Lions Game

Saturday evening, Jim, Drew, and I went back down to Detroit for the second time that week. This time, we were going to a Lions preseason game. Jim got us free tickets and food vouchers from a friend who works at Ford Field. Here are Jim and Drew walking toward the stadium. Drew loves big pretzels!

We had great seats down in the third row by the end zone. The Browns scored right in front of us shortly after we arrived.

Here they are kicking their field goal.

We sat in those seats for the first quarter and part of the second quarter, and then some more people came, and our row was just too full. Drew was getting cramped and antsy, so we decided to leave our nice seats and try to move away from the crowd.

We found an empty section and were able to relax a little bit more. Here the Lions are scoring.

We stayed for three quarters and then went home. The Lions ended up scoring twice after we left, and they won the game!

We have decided to wait until Drew is a little older to try a Lions game with him again.

Tigers Game

Our family went to a Tiger game one evening this week. Drew was excited because we watch the Tigers almost every evening at home. Once we got to our seats, Drew told me, "This is just like what we watch at home!"
Drew enjoyed some popcorn. This was our view from our seats. We were hoping a foul ball would come our way since we were right down the line, but none of them came far enough.

Drew got a little sheet with a picture of a baseball field and a sheet of stickers. He amused himself for an inning or so with the stickers.

Drew and Jim watching the game.

The lady behind us took a picture of our family.

A golfer at Rackham game Jim a carousel ticket for Drew, so Jim and Drew rode the carousel. Drew is afraid to sit up high on the tigers, so they rode on the bench.

Mickey in a Tiger uniform.

We had a fun evening, and we are looking forward to Drew's first Lions game this weekend! I'll blog about that next week.

Day Out With Thomas

Yesterday was the big day - Drew's Day Out With Thomas! We drove up to Huckleberry Railroad, near Flint, early yesterday morning. We got there about an hour before our ride was scheduled, and we got to see Thomas getting ready to take off with the passengers from the time slot before ours.

Drew was so excited!

Drew waved to Thomas.

There he goes!

While we waited for our ride, we wandered around the town a little bit. Drew got into an old stage coach.

He also got to meet Sir Topham Hatt. He walked right up to him with a huge smile on his face.

Drew got a little Thomas viewfinder that he called his "camera." Here he is taking a picture of Thomas as we waited to board.

The crowd waiting to board and an old water tower.

Climbing aboard.

The conductor came through and told us that we were lucky to be toward the back of the train because, from our seats, we would get to see Thomas pulling the train. He said that this is the only track in the country where there is a sharp enough curve for the passengers to be able to see Thomas pulling the train.

Drew had a huge smile on his face as the train started moving.

A view of the village from the train.

Here we are on the curve. I took these pictures of Thomas through my window.

Enjoying our ride.

Ready to get off the train.

There were lots of things to do in the village, but it was getting pretty crowded and much hotter as the morning went along, so we didn't stay for very long after our ride. One thing we did was get Drew a temporary tattoo. He chose a James tattoo.

He walked around looking at his arm for the rest of the time.It was a great morning, and we were all tired at the end of it!

Fresh Produce

I used up some fresh vegetables today, and I have a few recipes to share.
Our family loves Randazzo Market, and we love to go there to buy our fruits and vegetables. We often wait until Jim has a day off or go in the evening after Jim gets off from work so we can go as a family. They have very nice produce, a fun atmosphere, and often lower price than the grocery store. Last week, I bought some zucchini there, and I used it to make zucchini bread this morning. I used my mom's recipe - we love it! Zucchini Bread
3 eggs, beaten
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 T vanilla
1 cup oil
3 cups flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 T cinnamon
2 tsp. nutmeg
2 cups shredded zucchini
Cream eggs, sugar, vanilla, and oil. Sift dry ingredients and add to first mixture. Then add zucchini. Pour into two 9-inch bread pans. Bake one hour at 350 degrees. (Do not use 8-inch pans.)

Our neighbor man has a big garden, and he gave me this big box of tomatoes yesterday. I have been wanting to try my sister, Nora's, salsa recipe that calls for fresh tomatoes, so this was perfect! I made her salsa this afternoon, and it is very good. You can find her recipe here, on her new blog.

Here is my finished salsa.

I love all the fresh fruits and vegetables of summer, and we are really enjoying many of them at our house right now!

Odds and Ends

Things have been a bit slow around our house lately. It has been so hot this summer, and we've been spending a lot of time inside.
I have a new scrapbook layout to share, based on this week's sketch at Let's Scrap. When my parents were here in May, we spent a day in Toledo, and one of our activities was a Mudhen game. We had a great time, and I was happy to get those memories scrapped.
I have been doing a little bit of cooking, and though I don't have any pictures, I do have some links to share for a few new recipes I've tried this summer.
The first two are from the Pioneer Woman. I love her blog - she is hilarious! My friend, Kristen, and I dream of going to her ranch together someday! The Pioneer Woman has some great recipes, and we have been enjoying several of them at our house this summer. The first one I want to share is her Restaurant-Style Salsa. I love salsa, and I've tried several different recipes for it before, but none of them have been great. This one is! Jim and I both really liked it. I left out the jalapeno pepper, and I thought it was spicy enough without it. Another recipe from her site that we like a lot is her Apple Dumpling recipe. Kristen told me about these, and they are so good! They call for a can of Mountain Dew, which sounds strange, but you can't really taste it! These are very easy and delicious!
Last night I tried this recipe for Olive Garden Salad. The dressing is fabulous!
I hope you are all staying cool and enjoying the end of summer!

Cozy and Snug

When Drew is tired or just wants to be comfortable, he goes to his bed and grabs a Curious George (or two) and his soft, brown fleece blanket - which he calls his "Cozy and Snug." This little blanket used to be a much larger throw blanket, which was chewed to shreds around the edges by our former dog, Pudge. One night, Drew ended up with this blanket when his usual one was in the wash, and when I went to switch it back the next day, Drew got very upset and wanted me to put it back. I decided to cut off all the edges and re-hem it. He loves it!

Drew also calls sweat shirts and pants "Cozy and Snugs," and this week I realized where he got that name. I always read to Drew before his naps and before bed, and one day this week, we were reading "No Roses For Harry." The phrase, "cosy and snug," was used twice in that book, and I guess that's where he picked it up!

Scrapbook Pages

I have a few new scrapbook pages to share today. This first one is about Drew's new love of his car rug. He loves to play with his little cars on the road rug. This layout is about Drew and Jim and their squirt gun fights. They have so much fun running around the backyard, chasing each other with their water guns!

This last page is about my childhood. In fifth grade, I did a report about the state of Ohio. At the end of the project, we had to dress up like something/someone our state was known for. I chose to dress like a tomato, since Ohio produces many of them. I can't believe I couldn't think of anything better (more flattering) than a tomato!

All of these pages are based on sketches from Let's Scrap.

Trains

Drew's train table is his pride and joy. He absolutely loves his trains, and he spends a lot of time each day playing at his train table - a birthday gift from Jim's sister and brother-in-law. He has quite a collection of trains and buildings (and we got him a few other buildings for Christmas at Target on clearance this week!).

He has memorized so many of the Thomas stories, and he has fun acting them out on his train table.

Cranky the Crane is one of his favorites!

He also likes to make long lines of trains and roll them around the track.

Drew doesn't know it yet, but he is going to be going to see Thomas and take a train ride in a few weeks! We are going to the Day Out With Thomas, and I will be sure to post pictures of that adventure!

I took a little video of Drew playing with his trains. He likes to reenact scenes from his Thomas books and movies and make up his own stories as well. He does little voices for each of his characters, which amuses us greatly! :)