Red Jello Smoothie

I needed something cool and yummy and sweet to feed the kids while they took a break from pool play. I wanted it to be more filling than the icy pops they'd been sucking down for the last two hours. No ice cream in the freezer.  No frozen fruit. No fresh fruit. So, I had to raid the food storage. Here's what I came up with. You've probably seen a recipe like this one somewhere else. I haven't, so to me this is an original.

Red Jello Smoothies
Prepare the jello recipe using only 1/2 the water. Set it aside until it cools off. It should still be liquid when making the smoothie.

In the canister of my blender -- I have a Vita Mix
I filled it 1/2 full with ice
sprinkled 1/3 cup of strawberry flavored dehydrated apple bits
1 cup milk cold
1/4 c cool whip
fill the top 1/2 of the canister with ice
pour 2 cups cooled liquid jello over the ice and blend until thick and frothy.

Serve it up. Its thick enough to eat with a spoon. The kids loved it so much that I think I'll experiment with other flavors.

How many adventures can be had in one day? For Gavin, Logan, Shawna, and Grammy the count came in at four. Shawna and Grammy got online to find some cheap things we could do.

We started the day at the Insect Lore Bugseum. Who knew there was a zoo for insects. Its just North of Bakersfield in Shafter. Wouldn't you know. I tried to find it again and can't. Anyway it is a way fun place to go for FREE which always fits in my budget. We found out that the state insect is the dogface butterfly. I would have thought it was the monarch that populates Nipomo each year.

This museum was started by a couple who like insects and have traveled the world finding the most unusual and put them on display in several different places in the United States.  They had a few of the common bugs like wolf spiders and butterflies and lady bugs. I was most impressed with the huge centipede found on a construction site just outside of Bakersfield. The docent Ralphie told us that a bite from that centipede would feel like an intense burn much like a fire ant burn but stronger. Sorry, I didn't get a picture of the beast.

Ralphie picked out a Madagascar Hissing Cockroach for the boys to pet. It was kind of creepy. I could probably get used to having these in the garden they are great composters. We learned that they molt when their skin gets too tight for them. I guess most school kids already know that. Its news for me. (I didn't hear any hissing.)

Since the museum was free we spent a   few dollars buying souvenirs. We gave  the Bugseum a thumbs up and said good bye to Ralphie.

That adventure took up about two hours of our day including the driving time.




Next stop -- Lunch.  Clint finished his work day at home so we picked him up and headed for lunch. Well really we headed for the cheap movie theater to see Madagascar III. But since we weren't watching the time we got there about an hour early. Just enough time to get lunch.





Yep! Carl's Jr. No, Gavin did not get that large drink.

Back at the movie theater we noticed that The Avengers was starting just 15 minutes after Madagascar. I'm with the boys right? They quickly out-voted Grammy and so we saw The Avengers. They loved it. I liked it as much as when I saw it the first time. Bakersfield has a nice Edwards Theater next door to the Ice Hockey arena. I think the matinee was only $6.00 and they set up a summer movie schedule for the kids. $1.00 gets the kids in to see a movie. The movies aren't  new releases but still what a fun way to spend a hot summer afternoon in Bakersfield.

Our next adventure took us to Kohls where we bought a couple of things nothing exciting and no pictures to share.

Time to eat again.

Logan knows what he wants to eat.

Gavin knows what he wants to eat.

Famous Dave's BBQ.  One of the best bbq places...outside of my backyard (thanks sons). I think we waddled out to the car. Yummy.

 It was a great day with the Lowe family. I said goodbye the next morning to head to the Los Angeles Temple for a few days of quiet and spiritual nourishment.


Hang in there with me kids while I get the hang of blogging regularly. I am learning to use my big camera as well as my droid camera. These pictures were all take on my droid. It does a decent job when I can stop shaking.

Nearly six months as Grammy Nanny

It's hard to believe that nearly six months has passed as a Grammy Nanny. In some ways its been the toughest 6 months of my life. I have to admit I have grown old and stodgy. Yikes. Overall, I am where I want to be and am loving every minute. My favorite times are when I am tutored by all 5 children on the rules of the house. A couple off the top of my head--Jonathan age 4 decided it would be a great thing to sleep with Grammy. He had a bad cough and kept me awake most of the night. About 3:00 a.m. I decided to open my laptop and do some indexing and pinterest-ing and trying to figure out how to design a cute blog page (as you can see I am still working on the latter.) At 5:00ish Jonathan lifted his head up and sleepily asked if it was morning. "Yes," I answered, "but it is still dark outside."

"Did you know its a rule that we can't get up until Samantha's alarm goes off and it is light outside?" He stated it simply and rolled over and went back to sleep. Seriously, I considered for just a split-second, turning off the bedside lamp because Samantha's alarm hadn't gone off. (Jonathan pronounces most words that start with "a" like "alarm" is E-larm.

Whenever I am about to receive a tutorial on preferred behavior or task to be done he prefaces it with, "Did you know?" Come to think of it all the kids do.

At this writing, I'm in Paso Robles, Ca, visiting my son Joseph and his cute little family. My Nanny duties are temporarily suspended while Chris is on leave for a couple of weeks. It seemed like a good thing to touch base with the other grandkids and to get some "r & r" of my own. I am on my way Sunday to Bakersfield for a few days to visit with Clint's family.

I am signing off for now. Check back later for the latest shenanigans of the kids, and my own discoveries and musings.

Love the Grammy Nanny