Zoo

While the cat is away the mice will play....and play we did. Thursday was discount day at the zoo, and since I had been up since 4:30 that morning, I decided to pack up the ladies and head over as soon as they opened. It was cool enough that everything was out. The penguin exhibit was closed, but everything else was great. They have a new baby monkey who is the cutest thing EVER, they have a sloth bear who you can feed worms to, and these new robotic dinosaurs that are awesome. I dont know if they're true to life size, but if not they're close, regardless they are super cool. After the zoo we went to lunch. All in all it was a good day.



taking pictures of myself in te zoo bathroom mirror....louis was out of town, so I took one to send to him...yes I am that big of a dork

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

One of my friends posted this on facebook and I couldn't resist myself- it looked FABULOUS. I'd never even heard of them, but apparently they are no secret as I looked for photos on the internet. Anyways, here's the recipe. I hope you guys enjoy.

 

 

Ingredients:



Pancakes-
4 cups flour
8 tsps baking powder
2 tsp salt
4 cups milk
4 tbsps veggie oil
4 large eggs, lightly beaten

Cinnamon Filling:
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
2 tbsp ground cinnamon

Cream Cheese Glaze:
1/2 cup butter
4 oz cream cheese
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Directions:
Make cinnamon filling:
Mix the three ingredients together. Place in a ziploc bag or disposable piping bag and snip the end off.

Pancakes:
Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl and teh wet ingredients in another bowl. Stir them together until everything is just moistened. There will still be lumps- do not over mix.

Heat griddle to 325 degrees.

Pour pancake batter on griddle, and then using the piping/ziploc bag, start in the middle of the pancake and make a swirl.

Wait until the pancake has lots of bubbles before you turn it. When you turn it the cinnamon swirl will melt, this will create craters that the cream cheese glaze will melt into.

Cream cheese glaze:
In a microwave safe bowl melt the butter and cream cheese and then stir together. Whisk in the powdered sugar and vanilla. Add a little milk if you need to thin it out a little bit.

Put pancake on plate and cover it with cream cheese glaze.

Chester 2013: Part V

We left Chester on Sunday around 11 or so. We had a wonderful breakfast that Leslie made of sausage and this killer overnight french toast. Out of this world. After breakfast, we all headed out to the lawn to get some family pictures taken. It was about time- it's been several years, if ever, since all the kids and grandkids were there for pictures. Needless to say, we all took advantage of the opportunity and snapped pictures 'till we couldnt stand it any longer. They all came out great and I'm anxious to get some printed out and framed.

All the girlies

Us and our girls- of course this is the one that barely turned out

the three siblings

Leslie and her girls

Grandma and Grandpa P with all the grandkids

Uncle Jimmie and Aunt Michelle with the girls

Us and all the girls with the cousins

Grandma and Grandpa P with their three kids

Chester 2013: Part IV

Saturday was our last full day there and since we were so close, we decided to go ahead and take the girls to Yellowstone. It had been years, like almost 20, since I had been there so I was super excited to go. I wasn't the only one either- the girls we are all super excited to get to go. It's only a little over an hour drive from Chester to Yellowstone so it wasn't too far to get there. Once we got there, we saw the paint pots and geysers on the way to Ole' Faithful, we had lunch at the lodge, watched Ole' Faithful blow and then headed home. When you're seven and five, seeing one paont pot is seeing them all, same with the geysers, so it worked out just fine. We saw a bit of wild life but not as much as you'd think. We had a good time all in all though.

*all the ole faithful pictures are on Louis' phone, andof course I dont have those yet. SO.... make do with these and as soon as I get ahold of those- they'll be posted.*

Chester 2013: Part III

Friday was probably my favorite day. We did all sorts of fun stuff and it was the day Leslie and the girls and Jimmie and Michelle got in.

We decided we were going to take Bev and Jim to lunch as a small thank you for all their hospitality, so after letting the girls hang out for a bit in the morning we headed over to Ashton to Big Jud's, yes, from Napoleon Dynamite, and let me tell you, it was like a scene from the movie. The food is out of this world and the 'show' was just as good.....ha! :)

After lunch we headed to Warm River to feed the fish. There is this place in the river that used to be next to a lodge with a restaurant in it, and the owner/cook/whatever he was used to throw his scraps away into the river. Well, these trout got used to not only that, but also to eating table scraps basically and so not only are they huge, but they never leave this area. They literally just hang out and wait for people to come feed them. We had a bunch of fries left over so we took them over there and had a hay day almost hand feeding these fish french fries....who knew?

After feeding the fish we went back to the splash park in Rexburg. We decided, even after our ordeal the day before, to take the girls back to let them run off some energy. Fortunately, we had no issues this go 'round. WHEW.

We finished up running some errands in town and then headed back out to the house. Leslie and the three girls- Kylie, Cassadee and Tessa we there. All of the girls we so excited to meet "the cousins."
Once the girls met and broke the ice a little bit, they decided to go swimming in the canal. Kylie, being the oldest, was a sweetie and chaffeured all the smaller girls up down and got them out as we all walked beside them and took pictures. They had a blast.

That night fairly late, around 10:30 or 11 or so, Jimmie and Michelle got in from Omaha. We didn't get much of a chance to visit because we had to get the girls to bed to get up early on Saturday. It was a super good day.

Louis and his dad Jim.

Louis' mom, Bev.

The whole group at Big Juds, waiting for our food

Leslie and Cassadee

Kylie taking Zoe down the canal

Kylie, Cassadee and Rachel getting ready for their go

Kylie jumping in the canal after everyone was done floating

All of the girls after dinner. From left to right: Zoe, Tessa, Rachel, Cassadee, Bella and Kylie

Kylie has recently gotten into Dubstep and has gotten a program on her computer to start making it. She has a few songs she's uploaded to Sound Cloud which got some likes and she even has a few followers. She was sweet enough to take the time to hang out with Bella and Rachel and teach them the ropes a little bit. Cassadee looks on and gives a sweet smile for the camera.

Tessa and Zo were busy watching TV with cupcake the dog during all the rest of the commotion.