Dinner Date at Applebee's

Last night, we had no food in the house for dinner.  Instead of going to the store to buy food, mom said, "let's go out for dinner tonight, you can pick the restaurant."

Nick chose Applebee's, so that's where we went.  Nick looked at the pictures in the menu and chose his shrimp dinner.  Mom tried to get Nick to order something different but that's what he wanted.  He was all smiles during dinner!

Steak Dinner

Lately, Nick has been eating something new for dinner.  He has been eating steak dinner!

Tonight, mom and Nick followed dad's recipe:

We took the steaks out of the package and put them on the plate to season and marinade.

 Add pepper and garlic powder.

Then a generous coating of freshly cut thyme.

Pour olive oil and then poke with the fork.  Repeat on the second side.

 Then we cook them on the induction grill.

Steak dinner - yummy yummy!

Happy Birthday Henry!

This weekend was Henry's birthday.  He is far away in California, so we cannot have birthday cake with him.  But we did send a card and got this picture of him on his special day!

Shell Creek Park

Mom and Nick like to go out together on Sunday.  Today we went to Shell Creek Park, we used to go there a lot when Nick was little.

Nick played in the park and then we walked around the perimeter by the water.  We saw boats, big houses, the north side of Long Beach, and Jones Beach tower.

There were a lot of geese in the park today.  At one point a large grouping of birds made noises and then flew up into the air together.  Nick was alarmed but he did not get scared like when he was little.  

In these pictures, Nick is walking back to the car with geese on the side of the path.

Mom said, "You have come a long way from your fear of birds, I'm so proud of you!"

Pizza Pillow

Nick's Auntie Nicole sent him a pizza pillow as a Christmas gift.  Nick liked it a lot but he ripped out the tags and the pillow opened up and made a mess in the house so mom took it away.

Today mom sewed up the hole and now Nick is happy because he has his pizza pillow back!

Snowy Walk

Two weekends ago, we got a surprise snowstorm.  Nick had no Saturday program, and he was sad about that mom.  Mom took Nick for a walk in the snow.

We walked up Lindell Blvd toward the bay.

Then we walked on the red path along the bay.

We went to the Magnolia Street park but the gate was locked.  Then Nick saw another entrance that was open.

 The snow was steady but it was not too cold.  Nick sat on the swing in a contemplative mood.

 Here is Nick going down the slide in the snow.

The sun set and it was dark.  We had a moonlight walk home in the snow.  Nick was very happy as we walked through the snowy streets.

Long Beach Calendar

Nick loves calendars.  But most of all, he loves the calendar from the City of Long Beach.  Every year we wait for the calendar to come in the mail.  This year it was late.

Then mom saw a posting on Facebook, it said the calendars were in the mail.

Mom showed Nick the posting.  He checked the mailbox several times a day.

When the calendar arrived, we looked at all the beautiful pictures taken by local residents.

Nick wasted no time planning out his year.  This is his January schedule.  He has his school days, Saturday program, and half days all mapped out.

Mom said, "Wow Nick, you really have everything all planned out!"

Happy New Year!

Last night Nick stayed up past midnight.  He watched TV with mom and dad, and he saw the ball drop in Times Square in New York City.

When mom and Nick were in the city last week, Nick saw street vendors with 2017 glasses.  Mom always buys them for Nick, but this year he picked out his own pair!

Happy New Year everyone!