Around Town

Believe it or not, my summer is quickly coming to an end. Next week is my last full week of summer vacation, then it is back to school meetings on August 2nd. This summer went by too damn fast for me!! I want to rewind to June and replay my summer in slow motion!

As much as I hate to admit that my summer is slipping away, I cannot help but think about what lies ahead  (it is the teacher in me!). Before we know it, the boys and I will start back to school and our lives will fall into that mundane Monday-Friday schedule. I decided to create family fun weekends around town in an effort to not only break up the busy work/school week, but to also make awesome family memories with the boys.

We are very lucky to live in such a great state. Missouri has so much to see and to explore and many of the attractions are free or low cost. With the boys older, we can drive father distances and they can engage in a lot more than in years past. I cannot wait to start our little "go and see it" activities! So far I have planned:

1. Big Cedar Lodge: We've never been here before, but I seriously cannot wait to get here! There is everything from horseback riding to hiking to campfires to fishing to stargazing. Even if they didn't have a single event available, the pictures alone of this place would have sold me! Several friends have stayed here and said it was worth every penny spent.

2. Elephant Rock State Park: Elephant Rock is part of the Missouri State Parks. I remember going here with my parents when I was a little girl; my brother and I had great fun climbing over and in between these giant boulders. There are trails and hiking, something the boys really enjoy. I want to go here when the leaves are at their peak colors so we can capture some great pictures.

3. Lambert's Cafe: I really want to go here, but I need to call and check about food allergies first. Fingers crossed that we will be able to eat here! This is the famous "home of the throwed rolls" restaurant. Bryan has been here with his family many years ago and would love to return. The menu is a very southern style menu offering massive amounts of food such as fried chicken, BBQ ribs, country ham, mac & cheese, mashed potatoes, fried okra and black eyed peas. And of course, throwed rolls!

4. Endangered Wolf Center: Alex is obsessed with wolves and coyotes. I happily discovered the Endangered Wolf Center offers an evening event called "Campfire Wolf Howl". During this time visitors walk 1/2 mile around the center and try to get the wolves to howl back plus you get to hear stories around a campfire. Alex is going to LOVE this, I cannot wait to take him!

5. Apple & Pumpkin Picking: We always visit several farms such as Centennial Farms, Eckert's Stuckmeyer's Farm and Thies Farm. I cannot get enough of the autumn activities so I try to visit as many of these local farms as possible!

6. Haunted Hayride: Eckert's offers a kid friendly haunted hayride on Friday and Saturday nights from mid-September through Halloween. The boys love Halloween so I think they will really like this event.

7. Camping: We try to go camping each year. I am not into camping, in fact I usually only last about 16-20 hours, but I am trying! I like camping at Klondike Park in Augusta because it is close to home so if we need to return it is a quick drive down 94. I love the little trails in Klondikes, we always have great fun exploring. I hope I make it to the 24 hour mark this year!

8. Haunted Alton: OK, this is one a kid-free event! There is a local author named Troy Taylor who has written several books on the history of cities and states. I've read a few of his books and I just love them. I am a history nerd so these books are right up my alley. In addition to history, Troy talks about the local legends of ghosts and hauntings. He offers ghost tours in Alton, IL and I want to go this year! I went on a haunted tour two years ago with some work friends and we had a blast! This time I want to try Troy's tour with a big group of our friends. There is nothing better than starting off the Halloween season with spooks and scares!

I am still working on finding some more fun things to do on our weekends. Luckily Brennan is not playing fall ball so we are not committed to any games or leagues this year. While I never want to wish my summers away, I cannot help but feel a bit excited for what lies ahead of us!!

Cobbler

Last week we went blackberry picking at Centennial Farms. My family loves eating fruit the way nature intended, but I enjoy cooking and baking so I decided I would make a cobbler with some of our berries. I had an old family recipe for cobbler, but I decided to surf the old internet to see what I could come up with. Most of the recipes were the same, only small tweaks were made here and there. I must have read 25 recipes! Alex loves to help me in the kitchen so he asked if he could please help make the cobbler, of course I said yes! So here is the cobbler Alex and I created last Friday afternoon!

Ingredients
3-4 cups of fresh blackberries
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup milk
1 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1 stick unsalted butter

1 tablespoon sugar

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the stick of unsalted butter in an oven safe dish (I used a 9x9 dish) and place it in the oven to melt as it heats up.

2. Place clean berries in a microwave safe dish. Add 3/4 cup of sugar and 2 tablespoons of butter to the top. Microwave for about 2-3 minutes or until the butter and sugar has started to melt. You'll need to stir this a bit to distribute the butter and sugar. It will probably look bubbly and thin, that is what you want!

3. In a bowl mix together 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder & 1/2 teaspoon salt until well blended. Pour in 1 cup of milk and mix well with spoon.

4. By now the butter should have melted in the dish. Carefully remove the dish from the oven. Pour the batter evenly over the butter, but do not mix. 

 5. Next, pour the blackberry mixture over the butter & batter, but do not mix! As it bakes the batter will rise to the top.  Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of sugar all over the top of the dessert.

6. Bake in the oven for about 50-55 minutes or until the batter appears golden. I think the cobbler is best served warm. Enjoy!!

Blackberry Pickin'

Last week we packed the kids in the car and headed out Highway 94 to beautiful Augusta. It was a hot, sunny summer afternoon, the kind of day where sweat rolls down your back and you've only walked from the house to the car. Despite the heat and humidity we were all excited to get out in the farm fields and get busy picking berries. As we pulled into the gravel lot we were greeted by Suzy the farm dog. Alex didn't care much for her, but Brennan remembered her from past visits and had a great time petting her. Suzy is a big, floppy, lazy farm dog! She gave out lots of sloppy doggy kisses in exchange for lots of ear scratching and belly rubs. I think Brennan would have taken her home if we let him!

The farm owner gave us some plastic baskets and soon we were on our way into the berry patch. These blackberries were huge! The boys were eating straight from the vines. There is something about farm fresh foods! I cannot begin to think of anything better than a fruit or vegetable eaten right off the plant. I finally had to tell the boys no more berries because I was afraid they may get sick. The blackberries were the sweetest I've ever eaten; I couldn't wait to get home and make a cobbler. In time we were all sweaty, sticky messes and our baskets were overflowing with berries so we headed back to the market area.

Inside the market area was sweet corn, ripe peaches, squash, zucchini and potatoes as well as items like relishes, jams and flavored honey. If were were going back home I would have loaded up on farm fresh produce, but I didn't want any of it to get bruised and ruined between our next stop. Luckily Bryan and I are returning in August for our anniversary so I will load up then. Here are some pictures of our afternoon at Centennial Farms. My only regret is I was taking all the pictures and I didn't get a single shot of me and boys together :( Please do not use any of my pictures of my children without permission. Thank you!

This is farm/market place. Look at how old is it!

Brennan & Suzy the farm dog, so sweet!

Brennan picking blackberries.

Alex filling up his basket.

You cannot tell from the pictures, but these berries are HUGE!

Look at the beautiful colors. This is nature at its finest!

This is part of the red barn. The landscaping is really pretty.

Welcome to the town of Augusta! I wish I lived here!

20 Snack Foods Renamed

I received this email this morning and thought I'd share. I had quite the chuckle out of these. Enjoy!

Sweet Summer Fun

I am so excited for tomorrow!! We have such a fun day planned and I know the boys are going to have a blast! Although I think I may be more excited than they are! We're starting our day off at Centennial Farms in Augusta. Centennial Farms has been in operation for 191 years! According to their website, the farm was established in the town of Augusta back in the 1800's by a man named Leonard Harold. Harold sold the land in 1854 to Christian Knoernschild and it has been in their family since then. The farm is 75 acres and consists of a variety of crops such as apple and peach trees, berries, vineyards and an array of veggies. In 1976, the farm was designated a "Centennial Farm" meaning it has been in operation for over 100 years in the same family. It is also on the National Register of Historic Places. I simply love visiting Centennial Farms!! We have picked apples and blackberries from the farm and we also go to their Pumpkin Land each October. It is such a fun, kid-friendly place, they boys always have a great time. The owners are so very friendly and always welcome visitors with a warm smile. I love browsing through the old barn turned market, look at the genuine beauty of this old place!

Please note I do not own this photo, I copied it from their website. If you are ever in St. Charles County, I highly recommend you visit Centennial Farms. You will not be disappointed, I promise! Visit their website for more information: http://centennialfarms.biz/ I cannot wait make southern style blackberry cobbler! The little town of Augusta is a trip in itself. Known as "wine country", you can easily spend a whole day in Augusta walking from winery to winery to quaint little shops to a brewery. There is quite the array of bed & breakfasts in Augusta; Bryan and I have stayed at two different B&B and we've always had excellent service. Obviously we will not hit any wineries tomorrow with the boys, but I am super excited because Bryan and I are going back to celebrate our 10 year anniversary next month! I cannot wait to explore the whole town! Augusta was established in 1836 although the land was purchased in 1821. So much rich history to learn about in this beautiful land!

This is the Katy Trail in Augusta.

One of the many vineyards in Augusta.

After blackberry picking in Augusta we're going to head over to Indian Camp Creek. Indian Camp Creek is a 600+ acre park located on the edge of St. Charles County. This is such a neat place to explore! There are miles and miles of trails used for horses, hikers and bikers. When we hiked a few years ago we had many opportunities to pet the horses as they slowly passes us. There are several shallow creeks to explore as well as a fishing lake and a neat little "Eco-Playground". We are going to explore the creeks and maybe hike a short trail if time permits. The boys are most excited about this part of the day as they have great memories from past summers in the creeks here. 

This is the boardwalk across a creek.

This is on old picture from 2010 of the boys on one of the trails.

Days like these make me so happy. The simply beauties of picking summer berries at a century old farm, gazing at nature's perfect beauty of trees and vineyards, visiting with elders in a quaint little town, walking along a grassy trail, splashing and wadding in cool creek water, trying to catch frogs and minnows and best of all, making priceless memories with the children, is what summer is all about. The best things in life are so very simple and sweet!

Ice Cream

I don't know about you, but I love ice cream! I could seriously eat ice cream every single day, however my stomach will never allow that to happen (probably a good thing!). With Brennan's food allergies we have to be very careful. Many ice creams either contain some type of nuts or the ice cream is made in facility with nuts. Many of the brands we buy have an allergen warning label, but many do not list the warnings. We cannot take him to Dairy Queen or Culver's and Fritz's because the risk of contamination is just too high. There are three places that are safe, if he wants to stick with soft serve. Unfortunately these ice cream shops are a bit of a drive so we tend to stick with store bought ice cream.

A few weeks ago I was in Schnucks doing the weekly grocery shopping and decided to pick up a half  gallon of ice cream. I did the usual label read for allergens and as I read the list of ingredients I stopped and thought about what I was about to place in my cart to take home to feed to my family. How can plain chocolate ice cream contain over eight ingredients? To me ice cream is milk, sugar, eggs and natural flavors not artificial dyes, artificial flavors, corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup. I put the ice cream back on the shelf and decided we would make fruit smoothies instead. If I make the food at home at least I can control what goes inside the food, right?

Days pass and I am at Target. As I walk down the aisle I see an ice cream maker on clearance for only $8. Without thinking twice about it, I happily place my find in the cart! Once I got home I tore open the ice cream maker box and started reading the directions. Long story short, I can make homemade ice cream in the comfort of my home without a single artificial ingredient! Best of all I know it is 100% safe for Brennan to eat because our home is totally peanut/tree free! I bought organic whole milk, rBGH free whipping cream and half & half and pure vanilla extract (I would like to buy some vanilla beans for the next batch). Those ingredients plus a little sugar made the tastiest ice cream I've had in quite some time. We've also made chocolate using cocoa powder. The boys want to make chocolate chip, cookies & cream and strawberry. I love the fact that Brennan can safely eat his ice cream without any worry of contamination and I especially love the fact that I control what does and doesn't go into our ice cream! Happy summer!