Yak and Yeti is an Asia restaurant found at Animal Kingdom. Mom and I recently gave it a try on our trip in September. I have been wanting to eat here for a while, but it seems like we are never at Animal Kingdom long enough for a table service restaurant. But this trip, I was sure to make the time.
My mom has the privilege to travel for her job. She found out back in June that she was going to be in Orlando for a week. So she wanted Melody and I to tag along, so we picked the week based on our schedules. We decided to go in September.
A few weeks ago I bought home some leftover Red Robin. I rarely eat them myself because I hate reheated fries. And usually I just let Brad take the leftovers. Well he was out of town, so it was all me. We had some frozen fries here, so I only took home the chicken. Well after making my leftovers for dinner in the oven, I realized that I didn't have any dipping sauces. And I love their campfire sauce and ranch…campfire is for fries and ranch is for chicken. Well I wanted to try and recreate it. I found so many conflicting recipes online, and then as I went to cook the fries I realized Red Robin gave me the recipe on the back of the fry bag! So here it is for you! Straight from the Red Robin fry bag!
I made Melody another Halloween happy this year. I only did 3 things this year, and they were things I would do even if I didn’t consider them “happys“. First I bought her a cute pair of Halloween themed pajamas. I bought a 3T so that they would also fit next year (although I am not biased to holidays throughout the year…meaning she wears Halloween pajamas even at Easter). I also bought her a new book called Never Touch a Spider. She loves this series of book because of all the things to touch. However, this book is kind of weird compared to the others, but she doesn’t know the difference! Lastly I bought her a small pumpkin to paint from the Target dollar section. I plan on her painting this week since it is Fall Break for dance and school.
We enrolled Melody in gymnastics this summer to see how she would like it. So then we decided to give dance class a try this fall/spring. So far Melody has only had about 5-6 classes (we missed one due to vacation and one for sickness), but she seems to enjoy it. I am really looking forward to seeing how she continues to do over the next 6 months or so. We are also hoping to add back gymnastics in the near future when an evening opening becomes available. Our days are just so busy! We haven’t been allowed to go into the class and watch them learn except for about 5 minutes at the end. So here are a few pictures of those moments (and a few I was able to take of her before or after her class).
Back in August, Brad’s parents came to visit us for the weekend. On Saturday of their visit, we decided to do something that his parents have been wanting to do for a while…visit the Space and Rocket Center. Brad and I both visited as kids, and he actually went to Space Camp, but neither of us have been since living in Huntsville.
So I love boiled eggs. I like them alone, in salads, to make different salads, to make deviled eggs, etc. But I despise cooking and peeling them. They are always slightly undercooked and impossible to peel. Well I did some research, then I combined a few methods online until I found something that worked for me.
I thought after two years, it was time to do a post about what Melody’s nursery looks likes now. It has changed quite a bit.
For a while, Brad and I have talked about wanting to get granite countertops in our kitchen. Then in the last year, we have discussed changing our cabinets. We really wanted a vintage white. So we approached different companies looking at the best route to take in our renovation. We looked into someone painting the cabinets, but it was literally going to cost close to the same amount. We ultimately found a local company that could replace our cabinets and countertops within our budget.
I haven’t made salmon in quite awhile, but we were wanting something other than tilapia. So I looked and found a new recipe to try along with it. See it below.
For Mother’s Day this year, I made this for my mom as a gift from Melody. I used my Silhouette Cameo, but this would be something you could do by hand if you wanted. You may have some trouble cutting the intricate detail of #1 Nana, but you could always handwrite this.
In an effort to find a healthier snack for Melody, I decided make some cheerio clusters. They were filled with everything Melody loved, so I thought for sure they would be a hit. Unfortunately, Melody didn’t care for them. I thought they were delicious, but I couldn’t finish them all myself before they went stale. Oh well!
While at dinner one night, I got ranch dressing on one of my favorite shirts. I went about removing it using ordinary stain removers, but that' didn’t work. So I researched some other ways and improvised. See what worked for me below.
Unfortunately with the Alabama heat and bugs, we have not spent near as much time outside this summers I would have liked. But we did make the best of it!
Brad and I were planning to try and go to the beach around Labor Day. We really wanted to go back to Tops’l in Destin, FL. My parents were hoping to get to do a beach trip with us as well, so we decided to share a condo with them and my brother at Tops’l. We ended up going August 20-24 because it worked best with everyone’s schedules.
We were grilling steaks a while back, and I had some zucchini I bought for a side dish. We make zucchini a lot but I wanted a new way. So I last minute googled a recipe to grill zucchini. I knew I could just throw them on the grill, but I wanted a good marinade or seasoning. Check it out below.
So earlier this summer, Emily and I decided to become members at the Huntsville Botanical Garden. It is something we started discussing last summer, and neither of us really jumped on it. So one day in May, we just decided to go! Because of the crazy Alabama heat, we haven't visited but a handful of times this summer so far. We are really hoping to visit more this fall, winter, and spring when the weather cools off. However, below is a sneak peek of our trips so far!
While looking through the dollar section of Target one afternoon, I ran across some different charts for children. I found one that was for chores. It was only $3, and it had a spot for 5 chores and came with a handful of magnets and a marker. I had been wanting to come up with some sort of chore/responsibility chart, and this was perfect for what I wanted to do.
One of the things we wanted to do when visiting Chattanooga for JoeCon was the Tennessee Aquarium. Brad and I went about 7 years or so ago, and we thought Melody might enjoy it.
