Duped

The media has lied to me, and I have fallen for it's schemes!

Here's the story...Have you ever heard of the movie "Zookeeper"? Well, I have. Adam and I watched this film recently and had a pretty good time. We were really excited when the camera zooms in on the front gates of the zoo and reveals this movie takes place at the Franklin Park Zoo. Why is this so exciting do you ask? Because, the Franklin Park Zoo is in Boston, MA!

We continue watching the film and "ooh!" and "ahh!" and the fabulousness of the zoo. So we decide, "let's make a trip to Boston on Saturday and see how awesome this zoo is in person, it looks great on film, it's probably cooler in real life!"

Saturday comes, we pack a lunch and drive North to the great Franklin Park Zoo. Upon arrival, all is well, we're still thrilled to be there. First let down. We pay, walk through the entrance, and it's kind of dumpy, for lack of a better word. I secretly tired not to get my hopes up. We continued on our zoo adventure, and soon we were both realizing "Zookeeper" did not take place in this zoo. I continued thinking in my head, "Hogle Zoo is way better than this, this sucks, I wonder how Adam feels about this zoo". Neither of us said anything to the other. Near the end, Adam finally asked my opinion of the zoo, I said, "it's not bad, I've been to better zoos though". Adam was in agreement, (thank goodness I didn't have to crush his dreams!)

We were pretty bummed that we had been so easily deceived by the media, but we got over it. I think the zoo made up for it with our first encounter with a tapir, Adam's new favorite animal. We sat and observed the tapirs for 20 or more minutes in a nice, shaded, quiet area, so all-in-all, it wasn't too bad of an experience. 

Adam Karl...Hard at Work

Here's a look into the daily life of Adam Karl...enjoy looking...sorry you can't taste.

Raspberry Mousse cup

Butter cookies with raspberry jam

Apple turnover

Apple Tarte Tatin

Palmier, Sacristan, Tarte Tatin

Cream Horns with diplomat cream

Creme Brulee, Creme Carmel, Blackberry Bavarian Cream

Adam's final production...

Jalousie (apple with pastry cream)

Brotherly Love

My sweet brother Michael and his wife Shellee (and a few other Stevens') came to Rhode Island for a short visit. It was fabulous to see some familiar faces! I didn't get as much time with them as I would have liked (hint, hint) but enjoyed the the time I did have with them. I don't have many photos, but here's a few of the good times.

New Port sunset...feel the sibling love

some of the gang

For you Tif...it's me...riding an anchor...it's kind of my thing :)

Bristol Town Beach

Mike thought he'd sample the Atlantic Ocean...

It didn't last too long

Candy Heaven

I think I died and went to candy heaven last night at the Ocean State Job Lot. I was walking to the register, and there they were, on the very bottom shelf. My new candy love.

It's everything I already love about a tootsie pop, minus the stick! They're the perfect size, and it's quicker to get to the delicious tootsie pop center! Do yourself a favor and get a box.

Save the Bay

Last Saturday we ventured to Newport with the Rich's for a seal tour. A what?! A seal tour! (sponsored by Save the Bay) It all started in great fun, until we realized we needed a reservation to get on the boat. Well...none of us made a reservation. So you can imagine how the rest of the story goes. But you're wrong. The stars aligned and we still were able to make the tour, even though we hadn't reserved our spots on the boat.
Here's how it all went down. "Crap! We didn't make a reservation. Now I'm going to cry! This really sucks! I guess we could do something else in Newport". So we walked over to a lobster market (I don't know the proper name, but you can buy live lobster, get the point?) We had Stanalita (remember her?) get her picture with a 9.75 pound lobster named Jerome (he didn't have a name, but it's fitting).

After wasting a few minutes we walked back to the seal tour place and asked "the lady with the clipboard" if there was any possibility of getting on the boat if someone didn't show up. She said there was a possibility, a party of 5 had yet to check in. So we waited. In the cold. Freezing our tooshies off. Each car that would pull into the parking lot made us hold our breath..."Please don't let that be the party of 5!"
Well, what do you know? 10:03 am rolled around and the party of 5 never showed! Yahoo! Praise the heavens! But wait! It gets even better! A fellow seal tourer had a "Groupon" for buy one get one, and she didn't use the get one. Guess who got to use the get one? We did! So basically we only paid for 3 people to go seal touring! We boarded the boat and took off to see the seals. We came upon 20 seals! We had to keep a respectable distance, but it was still pretty amazing!

Then we drove over to Beavertail Lighthouse (I think we have a thing for Beavertail, this is the 3rd time I've blogged about it). We partied on the rocks...these next 2 photos are for you Tif!

And ended the adventure in Narragansett for some Crazy Burger. And yes, it was crazy. Crazy good!

What?!

We received a squirrel in the mail on Friday from my nephew Nate. Now the little guy thinks he owns the place. Just take a look and see for yourself.

He's seriously gotten into everything! When will the madness end?

Flat Stanalita's Day of Adventure

There's a children's book called "Flat Stanly" which is about a boy who gets smashed flat by a billboard, but amazingly doesn't get hurt/killed. Thankfully now that Stanley is flat, he can fit in an envelope and travel the world. Lucky for me, my cute niece Katie, sent me her Flat Stanley Stanalita (she's a girl) in the mail.

Here's a run down of the adventures Flat Stanalita had today...
She started the day at the Mystic Aquarium in Mystic, CT

Then she went to Stonington, CT to the Old Lighthouse Museum and a quick visit to the beach

I wonder what will be in store for Flat Stanalita tomorrow??