A Day Out with Thomas the Tank Engine & The Zoo

This weekend was our "Day Out with Thomas the Tank Engine" and our trip to the Detroit Zoo. Tommy was so excited for both days but he was equally as excited to spend the weekend with his good buddy Caleb. The boys are roughly 6 weeks apart in age and they love each other dearly AND can't share a toy with each other to save their life! Our day out with Thomas the Tank Engine started with a 40 minute train ride. The Huckleberry Railroad had tons of activities for the kids including animals to see, rides, characters to visit (including Sir Topham Hat and Bob the Builder!) and all kinds of other fun adventures. The day was unbelievably hot but fun was had by all. We are hoping to take a trip back to the Huckleberry Railroad at Christmastime when they decorate with over 1 million lights!

On Sunday we headed off to the Detroit Zoo. Tommy LOVES animals, so Mommy was really excited about this. Again the day was very hot but the boys had a lot of fun seeing all of the big animals (they weren't really interested in the smaller stuff and I can't blame them!) They particularly liked the polar bears and the giraffes.

Overall we had a wonderful time being together with some dear friends and as a family. One of the "precious" moments for me happened on the ride home The kids slept the majority of our drive but they were awake toward the end of the trip. T-man was of course being loud and squawking for the fun of it and Baby G thought it was absolutely hilarious and started to yell back. To listen to the two of them crack each other up (even though the noise was deafening) was pure joy for Jeff and I. It is these small moments that I hold dear.

Menu Plan Monday August 25th

So here is my 2nd MPM. Last week was a short week for us since we were out of town for the weekend. We stuck to the schedule with the exception of one night. Here is the plan for this week...

Monday - Ham, Cheesy Potatoes (recipe below), green beans

Tuesday - Townhouse Chicken (a new recipe for me; see below), green salad and rolls

Wednesday - Baked ziti with garlic bread

Thursday - Leftovers

Friday - Homemade Pizza

Saturday - Grilled burgers and homemade fries (from last week that we missed) watermelon

Sunday - Club sandwiches, fruit

Recipes

Cheesy Potatoes

1-2 lb pkg Oreida Hash Browns 3/4 C milk

1 can cream of chicken soup 1/2 C margarine

1 1/2 C mild cheddar cheese 1 sm onion- chopped

1 C sour cream

Combine all the above ingredients. Bake 1 1/2 hours at 350 degrees. Add crushed potato chips to top before serving.

Townhouse Chicken

1 sleeve townhouse crackers, crumbled

2 T butter, melted & mixed with crackers

Spread 1/2 of crackers on bottom of of baking dish

Next, spread 1 can water chestnuts

Place cooked chicken pieces

Combine 1 can cream of mushroom and 1 can cream of chicken and mix until smooth

Stir in 1 C sour cream with the soup mixture

Gob mixture on chicken. Spread rest of crackers on top

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes

Menu Plan Week of August 18th

Monday - Leftovers from the weekend

Tuesday - Parmesan Chicken, buttered noodles, green beans

Wednesday - Grilled Burgers, homemade fries, and grilled veggies

Thursday - Breakfast Night, Daddy Cooks! Woot woot! - French toast and sausage

Friday - Away for the weekend to ride Thomas the Tank Engine and visit the zoo!

Here We Go....

Well for some time now I have been reading a number of blogs from different moms all over the country and I finally decided that I wanted one of my own. So here it is! I think that this will be a nice place for me to blab about...well anything really. I love to cook, scrapbook, read and brag about my family and I am thrilled that now I can do that all in one place.