Dot's Pretzels

 

Have you discovered Dot's Pretzels yet?

 

They are soooo yummy.  The website says these are "pretzels you will crave" and they are right.  Our whole family loves these pretzels.  My mom introduced us to these during our last trip home and she had found them at their grocery store in Eureka. 

 

Who knew such deliciousness was coming out of Velva, ND?

 

Usually, we rural dwellers miss out on some of the good stuff--Hobby Lobby, Costco, Hu Hot . . . but Dot's Pretzels caters to us small town folk!  You can find these in small towns from the North Dakota/Canada Border to Nebraska, west to Montana and Wyoming all the way east to Rochester, MN.  After our trip to Eureka, I spotted them at our local grocery store in Faulkton.  Wohoo! 

 

You can also order from www.dotspretzels.com, which I almost did a couple of weeks ago when I had eaten my last one with no more in the house.  I ultimately decided to just wait a few days until I could get to the grocery store again.  It was hard, but I made it. I now have not one, but two bags on hand.  :)

 

Yes, they are a bit spendy . . . $5.99 for a pound, but they are worth it, and you are supporting a small North Dakota business, too.  That's worth a couple extra dollars in my book.

 

Let me know what you think! 

 

 

*This blogger has not been compensated by Dot's Pretzels in any way, although she would not turn down a free bag of pretzels. :)

Aberdeen Air Show

My parents came for a visit last weekend.  On our agenda was celebrating my sister Amanda's birthday and Landen's birthday (next Sunday) and going to the Aberdeen Air Show. 

 

It was a very hot Sunday, but we did check out the planes on display, see some remote-controlled planes flying, and a show by three ethanol-powered planes.  As it turned out, we arrived at just the right time to see the aerial stunts. 

 

The kids especially thought touring Duggy was a lot of fun.  The plane was built in 1939 and has quite an interesting story, which you can read here.  Duggy flew in from Fargo for the day. 

 

 

Trains and now planes.  Too bad we missed Saturday's Car Show--we could have added automobiles as well!

Bedtime prayers

Tonight as we neared bedtime, I announced, "Prayers in Rachel's room!" 
While the big three kept on doing their thing, Rachel ran to her room and knelt down beside her crib.
I love that little peanut girl.

Speaking of prayers, please keep David's cousin Eric Melius in yours as he has been hospitalized since having seizures last night.  You may follow his progress or leave words of encouragment for his wife Laci and his family at www.caringbridge.org/ericmelius.

Good night and God bless us everyone.

A New Year

Landen and Nathan started school yesterday and Teresa got to go today!  All three are ready and excited for a new year. 

We visited the Kindergarten room yesterday.  Teresa told her teacher she is mostly looking forward to riding on the bus. :)  I'm sure she will find some more interesting things to learn and do and school, too.

 

 

Omaha Zoo and other discoveries

We spent all day Friday (literally from about (9:30am until nearly 7pm) at the Omaha Zoo.  We were impressed and there was something for all of us to enjoy.  Here are a few favorite photos of the day: 

 

Right after lunch, Rachel surprised the pants off of me.  As we were looking at the gorilla, she rolled her tongue over her teeth and said, "Llllla!"  Of course, we all ran with that and have been coaching her to say "gorilla" ever since. 

 

Among the neat things in the zoo is that prairie dogs and peacocks run wild.  We came upon this prairie dog town and Rachel made a new friend!

 

 

Near the end of the zoo loop, we found another dinosaur dig.  The one at the Durham was easy, with the bones covered in large chunks of rubber.  These were covered in very tiny pieces of rubber that acted like course sand.  For awhile, it was just about Rachel playing in the shade. 

Then Nathan started brushing and digging.  Then he talked Dad into helping.  Soon we were all digging and hauling and brushing because Meliuses just don't give up!  After a lot of work together (and Nathan telling us it was SO much fun because we were all working together, and it was), we uncovered our own Adult barrell-bodied Rhino. 

 

 

As far as getting around the city goes, it was perfect as we never left the same street!  Our hotel room had a great view of the train bridge crossing the Missouri River, just a block from the Durham Museum.  (Could there be anything better for our boys?)  We stayed on the end of the Old Market District, so we walked to fun restaurants, including The Old Spaghetti Works (with a table-to-table balloon artist), Zio's Pizza, and Ted and Wally's Homemade Ice Cream. 

 

Before leaving Omaha Saturday morning, we walked all the way to Iowa and back on the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge.  That is the kind of thing Landen and I get excited about. :)

 

 

The rest of our vacation was spent in Brandon at Rick and Katie and family's house. 

 

 

 The kids played wonderfully together.  And guess what?  Rachel's "gorilla" easily doubles as "Lydia" and "Isaiah."  How convenient! 

 

Tomorrow brings . . . school!

 

You know those moms who are sad about the first day of school?

I'm not one of them.

 

:)

 

 

The Durham Museum

While my blog was on auto pilot last week (hope you don't mind), our family was discovering some of the sights of Omaha, Nebraska.  Yes, I know we have done more traveling this past summer than ever before, but we still hadn't had a family vacation! 

 

David suggested Omaha, which presented the obvious Henry Doorly Zoo, but we needed something else to fill in, too.  I hopped online and found another little gem--The Durham Museum.

 

The Durham Museum is housed in Omaha's Union Station, so it was immediately a great fit for our train-loving family!  We arrived late Thursday afternoon, and found a surprise waiting for us.  Sue the T-Rex was in town!  If you have never seen this complete t-rex display, it really is something to see.  Sue was found near Faith, SD, and Landen saw it with his Grandma Melius when it was on display there a few years ago.  David and I had seen it at the Field Museum in Chicago. This was the first time for Nathan and Teresa and they thought it was pretty neat. 

 

The museum volunteer was wonderful in providing facts and theories about the dinosaur's life, showing us where ribs had been broken and healed, and the holes in the jaw which may have been caused by an infection. 

 

This replica tours the United States, the Field Museum replica is permanently there (including the real skull enclosed in a glass case), and there is also a replica that travels internationally. 

 

After digging for some bones in the children's area, we checked out passenger trains on display and a huge model train display.  There is more to this museum as well, including all things relating to settling the west. 

 

The main floor of the station is pretty breathtaking on its own, too.

 

Yogurt Pops

I found these great popsicle molds in an end-of-summer aisle yesterday.

 

When Teresa saw their bright colors today, we just had to try them out!  I found a recipe for Yogurt Pops online and (as I usually do), tweaked it for what we had in our kitchen.

 

Yogurt Pops

18 oz. flavored yogurt (3 individual 6 oz. cups)

We used Greek strawberry.  You could also use plain, but I personally find plain yogurt disgusting.  But, if you really want to, you can. :)

3 bananas

1/8 cup sugar (or honey or you may omit)

1/4 cup skim milk

 

Blend all together and pour into the molds.  We made 15 popsicles from this batch.  If you don't have enough molds, enjoy a yummy smoothie while you wait for the rest to freeze!

 

 

 

 

 

August

We are nearing the end of our summer.  I have already noticed yellow leaves on my morning walks! 

 

 As much as I always hate to see the end of summer, it is time for a new school year to begin.  It's time for a routine again (although I REALLY like staying in bed until 7:30am!)  The kids are even excited to get back to their friends and, in Teresa's case, start a new adventure!

 

The shoes are bought.  The bags are packed.  I THINK everyone has enough jeans . . . just one week of summer left!

 

 

Wheat harvest 2013

Wheat harvest is complete!

 

Frozen Peaches

The timing was not good.  Swimming lessons were just becoming my part-time job for two weeks and there they were--lugs of peaches at Bauer's Super Valu.  I tried to resist them--and thought I could--but I could feel my will-power getting weaker.  I hadn't canned peaches in a few years, but I have always frozen at least a box to enjoy over the winter.  Everyone here loves them and they get us through the not-so-good fruit season that tends to get a little long sometimes here in South Dakota.

Then yesterday my friend Michelle asked me for my recipe for Frozen Peaches.  And that really got me thinking about how much we love to eat them in the middle of winter.

So, I had to stop at the store and gather my ingredients today, too!  I actually bought two boxes. . . not sure why, but the extra box will end up somewhere yummy I am sure.  I do have heavy cream on hand, so some Peaches and Cream may have to be made. 

With the kids' help, I was done with a batch of these in a couple of hours.  Landen *accidentally* added an extra cup of sugar while he was mixing them together.  His great-grandmas would be so proud. :)

If you've never tackled a box of fruit before (and I still find it intimidating), it is best to do something like this in stages.  First, get a big pot of water boiling.  Add as many peaches as will fit at a time and boil them for about a minute.  Then, scoop out the peaches and put them in ice water.  After a minute or so of the cold water bath, put them into a dry bowl until you are done with the process with all of them.  This will keep the peaches from turning brown before the syrup is made.  When you are ready for them, the skins will slide right off and you can slice or dice as you wish pretty quickly right before stirring them into the syrup. 

 

Frozen Peaches

12 oranges

3 lemons

8 cups sugar

1 box peaches

 

Liquefy orange and lemon wedges in a blender or food processor.  Add sugar to liquid mixture.  Mix well.  In a VERY large container (a large roaster) or two still quite large containers, add one box peeled and sliced peaches.  Mix together with the syrup.  Scoop into containers or freezer bags and freeze. 

 

A quart-size bag filled to about 3/4 full is a good serving amount for our family.  They are best eaten the first day they are thawed, but even if they turn a bit brown in the fridge overnight, they will still taste fine. 

 

It is a bit time comsuming and sort of a sticky mess for a little bit, but it in the middle of January, I'll be so thankful we made them. 

 

Thanks, Michelle, for the extra inspiration I needed. :) 

week with cousins

Another great part of our week last week is that cousins Carter and Lily were here.

It's always fun when they are here.  Grandma and I trade kids back and forth.  Girls one day.  Boys the next.  We take a head count at every meal and bedtimes.  It's great. 

 

Aunt Angela came up on Friday for the weekend and we all got together for some more family fun. 

Friday night was the drive-in movie in Redfield.  This was a first for our family!  We had a beautiful evening with lots of popcorn and blankets to keep us warm.  We saw Monsters U, which I liked even better than the first Monsters movie. 

 On Saturday, we made our annual trip to Storybook Land.  Rachel went with us last year, but this was the first year she could enjoy it.  As the big kids ran from place to place, she wanted to stay at each just a little longer!  All of the slides were like Christmas to her!  Teresa reached her goal of growing and is now tall enough for the balloon ride!  The boys may be outgrowing the Storybook Land attractions a bit, but you can see they still had quite a bit of their own fun, too. 

 Here are our two families of Melius cousins--Landen (9), Teresa (5), Carter (8), Scarecrow (74), Lily (6), Rachel (1) and Nathan (7).

a good week

Grandma Shirley is here for a few days, which is always fun.  As usual, we have spent most of our time in the kitchen!  Today's project was spaetzels.
 
Today was also a big day for the bathroom project--the walls are ready to paint!  I am SO excited about this.  I've picked out two fun shades of green and blue.  I'll wait on pictures until that part is at least done . . . I know sheet rock is only beautiful to its owner!

We have almost a whole week of swimming lessons under our belt.  The boys like it; T doesn't.  There always has to be one in the group, I suppose.  But, tonight before bed, she told me she chose to give it another shot.  That's good, since she was going to anyway . . . .

Wheat harvest started today, too.  With not much planted, it should go quickly. 

I guess that's about it . . . not too exciting, but thanks for stopping by! :o)