Dad's menu

First of all... I haven't really blogged anything except for trips with pictures for who knows how long. It might be the other blogs I'm doing (The Little Man's and Baby II), but really, this seems to be turning into just a journal of our family, and is probably of very little interest to anyone but family. Sorry.

We've been using our pantry/freezer/food storage a lot this month. Our reasoning is two-fold. I try to get rid of my freezer meals at least once a year, and it saves money, which has been a major goal this month.

This week? I came up with a menu that I needed one item from the grocery store (at least Monday - Friday). That item? Hot Dogs. I know.

3 days of the week I'm pulling from my dad's menu from when we were kids. My dad actually had quite a few meals that were really good, but they were 'weekend meals'. He had a few stand-by's if he had to cook during the week.

Yesterday was Tuna fish and noodles. Tonight? Beanies and Weinies. And later this week we'll have meat rolls.

I can almost hear your jealousy. You might not want to come over this week during dinner time, you might have to share.

The weekend that wasn't

A month or so the Hardcastle's decided we wanted to go camping. We had good intentions, but started planning too late, and the first (and only) free weekend for everyone was last weekend. Not a whole lot of camping goes on around here after Labor Day (if you're not in a camper). My dad checked the weather and the low was going to be in the 20's. I can handle mid-30's, but no one was up to freezing all night, so we cancelled it. I think we'll try again next year, but we'll plan it a little earlier.

We did, however, enjoy the best part of camping -the food. Most of us went over to my parents for a dutch oven dinner (ribs, potatoes, and dessert). Our little family decided to stay overnight and we all went to the Ogden Dinosaur Park. The Little Man LOVED the dinosaur park. I'm pretty sure he thought the mechanical dinosaurs were real, and more entertaining than most of the animals at the zoo.

We also went up to our cabin for Grandma Hardcastle's birthday. We only get up there about once a year now, so the Little Man doesn't remember ever being there. He LOVED being outside and I love that I have cousins and siblings that wanted to chase him around all night.

Annual Trip

This will probably be a quick post since I can barely keep my eyes open. I went on our annual girls trip to Swiss Days and Park City this weekend, and I am simply worn out.

I actually did much better this year than I did the last time we went and I was pregnant. My feet were so swollen and sore I had to ice them all night and could barely walk on them the next day. I'm only 2 weeks less pregnant this time around than I was then, but I actually haven't been swollen at all, which has been nice.

We rented a condo this time, and it was nice to have a bit more room and a full kitchen. We did a lot of shopping and came home with a lot of bags. This year my aunt and mom put us all to shame with their shopping skills (maybe it was that they have deeper wallets than the rest of us). In fact, I managed to spend all (and then some) of the money I decided I could, and didn't buy a single thing for myself. I guess it's official, I'm a mom. A mom who has a kid that has outgrown all his shoes and needs cheap summer clothes for next year. Oh, and a mom who is expecting at the end of the year, and wanted to make a blanket for the little kid.

Jessica, LeeAnn, Jenny, Karen, Jodi and Me.