Disney's Adventure with Elle

I admit that this was something that I wasn't terribly excited about; however, as my friend told me, my daughter would never forgive me when she's 20 that I never took her to Disney when she was 5. So here we are! Combined with a conference hosted at the Swan, we made it a family affair as well, getting Elle at least to a couple Disney parks and Seaworld.

While I was a bit disappointed that the princesses were completely rejected, it turns out that dragons and dinosaurs are the bee's knees. The few hopeful moments that cute teddy bears would be selected, the bears were ditched for yet another freaking dragon and a set of horses. Because clearly there's not enough of those in the house. *sigh*

Oh wait! She did get off of the dragon/dinosaur obsession....for a crazy Buzz Lightyear  ping pong ball gun. Lovely. Maybe princesses in the future?

Enjoy the snapshots - Started with Seaworld, moved into Magic Kingdom, and the wrapped up with Animal Kingdom.

Disney

The Chamber (book review)

The Chamber by John Grisham
My rating: 3 of 5 stars


View all my reviews

The Art of Tea

There's making tea ... and then there's making tea. My dad wins the academy award on complicating the process although I do have to acknowledge that's it's quite an excellent result. There was some obscure claim to be merely following directions, but this magical resource was left unshared.

First, the water. This is not splashing some water into a kettle and forgetting about it until you're ready. (The idea of heating water up in the microwave is completely off the table.) This is a specific spring water heating up to 175F. We'll get dramatic part of this recipe momentarily.

Second, the tea leaves. Note this is not any cup. It's a specific ceramic cup with the leaf holder that goes all the way down the cup for even steeping. Nor is this shaking leaves in unceremoniously. This is carefully measured .... alternated by layers German rock sugar. Questioning this resulted in a lecture on the evenness of the sweetness during steeping.

Here's the dramatic part. Just as I was trying to understand why there was a thermometer in the hot water at all, there was a panic that it was 20 degrees too hot. As I conjure up images where I was happy to simply get to the water before it completely boiled away and destroyed my kettle (on numerous occasions), there was a mad dash to the retrieve the special spring water. I verified that is the same spring water so there wouldn't be contamination, but my sarcasm was drowned in assurances that it was the same. There was also a suggestion that he was shocking the water with cold on hot water, but this theory was completely rejected as the water was nursed back to a perfect 175F.

Third, pouring the tea. This is less complicated, as the hot water is simply poured over the perfectly layered tea leaves.

Fourth, setting the timer. Estimating is not permitted. Again, my brain wandered back to the so many times where my tea bag (SHHHHHH ... I was desperate, OK?), was possibly standing up in the water because I had forgotten to remove it. Regardless, exactly two minutes later the steeper is removed and ....

.... out pops the strainer!!! WHAT? You had a steeper preventing it from getting in the tea, right?

Oh wait, I forgot. The perfect sized cup was whipped out with the ice loaded to the brim in it. It is important to note that the ice was not made from the same spring water, so I'm personally a bit let down about this.

Anyway, back to the strainer. The cup of tea is then poured over the strainer into the cup of ice.

Done.

All right, there is some minor admission that there was quite a bit of green leafy bits in the strainer. Also, it tastes really freaking good. But still. Wow.

Five year old takes on role of tyrant....

I'm told that my 5 year old is smart, cute, adorable and is often laden with hugs and kisses from anybody she bothers to charm. Try raising her. A conversation today really exemplifies my point.

"Mom, I'm going to watch Diego today." (She knows I hate that whiny show)

"Did you consider the concept of asking?"

"Oh." *pause* "Can I watch Diago today?" (really honey tone dripping with sweetness)

"Sure!" (once again, she has sucked me in with her sweet voice that is ever so rare)

"Oh good." (reverts back to "you are my slave and shall do my bidding voice....) "I believe I shall watch two shows of Diago."

Time passes......

"Mom!!!! A hump backed whale is stuck on an island of rocks and he can't get into the water!!!!" (jerked out of my thinking process, I envision a hump backed whale in my front yard, and subsequently assume she's talking about the annoying whiny Diego show)

In a newly improved effort to break down the walls of generational confusion, I ask excitedly, "so what are you going to do for the whale?"

There is a flickering of impatience. "Diego will save the whale." This was followed by some eye rolling.

Right. My work never seemed more interesting than at that rejected moment.

Perhaps I should take lessons from the babysitter. Both Eric and I were fired as parents yesterday when I informed her that she would get to spend time with Marina, her favourite babysitter. Ellie was so excited that she filled her backpack immediately with enough food to last her two days, favourite stuff animals, crayons, a book and her iPad. Apparently this is the requirement for 5 year olds these days. (Please note that when she discovered it to be heavy, I was relegated to the duty of bellhop.) She then sat on the stair next to the front door for 30 minutes despite my explanations that it could be awhile. Finally, in my efforts to get everything about with her eyes staring at my every move with massive impatience, my phone rang. I swear that she gritted her teeth, but I sought to comfort her when I said "Oh honey, it's daddy!"

"Daddy" was also fired when she responded with "you can talk to him in the car."

About five minutes later she asked for the phone in which she explained that she needed to go to the babysitter's and she could Skype with him tomorrow.

I am still unclear who runs the household, but starting to get an inkling that it's neither Eric nor me.