A Perfect Day!

We had the best day ever! The day started with me making a big batch of cinnamon toast and cheesy scrambled eggs. Our normal Saturday breakfast. Then Daryl and Bodie took Riley to her ice skating lessons. While they were gone, Kaylee napped and I talked to Aunt Kara on the phone.
Today was absolutely beautiful!!! so we left the house as soon as everyone was done with their morning activities. The high today was 65 - we haven't been that warm since we left Texas!!! We headed to the lighthouse restaurant (don't know the real name- that's what we call it) at Onondoga Lake Park. Excellent food! We at on the deck with a rainbow umbrella and got there RIGHT before the crowd hit! The girls and I shared the seafood sampler with clams, scallops, haddock, shrimp and THE BEST sweet potato fries you have ever had! Not a crumb left. Then we headed to the park. It was like the entire town woke up from winter hibernation and hit the park!
The Onondoga Lake Park is obviously on Onondaga Lake in downtown Syracuse. It is a huge park with a skatepark, doggie park, paths around lake, and a huge kids playground. It is also a handicap accessable park. The kids all had fun running from around the different playgrounds, swinging on the swings (Kaylee didn't want to get off but there was a long line, only 6 swings for the ENTIRE park) and throwing rocks in the lake. Kaylee is such a sponge. All she does is watch her siblings and then follow their examples. That is either good or bad! :) It was so good to be outside without coats!! You can tell everyone else in the city was enjoying it too, since they were all out with us! I will be so excited to see all these trees with leaves on them!
After naps (I grocery shopped with my usual Starbucks peppermint mocha), we explored another park - to get the most out of this BEAUTIFUL day. We went to the North Syracuse Plank Road Park. Did you know that North Syracuse had the first plank road in the US in 1846? Well, we went to the memorial park today. We drive by it on our way to church and I have always wanted to visit when the weather got warmer. The park isn't as well taken care of as it should be! But it still is neat. A great playplace for the kids, monkey bars and swings. But no toddler swings for Kaylee. :{ There is an old trolley car, a toll road booth and an old one room school. The kids saw robins, 4 stray cats, chased a pair of geese, squirrels and a woodchuck. So much fun!!
For dinner, we went to a local mom and pop restaurant- Barberi's. Kaylee had excellent homemade mac and cheese with ham chunks. Riley and Bodie shared a cheese pizza. Daryl had spaghetti and meatballs. And I had the chicken marsala. All wonderful!!! The house italian dressing is so good we had to order an extra salad!!! I really wanted to try the red velvet cake for dessert but we noticed the Big Dip ice cream stand was open. Ice cream season has started - didn't know there WAS a season! :) Oh, it was SOOO good! Amazingly. I guess it should be because the stand is on the side of the road and there was a line around it! It will be a new family tradition for us!
The day was so good AND so fast, I never even got to take pictures! It was a beautiful day.
We are loving watching our flower plants peek out of the ground. When we moved in last fall, Bodie and I planted tulip, hyacinth, and daffodil bulbs. We are so excited to check on them every day!
That was a wonderful spring day! As an aside, last week on the second day of spring, it snowed and should snow again on Monday!! Spring had not fully sprung in central New York but it is on it's way! :)
We love it here!

Mardi Gras Party

mask parade

Making the masks

cajun turduckin

baby in the king cake



buffet line




We hosted a Mardi Gras party on Feb 21st for the entire Albert family. (Joe and Anne Albert are the ones whose son was hit by the car in Nov of '07 in Corpus. Daryl helped them out while he was in the hospital and now he is completly normal getting ready to deploy to the Gulf! God is an awesome God!) The entire Albert clan has welcomed us with open arms and had us over for Thanksgiving and Christmas. So I was thinking "What can I do to for them? Lousie Albert is a wonderful cook." They are a strong Catholic family so I decided to have a Mardi Gras party. I made shrimp creole, red beans and rice and Daryl prepared a shrimp boil. Anne made a traditional king cake. Riley had fun shopping for decorations and beads with me and then she helped decorate the house. She was excited about the party all week! We had 17 family members with four kids under 10 - not including my three. I must say the food was EXCELLENT! Makes me want to make that stuff again! The kids had fun looking for the baby in the cake. Anne did a great job on the king cake! The only problem was that the "baby" was an old fisher price little people and took up three pieces of cake. The kids were all upset that they didn't get the baby and wondered "who will host the party next year?" The kids all had fun making masks and then went on a light stick parade around the house. All the kids cried when they left! I had so much fun and think everyone else did too!