The Search for Miss Direction: Hot Lava

Happy Hump Day from the Hills! Though I wasn't sure it was going to be that way this morning, it turned into a sunshiny day filled with lots of fun. (I knew it was going to be fun, I mean we were going to build a volcano, but wasn't sure about the sunshine part). With the Bean off school this week things have been a little more free flowing as to where we 'need' to be when which is kind of nice. Makes me anxious for summer break to get here in some ways.

Last night after we got the kiddos in bed Grant gave me a quick nitty-gritty tour of the new car (which Mikayla and I are now referring to as Sasha) and suggested that I take it for a few days and see what I thought. We'd been on the fence about which car was going to 'belong' to each of us and I admittedly haven't been 100% behind the idea of being a mini-van driving Mama. So this morning Kayla and I headed out to run some errands and I can safely say that with *great* reluctance, I will let Grant have my Rav ;-) Seriously though, the van is awesome. Grant did a great job picking it out and the kids love it.

I'd be remiss to forget to mention that both kiddos donned their leis as soon as they got up this morning and Noah was most distressed that I wouldn't let him take his to school. (He even tried becoming Captain Blue Streak for awhile to try to convince me. Kid cracks me up) But the Bean has been sporting hers all day long and getting TONS of compliments.

The Bean and I made a stop at the library first to visit with some of our favorite librarians (shout out to Miss Maria and Miss Dottie, love them!) then we found (yay!) our Hawaiian coffee, made a stop for some macadamia nuts and then headed back here where she helped me out in Kid Kitchen to create our Hawaiian Sweet Potato Salad and Haupia (Coconut) and Chocolate Pie for today. Mikayla had to sample all the different ingredients as we assembled the potato salad (she says she likes sweet potatoes better than 'real' potatoes but she still wants to go to Idaho and mine gems.) and she was a huge help mixing up the tangy lime dressing that tied it all together. This was a huge hit at dinner. We had a bit more trouble with the pie (me and pudding like pies don't always get along so well and I had quite the fight with getting the cornstarch to blend in smoothly on this one) but Mikayla (again with the sampling) has decided she'd rather drink coconut milk than 'real' milk, too. The pie ended up coming out wonderfully (a little more chocolate flavor than coconut in the end, but since we had the pineapple haupia the other day, it's all good) and the crew liked it. Of course, they only got to sample it after they finished tonight's dinner of Grilled Hawaiians. Special shout-out to my Mama for making ham for Easter and sending some home with us as I ended up slicing it really thin and using it to make this Hawaiian take on a grilled cheese sandwich. I once had got sick on ham, so I by-passed this one tonight, but the official review from the gang was that like last night, where it didn't seem like the flavors should meld somehow swiss cheese, pineapple, and ham grilled to gooey perfection was a winner!

After dinner it was time for some Volcano Building! Baking soda + Food Coloring + Vinegar = hours of entertainment! Pictures say it way better than I can!

Not sure what tomorrow looks like, though Kayla is lobbying for another morning of running errands in the van - she is enamored with opening and closing the doors with the push of a button. The fact that she can do it all by herself makes it even that much better. But super excited about our Hawaiian style breakfast for dinner tomorrow night and even more so - Hawaii mail call! Our postcards have been coming in for the past few days and I've been hiding them from Thing 1 and Thing 2 so they will be so surprised! Also planning on letting the kiddos do their coloring pages and the "We've Been There" state (bummer no Gatchel's will get stickers!) in we get the chance. So until then...