The Monkey Barrel

Archive for August, 2009

Sifting through old files
Turning up old photos
Like a stab in the heart
Pictures
All that’s left
suck

We took the kids to Busch Gardens last month for the first time this year.  John is now tall enough to ride all of the rides including the Alpengeist and Griffon (the two big ones).  He had a blast on all of them… glad to know he wasn’t permanently scarred by me taking him on the Rock and Roll coaster at Disney when he was 7.  That thing launches you in the dark thru several loops while Aerosmith screams RIGHT IN YOUR FREAKIN EAR AT 150db!!   He came of crying and I felt like crap.   But he is still riding!  haha.

Luke now wants to ride everything like his brother John.  And my problem of course..  do I let him ride anything he can and roll the dice on a phobia?  Or hope that he comes out of bad experiences like John did?

Nothing like gambling with your childrens mental well-being.

So..  I took him on the Big Bad Wolf, which IMHO is really inappropriately named.  Should be “The Boring Wolf” or “The Craptacular Wolf”.  I guess thats why they are tearing it down.. yea!   Back to the story.  I took Luke on there.  He swore he wanted to ride it.  Really.

We mount up and head down the first set of turns which don’t do much for your average coster rider.  He loved it.  Then we started going up the one ‘big’ hill in the second half.  I leaned over to tell him that if he got scared, to just to hold on to my hands.  But on that ride you are tucked in to a shoulder harness and little Lukie was buried in that thing.  I couldn’t even see his face.   He heard me though and I heard him reply “Ok Daddy!”..  followed by a squeal of excitment.

We reached the top of the hill and drop down the other side..  That ride is sooo loud compared to more current rides.  All I could hear is the rush of wind and the cars clacking along the track.  I strained to see Luke’s face or to hear if he was ok, but there was too much noise.   We reach the bottom and slow down just enough that the wind and other noise lessens a bit.  All I could hear from the seat next to me..

“OH YEA!   OH YEA!   OH YEA!  OH YEA!…”

THE bean story: A cautionary tale as told by Emily Midgette Arters

Many years ago now, (wow, it really is many year ago, suddenly I feel old) Fred and I had been engaged for just a few months and it was time for my 4th of July family reunion picnic down on the Elisabeth River at Uncle Joe’s house. I had quite the reputation in my family as an awesome cook and several of our family members get together, make a menu and divvy up the responsibilities. My job that year was my famous baked beans, brownies and I forget what the other thing was. Mind you, my meager culinary skills and tiny repartoire of recipes was nothing in the face of my cooking goddess future mother in law. But I was still a good cook.
So Fred comes over in the morning and I am at the stove cooking my awesome beans and he’s watching me rather weirdly intently. I throw a glance over my shoulder, and ask what’s up. He says, what are you doin?? I say, makin baked beans. He says, I don’t think that’s how you do it. I say, this is how I always make them. Now, he has never taken an interest into the how’s and why’s of my cooking before, he always seemed to enjoy what I made so this attention to this particular dish seemed, well odd.
I go back to my beans. Two cans of Bush’s baked beans, onions, molasses, brown sugar, salt and pepper. Next thing ya know, Fred’s dialing the phone and here’s what I hear, “Hey mom, I’m over at Emily’s and she’s making beans. What’s the right way to make beans?” Instantly I see red, whirl around, and exclaim, THE RIGHT WAY to make BEANS!! ARE YOU KIDDING!! There is no RIGHT way to beans, this is my recipe, it’s how I make ‘em, it’s just how it is. He sheepishly hangs up the phone and looks for the nearest hole to crawl into. I’m insulted and my beans are starting to smoke. I package them up anyway and we take them to the picnic where Fred tries the tiniest morsel he can possibly fit on the end of the spoon and says, “mmm thafph good honey” while trying to choke down the itty bitty mouthful through a giant grimace.
Little did I know, not having been dating more about 11 months at that point and engaged for 2 of them, Fred hates beans. Despises them. Loathes them. His mother had come up with perhaps the only way for him to choke them down and so that was the recipe he sought. I refused to make beans after that incident for probably 7 years. I finally succumbed, because well, her beans are rather magnificent and the recipe is awesome. But darn it, my beans are good too!!!!!

2 small steps for Noah
1 giant baby proofing effort for mommy
9 months nearly on the nose and he begins his journey into the walking world. Many adventures shall follow I’m sure

While watching shark week shows last night I overhear John and Luke on the couch and the conversation went a little something like this

Luke : (quietly) mumble mumble Dear Jesus, mumble mumble mumble sharks mumble mumble mumble
John : Luke why are you praying about sharks?
Luke : Because John, I don’t want the big sharks to come and eat me so I’m praying to Jesus to close their mouths if I’m in the water.
John : Luke, don’t be silly, sharks don’t eat humans. They eat seals and sometimes they mistake us for seals because seals are a part of their natural diet.

My kids kill me!!!!!!!!!

Inspired by many of my friends family recipe postings I thought I’d give it a go with my familys tradition. Toad in the Hole is a traditional English meal that is extremely simple and the leftovers are fabulous in the morning with real maple syrup. It is definitely an artery clogger

The recipe:
12 to 16 link sausages cooked with grease saved. Both kept piping hot in preheated oven. (CRUCIAL to the crispiness)
1 1/2 c flour
3 eggs
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 water
3/4 milk

Directions: Tried and true. While cooking the sausages, put a 9×12 pan with a bit of olive oil into the oven and preheat to 425. Once the sausage is cooked pour ENTIRE contents of pan into the pan in the oven.
Mix all of the remaining ingredients in one separate bowl and then pour over sausages in the pan in the oven. Dish is done when the center is form and the edges have puffed up and are crispy.

We usually serve with green beans and for the true Limey’s a cup of steaming hot tea. Hope you enjoy it as much as do we! Pictures as soon as Fred helps me with that.