Carving Jack-O-Lanterns

Prep time: Minimal

Activity time:  30 minutes

I carved my first Jack-O-Lantern in nearly 30 years this month.  After our trip to the pumpkin patch (see previous blog post “Our Long Island pumpkin patch adventure”) we bought a couple of carving tools in the farm’s store for under $3 each.  The boys decided they wanted to make a silly face (Zach) and a scary face (Elijah).  

I drew the designs on a piece of paper first, asking the boys for a lot of direction (What shape should the eyes be?  Do we want to add a nose?  How can we make the eyebrows scary!?)  Meanwhile, my husband was working on scooping out all the pumpkin guts to save for making toasted pumpkin seeds and pumpkin soup.

When we had a good idea of how we wanted our jack-o-lanterns to look, I handled the cutting. We had safety “knives” but the kids weren’t able to push hard enough to cut through the thick pumpkins.  Instead, once I had a feature fully cut, they helped me to push the item out of the pumpkin.  We had a lot more success pushing from the inside-out.  Another tip: I learned the hard way NOT to use a sharpie to draw the outline of the various face elements.  Translating the flat drawing to the spherical pumpkin surface proved a little tricky.  I ended up with the mouth way lower than I intended.  This may have been my severe lack of practice in pumpkin carving, but as a relatively well coordinated woman, well-versed in drawing simple faces, I was surprised at the utter mess I made with Take 1 with the sharpie.  However, we just turned the pumpkin around and tried again on the “new” front side. 

For Take 2, I carved the pumpkin’s features free hand.  This time, starting with the mouth to make sure I had it properly in position.  Next I did the eyes and eyebrows and worked my way toward the center of the face.  We scraped off the bits of shredded pumpkin falling into the path of our cut-outs inside the pumpkin, lit a candle inside the hollowed out pumpkin, and were amazed with our results!

Boo!

As for my husband’s side cooking project – the pumpkin soup turned out amazingly well!  Mike separated out the seeds for toasting with a little salt and put the pumpkin guts into a large pot.  He added milk, Splenda, salt, pepper, cinnamon and assorted spices and cooked until the pumpkin had softened.  We used an emulsion blender to make it all smooth texture (though you could scoop the liquid into a regular blender) and saved what we didn’t eat that day in plastic containers to freeze for Thanksgiving.

Our Long Island pumpkin patch adventure

We took the boys to the pumpkin patch yesterday.  It was probably the first trip they’ll remember.  Last year, we skipped the annual trek because our honorary-nephew’s birthday is early November and his parents arranged a pumpkin patch – trip to the farm party.  (Note, if anyone is ever looking for a great birthday party idea – that was fantastic!  We went to an adorable farm, where there were tables set up for a breakfast of muffins, bagels and coffee/juice and took a hay ride to the pumpkin patch farther into the farmlands.  Each kid came home with a pumpkin and we parents had an amazing photo op.)

Photos from the 2010 party

Photos from the 2010 party

Photos from the 2010 party

This year, we can’t make the party, so we took matters into our own hands.

There are many pumpkin patches in Long Island, which used to be mostly farmland until recent history.  As the life of a farmer is not an easy one, many of the farms have Halloween Extravaganzas on their properties.  I can dial back in time to to my MBA education and understand that once one farm realized the way to make extra revenue by adding charging admission to certain “events” like pony rides, hay rides, play grounds, potato cannons, petting zoos, etc. and then charging an overall admission to the farm (!) for the experience to later purchase a pumpkin as well as attraction tickets, any farm that didn’t follow suit just ceded this competitive advantage.  But, frankly, my husband I were hoping for more of a serene farm experience with little more than dirt, pumpkins, and assorted corn and squash.

Nevertheless, we paid our $1 admission each to enter, and still managed to get some great farm shots. 

The boys enjoyed looking through the greatly picked over pumpkin assortment, and we picked out a few to bring home.  We made some pretty incredible jack-o-lanterns and my husband made pumpkin soup and toasted pumpkin seeds with the insides (detailed under a separate post).

This is the third such pumpkin patch experience we’ve had in Long Island, and I hope that as we keep researching patches for our annual trek, we are able to find a “vintage” farm to support.  Or that our nephew keeps having pumpkin patch parties!

Kids Birthday party at California Pizza Kitchen

We had the best time at my nephew Ari’s 4^th birthday party at the California Pizza Kitchen.  His Mom also thought the price was right, and it was just the right amount of time.  The best part – the kids made a mess and then we all left!

The total party run time was about 90 minutes. We arrived at California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) before its standard business hours and were greeted by a very friendly and accommodating staff and a long table filled with paper chef hats (with a disposable plastic glove and spreading spoon inside).  The kids all picked their seats and each received a little to-go pizza box with crayons and the kids menu with coloring pages.  

The kids decorated their hats while the parents helped, and also mingled, nibbling on the apps our hostess ordered.  Once the chef hats were decorated and ready, the kids received already-rolled-out pizza dough and 2 little containers of sauce and cheese.  

The cheese was available to drizzle over the pizza, or eat directly

 The kids made their own pizzas and one of our waiters added their names so each kid would receive his or her own pizza once it was ready.  While the pizzas cooked, the kids and parents got a tour of the restaurant.  The kids loved the pizza ovens, soda machine, bread slicer, freezer, kitchen and prep areas.  By the time our tour ended and everyone had one last round of drinks, the pizzas were ready!

The guests all loved eating their own culinary creations.  Out came delicious ice cream sundaes with whipped cream, M&Ms, and a cherry - and then to make sure our kids were as sugared up as possible, we sang happy birthday, had cake.  Any leftover pizza was wrapped up and ta da!, the party was over.  The mess was left at CPK.  We  had a bunch of happy and well fed kids. Oh, and we all left with a coupon for a free kids' meal.

The birthday boy and my friend were really happy with the event, and the price was right, at about $10 per kid (including the free lunch).  I would definitely consider a birthday party at CPK for my kids in the future.

A trip to the California Academy of Sciences

The boys and I recently spent a week in California with my parents.  Near the end of our vacation, we went to the recently renovated California Academy of Sciences.  Wednesday is free admission day! This is actually a very substantial savings as adult tickets are normally $29.95 and kids are $19.95.  This would have cost well over $100 for the 5 of us to go (for the brief duration of 2 and 4-year-old attention spans). 

The “new” museum is gorgeous and one of the most environmentally friendly museum buildings in the world.  I remember reading about its renovation in a number of national magazines, with heavy attention spent on its “living roof” which recycles water and collects solar energy.  When we walked in, we were greeted by a towering T-Rex skeleton, which was an immediate hit.  We walked on a bridge over various deep tanks filled with rays, sharks, and other fish and were able to watch them under our feet.  There is also a coral reef filled with colorful tropical fish.  My parents had introduced the kids to The Little Mermaid just the previous day and the kids enjoyed seeing Ariel’s world.  There were many exhibits, which we skipped due to my kids inability to wait patiently in line, but we did enjoy the dino coloring pages and crayons in their waiting areas. 

Showing off a T-Rex coloring page, with Grandma hard at work in back

I knew the group would last about 90 minutes on good behavior, so we were only able to hit the highlights – which were fantastic.  The kids were up close and personal with various tortoises and lizards, and were able to watch them play, move around their environment, and eat vegetables.  

This Turtle and Lizard "tank" is right at 2-year-old eye level

We enjoyed the hall of African animals, which includes a fantastic penguin exhibit that is half below-water so the crowd could watch the penguins dive and frolic in the water and above on the rocks.  There were full size lions, gorillas, and other African animals along the hall as well.  We moved on to the Swamp and an amazing aquarium on the lower level with many tanks including reefs, jellyfish, a touch/tide pool area, and other aquatic attractions.     

All of the animals really held the kids attention and they asked a lot of great questions.

We broke for lunch at the right time – just as our first meltdown hit – and ate at the garden café.  There is indoor and outdoor seating, and we had a great time in the very kid-friendly outdoor patio and yard.  There were benches, seal statues to climb on and a large lawn for running.   The San Franciscans and tourists seemed to not mind a little noise, and one lovely lady was watching the kids play and offered to take a family photo for us. 

A great post-lunch play on the lawn behind the CA Academy of Sciences

 The adventure continued even after we returned home.  The California Academy of Sciences website offers a live penguin web cam.  My kids like the underwater view the best, where we can see the penguins’ feet, flippers and bellies as they swim around, and the whole penguin comes into view when they dive.  http://www.calacademy.org/webcams/penguins/.

Beach in a jar (for summer all year long)

Prep time: Overnight

Activity time: 30 mins

We went to the beach a number of times this summer.  On our last trip, we collected shells, driftwood, rocks, pine cones and sand for our final beach art project. 

We disinfected each item with bleach to kill any micro-organisms (and those that are not so micro).  Following the directions on the bleach container, I submerged our treasures in pails with the appropriate mixture of bleach and water and soaked everything overnight.  I also soaked the sand in such a mixture.  

Disinfecting the sand (in jars), shells, rocks and driftwood

  The next day, we washed off the shells and rinsed the sand.  We then lay everything out in the sun to dry, spreading the sand out on plastic shopping bags to expose as much as possible to the air.  Once everything was dry (an hour or two for the shells and sticks, a bit longer for the sand) we put some sand in each jar and then layered in our sea shore items.   

The finished product

I have one beach jar on our living room shelves for the family to enjoy and the boys have a jar in their room by the window.  These will remind us of the great times we had as a family at the beach this summer and help us remember that next summer isn’t too far away.

The Alex My Giant Busy Box - The best craft box ever!

Elijah received the Alex “My Giant Busy Box” for his third birthday. I knew this was “activity gold” and I quickly hid it in a closet so it would be "new" for our beach vacation. The kids were extremely excited when I pulled this out – and I was excited to finally get to use it (4 months later)! 

More on the goods: the thing I loved most about the Busy Box is that it was all-inclusive, and I didn't need to buy anything additional to do any of the 16+ crafts.  The kit also includes a big chunky glue stick with glue that goes on purple and dries clear. This was not only very helpful to make sure everything sticks, but also for catching glue in unexpected places before it dries.

The kids' favorite activity was making paper bag puppets (popping out the animal body parts out of the perforated paper, gluing them down, and adding stickers to the finished product), There were 4, so each boy made 2. The puppets were colorful and the kids put on many impromptu puppet shows.  There were also a number of surprise wild animal sightings - it was like being on a safari!

We made the lion together and it was love at first sight!

There is also:

• Sticker art (a park background with veggie, flower and animal stickers and a pizza with toppings) + frames
• Tissue paper art with 8 colors of small tissue paper squares
• Clay with cardboard animal limbs and eye to add in to create 3D animals
• Chicken, sheep and piggy shaped pre-cut card stock with an assortment of goodies like pipe cleaners, feathers, paper accessories, flowers, buttons, and streamers to glue on.

We got through 1/3 to half of the activities in the “My Giant Busy Box” and are now bringing it home for our next rainy day.

“Tinker toys” on the cheap lead to hours of fun

The preparation for our beach vacation included a trip to the dollar store. We picked up 2 sets of “sticks and blocks” for $0.99 each (one set for each boy of course), filled with colorful mini-dowels and cubes with a hole drilled on each side. Very Tinker Toys-esque - and at a great price. 

I set up towels for the boys on the deck (so the sticks wouldn't fall through the holes in between the slats of wood) and the boys created structures and obstacle courses for their toys for over an hour.  Mom helped make a tower with a tunnel and the boys took it from there!

 

A tradition inspired by the toughest of times

My grandmother passed away last week and the entire family travelled home to Northern California to say goodbye. It was truly wonderful to see everyone, but it is unfortunate that it took such a tragedy to get the Solomon diaspora together.  I don’t believe we’ve had all 6 cousins together in one place before – and it was nice to hang out just us “kids” for the first time.  We had a family reunion in Santa Monica while I was in college, but as the cousins have 18 year age spread, I don’t believe my youngest cousin Russell was born when we all gathered.   We spent our days in the Bay Area together reminiscing about my grandmother and the 62 years of marriage she and my grandfather shared, and I realized that it was a shame to save such an outpouring of love and story-telling for after a loved one died. 

My family tries to have a weekly “special” dinner.  We often do this on Shabbat, and gather our family (and very often friends as well) for a sit-down, traditional dinner.  Our kids are young, and we created this tradition with the intent to make sure that we sit down as a family for at least one uninterrupted meal together as our lives grow even more hectic.  I want to add to this tradition, and also include the story-telling, complimenting, and story-telling that was shared at my grandmother’s funeral and Shiva. While it is a lovely thing for a family to gather to offer comfort and celebrate a life that has passed, I want to instill in my family a tradition of celebrating one another in all stages of living.