Made it, did it (treadmill and bike), sweat like a pig in heat, took a shower, got my work clothes on and zoomed off to work. Did everything that needed to be done (bulletin done on a Thursday – what?!). Home. Took oldest boy freak to driver’s ED. Home. No clue what I did, then. Picked oldest boy freak up, took him to his friend’s for the night,  dropped the other freaks at “Y” for a bit, picked up Frank, got in a car accident (nobody hurt, not my fault, another entry will explain), picked up kids, got ice cream, went to Walmart. Home.

And now I write a Tell Me Thursday about my Wordless Wednesday, because, I’m just on top of things like that.

So it was just an impromptu grilling adventure. Nothing to do, but wanting – NEEDING – family time. Packed up what we had and set off to have an impromptu picnic with our grill. The main course was turkey burgers, but we also had a bagful of corn. The goal was to find a park with a permanent grill where we could cook the corn, and then we’d make the burgers on our smaller portable grill.

The boys grumbled for the first portion of our “adventure” as we drove around like blind mice looking for a permanent-grill-rendering-park. Finally I turned on the GPS, much to Frank’s disgust (he’s anti-GPS). He remembered a little park tucked away and we plugged it in. By this time, it was pretty much going to be the tucked away park or nothing, and if they didn’t have a permanent grill, we’d trash the corn.

One baseball diamond, a whole bunch of grass, long driveway, a shelter, park, horseshoes (for crimminy sake) – it was just too perfect. Oh, and - a standalone grill. Oh, and a bathroom. With soap pumps. We hadn’t been to the park in years. I was so glad we revisited it. We basically owned the park for the duration of our visit. It was great.

Frank grilled, I watched the boys beat each other up. Dinner was served, and everyone enjoyed the family time despite being initially bent on trying NOT to enjoy it and label it a completely fruity idea.

THE CORN: We put it on the grill, in the husk, over ready coals for about 30 minutes or so. I don’t mind a few darker parts. It adds to the flavor. Seriously, I could have just eaten the corn it was that good.

The boys played, ran, kicked balls, kicked each other, ate, laughed. The food was super simple and fantastically delicious. It was nice to just be alone, as a family, encapsulating some time for us together, even if only for a few hours. A mini-vacation here and there among the regularity of the days, weeks and months, doesn’t always have to be jetting off to another country or even visiting another state (a luxury that right now, we simply can’t afford). An impromptu picnic in the park does just fine.

Busy weekend at the Groovy-Mom household. Friday night was a social night, hanging out with friends. Saturday Sal had a soccer game. They won; don’t remember the score. Sal, the self-proclaimed World Class Goalie, played in goal for the first half, and then on the field the second. The team ran over to Franny before the start, at half-time and after the game to rub his head for good luck. It was very cute. (Franny tells me I need to get a new word because I say everything is cute. Cutecutecute!!! — Happy now?)

Carlito had a game to referee at the same time as Sal’s, but my dad took him to it since Frank was working and I can’t be in two places at the same time. Dante had a game later that day, too. They won 8-0. Dante plays on a team with a crew of very talented players that are a lot of fun to watch. Some games are very intense, but the Saturday’s was not (see the score), so the boys had some fun. At one point Dante, a mid-fielder, went for the ball over-zelously (not needing to) and he slid out of bounds, into the spectator section. His friend called from the other side of the field, “Dante, don’t you hurt my mom!!”

Saturday night we ordered pizza and watched the Fifa Qualifier between USA and Honduras. Go USA.

Sunday we went to Dante’s game, another 7-0 win. After the game we hit McDonalds, just me and the boys. I had a $20 limit, so we ordered cheap and split fries. Carlito treated us to brownie melts for dessert with some of his referee earnings. Dante and Franny split a brownie, and Sal and I split one. Carlito took a bite of ours, but didn’t buy one for himself. They were pretty well behaved, save for Dante distracting Carlito so that he could quickly fly in and pull his shorts down. He pantsed Lootie coming in, and he got him at the door before we left. Franny exploded in giggles both times.

We met Frank at home and decided to take advantage of a beautiful day by heading to the park for a while. Dante was reluctant, concerned that he’d miss the Uriah Faber/Mike Brown UFC fight. Boys. Frank assured him we would not. Papi brought his poles along and the boys brought a soccer ball. Can’t leave home without a soccer ball. Things have changed a bit, with Franny’s injury. He was the one who would usually instigate a game or activity, since he was always a bundle of energy. I’m thankful for his recovery, even though it is slow, but sometimes am caught off guard and get a bit choked up.

Sal, making some casts. OK, tecnically Frank did the casting, the boys reeled in.

Franny.

On our walk over to the park, we encountered some geese. As we approached I heard what sounded like a cat hissing. It took me a bit before I realized the hissing noise was coming from the goose in our path. What the..? I’ve never encountered a hissing goose before. My eyes and brain needed to make a visual connection to believe it. Mouth open, heeee-heeeesss — yup, it’s the crazy goose!! Freaked me out. As I attempted to snap a picture of the hissing goose, a mother and her children hurredly passed by. “Watch out, kids, they are MEAN. They’ll nip you.” Killer geese.

They boys started messing around with the soccer ball and Franny stood off in the distance, leaning on his crutches watching. I thought we could go to the park nearby to keep his mind off of the things he couldn’t do (like soccer). “Franny, wanna go try the swing?” We made the journey over and sat on the bench for a while, resting his leg and waiting our turn. Franny removed his shoes, and watched as a father pushed his daughter on the tire swing. When they left, we hurried over.

I pushed him cautiously at first, fearful that his cast would hit the ground or that the tire itself would fly off with him riding right on it. Crazy, I know. But as much as Franny is still recovering from being hit (crossing roads are cheap therapy right now), I’m recovering from the blow as well. I am an anxious, freakazoid worrier by nature — the broken leg isn’t helping. I checked my visions of disaster and focused on the cheek-cracking grin splayed across his face.

After the festival of swinging, we parked it at a table and watched the big boys spout testosterone. Franny took the camera and tried to get a shot of me “not noticing” him with the camera. I was forced to feign ignorance of the camera in his hands. My… look at that pretty grass… is that a camera?

Yeah, me and my sexy Fitovers. They aren’t the most attractive sunglasses, but they are convenient and they do the job.

Time to make the trek back. Sal cools off at the water fountain.

Papi.

My menfolk.

(Don’t ask me why Lootie is saluting.)

On the way home, Papi just had to make a couple casts. No, he’s not drunk. Looks are decieving.

Line-killer.

We made it home in time to make chicken tacos and watch hours of cage fighting. I need to get another girl in this house.

(What did YOU do this weekend? Leave me a link!!)

Words:

Yesterday, with the threat of a 70% chance for rain all day, we took it upon ourselves to grill out for dinner. I’m a bit impatient and impulsive, I’ll admit. But I had just received shipment of some J&D’s Baconnaise — Bacon Flavored Spread and was itching to try it. I needed an excuse to grill since we didn’t on Memorial Day.

Back up a few steps, momma, right? OK, OK. See, I’ve heard about Bacon Salt here and there, but had never actually tried it. I contemplated it, but wasn’t sure. Bacon+salt=? The more I thought about it, though, the more I started to come around. I mean, I like bacon and I like salt. Why wouldn’t that smoky, salty flavor add a little “umpfh” to the menu? So, I picked up a Bacon Salt Sampler along with the Baconnaise (it sounded good — and there’s no pork in it in case you’re wondering).

Back to my grilling… I wanted something to try the Baconnaise on, and burgers sounded like fair game. By this time, I’d already had the seasoning on eggs (the Peppered one is delicious), so I didn’t want to put it on the burgers. You simply CAN have too much bacon. Just the spread was on the menu this time.

End result: I liked the Baconnaise on the burger. Sal ate it, but after could literally not even LOOK at the bottle of the spread, as it made his tummy sick. No other children cared to try it — on anything. I’ll have to see if the taste wears thin in a short period of time, though. I think it would be a yummy dip for fries or wings, but you’d need to thin it down with something. It’s rather heavy.

I’m not counting this as a full-fledged “review” of the products since I haven’t had much time to play with them, though. So far, they are interesting. And the grilling was nice.

Fire. When you can go camping and have an authentic campfire – the backyard suffices.

Lootie, enjoying the heat and flames…

…

Is anyone else doing nothing this summer? I know summer is the typical time for “vacations” and all that jazz, but we don’t have it like that to take a family vacation to Destination Somewhere this summer (or, well, pretty much ANY summer). We contemplate going up north to my parent’s cabin, but with the prices of gas, we’re looking at $250-$300 round trip in our van. That’s some crazy stuff. Seriously. So, we’ve been trying to make the best of our mosquito-infested, non-vacation taking summer. Baseball games, trips to the public pool, bike rides, etc.

Anyone else doing Homecationing? Here’s a few suggestions:

1. Backyard camping – Set up a tent in the backyard (yours or a neighbor’s, if you want to make it more “destination bound.” You can even have backyard fires in most cities. Nothing screams camping like a tent, fire and s’mores. Maybe some swimsuits and a run through the sprinkler in lieu of a watering hole.
2. Grilling out/picnicking at a local park – We’ve done this many times before. With friends or without. Having a little picnic, even if it isn’t far away, spices things up a bit, breaking the summertime monotony.
3. Rediscovering the library – For some it is an underused free destination. If you don’t go there, make a point to do so. Ours has a ton of free programs for kids with reading incentives. Carlito just picked up free admission to a baseball game and a State Park for reading X amount of hours so far this summer.
4. Movie marathon – If you have a weekend, or a couple days off (great rainy-day stuff), rent yourself – better yet, borrow from the library OR note some movie times on TV and catch a couple a day. Pop popcorn, make some fun snacks and make it a special occasion. Watch with friends, watch as a family, or watch alone. But make the event around the show.
5. Utilize the State Park – if you live in the US, there’s probably a state, city or county park nearby. Many of them have activities throughout the summer (for free or for a minimal amount). Take advantage of the trails, ride your bike or just visit a part of the park you haven’t been to. Combined with a backpack lunch or picnic really makes a mini-vacation out of a simple trip.

Most of the above things can be done for free or for less than $50, which is only a hint of what a regular vacation can cost. Putting an activity on the calendar and sticking to it, as if it were a real vacation, makes it even more of an “event,” something special to look forward to. The simple act of marking a Me Day or Family Day on the calendar and thinking up 3-5 things you’ll do special for yourself/your family, turning off email, phone and centering only on the day together is a vacation in itself.

Ours went well, not without a hitch but hey — I never expected things to go smoothly. Earlier this week I couldn’t find sweet potatoes. Finally found some yesterday (at Wal-mart). I put them in the oven to bake, telling the two oldest that when the buzzer goes off to turn the oven off, and went to a friend’s house. Naturally, they forgot (D said, “Oh turn the oven off? I thought you meant turn the buzzer off.”) and my potatoes turned into hollow shells reminiscent of a sweet potato. I placed them cool outside overnight hoping that some of them could be salvaged. Today Franny and I were able to scrape out only a few cups worth of potatoes, so Frank had to make a trip back to Wal-mart (naturally open on Thanksgiving, of coarse).

Power blew out in the kitchen. Mini crisis/heart attack for that ordeal.

But it all worked out. Food was cooked, company came, we ate and were merry. I was hoping to play some board games, but everyone is just tuckered out.

Snagged this from Robyn:

1. How will you be spending your Thanksgiving this year?

My parents, Frank’s dad and a co-worker (and wife) of Frank’s are coming over. We also had an impromptu visit from a friend of Frank’s who brought over two of his kids for a little while.

2. Will you be cooking or are you just an eater?

I’m both!! I made turkey, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, cranberry relish, macaroni and cheese and green beans. My mom and the co-worker friends are bringing some of the other foods (buns, another turkey, pies, stuffing).

3. Do you watch the parade every year or football!!

The boys watched football.

4. What’s your favorite float?

I don’t pay attention enough to have one.
5. Dark meat or white meat?

Both.

6. Leg or breast?

Sure!!

7. What is your favorite dish besides the turkey?

Hmmmm. The foods all kind of come as a “whole” as far as I’m concerned. Heh. I dig sweet potatoes.

8. Homemade cranberry sauce or cranberry sauce from the can?

Probably homemade.

9. Do you decorate for Christmas on Thanksgiving day?

We’ve been known to pick up our tree on Thanksgiving. I did put some lights up on the banister and I plugged in the wooden Christmas tree that’s sat in our livingroom all year.

10. What are some special family traditions?

We don’t really have any. Generally we’d drive through the light display that’s put on every year at a local park. But today we were too busy to remember to do that.

11. Pumpkin pie or pecan?

No way can I choose. A little of both — with whipped cream.

12. What is your favorite thing to do with the leftovers?

Get them put away so I don’t have to look at them for a while. I make soup sometimes. And sometimes I just heat them up again to savor the taste of Thanksgiving again.

13. How long will you spend eating your thanksgiving meal?

I have no clue.

14. Are you worried about putting on weight this Thanksgiving?

Nope.

15. What do you normally eat at Thanksgiving?

A little of everything.

16. What will you be thankful for this Thanksgiving?

The here and now. My family, health, love, the simple things.

17. What is your best Thanksgiving memory?

They all kind of blend together.

18. Do you give cards or presents at Thanksgiving?

Huh? Goodness no.

19. Are you planning on going shopping the day after Thanksgiving?

Probably not at the stores. The crowds kind of freak me out a bit. I’ll probably look online, though, ’cause there’s a couple things I really need to order NOW.

20. Will you be waking up early to hit the sales?

Nopers.

The minute the box arrived I broke it open, skimmed the rules to refresh my memory (it’s been a while) and jumped right into playing with one of the twins (he’s 8 years old). I was too kind in my instruction and he beat me. So far I’ve played the game with almost everyone in the house. It is addictive. Board games are great family fun. They stimulate the brain enough to keep you focused, but not overstimulating like video games can do. Just since buying Othello this past month, has increased our “play time” together, getting us back into the board game mode. Now my daughter wants us to get Apples to Apples.A few more of my favorite board games:

Uno (the younger ones love the Uno Attack version)
Pictionary
Yatzee
Checkers (of coarse)
Scrabble

I would add Chess to the list, but I have yet to learn how to play. I’d love to learn, though.

What games does YOUR family play? I’m always up for a new game.