Lunch and the City: Food Truck Wars

I am so bummed I didn't venture out during my lunch hour yesterday.  When I was leaving work for the day this is what I spotted across the street from my building (Dewey Square, across from South Station at 600 Atlantic Avenue, Boston):

Four different food trucks!  Let's take a closer look, shall we...

The Clover food truck is here, faithfully, everyday.  I talked about this truck in a past post, it's really good.

Then there is this this $5 lunch truck, I've seen this one before but haven't tried it yet.

I haven't seen this one before!  BBQ Smith, sounds yummy.

And a cupcake truck?!  Are you kidding me?!  Kick Ass Cupcakes...I will just have to see how kick ass these cupcakes are!

Just around the corner (corner of Atlantic Ave & Congress Street) is this nifty little truck...again can't wait to try it.

So many new choices, I am so excited.  Then as I was crossing the street, this truck drove by - Grill Cheese Nation!  OMG!

Keep on truckin' (and eating!)

Opposite Day and Water Park Fun

I took the kids to Water Wizz in Wareham, MA today.  They had a total blast!  It was such a great day, no whining/crying about anything.  It even started out great early this morning.  Nolan asked to try oatmeal...um what??  Is this opposite day?  I added bananas and blueberries and he ate it!

For the past few years Nolan has been such a picky eater, a non-eater really.  Since getting his tonsils out in June he has been eating up a storm and asking to try new things.  Last week he actually ate fish and liked it!  I couldn't believe it.

Okay, back to the Water Wizz fun.  This water park is perfect for my 3 & 5 year old.  It's a blast for all ages really.  Along with the big slides for the big kids (& adults!), they have six different pool areas for the little ones.

Nolan giving Sean a ride (it really is opposite day)

 The Pirate Ship

 another area for younger kids

 Sean on the pirate ship slide

 The kids were singing "Yellow Submarine" 

 Yet another little kid area...this was their favorite

Sean LOVED this fast little slide...Nolan too, but Sean spent a good part of the day here. (excuse my annoying voice in the video...do I really sound like that?! LOL)

I forgot to mention that my mom came with us.  She loves to join in the fun!  Here is Nana with her boys.

After over 4 hours of chlorinated fun, we were starving.  That was another "opposite" thing, I told the kids not to ask to buy any treats/food/drinks/stupid souvenirs because I brought plenty of snacks/drinks and that we were going out to dinner on the way home.  They didn't ask for anything!  Again, I couldn't believe it.

We changed into dry clothes and headed to Lindsey's Restaurant.  I had the wine, Nolan had the fish!  

They both fell asleep on the way home.  Sean was in bed for the night.  Nolan woke up (crap!) and will now be up until God knows when.  Opposite day is over.

IT'S A NUTTY WORLD

Marin doctor saves passenger's life on international flight http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news

Reading things like this (see above link) scare the s#*% out of me!  While my Sean is allergic to peanuts and pretty much all tree nuts (and many other foods), my Nolan is specifically allergic to cashews.  This article confirms the fact that Nolan can't eat any nuts and that cross contamination is very real.

Thank God for the doc on board and for the epi-pens in their emergency kit.

Meatballs for Sean

This past Sunday was a lazy, rainy day.  Perfect day to make something in the crockpot.  I made egg-free, wheat-free, dairy-free, soy-free meatballs for Sean. 

I used all-natural hamburger,cornflakes,marinara sauce and a little bit of rice milk (sorry for the blurry picture!)

I crushed up 1 cup of cornflakes and added it to the hamburger.

Then we added 1/4 cup of rice milk. 

Then I squished it all together with my hands, rolled them into meatballs and buried them in the cockpot full of marinara sauce.  I ended up using 2 cans of sauce.  Let them cook in the cockpot for a few hours. 

I cooked these for about 3.5 hours on high.  Sometimes Sean eat them all by themselves...

 ...or with some rice pasta

Sean loves it :)

So just to recap - Meatballs free of wheat/egg/milk/soy:

1lb hamburger

1/2 crushed cornflakes

1/4 rice milk
2 cans/jars marinara sauce or homemade sauce

Squish all together with hands and form small meatballs

Submerge the meatballs in sauce in a

crockpot.  Cook for 3-4 hours.

Water, Water Everywhere - Getting Over Their Fears

Doing things with the boys has been a little easier this summer.  I am finally able to actually sit in a beach chair or at the edge of a pool.  

Those the first few summers were not so easy when the boys were really small. 

When Nolan was 1 he was in "the runner" stage.  I never sat and I was pregnant with Sean.  Running all over the beach and always running for rocks or the stairs, why do they always go for the stairs?  

Then he turned terrified of the water.

This was his favorite thing at the beach back then...sitting on a towel and having snacks ;)

Putting his toes in and never going past his ankles.

I remember Sean's first summer on the beach, he was more of a sand/mud/rock eater.

Then the next summer he morphed into "the runner with no fear". 

hey where are you going...

  

Then for some reason they were both afraid of the water.  I think Nolan was rubbing off on Sean because in most instances Sean is fearless.  They would maybe go in the water if I went with them and they would cling to me like there were piranhas in the water.

Then magically...cha cha cha changes...

This summer has been a blast.  They play in the sand for hours and have been enjoying oceans, pools and lakes.  They are truly getting over their fears of the water.

My 5 year old, Nolan went from only putting his toes in and hanging out on the pool steps all last summer to swimming with no life jacket this summer...I honestly thought this would never happen.  I was so proud of him and he was pretty proud of himself :)

My 3 year old, Sean who is usually a little dare devil had taken to hanging out on the pool steps, until a few weeks ago.  We were at a friend's pool and all the other kids were jumping off the diving board.  Next thing I know I see Sean put an inner tube around himself and his life jacket and did this (please excuse my annoying voice):

and then the next day at another friend's pool Sean did this...

They took swimming lessons this past spring which I'm sure helped, but I really think it comes with time and also watching the older kids.

It is amazing to watch them grow/learn/change right before your eyes.  It really does fly by.  One other nice change...they have been sleeping later...ah...no more 5:30 a.m. wake up calls.