It's August in the Okanagan, which means that it's the perfect time to hit the beaches. The days aren't unbearably hot anymore, and the water is not too cold. My favorite beach is just a few blocks from home, so Logan and I can easily walk there in the afternoon. This beach isn't particularly busy, being right behind the hospital, and it has plenty of sand and grass and shade. Did I mention plenty of sand?
I love taking Logan to the beach, but I hate dealing with the sand, especially since he gets it everywhere, and as soon as I get it off, he's right back in it. Which isn't too bad before we go swimming, but once he's wet... it's like trying to get glitter off your skin after going to the club.
When I went to the beach a few days ago, I braved it on my own, knowing full well I had a cranky, wants-to-go-everywhere-myself kind of baby on my hands. The experience wasn't too bad, except for the sand, of course. My big mistake: trying to change Logan... on the sand. He wriggled and flipped and grabbed great fistfuls of gritty little grains, getting it all over the blanket and his wet skin. I was nearly pulling at my hair it became so frustrating. I finally did get his diaper on, and vowed to find a better way to do this next time. It seems like such an obvious, simple thing, right? Apparently not.
It was a big revelation for me today on our way to the beach for another afternoon. This time, instead of changing him on the sand, I wrapped him up and moved our "camp" up onto the grass, well away from any sand. He was still a squirmy-worm, but at least he didn't shovel handfuls of sand all over himself. I also let him crawl around naked for a while, to air-dry, and also just to be free. Thinking of it now, I should have snapped a bum shot... next time!
Today's beach trip went much smoother than the last one, even though Logan was getting into everything I didn't want him to, and dumped his applesauce all over the grass. We had to move again after that, because the wasps were all over that stuff like... wasps on applesauce. But, all in all, it was quite relaxing for me, and Logan got to explore the grass and use up some energy. He slept all the way home, and for about another hour (even after being transferred from stroller to crib!) when we got home.
At which point, I made Jello Dino Bones. They're still setting up, and they won't be coming out of their molds until tomorrow, for my youngest nephews third birthday party. I'm proud of them already, though. Ryan and I tested the molds last week, and found that the Jello would need to be more stiff to stand up once it was removed from the molds. To do this, I used only 2/3 of a cup each of hot and cold water, instead of a full cup.
The other problem we had, was setting up the molds so they wouldn't fall over. I found dinosaur bone sand toys at Superstore, and thought they'd make great Jello molds. They do, but they need help to stand up when they're upside down and filled with Jello. At first, we tried a towel, bunched up under the parts that needed support. That sort of worked, but it wasn't sturdy. Then I tried paper towels. Again, not sturdy enough. I thought, "I need something that will conform to the outside of the mold...".
The answer was perfect: sugar! It's inexpensive enough that I wasn't worried about wasting any, and it should stand up to the use. It's also a gluten-free item, and since my sister and I are both gluten-sensitive, I figured if any sugar gets on the Jello, it won't matter. And, it holds the molds up perfectly!
I filled the molds with lime and blue flavors to go with the color
scheme of the party. And because they taste awesome! Then, as I was
ever-so-carefully moving the trays of sugar and Jello (a little
redundant, hey?) into the fridge, I realized it would have been SO much
easier to fill the molds in the fridge. Next time.
No comments:
Post a Comment