Bioluminescent Water in the South Bay right now

Years ago, way before Theresa and I had kids, we'd take late night walks along the beach. One night, there just seemed to be an odd bluish glow in the crashing waves. Were we seeing things?
When we got back home, we learned there was a red tide caused by a single cell organism called Dinoflagellates. These organisms are bioluminescent, meaning when they are disturbed they emit light! We weren't seeing things! The only thing is, these red tides are unpredictable and it's been years  and years since we've seen any bioluminescence in the water here.

Earlier this year, I read there was a red tide with bioluminescence about an hours drive away near San Diego. I showed it to Theresa, but the story was from a few days before and there's never a guarantee it'll continue. Plus with all the COVID uncertainty we didn't want to take a long trip.

Then yesterday, a photographer friend on Facebook posted a photo from a nearby beach, showing that the bioluminescent water was here! In the South Bay! Awesome! We've got to go see this again, and since it's such a rare occurrence, we're keeping the kids up past their bedtime and taking them too!

Making Chick-Fil-A at Home!

Continuing our series of making foods at home, today we were excited to try to make Chick-Fil-A ourselves!

Making Auntie Anne's at Home! - National Pretzel Day - April 26th

Happy National Pretzel Day! We love pretzels all ways, the thins, the nuggets, and the regular hard pretzels. But my favorite way to enjoy a pretzel has to be a fresh, warm, soft pretzel.
In keeping with our "Make it Ourselves" theme we've got going on, today we are going to make our own Auntie Anne's pretzels at home!

Cheesecake-Stuffed Strawberries with the Michigan family

Today we're going to be making a special treat! Cousin Aubrey recently made a really delicious dessert that the Michigan family loved. She thought it would be an excellent thing to make with the kids, and so after making sure we had all the ingredients, we started a Zoom meeting and made them all together!

Today's recipe comes from something Aubrey saw on TikTok, but there's something similar on Allrecipes. They're Cheesecake-Stuffed Strawberries. The ingredient list is pretty short.

• 1 package of strawberries
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar
• 8 oz cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons of milk
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla
• Crushed graham crackers as needed for topping

Making Burger King at Home!

I've got a fun new series that we're going to be starting. With the stay-at-home order, we're making the best of it. Even though technically it's allowed to go out to get food, we're staying at home and making our own meals. That means for now, we're not doing any fast food.
But, that doesn't mean we can't make our own at home!
Tonight, the new Home of the Whopper is the Flowers' House!

Tiramisu Oreos

Oreo has something new this Spring. Today we're going to try Tiramisu flavored Oreos.

Tiramisu is a mix of coffee, chocolate, cream, and a splash of rum. Can Oreo capture the deliciousness that is Tiramisu?

Sour Patch Kids Yogurt

A new item from those Sour Patch Kids? Yes please! Sour things are tasty. We've had Sour Patch Kids Ice Cream, Frozen Ice Pops, Cereal, and even Marshmallows. Now there's tasty Sour Patch Kids Yogurt!

The yogurt box comes with two flavors. Blue Raspberry and Redberry. The yogurt also has jokes and riddles on each package. Like Q: What has 4 legs and only 1 foot? A: A bed.

A Kernel Seasons Popcorn Seasoning Taste Test

When Theresa showed me a Kernel Seasons sampler pack with 10 different kinds of popcorn seasoning, of course I want to get it. This family does love popcorn, going through 100 cups of popped popcorn a week! Is that a lot? Writing it down like that it seems like a lot.
Please appreciate the rainbow hue of colors in the popcorn seasoning lineup.

There's 10 flavors to try. It was actually a 12 pack of these mini seasonings, but there were duplicates of White Cheddar and Nacho Cheese. And what's that? Salt is a flavor? That was a little disappointing to be honest.
But, we're still trying it. That leaves us with: Popcorn Salt, Butter, Ranch, White Cheddar, Bacon Cheddar, Nacho Cheddar, Kettle Corn, Garlic Parmesan, Caramel Corn, and Cheesy Jalapeño.

Starburst Yogurt

The best chewy candy has to be Starbursts. I don't remember how I found out that Starbursts was partnering with Yoplait to make Starburst flavored yogurts, but it was definitely something I was excited to try!

Finding them was not easy. Before the COVID lockdown, I was able to find only 1 flavor. Instead of going out shopping, Theresa and I took advantage of Instacart to get groceries. Along with our necessities, I added a few special things to the cart to keep us entertained during our stay at home. Because of the run on the supermarkets, it took two separate orders to two different markets, but eventually I had acquired all 4 flavors!

A weekend sleepover

Time for a sleepover! The kids have been excited to have a sleepover for a few weeks now. During the day, they have been taking all the pillows in the house and piling them up in the living room, just on the off-chance that we'll consent to doing a sleepover that night. Finally though it's the weekend and we're ready. There's lots of fun stuff we've got planned for our sleepover.

Fun things like a pizza party dinner! You can make any frozen pizza a whole lot better by adding your own toppings to it. The kids love extra pineapple and I like adding goat cheese. Yum! And the drinks are special too. Chocolate milk for them.
And we all watched a movie together while eating dinner. The musical Sing hits a lot of the right notes. 

National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day - April 12th

Happy National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day! This tasty comfort food dates back to the 1920s, when sliced bread and the extra melty American cheese became available. 

Ian asked if we'd be having them with chips, like last time. He was remembering back to November when we tasted these with the Lays Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup chips. 

National Cheese Fondue Day - April 11th

National Cheese Fondue Day? Yes, I do think that's something we could celebrate. Normally we'd only do fondue for something like Valentines day, but with this stay at home order, we're looking for any way to make the days special.

A Peeps Face-off taste test comparison! Which Peeps flavor will rise to the top!

All of our Peeps Tastes test to this point are finally leading to this. It's a Peeps showdown. Of the nine flavors that we've tried, which one will reign supreme?

There's nine flavors, so I've got a bracket and we're going to do this properly.
Those flavors are:

• Cotton Candy
• Hot Tamales
• Party Cake
• Sour Watermelon
• Root Beer Float
• Fruit Punch
• Original Peeps
• Blue Raspberry
• Pancakes & Syrup

Peeps

All of those 8 other Peeps taste tests has finally led to this. The original Peeps.
The Just Born company was started in 1923 by Sam Born. As the company grew, it acquired other candy companies. In 1953, Just Born bought the Rodda Candy company, who was responsible for making marshmallow Peeps. Originally made by hand though piping tubes, a year after buying the company they mechanized the whole thing, allowing them to make Peeps a lot faster!

Here's what we're tasting today. We'll get into that in just a little bit.

Easter Egg Oreos

It was just about a year ago that we were trying Limited Edition Easter Egg Oreos, but this year there's one major difference. Last year was chocolate cookies with purple filling. This year it's golden Oreos dyed pink with white filling. The kids got these as part of their Easter baskets, so let's try them!

Ian was wondering what they tasted like. Well buddy, when we taste Maple Creme Oreos they taste like Maple Cream. When we taste Mint Chocolate Chip Oreos they taste like Mint Chocolate Chip. And when we tasted Cherry Cola Oreos, they tasted like Cherry Cola. So logically, these should taste like...
Alli - Easter Eggs!
Yum. Taste the eggy goodness.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! We can't leave the house, but with a little photoshop, the kids still got to meet the Easter Bunny! It's like we're right back in Disneyland (Hong Kong).

Dying and Hunting for Easter Eggs

It's Easter! One of the fun things we do is dye Easter Eggs.

Blue Raspberry Peeps

We're nearing the end of the Peeps taste test. Only a couple Peeps flavors left. Today we're trying Blue Raspberry Peeps.

When I think of Blue Raspberry what immediately comes to mind are Blue Raspberry Icees. Staying at home it was going to be difficult to get out for Icees. Luckily I have planned ahead. Icee makes these frozen treats too.
I also think about Blue Raspberry Sour Punch Straws, which are also tasty. Let's try both!

2020 Flowers Disney Easter Egg Eggstravaganza

We love doing the Eggstravaganza Easter Egg Hunt at Disneyland. Theresa and I have been doing it since 2013! When Ian came along, we made sure to do it again in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019. In the last few weeks before bed, the kids have requested that Daddy read them our old Easter Egg Hunt stories.
This whole quarantine thing is throwing a wrench in lots of things. I wasn't happy that we are going to miss out this year.
But, I'm creative. I can figure this out.

Hey Kids! You'll never guess what has happened! Duffy the Disney Easter Bunny has come to our house and hidden Disney Easter Eggs for us here!

What do we need to go on a Disney Egg Hunt?
Ian - Baskets?
Alli - A map! And stickers!
You nailed it Alli!

Pancakes & Syrup Peeps

It's breakfast time! The perfect time to try these Pancake and Syrup Peeps.

Using my excellent cooking skills, I made up a short stack of pancakes to try alongside these Peeps.

Hot Tamales Peeps

Time for the next Peeps taste test. In a surprise to me, Ian was the one who suggested we try the Peeps flavored with Hot Tamales. The kids wanted to get dressed in their most fiery outfits. Look at all that red. Normally we'd take this picture at the table, but then we wouldn't get to see their entire wardrobes.

These Peeps are easy to find a match with. Hot Tamales are a very tasty candy, but they can be pretty spicy sometimes. Fun fact, the Just Born company that makes Peeps, also makes Hot Tamales.

Party Cake Peeps

It's time to try our next batch of Peeps. This time we're tasting Party Cake Peeps. Whenever I think of cake covered in sprinkles, I immediately thing of Funfetti cupcakes.

We're going to have fun making these cupcakes to taste with them.

Relaxing in Bora Bora Day 5 and 6 2020/02/10

Day 5 in beautiful Bora Bora. The showers from yesterday have returned, but it's only a light rain this morning. Luckily for us each room has an umbrella for just such an occasion. Lucky for one I guess. But Theresa plans ahead too. Inside our luggage she packed a compact umbrella for these types of days.

Making Baby Hot Dogs

It's lunchtime and we're hungry. I thought hot dogs sounded good and was getting ready to make them.

Now Alexa is running in our kitchen and suggested making Baby Hot Dogs. Our little reader Ian saw the screen and got excited.
Ian - Can we make baby hot dogs?!?

Saturday Morning Cereals - Cinnamon Vanilla Lucky Charms

Happy Saturday! Time for another Saturday morning cereal. This time we're trying the Limited Edition Cinnamon Vanilla Lucky Charms. With a box that has snow and snowmen on it, the kids tossed on their warm winter coats and scarfs, despite being in sunny So Cal.

Hooray for something to fix the worst part of Lucky Charms, the oat cereal!

National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day - April 2nd

It's been a while since we've celebrated any national days. Today is National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day! Sounds like a good one to celebrate!

Fruit Punch Peeps

We're just about halfway through all these Peeps flavors. Tonight we're going to try Fruit Punch Peeps.

Now I don't know what comes to your mind when you hear fruit punch, but for me I immediately think Kool-Aid. And while you can make it from a packet, the coolest way to drink it was out of these plastic squeeze bottles.
Now my mind went to Kool-Aid but upon further inspect, they don't actually call it fruit punch flavored. Instead it's Tropical Punch. But let's compare the fruits on both packages. Limes, oranges, grapes, and cherries - check. Hmm, there's pineapple on the Peeps package but not on the Kool-Aid package. I'm still going to allow it.

Relaxing in Bora Bora Day 3 and 4 2020/02/08

Time for our next day in Paradise. Theresa and I are celebrating our anniversary in beautiful Bora Bora.