Paintin' Possums

We are officially recovering from the flu around here. Well, Connor and I are recovering from what has to be the world's mildest case of the flu. Poor Connor came down with a fever of 104 last Tuesday, and we went to the doctor for a confirmation that yes, indeed, we had flu. After the initial fever, he was really okay. There was a lot of snot and such, but otherwise he played like normal. On Wednesday night I realized that he had shared the love with me. A few Motrin later, and we were all back on track. Thankfully, Jake and his Daddy were spared the joy. Today we went on a much needed outing.

We traveled over to Oatland Island to hang out for the morning. I told Jason that it was "Operation Wear Out Jake." Well, when your 2 year old tells you on the way home that he is tired and wants a nap, you, my friends have completed one successful mission :) Oatland is great because there are 2 miles of trails with animal exhibits along the way.This January day was cool this morning but was nearing 70 degrees by the time we left at lunch. Jake walked and Connor rolled along in the stroller while we walked about. The bear exhibit was closed, so we brought our own.

Do you see these eggs?

Well, by the time Jake sat on them he had seen a cougar, 4 bobcats, some foxes, cranes, and a hawk. This child continued to talk about these darn eggs for the next half hour until we made it to the barnyard. You seriously never know what they think will be cool. I was afraid we had driven out to Oatland for an egg sculpture to be the highlight of the trip. And then we visited the barnyard area. Well, hallelujah! We found some things cooler than eggs. On a side note, he later said they were dinosaur eggs when he talked about them, so I guess that gets a few more cool points, huh?

We hit up the barnyard, and we made all sorts of friends.

The turkey was really loud and scared poor Connor to death. Jason had to escort him away from the talkative bird while Jake oohed and ahhed over it. The "tur-tey" was a huge attention hog, so he thought Jake was quite fabulous and gobbled away. We saw a few other animals, too.

There was an area outside of the main building that had 2 turtles that were roaming, a bunny in a pen, and an opossum that was painting. Yes, you read that correctly. It was a paintin' possum. See:

Now, Petunia the Possum (not making this up, either) was painting away in the shade. Now I don't know who first thought, "You know what would be cool? Let's slap some paint on that there possum's tail and let her paint." But who am I to judge art? Apparently, Petunia is a sort of family pet to one of the workers at Oatland. That alone gives me the heebies. Possums don't exactly say cute and cuddly to me, but to each his own, I guess. I just know if need to come up with a name for a team anytime soon the Paintin' Possums sound like a sure-fire winner, don't ya think?

Right before we left, Jake and I sat in the back of the car and had a little picnic while Jason and Connor strolled to the dock to watch the dolphins. If we had known there were dolphins to watch we would have joined, but all was well.

It was a great morning, and both boys enjoyed a LONG nap. Success!

So the last post was about crockpot freezer meals. I could not have been more glad this past week that I did those. With us having flu, it was so nice to prepare food with minimal work. I did say I would review the meals. Here is what we have had and what we have thought:

Honey garlic chicken: Ehh. That is the official review. This just didn't do it for me

Mongolian beef: This was good, and Connor gobbled it up

Meatballs: I didn't expect much from this one, but the boys ate it, and it was better than I thought it would be. It would be much better with homemade meatballs.

Chicken Caccitore: This is a good one. We have had it before. Served with a little fettuccine and freshly grated cheese. Yummy.

Those are the ones that we have had so far. I will end this post with a little dessert. This is an oldie but goodie. I made it for small group a few weeks ago, and Jason wanted to know why I had never made it for him before. First of all, Jason isn't a huge dessert person, so if I make dessert I end up eating it myself or throwing it away (yeah, right). I wish I were a better food photographer because this doesn't do it justice, but then again, it isn't the prettiest dessert known to man. Trust me when I tell you it's good.

Butterfinger Cake

1 Box Yellow Cake Mix (prepared according to directions)

1 large container of Cool Whip

3 Large Butterfinger Bars

1/4 Cup caramel ice cream topping

1 can sweetened condensed milk

Prepare cake according to directions in a 9 x 13 inch pan and bake. While still warm, poke holes in cake with the end of a wooden spoon. Pour condensed milk over the cake and then follow with the ice cream topping. Let cool and spread cool whip on top. Top with crushed Butterfinger candy bars. Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight to let everything soak in. YUMMY.