After getting Noah off to school this morning (only one more time tomorrow!) the Bean and I took a quick walk to get some supplies and then headed home to work on wrapping (and decorating in the Bean's case) all the different presents we need for this weekend. All of our successful shopping yesterday meant we had plenty to do. While that was going I also managed to tackle a couple loads of laundry and prep tonight's dinner (more on that below).
We wrapped it up mid-morning to head over to Royal Oak to pick up the pottery the Bean made for Grant last week. I'm not posting any pictures (in case there's any Grant's out there snooping...) but let's just say it turned out completely Bean-tastic! We debated what to do next, but since it was still wet outside and it had been raining on an off all morning bowling was the hands down winner. (After a quick slurpee run!) I did manage to beat her both games today (barely!) and we had a blast. It was back here for lunch and to finish wrapping and decorating before a nap while I headed into the office for awhile.
We grabbed Noah from the bus (for the last time as a kindergartner!) and my twosome got to work on their map pages when we got home. Any guesses what they came up with?
So a couple of times I've now eluded to how 'impossibly easy' dinner was tonight and if you're familiar with Bisquick, (which comes from Betty Crocker which comes from General Mills - see how I wrapped that all nicely into Minnesota week?) you may know about their impossibly easy pies. I love these - it seriously doesn't get much easier for dinner. Tonight I made Impossibly Easy Lasagna Pie because I was feeling like we hadn't had enough Italian lately. Super stellar bonus that I learned from my perusal of the website: "Savory Impossibly Easy Pies can be covered and refrigerated up to 24 hours before baking. You may need to bake a bit longer than the recipe directs since you’ll be starting with a cold pie. Watch carefully for doneness." Score! I made use of this today by prepping dinner this morning just to try it out and it worked like a dream. I'm a HUGE fan o recipes I can prep up ahead and I have yet to run into an impossibly easy pie (sometimes with a few tweaks of my own...) that my crew doesn't enjoy. They've got something for everyone - check them out here. Since simple was the theme, I even made use of some Green Giant (another company owned by General Mills) Simply Steam Green Beans and Almonds to go with it. Some homemade garlic bread and cantaloupe - it was quite the feast here at the Gatchel's tonight!
We also managed to get in the "We've Been There" state and you may be surprised to learn that Grant is the only one that got to add a sticker to Minnesota. He told the kiddos the other night all about his trip to The Mall of America (and yes, he rode the roller coaster). Between the mall, Paul Bunyan and Snoopy the Dynamic Duo says a trip to the North Star State would be lots of fun. Speaking of Snoopy, since I felt like we hadn't celebrated Charles Schulz hailing from Minnesota quite enough, after baths tonight we checked out some Snoopy videos. Okay - quick poll - who's your favorite Peanuts character? (I've always been a Peppermint Patty girl myself) (Side note for Uncle Dudley - this afternoon when I started to think about what we'd do tonight, my first hope was to watch "Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown" until I realized it was over an hour long. Bummer. Think they may need to watch it with you when they come visit next week. Whaddya think Aunt Shell???)
Looking forward to tomorrow for so many different reasons. First - it's Noah's last day of school! Yay for summer!!!!!!!! (Finally, thanks a lot Michigan schooling because even after the ridiculous winter we went through, this is when they were originally scheduled to get done.) He's only got half a day and then he was invited to a friend's for an ice cream party that he is really looking forward to. I'm also looking forward to tomorrow's 'dinner and a movie' featuring "The Mighty Ducks" (yep, set in Minnesota!) and a couple of fun 'kid friendly' recipes I dug up. It'll be a great way to celebrate the end of school and the start of summer. Plus this weekend promises to be super exciting - birthday party and "Joseph" on Saturday, seeing Dad and visiting the peony garden (hopefully) on Sunday. Did I say "Yay for summer!!!!!!" yet? I'm totally going to be happy dancing all the way to the bus tomorrow. So until then...
Minnesota Fun Fact of the Day: Rollerblades were the first commercially successful in-line Roller Skates. Minnesota students Scott and Brennan Olson invented them in 1980, when they were looking for a way to practice Hockey during the off-season. Their design was an ice hockey boot with 3 inline wheels instead of a blade.
Hard at work decorating
Impossibly easy - yes please!
Wouldn't you like to get a present from Mikayla?
Slurpee break
Oh so grown up
Selfie fail at the bowling alley
Trying again
And again
I was able to beat her...
Contemplating Minnesota
Noah's Minnesota
Noah's Minnesota has Paul Bunyan with his trusty companion Babe the Blue Ox. He also wrote General Mills on it because he told me he really likes the stuff they make
This is Mikayla's Minnesota -complete with the state flower (the pink and white ladyslipper) across the bottom. Paul Bunyan is on the right there with Babe on the left. The blue across the top are clouds because "there's always clouds in the sky, Mom"
Working on the We've Been There State
Noah was in charge of finding "Minne" and Kayla "sota"
They did an awesome job!
And we added it to our map
Ho, ho, ho Green Giant!
Impossibly easy - amazingly delicious
yum yum yum - Impossibly Easy Lasagna Pie
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