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Destination: St Louis

For a few years now, my mom has been talking to Mykiah about where she grew up. Grandma would wistfully say, "Sometime, I'll take you there and you can see it yourself." And we'd all nod our heads. That would be great.

Finally, I invited myself (and Chesney) along and decided we'd have a girls road trip out to where my mom grew up. It's a long drive for my kids, who are used to nothing more than the 4.5 hour drive to Branson. In order to make the drive go down a little easier, we decided we'd stop the first day somewhere fun and explore.

It came down to St Louis or Hannibal, both located in Missouri. And if you ask a teenage girl which she'd prefer -- a big city or a quaint little town -- she's going to pick the big city. Every time.

So we stopped in St Louis last Thursday. We stayed in Crowne Plaza hotel, right across from the Gateway Arch. This was the view out our window.

Well, it was the view if you went to the corner and leaned out to the right. Which is fine with me because I, my friends, am afraid of heights. I could not step within a few feet of that window. It actually had windows along the bottom that you could open. Why?!? Freaked me out. 

We hadn't been at the hotel long when we decided to go over and check out the arch. It had rained as we pulled into St Louis and the Arch area was not busy at all. We were practically the only people there.

By the time we were done taking pictures we were a) cold and b) ready for some fun. I suggested Union Station. I have great memories of Union Station ten years ago. Fun shops. Excellent choices for dining.

And now it's practically empty and apparently run amok with beggars. The saving grace of that excursion was that there is a Hard Rock Cafe on the grounds of Union Station.

My girls have never eaten at the Hard Rock. Brady has but he was 11 months old at the time, so it probably doesn't count. In fact we made a rule on this trip that if you haven't eaten somewhere in the last two years, you've never eaten there.

So we bop on over to the Hard Rock.

We ordered some appetizers and Mykiah had the anti-cobb salad, which is like the best salad ever. As we were winding up, our server (who knew it was Mykiah's first Hard Rock visit) asked if we'd like out picture on stage. And then the bartender starts handing over guitars.

This picture isn't quite as funny as the one where my mom and I are holding the guitars, but what a treat for my girls. Mykiah called it her best day ever (she has a lot of those). We went back to the hotel, watched So You Think You Can Dance, and marvelled at this...

Seriously... what an amazing weekend

After 11 hours in the car, I am home. What an amazing weekend of food, friends and family. I am so blessed.

memorial day weekend

Thinking a lot about the meaning of Memorial Day. About remembering those who have come before me. 

I made this to share with you. It's sized at 5x7. You can print it as a photograph and frame it. Or just look at it and enjoy the sentiment. Whatever you do, take a moment to remember. To memorialize. 

Then go out and have fun with those you love. It's the weekend for it.

View this photo

Click on the link above to download the full resolution version.

school's out, summer's in

Today is my first day of summer vacation.

Of course, I'm teaching summer school, but today starts a new routine for my family. I'll be home in plenty of time to spend my afternoons laying at the pool, watching my kids play and swim. 

What an incredible difference between this year and last. 

I am so happy, so content in my job. I love teaching, always have, but I love it even more today. I am in an amazing place in my life. 

And looking forward to a summer which will allow me to refresh and renew. 

Road trips. Lake trips. Pool trips. Branson trips. 

It's going to be a great one!

i don't watch Oscar winning movies either

Since I confessed about my reading habits last week, I thought I'd also let you know that I'm not a big fan of serious movies either.

I'm not really a fan of comedies. Or dramas. If it's a movie that touches your heart... I pretty much don't want to see it. 

When I sit down to a movie, I want to be entertained. I want to be taken to a place I wouldn't have been otherwise. And I want action. Lots of action.

Some of my favorite movies are SWAT, Basic, Harry Potter, X-Men. And the Fast and Furious franchise. Like pretty much the best franchise ever.

This weekend my kids wanted to go stay with my parents for the week so we met for lunch and left with no kids. Totally on a whim, we swung into an outlet mall on the way home. Didn't see anything that caught our eye... and then we drove past the movie theater. Even then I said, "There's nothing I want to see." And then... Fast Five. Oh yes, please. Starting in a half hour. 

Fate. Karma. I knew good things would come around.

So we bought some tickets (by the way, much cheaper to see a movie when it's only two people) and I settled in for some delicious eye candy.

And action. Tons of action. I have no fingernails any more. Not that I had much when I walked in, but this is a serious action movie. Improbable, but oh so much fun. 

It was amazing. And fun. And made me wish Dan looked a lot more like Paul Walker.

My new obsession is to find the movie Into the Blue. 

Scott Caan. Paul Walker. No shirts. How can this be a bad movie? 

If you've seen it -- and it's awful -- please don't tell me and break my heart. This movie must be mine. I can even overlook that dreadful Jessica Alba (who also ruined my Fantastic Four movies) in order to gaze upon those gorgeous men. 

How I spent summer vaction... by Kim Lund

recipe: trail mix

Before we went off for Spring Break, Mykiah and I decided to make some trail mix to take with us.

I still had a lot of different baking chips in the freezer from holiday baking (because I always buy wayyyyy too much), so all we needed was some crunch and some tart.

The two of us went down to the local grocery store and came back with these things:

a box of granola cereal

a bag of dried cranberries

a jar of dry roasted peanuts

some chocolate chips

some butterscotch chips

Put them in a big bowl:

Mix well. We then sorted it into snack size baggies and froze them. When it was time to leave for our trip, I threw them in the cooler. Perfect snack. A great balance of protein and sugar to keep me going. In fact, we're still eating on it, two months later. It makes a ton. 

What can you put in your trail mix? We're getting ready to take a girls road trip and I'm thinking it's time to make a new batch. 

recipe: Hanson Family Baked Beans

A couple weekends ago, my mom had a cookout at her house. A tradition at these get togethers is my baked beans.

Not sure why I call them "my" baked beans except that I usually end up making them. The recipe actually comes from a decades old cookbook of my mom's...

The page is scattered with stains and well loved. It's an amazing recipe. I'm sharing it now so that you can have it for your Memorial Day get togethers. Thank me later.

For starters, I double the recipe. People are going to love these things. You might as well have enough to go around. So you're going to want about 116 oz of pork and beans. Get a big can. Pour it in a crock pot (or you can bake them... it's just a lot easier to use a huge crock pot).

I usually use my mom's Pampered Chef slap chop on the vegetables, but this last time I just did a rough dice on them. In the past I've just about pulverized the poor veggies in an attempt to make the beans OK for Dan (who hates onions and peppers). I didn't even try this time. He knows they are in there, he's not going to eat it, so why try to please him. He seriously pouts every time we make these, but they just aren't the same without the onions and peppers so he's going to have to learn we won't always change every recipe for him. You must add the onions and peppers. It is not the same without it.

So this is what all the ingredients look like sitting in the crock pot:

Next, get one of those packages of precooked bacon. Don't bother heating it up, just cut it into some smaller pieces. I like to use a kitchen shears for this. Kitchen shears are my favorite kitchen tool. Just cut those babies into pieces, and throw them in with the beans.

At this point, I threw caution to the wind and added some pickled jalepeno slices. Might as well put those beans over the edge into perfection. 

Then I put the lid on the crock pot and left for the day.

Came home to this:

A slow cooker in general makes things more liquid. The steam has no where to go with the lid on firmly, so everything just gets runnier. To counteract this, I do drain my pork and beans really well. They're still a bit more runny than I'd like when I make them in the slow cooker, but they're so darn good that I don't get too upset if they run into my potato salad or burger. 

Hope you enjoy this secret family recipe. It's been served everywhere from my sister's rehearsal dinner to a backyard barbecue. Seriously a hit.

today | a blog meme

Thought I'd do one of my favorite meme's today...

Outside my window concrete is drying. Thumbs up to our neighborhood for fixing all the potholes before it got too bad.

I am thankful for my children, who are so mature and independent.

From the kitchen I'm thinking nacho casserole. The first recipe I ever made all by myself, and still a staple for our family.

I am wearing pajama pants and an oversized t-shirt. My laying around the house uniform.

I am creating a packing list for our girls trip next week. It just snuck right up on me, and if I don't make a list, we're going to take way too much stuff.

I am going to teach summer school. A little excited about the new challenge. A little nervous.

I am reading the Sookie Stackhouse series again from the beginning.

I am hearing last week's Hawaii Five O through my headphones. Love to listen to TV while I'm writing... and then glance over at my phone screen every once in a while, hoping to catch a glimpse of Scott Caan's butt. TV.com is my favorite iPhone app. It's my "white noise" while I'm scrapbooking or writing.

Around the house we have a slight ant infestation in our kitchen. We keep putting out bait and it works for awhile, but then the second generation of super ants comes and either they're too smart to take the bait, or they are bait resistant. Annoying. We are being super vigilant with bits of food in the kitchen but they're ants. They'll find a crumb and it's a week's worth of food.

One of my favorite things is laying by the pool, reading a book while watching my kids swim. Preferably with a cold drink by my side. And preferable out at the Notch in Branson West. Specific enough?

A few plans Today is my kids' last day of school. This weekend, we'll meet my parents and they'll take at least 2 of my kids home with them. In less than a week, I'll be done as well. A week from today, I'll be staying at a hotel in St Louis, overlooking the Arch. I've gotta get away...

Here is a picture:

This was my weekend. Clearing off my DVR, reading a good book, snuggling with Doodles, the Dancing Pup. Needed that recharge.

 

I don't read literature

I love to read.

I've said it many times. 

What you may not know is that I don't read literature. And by literature, I mean serious books. 

I have not read Water for Elephants. Or The Help. Or any other book you may discuss at your book club.

I read crime. Mysteries. The occassional romance. 

I'm extremely faithful to my authors. My favorite of all time is John Sandford. The rest is tied between Nora Roberts, Johnathan Kellerman, Charlaine Harris, Janet Evanovich, Faye Kellerman, and recently, I added Linda Castillo to the list. My bookshelves are overflowing. I own every book each of these people has written.

I do have some books by Jeffrey Deaver, Stephen White and James Patterson, but they are not a complete collection. I own The Stand by Stephen King (favorite book ever) and we own all the Harry Potter and Hunger Games books. For the most part, I have a happy little box of authors I enjoy and I stick with those authors.

Right now, I'm getting in these authors latest books. I have the latest by Johnathan Kellerman, JD Robb, Nora Roberts, and Charlaine Harris. They are sitting in my summer tubs with our swimsuits and beach towels and I'm trying to wait until vacation to read them.

 I failed miserably on Saturday. This book came in the mail. It taunted me. "You can't wait another 40 days" it said. It was right. I ended up picking up the book about 11 am Saturday. And finished it about 7 pm. It was that good. That gripping. 

I've been feeling a little ungrounded. Like I'm scattered and can'd find my center. Saturday, wrapped up in reading this book, in these characters, I found it again.

Lose yourself in a book. I don't care if it's a Sihouette romance or Henry David Thoreau. You owe yourself that much. Fill your cup. Me = Much better person for having done so.

how to feed a giraffe

Speaking of the zoo, I went Monday and Tuesday with my school. All day. It was over 100 degrees on Monday, and almost as hot Tuesday. I came home both days sweaty and hot and very cranky. So when Sunday morning came around and Brady came out like a zombie saying "zoo" over and over... I took a pass.

Got my old camera and gave it to Brady and asked him to take pictures.

Dan, who is a sucker for the zoo and animals, decided that Chesney could actually feed the giraffes. It costs a buck or something, but you get to go up on a perch and feed them by hand. They slobber on you and everything.

I'm assuming Brady took these photos. It looks like fun.

The only animal I regret seeing? The baby meerkats.

Serious cuteness.