Alphabet Catch-up

For the sake of my poor sieve-like memory, and since I haven't updated this for a year, I feel duty-bound to give an Alphabet Weekend update. I wish to reiterate that there is NOT anything particularly clever about any of these ideas (frequently we were just choosing the easiest option at the last minute) but the kids DO love it so! We take weeks off at a time when we need to. It's the lowest-pressure situation possible while still making an attempt at Planned Family Togetherness! But we did at last finish the alphabet (it took us just about a year, which gives you an idea of how many weekends off there were).

J was for Juice (picnic with apple juice from the Red Barn in Santaquin)

K was for Korean food. The restaurant we went to must not have been that memorable, since I don't know what it was and we haven't been back.

L was for Little eagles. (Yeah…it's a stretch.) We went on a field trip with Utah Division of Wildlife Resources to see nesting baby eagles. Awesome.

M was for Mother-Son date. (The daddy and daughters did something together too.) The boys and I (and their cousin who was staying with us) went to the Air Show up at Hill Air Force Base and then had pizza at Pioneer Park and walked around the Apple Store at City Creek (their favorite place). Such a great day.

N was for Nocturnal. We woke the kids up at 2 a.m. and went for breakfast at Denny's. The SOLE charm of this activity is its appeal to the children. The food was horrible (Next time we'll find an IHOP…I think they're slightly better…) and Sam and I were SO tired…but it's such a great memory! :) The kids talk about it all the time.

O was for O-shaped. We had donuts for breakfast, and bagel sandwiches for dinner, with an O-shaped bundt cake (Sebby Cake) for dessert.

P was for family Pictures. My mom had a friend that offered to take them for us. This was an activity mostly for MY sake, since it's not anyone ELSE's idea of a great time…

Q was for oQuirrh Lake. We went canoeing and it was fun.

R was for Rah-rah, rah-rah-rah (goooo Cougars). We watched the BYU football game and ate "R" foods. Homemade Ricotta, Rolls, Root beer, etc.

S was for Santaquin. Red Barn again. We always go in October. For the apple cider donuts!!!

T was for Track. We went to the BYU track and ran and played in the bleachers. We tried to find a high school track closer by, but they were all closed and locked. How rude.

U was for Unassembled. We bought a bunch of components from Cafe Rio (sides of meat, dressing, lettuce, tortillas etc.) and made our own burritos and tacos and salads. YUM. We liked this so much we did it again on Christmas Eve.

V was for Versus. We compared chicken sandwiches, fries, and frozen custard from different places. We just bought a couple things from each place and then brought them home and cut them up, and everyone tried them. I think the chicken sandwich and the fries from Astro Burger won (but there may have been disagreement on the fries. JCW's was in the running too, I think.) The frozen custard winner was Nielsen's, hands down.

W was for Whale of a Tale. Everyone had to tell an embellished story from his or her past. We guessed which parts were true.

X was for Xissors (what?). We cut out snowflakes and had hot chocolate.

Y was for Yoyo. Sam got yo-yos for everyone and taught them how to use them. Some had more success than others at this. (I'm terrible at yo-yo-ing!)

Z was for Zushi (??). We like sushi. Yum. By the way, I used to think every time anyone mentioned eating sushi they were trying to brag or be pretentious. It wasn't normal enough to me that I thought people just ATE it like any other food. But after we learned about sushi during our Japan Unit, and tried making our own, it finally sort of clicked in for me, what it was all about, and I started liking it (and the kids did too). And now it really is just one of those many foods we like. So…let that be a lesson to me, I guess?


And now we've started the alphabet over, so I might as well get us up to date:

A was for Argentinian food. I keep hoping one of these new food places we try will be just amazing. But failing that, "interesting" is good too. Many of these activities revolve around food, don't they? It shows our good taste.

B was for Birthday. Sam planned a "birthday party" even though it was no one's actual birthday. We had cake and a family present (a kite).

C was for Cute. Went to the "Puppy Barn" and saw baby bunnies and chicks at Thanksgiving Point. And then made teeny-tiny cute little cookies. (Guess who planned this one? Hee hee)

D was for Drawing. We played that picture-sentence game (my favorite game) for Family Home Evening.

E was for Each and Every. We got donuts, and each person got to pick out his or her OWN. (This is very unusual.) And we asked questions about everyone's favorite things.

F was for Framed Faces. We all had to draw or make some sort of portrait of someone else in the family. It was hilarious.

G was for Garden party. Daybeak has one of these things every year; there's a bouncy house and so forth. Fun.

H was for Hanabi (a sushi place we love). It was great. And practically deserted. Please don't go out of business, Hanabi!

I was for Indoor S'mores (since we didn't get out for our traditional campfire that weekend). We made s'mores bars, which are some of our favorites.

So! There we are. To be continued…maybe…a year from now! :)