.  It helps organize all the ideas around the theme.  Or at least that is what I think!

Homemade Pop Tarts (Triple batch)

Poppy Seed Ham Sandwiches

Buffalo Chicken Dip with Pops of Color (from bell peppers...also I added Kiefer to make it a little thinner)

Tomato Pops

Popcorn Bar (Kettle Corn, Caramel, Cheese)

Pop Rocks

Lolly Pops

Rice Krispy Pops

 

One of my favorite parts was a pop bar and blow pop "martinis" where you put a blow pop in sprite.

Well, I loved the popcorn bar too.  

We played a few games.  Guess the Baby Animal, Word Scramble, and a game where we blew up balloons and whoever was the closest in size to Meg's tummy won a prize.  

There was also Gift Bingo, of course.  

The prizes continued the pop theme with an assortment of bubble baths, a mini bottle of champagne (for those over 21 winners) and random nice smelling bath things.

 We ordered the cake and had them put balloons to continue the theme.

The favors were two Cake Pops (which almost killed me)

We also had a guest book where people wrote messages on a piece of paper and we turned that into a balloon picture.  I modified the base from this site and my other sister cut out card stock circles.

And we had people sign funny notes to diapers. 

Once again, another great day in Indiana!

Goodbye Adventures

We took Lysiane out for Habachi to say good-bye.



At the very beginning when they went to light the fire they asked if Tomato would be scared and I said no.  I was wrong.  The flash of fire and heat did scare him :(.  But then he warmed up...pun intended.  He thought that the chop sticks were pretty interesting and wanted to have his own pair.  I was positive that he'd poke his eyes out, but they remained intact.

Probably the best part was when the guy threw a toy egg and Lysiane and asked her to catch it.  We all thought that it was real.  Poor Lysiane.  No, the best part was the onion volcano.  Classic.

Tomato didn't understand enough about trains to find the onion train part funny.  Maybe next time.  If you don't know what I'm talking about, you've not had Habachi in America.  We had some sushi too.  He's definitely my kid.  Nam nam sushi.

Father's Day Adventure

Pete had a nice Father's Day.  We met my parents for mass like we do most Sundays then we went over to their house for brunch...like we also do most Sundays.  But, unlike most Sundays, Pete got to style Tomato's hair.

Noblesville Strawberry Fest Adventure

Noblesville is our county seat.  When I was a kid it was the biggest town in the county.  Now Carmel and Fishers have it beat, but Noblesville has one of the cutest downtowns.  And this weekend the downtown had a strawberry festival.

Tomato loved the strawberries.

We met Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Meg and Uncle Zane and all enjoyed hanging out in the strawberry shortcake tent together. But, in Tomato's opinion, his balloon was the very best part of the festival!

Children's Museum Adventure

Tomato received a gift of a year's membership to the Children's Museum from our good friends Becky and Barry for his first birthday.

From the visitindy.org website

The Indianapolis Children's Museum is a hands on museum geared for kids, but adults have a great time too!  Actually, they even have After Dark events just for the 21+ crowd.  Maybe Pete and I will go to that one day...but for today, our first au pair Lysiane and I took Zander during her last week with us.

Tomato really enjoyed the "Playscape" which is a special area for kids 5 and under.  He was still one of the younger ones interacting.  Zander loves watching the older kids!  Also, there were balls there so he was very interested.  Ball is his favorite word to say.

We also rode on the carousel.  Tomato liked the lights above our heads but would have much preferred to have been walking.

From the visitindy.org website 

Since we have a year's subscription, we will have lots of Children's Museum adventures ahead this year!  Thanks again Becky and Barry!

Mulberry Fields Park Adventure

Mulberry Fields in Zionsville was Tomato's first splash park.  At first he was a bit timid, but eventually he became just simply cautious.

I thought that he was having fun but looking warm so I trying to splash him encouragingly.  That just resulted in him falling on his bottom and crying.  Worst. Mom. Ever.

So we took him to the "stream".  It is meant to look like a real stream and even has rocks, both big and small.  The little rocks were problematic since Zander is still a taster.  Let's just say that the stream stressed me out and not a few chocking hazards were swiped from Zander's grasp.  The prairie behind it was gorgeous and the bigger kids who understood that pebbles weren't a snack were having a blast running through the water.  Kudos to all of them for being careful around the baby.

We went back over to the splash pad and he gave the water another go.  He mostly enjoyed watching the bigger kids run around. He was very curious as to why the water sometimes came out of one hole and at other times another.  The big kids loved running through the rings when the water was blasting.

I would say that for older kids, it's a pretty neat park.  It wasn't good for kids Zander's age.  Beyond the chocking hazard laden stream, the playground had mulch.  It's cool in a retro sort of way.  There were a couple small rock walls and the playground didn't look sterile.  But, there were baby swings and that's all Zander really cares about anyways.

Two stars for toddlers.  Four stars for school age kids.  Not worth a long drive if you have a closer splash park.  But I did like that the equipment looked different from other parks that I've seen.

Afterwards we went for ice cream at Scoops in downtown Zionsville.  Zander had to get the fruit sorbet because, well, he's one.  He was very impressed.

All in all it was another great adventure in Indiana.