Chopped!

My side of the family all went on vacation a couple of weeks ago...everyone...8 adults and 5 kids (all 3 and under!!). It was as relaxing as having 5 kids all in the same house can be. We took lots of walks to the beach, went to the pool on a daily basis, and drove to a couple of beaches. Having kids made us take it easy - we didn't try to do too much since they needed (and I mean needed) their naps and early bedtimes. A typical day for us was ...wake up (times varied depending on the children - we were up early because our precious Brice likes to wake up early), eat some breakfast, walk to the ocean, play, eat lunch, go to the pool, take naps - the kids and sometimes the adults, play, maybe walk back to the ocean, feed kids dinner, baths for kids, bed for kids, adult dinner (more about that later on), then dessert and maybe a card game or two. Sounds crazy, but by the end of the week, we had it down to an art, and it wasn't too bad. Since the kids were outnumbered - for now at least - there was usually an extra set of hands if someone needed help or needed to rest. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the week...you can check out my album on facebook for the rest of the pictures.

Our home for the week...it was just as pretty inside!

Just too pretty not to post.

Rider showing off...

"Boat boat"...Brice's favorite game to play...point out every boat he sees (and doesn't see).

Mommy and Brice at the beach.

Darren caught a shark...a baby one, but hey - it was a shark!

I promised (and I know you are dying to know) that I'd talk about our dinners. You might remember my post a while back about my dinner challenge. Well, that idea blossomed into a fabulous dinner menu for the week. Now, the kids all still ate mac 'n cheese, ravioli, hot dogs, avocados, etc. But, the adults - man, we ate good! So, each couple created a list of 4 ingredients (a la another Food Network show - Chopped), we drew names and traded lists. Every night, during the kid dinner, bath, bedtime, one couple was releived of those duties, and got to cook dinner for the adults. (May not sound like a good trade off, but trust me, not having to feed, bathe and put kids to bed every now and then is VERY nice!) Each couple paid for the groceries they used for their meal, and it was fun to see what we could eat for - no one's dinner was over $10 a plate, and every dish would have easily been more than that in a restaurant. So, here's what we created...

Beth and Clark...Sirloin Oscar with Spinach noodles and a lemon, garlic sauce. The sauce on the sirloin was a crab bernaise sauce...sounds fancy, and it was delicious!

Brad and Crystal...Shrimp Scampi with linguini and a lemon caper sauce and a fruit salad. Theirs was my favorite!

Mom and Dad...Toasted walnut grouper with a fruit salsa and mashed sweet potatoes. Can't get much better than fresh - and I mean fresh! - fish!!

Darren and I...Bacon wrapped cream cheese and jalepeno stuffed chicken with an adobo peanut butter spread and jalepeno spoonbread and salad with avocado vinagrette dressing. In our defense - our ingredients were by far the most difficult...jalapenos - no big deal, peanut butter - what??, ritz crackers - what??, and polenta (we used this, but it was not very tasty the way I did it...maybe I'll try it again someday). Oh, and I made sopapilla cheesecake for dessert...thanks to my friends for their help with the recipe! :)

What a fun week - it was good to get home, but Brice still asks to go to the beach...almost on a daily basis. I'd love to be able to grant him that request! Maybe next year buddy!

You can check out a couple other blogs if you haven't read enough...my sister, sister-in-law, and dad have also blogged about our time together!