If I'da known you were comin', I'da baked a CAKE!

Xander and XuMei and their two friends made a cake. They did it without a recipe. They thought about what they know about food and cake and baking and they added ingredients. There was discussion and disagreement about what should go into the cake so some smaller cakes were made to allow for different combinations of ingredients.
Where to put the toppings? And which tasty treats on what sections of the cake?
What should the frosting be?
Xander took his cakes off the top to avoid the dairy.
Everything is better with sprinkles.
The cake was delicious, very sweet and filled with fun. Very little of it was actually eaten, though. The joy was in the making.
I was reminded of this cake baking day when I came across a page on Sandra Dodd's site called:
Cake as Sacrifice
fascinating stuff, cake....:)

Since this cake we have baked several other cakes. Lemon Cake, and Vegan Chocolate Cake most recently. The Vegan Cake was awesome and led to discussions about chemical reactions so now I am researching the best Chemistry set and finding more science experiments we can do at home. Xander is watching Robert Kampf --The Happy Scientist, BrainPop and various You-tube videos on chemistry and other science related topics.
XuMei is exploring commerce and economy. She made hundreds of bills and priced everything in our house. It is a store and a bank. She also created debit and credit cards. They have both become interested in very large numbers.
"Infinity is a concept Mom, not a number. What is the largest actual number."--Xander
So off I go to Google largest numbers and we are learning about googol, googolplex, Graham's number, large number notation, exponentiation, tetration.
All that and a little cake!

Monkey Platter!!

Inspired by Sandra Dodd.

It was a hair raising experience.
It made my hair stand on end.
The hair was flying.

Happy Birthday ChrisC!

Thank you ChrisC. Thank you for making me laugh. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for giving me Xander and XuMei, and the opportunity to stay home and be with them. Thank you for being the kind of Dad I wish I had had, and by being that Dad healing me and so many old wounds.
Thank you for being silly.
Thank you for being smart and kind and sensitive.
Thank you for being funny and goofy and my own personal "lazy eyed psycho".
I laugh so hard when I see this picture of you...thank you..:)
Thank you for laying on the kitchen floor playing "HA HA" with us. This is all four of us laying with our heads in each others laps and then me trying to hold the camera up and take a photo of it.
I used to be sad and lonely and now I am not and a whole lot of that is because of you. Happy happy birthday!

Day ? Random Photos: Uzhorod, Ukraine

Towards the end of our trip I started just taking pictures of everything. Things we walked past everyday. The view from our hotel window. I know how quickly life overwhelms me and how easily the memories would fade. I also knew I would miss things about Uzhgorod. And people, I especially miss the people.
I do not miss worrying about the water. Above is a photo of the inside of our water filter. It started out white. Every night Chris would pump and filter enough water for all of us to brush our teeth and drink the next day. We weren't certain what would happen if we drank the water but we had heard enough stories to be cautious. I forgot frequently and brushed with water out of the tap, also I drank soda and juice with ice, presumably from tap water, with no ill effects.
There were NO ILL effects from the alcohol--none. No hang overs, no headaches, nothing. I am not a huge drinker but I did a bit of celebrating and usually I suffer miserably but not with their good vodka and cognac. I tried to drink and eat local products and aside from catching a cold on the plane on the way home I was a healthy traveler.
In the small local grocery store there was a wall of vodka:

Through the window at the pharmacy next to the hotel:

The pharmacist would not let me take a picture inside the store so I tried to get it through the window. Look at the pink figures on the box slightly left of center. Look very closely. Enlarge it if you want. It is a medicine like Viagra. It made me giggle.
Below is a syringe on the cobblestone street just outside the pharmacy. Xander reached to pick it up. I yelped before he touched it and we talked at length about not picking up used medical equipment.

Dried fish in boxes at the market:
Fruit at the market:
The market was sometimes so busy I couldn't even get through the people. Here it was a slow day:
There was a building around the corner from the hotel that was under construction. We saw several construction projects underway through out the city and Chris and I were amazed at how almost all of it is done without the aid of power equipment and tools.
The view from the third floor of the Hotel Atlant.

Casino:

A church spire off in the distance:

XuMei and Xander walking toward the Philharmonic.

Day 8 & 9 or both: Uzhorod, Ukraine

This was the first day of the "CITY DAYS"celebrations. It was the 1115 nth birthday of Uzhorod. Chris had gotten up and out early to play with the Maharimbas. The kids and I slept in and slowly worked our way to where I thought the band was playing. This is a town square, with a huge TV screen. Many performances were happening here but I didn't see any of the band members or anyone else we knew.
Local artizens displayed their wares for sale.
It was a cold and rainy day but we traipsed through town and over the river and finally we heard a sprinkling of marimba music! We found them!
They were playing for an enormous and very happy crowd.
So happy!
Logan, Theresa, Hailey, Hanks ear, and Chris. The man way behind and to the left of Chris is Igor the bus driver.
XuMei, Lisa and Xander dancing to the music.
Lisa is trying to get XuMei away from the very drunk man who is trying to take XuMei by the hand to dance. XuMei refused and was shocked that he wouldn't listen.
After the concert Lisa asked us what we were hungry for and we said "Hamburgers!" We walked very far and tried one place--they were full so went to the second best place in town to get burgers. This is such a great picture of Chris I wanted to add it but XuMei is tanking here because she is so hungry.
Lisa and Hailey happy we succeeded in finding burgers!
Xander is thrilled!
And here they are! First thing is they didn't have anything on the menu to go with them-- no fries, chips or potatoes of any sort. Only salads and pizza's! The buns were homemade and the burger patty fried to a blackened crisp with tons of vegetables on it--like cole slaw and cucumbers. But it was DELICIOUS!!!!
Happy girl with a much anticipated burger!
Yum!
In this shot you can see how overcooked my burger was.
Lisa, her sister and Hailey.
After lunch we walked through the crowds of City Days. The market was going strong. This butcher is weighing what looks like a quarter of a pig.
Inbetween the striped blue sweater and the shiney olive green coat you can glimpse a bit of an elaborately braided and decorated loaf of bread.
Bags of produce for sale.
Vegies and flowers.
Metal working was happening at the market also. Xander wanted to stay here all day but we were soaked and cold so only stayed for 1/2 and hour.

We went to the location of the next gig. The old Jewish synagogue turned music hall across town. They call it the Philarmonium. We were wet and bedraggled and had no one with us to prove our connections so they wouldn't let us in. So we watched a marching band arrive out front.
It was seriously cold and these girls were impressive.
Lisa and XuMei watching the show.
Finally other folks with the band and more translators showed up and we were abe to get in. Back stage some traditional dancers were preparing to perform.
The Maharimbas on stage at the Philharmonium.
The audience was full of swankly dressed dignitaries and city officials.
After the concert we walked across the bridge with Lisa and she showed us these locks that couples place here sometimes as part of their wedding ceremonies and sometimes just as a romantic jesture.





Then we walked down a very well known street in Uzhorod and looked at the sculptures.

Heart Moose and XuMei.
Heart Pig and Lisa.
That gorgeous church again. This church has been being built for like 10 years and is still under construction.
Then we saw a shop with belly dancing outfits hanging out front. XuMei has wanted one of these for a couple of months now. I haven't been able to find one in a little girl size and I don't sew. We went in and the proprieter of the store recognized Lisa as part of the band and showed us the cell phone video footage he took just that very morning of the Maharimbas at the City Days celebration. We laughed and he offered us a deal on this outfit:
Ira, Steve, Jolene, Peter, and Theresa winding down in the hotel.
Logan, Sara, Liesl, Jack and Hank.
I think Chris, Xander and XuMei are wrestling, but whatever they are doing they are entertaining us.
In the middle of our revery we hear loud booms and run to look out the window. Fireworks are going off and we can see them from the hall window.

OOOh, AAAAh, WOOOW......
I like this one, this one is my favorite.