Culinary Adventures in July 2015

It all started when Mom saw a sign advertising lobster rolls, a New England classic, at McDonald's of all places. "Lobster" just isn't the first thing that usually comes to mind with "McDonald's" . . .

But lo and behold . . .

There was indeed lobster at McDonald's. Decent lobster roll, too, and definitely the least pricey of any sampled thus far.

As if that wasn't enough, the fast food industry also provided this: a smothered burrito from a Taco Bell drive through. Who says you have to go to a sit-down restaurant to get one?

Inspired by the commercial goodness, Mom did a big of something-besides-pasta cooking at home.

No-churn homemade ice cream:

"Ladybugs," which the all the kids liked making and which Mom and Clarissa liked eating:

Meatballs!

Berries!

Ants on a log, colony style (another one that went over better as a craft than a snack):

Brownies, Katherine Hepburn's recipe:

And then there was the fancy pasta sauce, which we did not get, but which was interesting to think about. "Mortgage buster" tomatoes really live up to their name if you can get people to pay $8 a jar for sauce made from them (this from the perspective of one who usually shops in the cheaper-than-that sauce section).

June 2015

Memories from June 2015, which began with the discovery of an excellent library play place:

Lydia, with her Princess in Black superhero mask, being very good at the laundromat:

Amanda's presentation on Sweden at her school's immigration fair:

Everyone playing together in the sandbox:

Interesting wildflowers:

Superhero Lydia:

A new park . . .

conveniently located by a nice stream . . .

 where Amanda learned to skip rocks:

A family outing to a lake beach:

Upside-down Curtis:

Lydia and Clarissa met a pony:

Park time:

A (sand) cake:

A nice, shady park:

Curtis got his face painted on field day (Jared did, too, but wiped it off before Mom could take a picture):

Jared built a tower:

Our nice neighbor left us a nice surprise:

Clarissa got a ponytail:

Playtime at the "whale park" (named by the Muffins after the ride-on whale) . . .

. . . where Amanda found a four-leaf clover:

Curtis made a salad for Mom:

Mom, Lydia, and Amanda went to visit some ancestor graves on Grandfather's side:

And we took a picture of the gas price, since we went out of state:

Curtis made a liquid rainbow:

Clarissa found a new favorite cozy place:

The girls had fun being triplets in pink:

There was some play time with Dad:

More interesting flowers:

Dinner at the park . . . all ice cream and popsicles . . .

Wild currants:

Splash pad:

Lots and lots of geese at the pond:

Pull ups at the park:

Dad began a major home renovation project:

Homemade "cookie monster" ice cream:

Another splash pad:

A truly prodigious playground:

Chicken nuggets and a play place:

Orange carrot popsicles:

An excellent climbing place at a new park:

Clarissa liked the park, too:

And Mom finally got a picture of the wild sweet peas that look just like the ones in Seattle: