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Jelly Beans in the Name of Science

Posted on July 28, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Dear NHL and JSL,

Last year, we went to a lot of the summer programs at the library. We are doing the same this summer. It has been a lot of fun and quite a variety of items to do. Last year, one of your favorite items was the kid style chocolate blind taste testing. This week, they decided to do something similar, but with jelly beans. NHL, I knew that you were going to be in heaven since you adore jelly beans. I will admit I was worried about JSL.

Since I was nervous about JSL’s reaction, I made sure not to talk too much about it before we arrived. As we began, the two of you were excited because all of the kids were thrilled about the prospect of candy.

JSL, as I suspected, you were not overly thrilled with the jelly beans. You started to pout and get upset. I made a deal with you that I would cut the jelly beans in half and you did not have to eat any that you did not like. Thank goodness the purple jelly beans that we began with were very tame and you seemed to enjoy them. Things fell apart a bit by the time we arrived at the pink. You got through most of the green and then NHL helped to let you know ones to avoid.

NHL, you were in love with this activity and not just because of the candy. When I looked over, you were well into the second set of jelly beans and recording your data. What shocked me was you did not simply put an “x” next to your favorite. You had a system. You gave each jelly bean a score from one to ten so everything was noted as you went along. This was really good thinking since JSL had a hard time keeping track of the flavors as he went along.

Here’s a video that I made the two of you of the fun from the experience. Something to remember the scientific study of jelly beans.

We had a great time and talked about how scientific the sheets were and what other items could be done in a similar fashion at home. The best part was that everyone had fun, JSL tried new items, and NHL explored data collecting. I know I can’t wait to check out more of the events the rest of the summer and make more memories with the two of you.

Love,

For those interested in the types of jelly beans used by the library, I asked. Here are the answers (the favorites were not done being tallied up when we left):

A – Jolly Ranchers
B – Regular from Price Chopper
C – Starburst
D – Spice from Price Chopper
E – Sour from Price Chopper

Categories:
Dear Kid Saturday Educational food glorious food fun jsl local event nhl photos video yummy

Avocado Advice

Posted on July 27, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Avocados are getting a lot of attention these days. They are no longer simply used to mash up and make guacamole. No, now they are made into salads, used in sandwiches, and lots of other creations. TechyDad and I fell in love with an avocado dish while at a conference in the spring.

For some reason, we had never purchased whole avocados to use at home. This all changed this weekend when we bought the following while out shopping:

The avocados are ripening really quickly thanks to the warm weather. Wednesday night, we knew that we had to pit one of them and get moving. While TechyDad prepared things, I looked to see what we could make.

Thank goodness we had veggie burgers and some tortillas. TechyDad made wraps with the veggie burgers, tomatoes, and avocados. They were delicious.

My questions to you this week:

Are you a fan of avocados? If you are, do you have any good recipes to share?

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.

Aloha #213

Categories:
Aloha Friday DisneySMMoms food glorious food photos TechyDad yummy

Time to C Things Disney Style

Posted on July 25, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Do you “C” a pattern below? Why yes, they follow the theme to Disney Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop that is organized by Deb from Focused on the Magic.

Be sure to stop by Focused on the Magic by clicking on the button above to join in the Disney magic this week.

Categories:
Disney DisneySMMoms food glorious food fun travel vacation Wordless Wednesday yummy

Deal E-mails for Savings and Fun

Posted on July 23, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Raise your hand if you receive daily e-mails from Groupon. My e-mail not only has something from Groupon each and every day, it also has items from Living Social and Double Take Deals. There are probably a few others, but these three seem to have had some great local and national deals in recent weeks.

Just before Passover, I bought the boys subscriptions for the National Wildlife Federation magazines through Living Social. It was a very good deal and was the perfect Afikomen gift. The boys have been keeping up on animals with Big Backyard and Ranger Rick. The best part is they love reading and getting something special in the mail.

In the past, we have also bought deals for local bakeries to have an extra special treat at Fluffalicious or Sweet Temptations. For a while, nothing really caught my eye. A week or so ago, I saw a half off coupon for a local restaurant that we really enjoy. I bought two of those and we used one of them for lunch this weekend.

This weekend, I bought two other deals. TechyDad and I are hoping to go on a date night one day soon. We have never been to The Melting Pot and have always wanted to try it. Thanks to Living Social, I bought a $30 voucher to use for $15. Not too shabby for a fun and different date.

While looking for something to do with the kids, a Groupon for frozen yogurt store that is new to the area caught my eye. My parents told me that they had tried it while visiting my brother once. We bought a deal and used it for something special after shopping on Sunday. Enter Lemon Tree Frozen Yogurt into our lives.

So many options different froyo flavors and lots and lots of toppings.

The boys had a lot of fun experimenting with items since we had the amazing Groupon deal. Check out the fun look at Lemon Tree:

The coupon e-mail deals are a great way to try a new location for fun, food, or something else. What deals have you tried and enjoyed with one of these companies? If you know of other great deal websites, please share below.

Categories:
deals food glorious food Local Business me moments photos shopping

Favorite Summer Ice Cream

Posted on July 6, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Yes, I am one of those people that will sit under a blanket or two in the winter eating some ice cream. Of course, in the summer ice cream is a splurge and fantastic treat on a warm day. Most of the places around here have soft serve in the summer months, but also hard ice cream.

For me, the choice is a no brainer. There is nothing like soft serve vanilla and chocolate twist ice cream with rainbow sprinkles in a cone. This takes me back to my childhood when my parents would take me to the local Carvel store. On our anniversary, I told TechyDad that I wanted to get ice cream for lunch. It was late, warm, and nobody felt like eating anything extreme. We went to a local place and my lunch is seen below.

So my question to you this week is inspired by the photo above:

What type of ice cream is your favorite in the summer? Do you prefer soft serve or hard ice cream? Be sure to let me know if there is a certain flavor that you prefer (there are so many these days) and splurge and let me know sprinkle or dip preference as well.

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.

Aloha #210