Chicken Skins and Burnt Cow

Hi friends, sorry I've been offline for a few days, this cold is still kicking my butt! With the boys here we are so busy during the days, and when we finally wind down, I just go straight to sleep! I don't know how to shake it! I'm trying to get all the rest I can, but it just keeps lingering. I lost my voice for the whole morning yesterday, so it was kind of difficult to work. :(

We had a fun little get together with the boys and a few friends on Saturday night, nothing too wild, but it was nice to introduce the boys to some of the people Casey works with and try to keep them up a little later to help with the time change! Jessie only made it to about 10:30, which wasn't too bad! Jimmy managed to stay up until about midnight, when the party-goers headed out. I made some deviled eggs for the party and they turned out quite tasty!

On Sunday we made an attempt to find this fish market, where they have a tuna-cleaning demonstration and then after they let you sample the sashimi, but we couldn't find the market! That was kind of a bummer, but instead we found a little "flea market" at a nearby university. The flea market portion was not that interesting, mostly just very small women's clothes, so we perused the food booths instead. It was a little bit overwhelming, because the university kids got excited every time we walked past one of the booths. We took some pictures with a few of them, but mostly we had to turn down their offerings, most of which were hot dogs. We stopped at the far end of the market to see a band perform, and boy, they were terrible. I have a video somewhere around here, but I can't seem to find my cords right now. I promise I will update later! By the time we made our way back to the beginning of the food stands, the boys were feeling adventurous enough to try something. They both selected these little chicken skewers that were bbq-ed. Turns out, they were little pieces of chicken skins that were all stacked together. Jessie was done after one bite, but Jimmy managed to eat a few skewers full before he gave up.

After that we decided to try to find this hotel that was at the very top of the mountain we live on, we've tried before with little success. This time, we found it, and it was definitely worth it. There were 360 degree views of the entire city, the ports, the outlying islands. It was really a beautiful scenery. My camera wouldn't take many pictures because the sun was too strong, but I'll post what I have later.

After that little excursion we went back to the oyster festival for lunch and met up with some more friends. It was a good time. Since we were a little more experienced this time, I didn't get sprayed with any oyster juice. We even bought some scallops, which were still alive when purchased. Their shells were snapping open and closed vigorously, it was kind of creepy. It was a nice warm fall day, so we all enjoyed being outside.

With the day still only half-over we were all feeling a little pooped, so we headed back to the house and all took some much needed naps. I was barely making it with my cold at this point so it was either nap or die for me.

For dinner we were invited to a cool place downtown where you grill your own food at the table. The boys really enjoyed this, and Jessie made sure all of our food was burnt. Thanks. But all in all the food was great and the boys were not at all worried they were eating anything raw. We grilled up all kinds of steak cuts and veggies, and they had lots of different sauces you could dip the food in, very yummy!

It was a really long Sunday!

I think if I keep up this pace, I will have this cold the entire time the boys are here! :(