meet “dash”

 

Look what we found living under the stairs when we got back from North Carolina.

 

 

 

So we gave the poor skinny thing some milk.

 

 

 

Now what?

happy birthday izzy bella

    

 

We loved celebrating with you!

 

 

the fig tree

 

Tricia and Dan gave us an evening out at the Fig Tree Restaurant. The restaurant is in a home built in 1913 and named after a fig tree that grew on the property. It is a beautiful example of an early 20th century bungalow style home. The meal was gorgeous and delicious! Of course, we hadn’t known about this special gift, so I went dressed as Tricia and Doug borrowed a shirt from Dan!

 

breakfast makers

 

c is for sugar Cubes

The last “surprise” C for cooking camp was constructing  a temple out of sugar Cubes. Of course, it had to be the St. George Temple since her parents and her Nana & Papa were married in the St. George Temple. In fact, we were both married on the 24 of April—just 22 years apart!

 

 

 

Courtney was the architect for the sugar plan.

 

 

 

   It turned out very beautiful!

candy bar cooking

 

Courtney wasn’t exactly sure about today’s cooking.

 

 

 

She had never heard of a Heath bar, but soon decided that this could be very yummy. 

 

 

 

Perfect, in fact, for an afternoon treat.

 

 

 

Heath Bar Ice Cream Sandwich

cupcakes part two

Courtney and I have been so excited waiting for Campbell to come to visit us with her Mimi. Of course, both the girls were wearing their cowgirl shirts...yet again!

   

They made some very beautiful horse cupcakes.

 

 

 

But, Courtney could hardly wait to take Campbell down to the lake where they did everything there was to do…together.

 

Then it was a quick change. We were off to the Garden Gate in Mt. Dora for lunch.

 

 

It is a blessing to be able to have such a fun day with these two terrific girls!

 

cupcakes

A friend of mine recommended this charming bakery in downtown historic Clermont.

What a wonderful little shoppe. The owners invited us to view their work stations and explained every part of the cupcake making process with interesting details.

Check out the size of that mixer! You wouldn’t believe it, but it is really very quiet!

 

 

 

 

Courtney got to decorate her own cupcake with some “professional tips”.

 

 

 

 

 

After which, they taught her how to use the cash register. It was a bit tricky being the customer and the vendor because she had to run around to the front of the refrigerated case to see the names of the cupcakes to decide what she wanted.

 

Then she actually rang up our sale.

We had the best of intentions to come home and put our newly gained knowledge into practice,

 

but the lake was calling and it was a beautiful afternoon…

 

 

 

 

(She has been taking running lessons from Dash the Incredible!)

So we are just going to have to finish our own cupcakes tomorrow!

cookie

When we got home from our adventures yesterday,Papa jolted us back to the 21st century and took Courtney for a ride to see if they could get a good view for the shuttle launch. Sadly, it was cancelled again and we will have to hope for better luck tomorrow.   

When Doug was working for DirecTV, I was able to watch two satellite launches. They both went off in their very first window. We were told that it was very unusual,

but it has only been since moving to central Florida that I have come to realize how tricky it is getting these rockets in outer space.

Needless to say, there was no time for cooking yesterday, but today, we started where we left off. “Cookie” was often the name of the chuck wagon cooks.

We got our hunk of beef roasting in the crock pot and then made gingersnaps, a common dessert on the trail.

After that, we went to Orlando to pick up Brianna. She has been overnight babysitting, to girl’s camp and visiting Melanie in California. We have hardly seen her this summer and we are very happy to have her home again.

We had a very yummy meal waiting when we returned.

 

 

 

 

After dinner, I was presented with a beautiful apron that Courtney finished. It is perfect for a Nana like me that loves birds. There are also some delicious cookies in the background, made by our “cookie.”

 

We ended the day with a sad note.

Courtney had so much fun playing with her frog that hopped up on her shoulder yesterday afternoon. She even taught him to jump on command.  But, today Courtney’s frog died. Courtney wrote on the piece of paper, “My best frog died here.”

The frog is located at the bottom of the sign.

cowboy cooking

We were so very fortunate to be invited to the Williams Homestead today. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to prepare for our cowboy cooking experience.

But nothing could have prepared me for the beautiful vistas and spectacular skies. No wonder those cowboys were so happy to be out on the range.

 

 

 

 

 

We had many modes of transportation today including Doug’s car, a golf cart, a Mule (vehicle), a horse, a cart and pony, and, our own two feet.

 

We took a scenic adventure out to the pastures to pick up Zipper. Several of the other horses were very interested in what was in the back of our vehicle…but not Zipper, of course.

Then it was off to the tack room.

 

Courtney takes a moment, remembering the things she has been learning about horses and riding back in North Carolina.

  These girls were a great pair. Actually, we realized that all four of us were  eldest daughters. Campbell said that meant that all of us were good examples! I thought that was great. After our ride, a tropical rainstorm came through and the girls had fun jumping off the dirt hill and playing in the jeep sheltered nearby.

 

 

 

 

 

Soon enough it brightened back up, and we got ready for another ride. I actually drove… even with everyone aboard.  I loved it!   

The girls were busy during lunch. I was looking after the frog that Courtney stuck in a water bottle and stored in my purse when we entered the restaurant.

In any scenario this would have been a wonderful experience, but it truly was extraordinary. Danette Williams is an amazing and extremely interesting woman.

Both Courtney and I had a fabulous, really fun time!