Quick Successions: New Mexico Edition

Yesterday was my birthday.  Every year around the end of July Brian and I talk about his budget for my birthday. This year it was a small one. A really small one. Usually I get an ice cream cake, but they were too expensive this year and the one I got last year I didn't like too much. Trying to be a nice guy, Brian made me a brownie ice cream freezer dessert. His first attempt at the brownie part didn't go over too well. The second attempt was much better and he still managed to stay on budget. Here is the finished product.  We didn't plan to do anything much because I was supposed to go to work that day, but my boss sent me home early so we did get out of Lawrence and out to some fast food dinner. I also bought an incredible pair of shoes for 10 dollars at the mall.  For my gift, Brian bought me Bones Season 7. It is TV show about forensic anthropology that I have been following for some time, but I never watch the new ones because I am always studying or in class...

Brian and I start school in about a week. We decided to take Hannah to the zoo in Kansas City on Saturday before we get back to our studies.  This zoo has mostly African and Australian areas.  It is not a huge zoo, which is good when you have a two-year old. We ate lunch in the "Outback" and then walked through the Australian animals. Then we rode a train around the whole site. After that we took a carousel ride and played on a big playground toy in the middle of the park. Finally we rode a tram to see some African animals. When we left, baby girl was asleep before we got out of the parking lot. 

My sister's boys are very beautiful and they do this fun thing where they swing and fly like Superman.  We took Hannah to a new park the other day and she just started making a fist and flying.  It is always astonishing to see what children think of doing. 

Hannah and I like to try on shoes at stores with outlandish prices. Every once in a while there is a good pair on clearance for a screamin' deal. This little girl picked these shoes herself and put them on while I was trying one of a similar color. She was a little disappointed to leave them behind. I did find her a good pair of dress shoes through ... at children's shoe store. I am posting two versions: One where you can see the delight in her eyes close up and one where you can see two other women in the background musing at her cuteness. 

We celebrated Pioneer Day this year by making a chocolate cake in the shape of a wagon wheel. Hannah made the cake. I did what I usually do and got all the eggs cracked and oil poured and then turned on the mixer and she dumped the stuff in.  This time she even dumped in the mix. When she got done helping, she climbed down from the chair shouting "I made it, I made it."  We heard that some church people were having a lunch together in a park and so we bought a chicken sandwich from Sonic and went to join them, but we couldn't find the park before I had to go to work. When I got home from work, I made Johnnycake (cornbread) and Brian made a bacon gravy for it. We had chicken and cornbread with gravy and hardtack.  I had never made hardtack before. It is like a cross between a cracker and a biscuit. It tasted really good with jam on it.  Hannah wore her pioneer bonnet we got her in Hannibal, Missouri when we were there in May. She wore it while playing Le...

I thought these pictures of Hannah watering the tomatoes were beautiful. 

This year we celebrated the birth of our country by painting a closet on Thursday, painting the living room on Friday, and putting our house back together on Saturday.  Hannah was a great help.  She executed her assignment to nap while Brian and I worked with aplomb. She also liked going to the local park for mealtimes and to play since our downstairs was in disorder.