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  I think I have mentioned before that part of our family’s birthday celebrations include the birthday person getting to decide on a place to eat out.  Because of everything going on at the time, we didn’t get to go out for a birthday lunch for K.

I guess it had been a pretty yucky day at work, because when he got home he said he wanted to go to Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate his birthday.  So we did!  And we had a blast.  The kids played and rode for quite a while, then crawled around the play structure after the tokens were gone.  Now all of the kids are saying that’s where they are going to pick for their birthday lunches next time.

  The scissors got left out and E3 just was too curious about whether or not it hurt to get a haircut.  She trimmed a couple of locks around her face, but she cut halfway down or so, so you really can’t tell she did anything at all except it curls a bit more.  It actually kind of frames her face a bit and looks nice.  But she now knows it doesn’t hurt, and insists she won’t cut it again herself- she really wants to go to a salon.

  The oldest 2 were watching an episode of the evening Pokemon marathon that was going on all week.  E4 was crawling around them, trying to get them to play with her, so E2 gave her pieces of his Yu-Gi-Oh pyramid puzzles.  I thought there was something a bit ironic with her chewing on Yu-Gi-Oh while they watched Pokemon.

  This is the other “modified” phrase E3 uses that I would like to remember forever.  Life Savers candies are called “light sabers” and the butter rum flavor is “bubblegum.”  I had a roll of them in the drawer and she came to me and asked for a “bubblegum light saber.”  It just makes my heart smile.

Another practice knife photo- this time with the blade toward the camera so the perspective of the blade doesn’t seem smaller. This knife was a Valentine’s Day present for K: I liked the heart on it. Now that he knows that, he’s going to have a hard time carrying it anymore.

It seems like my kids have used very few “modified” words, so when they do have one, I would like to be able to remember it years from now. E3 calls tattoos “taptoes,” and as she loves temporary tattoos, she gets to say that fairly often. This was one she got at the Harry Potter release party; they offered face painting, but she didn’t want it on her face, she wanted a taptoe.

We had been waiting for this day for a long time. The seventh Harry Potter book was released, and of course the parties are just part of the whole Harry Potter experience now. K had been planning on taking E1 and E2 all along, but I talked him into taking all of us. (I really wanted to go, too, since there will never be another Harry Potter release party!) It was fun, but really chaotic. When we got to the bookstore, the line went all around the perimeter of the store, down a few of the aisles, and about 2/3 of the way to the end, no one could tell anyone else where is was. So we decided to enjoy the festivities. I stayed in one place with the younger 2- we found a spot by some activity tables so E3 could color and make a wand. K took E1 and E2 to get sorted- E1 was Ravenclaw and E2 was Hufflepuff. There were so many things going on- balloon artist, vendors selling Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans and Chocolate Frogs, Professor Lockhart signing pictures, and a magician just to name a few. The magician was performing in the area we were staying, and he asked for volunteers for several of the tricks. E2 was chosen to be the assistant for his miniature ring trick. It was very impressive- the magician used large safety pins, and even up close E2 couldn’t see how the trick worked.

  I love raw almonds.  They are a staple for me; they taste great and are one of the most nutritious things I can eat according to my research (I love to research nutrition).

*Warning, very rare rant ahead* Although, I can’t really buy them anymore.  The almonds I usually buy at Trader Joes say raw on them, but like virtually all almonds sold in the U.S. they are grown in California.  As of September 1, it is illegal for growers in California to sell unpasturized almonds (except for small scale growers selling at a roadside stand- road trip anyone?). They are pasturized with chemicals and heat; the companies can still sell them as “raw” and they don’t have to include the chemicals on the label.  I eat almonds to be healthy, now the government tells me I have to eat chemicals if I want to eat my almonds. (If I buy organic, they won’t have the chemical, but the heat kills many of the benefits.)  I’m sure with the date getting closer, the almonds now in the stores are “treated.”  I guess I’ll have to buy them in the shell and crack them myself, but first I’ll have to research if those will still be truly “raw.”  I can’t trust the label anymore- they are allowed to lie, with the blessing of the government.  What ever happened to choice?  This is supposed to be for safety?  For THREE cases of salmonella in the past 6 years?  Time to outlaw cars, there’s been a whole lot more than 3 cases of vehicle injury in the past 6 years.  Something’s not right somewhere.

I wonder if I can grow an almond tree here.

  We have gotten some of the best tasting mangoes this summer!  Sweet as candy and full of flavor, with very little of that tangy note mangoes sometimes have. E1 has decided they are her favorite fruit.

On a photographic note, I was really pleased how this pic turned out- although a good macro lens is now on my wish list. I had to crop quite a bit to get the composition I wanted since my lens just wouldn’t focus any closer.

  K asked me to take a picture of a knife he wants to sell.  I couldn’t find the one he said, so I decided to practice with the one I could find.