Earlier this week, Matt was in town for a few days for some NR meetings and to scope out Sections he may be interested in returning to. He had a free evening, so he came home with Paul after work. We got a chance to show him around the new house and introduce him to Abby. Abby absolutely LOVED Matt. Right off the bat, she made a beeline for him when he sat down with her in the living room. The picture below is a favorite!

Matt’s visit was short, but really sweet and we got to catch up a little on how the rest of the family was doing. We took Matt to Mama Wok’s – one of our favorite Chinese restaurants which Matt and Staci had introduced us to.

When we dropped Matt off at the Shady Grove metro station, Abby was done for the night and was rubbing her face, trying to fall asleep, yet when Matt said “bye-bye” to her, she mustered up all her energy to smile and wave “bye-bye” to Matt.

It blows my mind that our friends left as a family of 3 (not counting the pets!) and will be returning as a family of 5! We will have to reintroduce ourselves to Sydney since she moved away when she was so little and I doubt she can remember us. Finally, we can’t WAIT to meet Luke and the yet-to-be named bun in the oven.

1 Can (20 oz) crushed pineapple, undrained
1 Can (21 oz) cherry pie filling
1 Pkg (18.25 oz) plain yellow cake mix
12 Tbsp (1.5 sticks) butter, melted
1/2 C frozen unsweetened grated coconut, thawed
1 C chopped pecans
Vanilla ice cream, for serving

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Spoon the pineapple evenly over the bottom of an ungreased 13×9 inch baking pan. Cover the pineapple with the cherry pie filling. Pour the dry cake mix evenly over the fruit mixture so that it reaches all the sides of the pan. Drizzle the entire pan with the melted butter. Sprinkle coconut and pecans evenly over the top of the cake. Place the pan in the oven.

Bake until the cake is a depp brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake topping comes out clean, 55-60 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes.

Spoon the warm dump cake into bowls, top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and serve.

* Store this cake, covered in plastic wrap, for up to 1 day if using a metal pan, or for up to 1 week if using a glass pan. If using a metal pan, let the cake cool, then transfer it in to a glass or plastic container and it will keep, covered, for up to 1 week in the refrigerator.

** Try with peach or apple pie fillings.

*** Try with less butter (~1 stick or less), if desired.

Extracted from the National Mall and Memorial Parks Brochure:

The Tulip Library is a display garden showcasing nearly 100 varieties of tulips. A popular site for photographers and picnickers, the Library offers a splash of vibrant color amidst the hustle and bustle of downtown Washington, DC.

The Tulip Library, created in 1969, is located near the Tidal Basin at Independence Avenue and Maine Avenue. Each fall gardeners from the National Park Service prepare the floral beds for hand-plantiover 10,000 tulip bulbs flown in from Holland.

I started looking into flexible-sole shoes and – more importantly – shoes that will stay on her active feet. I observed the walking babies at daycare to see which shoes seem to work the best. Talking to the teachers, we concluded that the Pedipeds were extremely soft, durable, impossibly cute, and stayed on the feet fairly well. The Robeez were great for staying on feet and were softer than even the Pedipeds, but were not nearly as durable.

After a few days of internet research, I decided that Abby should try on the Robeez, Pedipeds, and Stride Rite Pre-walkers. To my disappointment, the Pedipeds just didn’t fit her well. It turns out that she has very narrow feet and the Pedipeds just fell right off when she dangled her feet – even with the 0-6 months size! They were definitely the cutest of them all.

None of the Robeez shoes appealed to me. They looked just like the Carter’s baby shoes that Abby already has and which she kicks off almost quicker than we can put them on. Yet, people SWEAR they stay put.

Finally, at the Stride Rite store at the Lakeforest Mall, we looked at Stage 1 and Stage 2 pre-walkers. The Stage 2 shoes were for cruisers/walkers, which seemed appropriate for Abby, but I was not impressed by how hard the rubber soles were. The idea is that they protect the toes of little walkers, but to me the soles felt way too hard for a kid learning to walk, so I looked at the Stage 1 shoes. They are marketed for crawlers, but they felt right to me. They offered flexibility, plus rubber “pods” for traction. With their “Buy one pair, get the second pair half off sale,” I ended up picking up two pairs of Stride Rites – size 3 Safari Oatmeal (left) and Pandora Pink/Gold (right).

The Robeez shoes that Stride Rite sold were REALLY ugly, but I still wanted to buy a pair for Abby to try, so we marched across the mall to the Children’s Shoebox. There, we tried on 6-12 month shoes, but found them to be too large. The 0-6 month shoes fit very well and gave her about a centimeter of room to grow. Apparently, Abby has TINY feet for 9 months!! Hard to imagine considering how large they were compared to her newborn body. All the Robeez at the store for girls were blaring pink, except for a pair of purple ones, but the “fairy” design was kind of kooky. We ended up walking away with a pair of gender neutral “squirrel” slippers.

Hot Water Dough:
3 C flour
1 C hot water
1/2 C cold water

Mix flour with hot water, then slowly add cold water until a soft dough forms. If too sticky, add more flour and gently mix it in. Place dough in lightly greased bowl. Cover and let rise for 20 minutes.

Scallion Pancakes:
Hot Water Dough
Chopped Scallions, the more the tastier
Salt
Vegetable Oil

Roll a palm size piece of dough into a flat circle. In listed order, evenly spread approx. 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil, then sprinkle approx. 1/4 teaspoon of salt, finally a palmful of chopped scallions on dough. Roll tightly into a long tube then create a spiral (like a cinnamon roll) with the tube; this creates the layers in the pancake. Roll spiral into a flat, 1/2-inch pancake.

Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a flat pan. Fry pancake on each side until golden brown, approximately 3 minutes per side on medium-high heat.

Serve immediately.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cook noodles according to package directions; drain. Combine noodles with cottage cheese. Beat egg yolks with 1/2 cup melted butter, salt and sugar. Combine egg yolk mixture, sour cream and raisins with noodle mixture. Turn into a greased 2-quart casserole. Pour 1/4 cup melted butter over surface. Bake for 45 minutes. Serve as a meat accompaniment or as a meatless main dish.

Yields 4 to 6 servings.