Our Green Wearing Day

Today turned out to be a wonderful day.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  Who doesn't love a day full of Spring Green!  I have to be honest in saying at first the day was a little touch and go, but as the sun rose in the sky the light and our moods became brighter.  For the first day in while we did not make it out to the playground, but we did make it to the Zoo!  And it was a fabulous.  My kids didn't melt down once... one of the most smooth, successful outings I've ever had without Nick (or dearest Grandma Shannon... Alec's already asking when we get to go back to your house.  "This Saturday?!" he optimistically asks.  July is much too far away).  Alec even agreed to stay in the stroller most of the time as long as I held him up to see the animals when we were up close.  

What did we do at the Zoo?  We talked and giggled with our friends and dined on pb crackers, cheese, and apples.  We roared with the Lions and Tigers, got all sorts of excited about seeing "Nemo and Dori" in the aquarium, and had lots of fun calling the wallabies kangaroos.  Alec got quite a few chuckles from strangers when he asked if the playful swimming otters were actually "alligators."  

Lyssa especially enjoyed the monkeys.  She who proudly loves on her Mortimer Monkey any time of day wanted to show off her monkey love to Mortimer's living breathing counterparts.  She held him up as high as she could, waving him at the monkeys while trying to make her version of a monkey cry. I failed to bring the camera along, not knowing how fruitful this excursion would be.  Too bad. 

Eventually we drove home, with all the windows down and the sun roof open.  Babies went straight down for naps, and I had time to clean up around the house and relax.  We snacked and then headed to out to explore the great outdoors, but not before Alec learned to never pull on a princesses tutu or you will be swatted and soundly reprimanded.  Then again, judging from his last expression and the placement of his little hand, maybe he didn't learn anything....

Since Lyssa refused to let me take off her tutu for our outdoor adventure, I decided to make it a photo shoot.  I think some of them are really cute.

I attempted to get some shots of Alec too, but he wouldn't stay in one area long enough for a picture.  I did snap this one seconds before he flew down the slide.  I love having our own little swing set in the backyard.Eventually the tutu was taking such a beating that I forced it off of Lyssa.  She was not amused, so I tried bringing out some different toys to entertain and distract the time away.  Once again, anything can become a four wheeler...

And to round the day off, we made some festive green three leaf clover sugar cookies for dessert and a green egg broccoli fritata for dinner.  It was delicious!  It's quick, easy, filling, and everyone in my family will eat it (unless there are cookies on the brain... the Alec's receptors for anything else goes completely dead.)  

So if you dare step out of your comfort zone, here is the recipe (minus the blue food coloring for the "green eggs").

Fritata

Ingredients:

broccoli, spinach, or zucchini

olive oil

6 eggs (beaten)

milk

ground black pepper

mozzarella

cottage cheese

Parmesan

Stir fry frozen broccoli, fresh spinach, or freshly grated zucchini in olive oil in electric skillet.  In separate bowl beat eggs together with tiny bit of milk and freshly ground black pepper.  Pour over stir fried vegetables, and turn your heat way down.  Cover with cottage cheese dollops, a couple hand fulls of mozzarella, and a couple shakes of Parmesan.  Cover skillet, and let it steam up and cook until done.  Eggs should not be runny, but cheese will be.  Serve immediately. 

Enjoy!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!