Not that every week isn’t chaos.
Well last week after getting home I felt like I was running and running. The weekend came and we relaxed a bit. We went to the farm to pick peaches. We missed it last year due to the birth of Nathaniel.
It was fun. Nathaniel seemed to think that all of the peaches on the ground were his to eat. Hmmmm… I guess we have to work on that. But sadly the peaches were small and not all ripe. I think it is all the cold weather we have been having here. It is so strange for this time of the year.
We also went out and got a new cutting board that fits across our sink. This essentially doubles our counter space. We also got 2 cookie sheets and a silpat. However there is a story with this. We went first to Sur la Table as I saw they carried english muffin molds that I need to make Paleo bread. While there we were looking around at other things. We knew we needed that, a can opener, and some cookie sheets. We really didn’t like our cookie sheets and our can opener is 10 years old and fails to do it’s intended purpose. So while we were looking around, Tony was comparing cookie sheets because honestly he is the one that will clean them. He picked up one that said it was 12 by 18 inches. He then picked up another that said it was 13 by 18 inches. Then he compared them and quickly realized that they were the same size! Unhappy that they were being sold at different price points, he asked a store worker about it. The woman said one was 1/2 inch bigger, which is still not what the package said. Tony was upset by this underhandedness and so we left. Not spending a dime (though I really wanted a can opener).
We then went Williams Sonoma. This is in a different mall, so it was a bit of a hike with 2 kids in tow. We get there and they don’t have a can opener that we like, but they do have cookie sheets, and while we were at it Tony wanted to look at the cutting boards as he wanted something bigger. He picks up one that doesn’t have a price on it and is not wrapped in plastic. He says he wants this one. It is maple. I like the color but I also see 2 other cutting boards that are the same size that are walnut and want to make sure we are getting the best for our knives. I don’t know if one wood is better then the other. So I ask for help.
The lady comes up to us and says that the big cutting boards are the way to go. She says that there is no difference in performance with the wood and says she has this brand of cutting board herself. She then offers to go in back to see if there is one that is wrapped in plastic new for us. We thank her and go to the counter. She comes back and says that there isn’t one. She then tells us that we can take 20% off one item that we have. We instantly say the cutting board as we know it will cost the most. She rings up the sale and the sticker on the cutting board she thinks isn’t right. It comes up as walnut (a dark wood) and this is anything but dark. We figure that the price is around $165 as that is what the Williams Sonoma ones that were in walnut were running. After checking on another computer she comes back and says it is not correct and puts in the correct item number and it comes up as $99.99 BEFORE the discount!! We are shocked and so happy that we get 20% off that price! We walk out paying about what we thought we would pay for just one cutting board!
Back at home we take our existing Silpat (silicone mat if you don’t know what one is) and try it out in our new cookie sheets. It isn’t a perfect fit but it is close. Then we look at it and see that it says “Silpat for Sur La Table F 09”. I go to google to see if there is a pan that is size F 09 and can’t find one. So clearly Sur La Table has sizing issues as a cookie sheet should be standard sizing (in our case a half sheet). So we have a lesson learned there. Tony is debating writing both companies and telling them about our experiences.
Today Max started his first class of swimming. He will be doing swimming every day this week (Monday through Friday) and next week. Then he will start normal swim classes in September with Nathaniel (well not with him but like Nathaniel). Here is what I was able to photograph Max doing:
These videos may be rough. Nathaniel wasn’t happy the whole time.
I should also post a note here talking about this fall and school for Max.
We plan on having him and Nathaniel in swim classes starting this September. This will be in the week and should be fun for both of them. We have joined our local YMCA (about a 5-10 minute drive from our house) and so this should provide tons of entertainment for us.
Max will also be doing “coach pitched” baseball this fall. This should go from the end of August till around the beginning of November. He will be with bigger kids but hopefully that will not be an issue. He loved T-ball so we had to do this with him.
After the baseball is over, we hope to put him back in ice skating as he really enjoyed that.
We are also planning on having him continue taking German. I have a friend who will be helping us one day a week (she is fluent as are her children) and we will be doing the classes that Max took at the end of the school year last year.
Then we will also have the Math, english, history, and science that we have now and I am debating starting an art class with him. My thinking is with his mind and love of cars, it might be good for him to have some art under his belt. For all I know he may grow up to design cars so this could be a very good thing indeed. If you have opinions please let me know. This is the program I am looking at: http://www.artisticpursuits.com/index.html