Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Pretzels. And the zoo. And dinosaurs made dead by other dinosaurs.

You’ll have to excuse me, because I’ve only got a few minutes.  This one will probably be all pictures.  During a bout of insanity I decided to make a batch of homemade soft pretzels.  I think it was because the children were playing so nicely with colored rice and beans in the kitchen that I thought it would be the perfect time to bake.

(Also, I’m sort of on a diet, or maybe not really a diet, just a let’s-not-eat-all-that-Easter-candy-in-one-setting-mkay?-type of thing.  I’m also trying to cut back on the amount of breadish things I eat, which may be why the recipe caught my eye when I was trying to find something for supper.  Apparently I like torture.)

But how could this entire situation end badly, right?

The bat costume has made another appearance.
 
Adele decided to dump her box of beans on the floor a couple of times, then Sebastian thought that looked like an awesome idea, but he did his slowly by dumping cup after cup of rice all over his head.  I’ve swept my floor four times.  I’m still finding rice and beans.

But it’s time for me to shape the pretzels, but I wanted to take a minute to tell you about our trip to the zoo last week. 

He insisted on having his picture taken here.

We had a perfectly lovely time, with only two small meltdowns, one from each child, that were nothing I couldn’t handle, with a little help from my mom.   

I may have over packed on the snacks.


We saw all the animals, including an orangutan who seemed to enjoy staring at people up close.  I admit it was pretty awesome, but I don’t think I enjoyed it as much as the man in the second picture wearing the hat.  He was having a moment with the animal and refused to get up and move and let small children look.  This is why I did not apologize when my children booted him to try and see the animal better.  And it wasn’t like he’d just got there.  He’d been there awhile.




But the most exciting thing we saw, and pretty much the reason we went, in Sebastian’s eyes, was to see the dinosaur exhibit.  My 8-year-old niece really enjoyed it, too.  And I admit, it was pretty cool, and would be especially neat for young kids.  The dinosaurs moved, made noise, and one even spit.  Both my kids waved to them and said hello.   



Everything was great until we got to the end of the exhibit.  This is what we saw:


Would you like a closer look?



Now, really.  Was that necessary?  I know I’m overprotective, but surely the people who made this would know that small children would be walking through and maybe the parents of those children are not ready to explain death to their 3 year old yet.  The blood was a nice touch.  As was the flailing and moaning triceratops, which just so happens to be Sebastian’s favorite dinosaur.

Assholes.

If he asks, Sebastian thinks that the triceratops got up to go find his mom.  After, of course, the t-rex killed him and made him dead. 

That was really the only negative part of the day, besides the poor decision I made to ride the carousel with my kids.  I forgot that they make me dizzy.  I did not throw up, but it took me a minute to find my head once the ride was over.


Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go shape a bunch of pretzels, then boil them, then bake them before Adele wakes up from her nap.

I'm kind of an idiot sometimes.

2 comments:

  1. Wait. You boil your pretzels before baking? Please share. I make my pretzel dough in the bread machine then shape and bake but I would like more details on how you do it.

    And with the last dino scene all I can say is what the heck? Thats so gonna give some children nightmares, and possible an urge to squirt ketchup on their plastic dinosaurs in an effort to recreate the scene.

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    Replies
    1. I think the boiling process is what gives them that chewy outside, kind of like bagels. I used smitten kitchen's recipe: http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/02/knotted-and-stacked-disappearing-acts/

      And here's where I blogged about when I made them the first time: http://jaimalaya.blogspot.com/2011/12/homemade-friday-soft-pretzels-i-made.html

      Today's were better than the first time I made them, thank goodness! (yes, I tried them! Couldn't resist!)

      Thankfully Sebastian didn't seem too affected by the dinosaurs. He'll still talk about the bad orange and black dinosaur, but I don't think he's had a nightmare. I was a little shocked at it!

      And thanks for commenting, and thanks for linking to my blog from your blog!

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