I've decided that trying to convince Mirinda of something she's already decided against is adorable. We were at Lagoon on Pioneer Day, and it was very hot. We'd been there for quite a while, and were ready to go. Mirinda wanted ice cream, but it was all the way back in Pioneer Village. So I explained to her that we would get a treat at the candy store (they have chocolate bars that Mirinda and Priya like to inhale in one bite), and then we'd go home and have ice cream. She insisted that wouldn't work, and that we get ice cream at Lagoon. I spent the next ten minutes explaining to her that she could have 2 treats if we left right now, but only 1 treat if we went to get ice cream. No amount of reasoned argument would dissuade her. We did end up doing what I wanted her to do, and she did get two treats. Seriously though, these girls are adorable even when they're looking at you like you're an idiot.
There have been two different Indian festivals over the past few weeks. One was downtown, and one was at Daybreak. At the downtown one there were like 10 Indians, and the rest were hippies. It was annoying. At the Daybreak there were a lot more Indians, and the rest were yuppies. The food and entertainment was better at the one at Daybreak at least. All the girls want to do is dance. They literally danced for an hour and a half straight at the downtown festival. It meant that mom kept an eye on them, dad went to get food for them, and they danced. There's probably a country song somewhere in there, but I sure don't want to hear it.
Mirinda gave a talk yesterday in primary and she did fantastic. I was so proud of her. The first time she got up to give a talk I was next to her, and I couldn't get her to say anything. She's come so far. I was holding Priya during Mirinda's talk, and she was mesmerized that Mirinda was up there speaking. So when it got done, Priya started walking to the front of the primary room to take her turn speaking. She was fairly upset with us when we told her she couldn't have a turn. Mirinda is definitely the cautious one, and Priya is definitely the daredevil. Mirinda finally is able to jump in the pool on her own, and Priya decided to dive in head first the other day. Luckily we were right there.
Priya is growing so much. She's already grown a few inches. We're trying to get her to 36 inches and Mirinda to 40 inches, so they can both ride more rides at Lagoon. I tried tying them to some neighborhood cats, hoping to get them to stretch, but the cats weren't having it. Maybe I'll try dogs next.
Priya is going to have the hernia and urology surgery in September, so that will be fun. It's definitely time to do it. She's so much healthier than she was, and is starting to put sentences together. It's really fun to see.
Both Mirinda and Priya will be going back to preschool. It's an early initiative school that has helped Mirinda so much. They both needed a backpack, so Mirinda chose Minions, and Priya chose Moana. The only problem is Priya's backpack is about an inch shorter than she is, so I'm not sure if we can put anything in it. She loves that thing though. Both she and Mirinda wore it all day when we bought them, and kept telling us goodbye because they were going to school. They've come together a lot more as sisters, and really enjoy spending time together. Part of it is that Priya will retaliate on Mirinda when Mirinda is being too aggressive. Mirinda isn't used to it. Bit of a wake up call for her, and it means there's less fighting.
I get asked a lot where I go for Indian food. Most people tell me how much they like the Bombay House, and I usually shake my head. There's a few places I go. My recommendation for this week is Pastries and Chaat in Draper. It's on 280 E 12300 S, and I highly recommend it. I judge most Indian places by their biriyani, and they have the best in the state. They have excellent egg puffs, and a fantastic mango lassi. If you don't know what any of those things are, message me and we'll go. My family is always up for Indian.
Sorry it's been a while since I posted, but thank you for reading!
Monday, July 30, 2018
Wednesday, July 18, 2018
Seriously, go to Sweeto Burrito
Alright, I'm putting out a plea for the Sweeto Burrito in Taylorsville. I was there yesterday and I had the Sweeto Burrito, which is their sweet pork burrito. It is seriously so good. The manager came out to ask me how everything was, and I told him it was great. He told me they are struggling at that location. I'm not sure why. There are some good things in that parking lot, like Leatherby's, Penny Ann's and Five Guys, but then there are crappy places like Zaxby's and Cubby's. Make it a goal this week to go to Sweeto Burrito in Taylorsville. You will not be sorry. Seriously. Every burrito I've had is incredible. The other locations are doing fine, and there is no reason that this location shouldn't be doing well too. The service is great, the food is always great! Here's what I recommend: the Sweeto Burrito, the Carne Assassin, the Carnivore, and the Sweet Chili Momma. All are excellent. Not going there would make Santa Clause himself vomit with rage. Not really, but I'm pretty passionate about this place, so please go this week, and go to that location. You won't be sorry!
Monday, July 16, 2018
My little Indian/Scottish Princesses
We went to the Highland Games in Payson this last weekend, and had a really great time. I was happy about the haggis (Priya liked it) and both of them loved the corned beef and cabbage (which is an American dish, but....). Their favorite part of the whole thing was the dancing, and both of them went up on stage to learn how to do an Irish dance, but it was really an opportunity for them to hop around on stage. It was adorable. Then we watched the dance competition, and Mirinda figured this was her chance to get on stage again. Luckily I could stop her before she made it up there. We Scots are an unforgiving lot, and I shudder to think what would have happened. There was a tent that sold some really cute copyrighted material, which I'm pretty sure is illegal. Mirinda wanted a Brave headband, but then I had her convinced to get a Nintendo headband instead. That idea was quickly shot down, and we got the Brave headband. At least we got a Star Wars headband for Priya.
I'm convinced that both of these girls constantly have a concert going on in their heads. They never stop dancing. Mirinda is always singing a song, and it usually turns into a medley of primary songs she knows. Priya doesn't love to sing as much, but she loves to dance.
After leaving there we stopped at the Lehi Country Bakery. If you've never been there, I recommend it. They have square glazed donuts, and I'd venture to say that is the best donut in Utah. While there I had a "I'm a horrible dad" moment. They had both been given a balloon at the Highland games, and wanted to take them home. So I put them in the very back. When we stopped at the bakery I needed to get something out of the back and completely forgot about the balloons, and they took off. Mirinda handled it OK, but wow I never thought I'd feel that guilty about 2 cents worth of balloon.
We're dealing with separation anxiety right now with Priya. She's really attached to mom, and should be. She's getting more attached to me, but even with that she doesn't like to be away from mom for very long. Mirinda was the same way, and still is at times. What I've found that helps is making a list of things we're going to do with them. On Thursday Amy had a Relief Society activity, so I had the girls with me. Priya started bawling when I took her, which is normal. You learn not to let it hurt your feelings. When we got down to the car, Priya was still crying, so I told her about what we were going to do that night. Once she realized we're going to do A, B and C, and then come back and be all together again, she calmed down. I think we forget to do that with kids sometimes. We get so focused on the things that need to be done, that we don't realize they may not understand the plan. If we'll stop and explain what needs to be done, and what we're going to do afterwards, I really do believe it helps. As Dumbledore said, "Youth cannot know how age things and feels, but old men are guilty if they forget what it is to be young". Not that I'm old, but you get what I'm saying.
For my recommendation this week, apart from Lehi Bakery, I want to recommend Dhanya Spices and Groceries. It's at 1098 South Jordan Parkway #109 in South Jordan. It's an Indian grocery store that's next to a sandwich shop. The two guys that run this place are so kind. I try to make Indian food once a week, so I'm in there quite a bit to buy ingredients. They love that Mirinda and Priya are adopted from India, and most of the time when we go in they will give Mirinda and Priya a treat for free. I really want them to succeed, so I recommend stopping by there. The grocery store has a lot of Indian snacks and foods, as well as some fantastic mango juice, and the sandwich shop next door makes an amazing egg puff. An egg puff is half a hard boiled egg, wrapped in a puff pastry with Indian spices mixed in it, and it's probably my favorite snack of all time. I highly recommend both these places. The Saffron Valley a few suites down is a pretty good Indian place too. I recommend the masala dosa, which is kind of like a pancake but savory, and it has potato curry in the middle.
As always, thanks for reading. I'll make sure I update the blog more!
I'm convinced that both of these girls constantly have a concert going on in their heads. They never stop dancing. Mirinda is always singing a song, and it usually turns into a medley of primary songs she knows. Priya doesn't love to sing as much, but she loves to dance.
After leaving there we stopped at the Lehi Country Bakery. If you've never been there, I recommend it. They have square glazed donuts, and I'd venture to say that is the best donut in Utah. While there I had a "I'm a horrible dad" moment. They had both been given a balloon at the Highland games, and wanted to take them home. So I put them in the very back. When we stopped at the bakery I needed to get something out of the back and completely forgot about the balloons, and they took off. Mirinda handled it OK, but wow I never thought I'd feel that guilty about 2 cents worth of balloon.
We're dealing with separation anxiety right now with Priya. She's really attached to mom, and should be. She's getting more attached to me, but even with that she doesn't like to be away from mom for very long. Mirinda was the same way, and still is at times. What I've found that helps is making a list of things we're going to do with them. On Thursday Amy had a Relief Society activity, so I had the girls with me. Priya started bawling when I took her, which is normal. You learn not to let it hurt your feelings. When we got down to the car, Priya was still crying, so I told her about what we were going to do that night. Once she realized we're going to do A, B and C, and then come back and be all together again, she calmed down. I think we forget to do that with kids sometimes. We get so focused on the things that need to be done, that we don't realize they may not understand the plan. If we'll stop and explain what needs to be done, and what we're going to do afterwards, I really do believe it helps. As Dumbledore said, "Youth cannot know how age things and feels, but old men are guilty if they forget what it is to be young". Not that I'm old, but you get what I'm saying.
For my recommendation this week, apart from Lehi Bakery, I want to recommend Dhanya Spices and Groceries. It's at 1098 South Jordan Parkway #109 in South Jordan. It's an Indian grocery store that's next to a sandwich shop. The two guys that run this place are so kind. I try to make Indian food once a week, so I'm in there quite a bit to buy ingredients. They love that Mirinda and Priya are adopted from India, and most of the time when we go in they will give Mirinda and Priya a treat for free. I really want them to succeed, so I recommend stopping by there. The grocery store has a lot of Indian snacks and foods, as well as some fantastic mango juice, and the sandwich shop next door makes an amazing egg puff. An egg puff is half a hard boiled egg, wrapped in a puff pastry with Indian spices mixed in it, and it's probably my favorite snack of all time. I highly recommend both these places. The Saffron Valley a few suites down is a pretty good Indian place too. I recommend the masala dosa, which is kind of like a pancake but savory, and it has potato curry in the middle.
As always, thanks for reading. I'll make sure I update the blog more!
Friday, July 6, 2018
Limited success with the wetsuits
For the last week I've been off to have some family fun time, and it definitely was. We started off going to the Conestoga Ranch in Garden City. I wrote about it last week. It really is a fantastic place. We decided to drive up through Evanston to check out fireworks. A little tip on buying fireworks. When you go into the big firework stores don't tell them you have a budget of $30 or $40 because they'll sneer at you and then go in the back to laugh at you. You'll walk out of there with such low self esteem, you'll need to go to the state fair to make yourself feel better. Or Walmart at 1 am. I'm not going to spend $150 on fire though. I say fire because that's what you're buying. Fire. Colored fire. It's fun, but not $150 fun. I say that knowing full well I've spent $150 on a sword before, but I believe it makes me cooler. Sword beats colored fire.
We got to the camp at about 5:30, and Mirinda was so excited to be in the big tent she felt it was time to put on pajamas and turn in the for the night. I explained to her that we were going to have fun first, and she wasn't interested in fun. Just wanted to be in the tent. I finally convinced her to eat something before she turned in, and we enjoyed a LaBeau's feast. If you haven't been there I highly recommend it, though the best raspberry shakes are at Hometown Drive-in next door. LaBeau's has the better burger though. After dinner we played on the grounds for a while, and then they lit our campfire so we could make smores. After 2 minutes of that, Mirinda had enough and felt the need to go in the tent. She was really fascinated with the idea of sleeping in canvas.
The whole reason we went up there was to celebrate Amy's birthday, and we had a great day. We went to the Pepperidge Farm factory, the cheese factory, and Maddox. Priya was really digging all of it. It made me reflect on the idea that really she's only been here about 3 months. 3 months ago her life was 4 small rooms. Now she's seen all these beautiful things. It makes me remember how extremely blessed we are to live where we live. Both of our daughters are such happy girls, and I'm honestly not sure why we got them. They are two amazing children, and it's so cool to see their personalities grow and interact with each other.
We got back Saturday night, slept at home, and then Sunday morning got up to drive to Loa for Amy's family reunion. Where is Loa? Drive to the end of the earth, and just keep going. You'll find it. It was a good weekend down there though, despite the wildfires. The girls loved playing with their cousins. Mirinda loves to dance, and Priya is discovering that she likes to dance as well. The funny thing is that each time she dances she does the exact same dance. I realized the other day that it was the Fairy Dance from Mirinda's dance recital, as they both watch the video from that 30 times a day. She does 2nd and 3rd position, without even knowing what those are. She is a smart little cookie.
Priya enjoyed her first 4th of July as an American citizen. The look of joy on her face the first time she saw fireworks is something I'll never forget. She loved everything about the holiday.
Update on the wetsuits: The wetsuits came, and we tried them out in the pool at the apartment, which is heated. It meant the girls could swim for about 2 hours, which was really great. We invited some friends to come over (they have 3 boys, and Mirinda really likes that) and had a great time. So with a successful trial run we tried the wetsuits out on the frigid waters of Lagoon-A-Beach. It kind of worked. After 45 minutes Mirinda said she was cold, but I think she was more bored than cold. Priya loved it, but all she wanted to do it stick her face in the foot deep water. We may just stick to splash pads in the future. Less drowning that way. But even after an hour she had enough, so we did rides instead.
The only issue with taking time off is you have to go back to work eventually, and Priya was not at all happy with me yesterday. She wouldn't even look at me until Thursday night. I understand why. Mirinda and I had a date last night. We went to Costco for pizza, the mall for ice cream, miniature golfing, and Smith's. That's a pretty comprehensive list of the things Mirinda loves to do, so it was good to have some one on one time with her.
Recommendation for the week: The Baked Bear. It's in Fashion Place Mall. They do homemade cookies, and make their own ice cream, so they'll make you a ice cream sandwich with your choice of home made cookies. They also do an ice cream sandwich with donuts. The cookies are great, and the ice cream is fantastic. My favorite is the bear bowl, which is a little pie tin with either a brownie or chocolate chip cookie in the bottom, warmed up, and then ice cream on top. Their salted caramel fudge is absolutely incredible. They also sell their day old cookies for $5 a dozen. I highly recommend it!
As always, thanks for reading, and for the comments. If you like this blog, please share it with your friends!
We got to the camp at about 5:30, and Mirinda was so excited to be in the big tent she felt it was time to put on pajamas and turn in the for the night. I explained to her that we were going to have fun first, and she wasn't interested in fun. Just wanted to be in the tent. I finally convinced her to eat something before she turned in, and we enjoyed a LaBeau's feast. If you haven't been there I highly recommend it, though the best raspberry shakes are at Hometown Drive-in next door. LaBeau's has the better burger though. After dinner we played on the grounds for a while, and then they lit our campfire so we could make smores. After 2 minutes of that, Mirinda had enough and felt the need to go in the tent. She was really fascinated with the idea of sleeping in canvas.
The whole reason we went up there was to celebrate Amy's birthday, and we had a great day. We went to the Pepperidge Farm factory, the cheese factory, and Maddox. Priya was really digging all of it. It made me reflect on the idea that really she's only been here about 3 months. 3 months ago her life was 4 small rooms. Now she's seen all these beautiful things. It makes me remember how extremely blessed we are to live where we live. Both of our daughters are such happy girls, and I'm honestly not sure why we got them. They are two amazing children, and it's so cool to see their personalities grow and interact with each other.
We got back Saturday night, slept at home, and then Sunday morning got up to drive to Loa for Amy's family reunion. Where is Loa? Drive to the end of the earth, and just keep going. You'll find it. It was a good weekend down there though, despite the wildfires. The girls loved playing with their cousins. Mirinda loves to dance, and Priya is discovering that she likes to dance as well. The funny thing is that each time she dances she does the exact same dance. I realized the other day that it was the Fairy Dance from Mirinda's dance recital, as they both watch the video from that 30 times a day. She does 2nd and 3rd position, without even knowing what those are. She is a smart little cookie.
Priya enjoyed her first 4th of July as an American citizen. The look of joy on her face the first time she saw fireworks is something I'll never forget. She loved everything about the holiday.
Update on the wetsuits: The wetsuits came, and we tried them out in the pool at the apartment, which is heated. It meant the girls could swim for about 2 hours, which was really great. We invited some friends to come over (they have 3 boys, and Mirinda really likes that) and had a great time. So with a successful trial run we tried the wetsuits out on the frigid waters of Lagoon-A-Beach. It kind of worked. After 45 minutes Mirinda said she was cold, but I think she was more bored than cold. Priya loved it, but all she wanted to do it stick her face in the foot deep water. We may just stick to splash pads in the future. Less drowning that way. But even after an hour she had enough, so we did rides instead.
The only issue with taking time off is you have to go back to work eventually, and Priya was not at all happy with me yesterday. She wouldn't even look at me until Thursday night. I understand why. Mirinda and I had a date last night. We went to Costco for pizza, the mall for ice cream, miniature golfing, and Smith's. That's a pretty comprehensive list of the things Mirinda loves to do, so it was good to have some one on one time with her.
Recommendation for the week: The Baked Bear. It's in Fashion Place Mall. They do homemade cookies, and make their own ice cream, so they'll make you a ice cream sandwich with your choice of home made cookies. They also do an ice cream sandwich with donuts. The cookies are great, and the ice cream is fantastic. My favorite is the bear bowl, which is a little pie tin with either a brownie or chocolate chip cookie in the bottom, warmed up, and then ice cream on top. Their salted caramel fudge is absolutely incredible. They also sell their day old cookies for $5 a dozen. I highly recommend it!
As always, thanks for reading, and for the comments. If you like this blog, please share it with your friends!
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