Colorado and Wyoming, 2015

I've mentioned my process for scrapping travel photos before, so I won't go into all the reasons why it often takes me 2-3 years to make a single layout about a particular trip. I'm trying desperately to get caught up with the trips we took in 2014, 2015, and 2016 so that I can hopefully tackle 2017's trips in a more timely manner. 

In June 2015, we spent a week with friends in Colorado. 

We spent a full day exploring Cheyenne, Wyoming during the same trip. 

I'm very glad to have both pages in the album. More vacation layouts to come!

40-4-Steve: Wood Badge

Steve has one huge regret from childhood... that he never became an Eagle Scout. He was active in Cub Scouts and then Boy Scouts and made it all the way to Life (the rank before Eagle) before dropping out. Despite his deep regret, there's nothing he can do about it now, as you can't earn Eagle as an adult. You can, however, complete Wood Badge. So I signed him up for the training as part of my 40-4-Steve project. 

Wood Badge starts with two weekends of intense training. Steve's took place at Camp Herms. He absolutely loved the experience. Here he is (2nd from the right) with the rest of the people in his patrol. 

Each patrol is given an animal name. Steve is part of the Bobwhite Patrol. After completing his trainings, he asked me to make a thank-you card for his mentor. I drew and colored a bobwhite (after looking up what exactly a bobwhite looks like) and added the Wood Badge log and hatchet. I stamped a sentiment, then added stickers representing Steve's Wood Badge course number. 

The weekend trainings are just the start of Wood Badge. The real work comes over the next 18 months as participants set and achieve goals related to different areas of Scouting. Each goal is called a 'ticket' and the process of completing them is called 'working your ticket.' That's where Steve is right now. 

Keep up the hard work, Steve. We're proud of you!

Club 33 and a Disney 2-Pager Still to Come

My usual policy is ONE layout per trip. However, sometimes I make an exception. For example, our 2013 week at Disney World followed by a week on a Disney cruise justified two 2-page layouts. When I finally get around to scrapping our big Canada adventure of a week traveling by train followed by a 10-day cruise, I'll do two 2-pagers then also. Those really were two different trips that occurred back-to-back.

In September of 2015, our family took a 6-day trip to Disneyland. Ordinarily, this would mean one 2-pager. However, I had two special stories to tell. The first was about Trevor's new ears. The second was about eating at Club 33.

I had to blur the journaling, but I blogged about our food, the decor and all the other Club 33 details here. There are a bunch of photos as well. 

I will still create a 2-pager about the Disneyland trip. It was my niece Allison's first visit, plus there were some other firsts I want to remember. There was one last, too. Farewell, Big Thunder Ranch. We'll really miss you. 

40-4-Steve: Pez Museum

Our family had been talking about going to the Pez Museum in Burlingame, CA for a long time, so I finally made it happen as part of 40-4-Steve. While it was not at all what we expected, it did not disappoint. We loved seeing all the various Pez machines, advertisements, and other products, along with the other items on display. The gift shop was awesome. Of course, we HAD to buy every flavor of Pez that we'd never tried before (chocolate, cola, and four flavors of Sourz). Here we are, standing with the World's Largest Pez Machine.

I'd recommend a visit to the Pez Museum if you find yourself in the South Bay with some time on your hands. I'd also recommend giving these unusual Pez flavors a try. I can't say that I loved them all, but it was great fun trying flavors besides the usual fruit ones!

Science Fair: Exploring Moisture Loss When Cooking Potatoes

Three days before Christmas, I posted this to Facebook:

Many of my friends and family members had excellent theories as to why this was reasonable or why this had to be a typo. 

Then this happened:

Trevor was totally onboard. His teacher liked the idea, too. It officially became his science fair project. So he washed, sliced and weighed.

He roasted, boiled and fried. 

 Then he weighed again.

And then he did the calculations and made a powerpoint presentation. 

Fascinating! The roasted potatoes lost 41% of their weight during cooking. The boiled potatoes weighed 113% of their original weight after cooking.

And, since you're all dying to know, I roasted 15 lbs. of potatoes for 15 people (14 adults + Trevor) for Christmas and it was way too many with all the other dishes I served, even with the moisture loss. Now I know!