Our trip to Branson was wonderful. It made us start dreaming about other trips we'll try to take Natalee on, when she's older. The drive was horribly long - 10 hours, but Dad let us borrow his big F-150 extended cab pickup truck and his portable DVD player. So we had a lot more space for both cargo and us, and when Natalee got too restless we could pop Finding Nemo or Elmo's World episodes in for her.
Branson itself seemed like a huge tourist trap with horrific traffic, with one lane of traffic each way. But we had fun walking around old town Branson and visiting the candy store and leather shops, etc. We went with all our friends to Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede. That was an experience. It's sort of dinner theatre, where you sit around a big arena, watching a rodeo-type show while eating without utensils. There were about a thousand people there for the show, and they divided one half of the arena as the North/Union side, and the other half the South/Confederacy. And so half of the performers (horse riders, trick riders, cattle herders, actors, singers, etc.) were competing for the North's side and the other half for the South. Natalee got a little gray flag she got to wave for the South and try to trip the waiters with. And then while we were eating our meal, one of the waiters came up and asked if Matt and I would like to be in the show, they needed a couple. So Matt and I went down to wait outside the arena with three other couples and were prepped. The performer who prepped us told us we'd be riding horses. We'd go out, line up by a barrel, two couples per side, and when they were told to, the guys would run down to the end of the arena to get a horse. These were special horses that they had just shipped in from
We also took Natalee to see her first movie, WALL-E. She loved it, and is still talking about robots and "Wa-wee" and "E-ba." But mostly we spent time visiting with all our friends there for the wedding. We hardly ever get to spend much time with them anymore, since we live so far apart now, so we really appreciated the opportunity to visit. The wedding went well. The day stayed nice, and the setting out in a field among the mountains was absolutely beautiful. It was really special. But it did rain. A lot. It leaked through our bathroom ceiling for two nights, the first night so badly that we worried about it spreading across the floor to the bedroom carpet. Thankfully, it didn't keep us from doing anything on our trip, and the resort refunded a portion of the rent to our friend. We're talking about going back again someday, but I think we'll spend more time enjoying the parks and the lake than going through Branson next time.
We've been trying to get back into the swing of things since then. I bought a copy of Potty Train Your Child in Just One Day by Teri Crane. In some ways, the book is great. It forces you to spend the entire day giving your kid the attention they need to make the scary transition to pottying in the potty chair. And it provides you with lots of ideas. But, on the other hand, it's very improbable, nigh to impossible to manage this feat in one day. What they don't mention is how much time you have to spend (weeks, months) preparing your child to get to the point where they can do the whole procedure on their own. And they still probably won't manage to be potty trained in one day. And the second problem with this book is.....to do all the things they tell you to do, you have to have a lot of money to throw the silly party with all their little party favors and treats and books and movies and decorations and potty doll. Plus free time to buy all the things, make all the items and decorations (such as diapers for the dolly, which takes a lot longer than you'd think), and decorate your home, on top of having an entire day free to devote all your attention to your child and their party. I cannot imagine accomplishing this if I had another kid, especially one under the age of six.
But.....Natalee is pottying in her potty chair. She hasn't had an accident in nearly four days. She still wears a diaper during naptime and bedtime, which is when she poops now since she's not comfortable doing it in her potty chair yet. And she's terrified of sitting on the big potty chair, even with a seat adjuster. But Matt and I are very impressed by how much she's progressed in little over a week. She gets to watch an episode of Little Einsteins every time she pees in the potty chair. So we've watched a lot of LE lately, and we're very happy to do so.
We have some friends who are really awesome cake makers and decorators. I mean, Tommy and Kristen make better looking cakes than you'll find at the bakery of your grocery store. So I'm trying to persuade them to come to dinner this weekend and teach me how to frost and decorate cakes. Cuz I stink at it. Horribly. Matt's better at it than I am, honestly. So, I'm going to make my very excellent breaded pork tenderloin with homemade rolls, mashed potatoes, grilled corn, and salad. And hopefully Tommy and Kristen will teach me how to decorate a chocolate cherry cola cake. I've been dying for an excuse to make this thing, it sounds and looks so good. I'm foregoing the frosting decorations for T&K's teachings, but oh, man...I have all the stuff to make this cake now. Don't know how I'm going to last the whole week without making it and eating it. I'll let you know how it comes out, and maybe have some pictures of a prettily decorated cake....
Cross your fingers for me.
Chocolate-Cherry Cola Cake
Try a classic southern cake updated with cake mix and cherry cola.
|  | |||
| 1 | jar (10 oz) maraschino cherries, drained, 1/4 cup liquid reserved |
| 1 | box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® devil's food cake mix |
| 1 | cup cherry cola carbonated beverage |
| 1/2 | cup vegetable oil |
| 3 | eggs |
| 1 | container (12 oz) Betty Crocker® Whipped vanilla frosting |
| 1 | cup marshmallow creme |
| 24 maraschino cherries with stems, well drained, if desired |
| 1. | Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Spray bottom only of 13x9-inch pan with baking spray with flour. Chop cherries; set aside. |
| 2. | In large bowl, beat cake mix, cola beverage, oil, eggs and 1/4 cup reserved cherry liquid with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed beat 2 minutes. Stir in chopped cherries. Pour into pan. |
| 3. | Bake 35 to 43 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely, about 1 hour. |
| 4. | In small bowl, mix frosting and marshmallow creme until smooth. Frost cake. Top each piece with 2 cherries. |
From www.bettycrocker.com.
