A Little Heat

You all know that moment on Sunday evening where you just start digging in the pantry looking for a snack.  Well, we pulled out a brand new jar of salsa and a bag of chips.  That salsa was a new brand we had never tried and it looked pretty good.  And it was pretty darn tasty but it was super HOT!  We just kept eating it because it tasted so yummy but our mouths were burning up!  We tried to cut the spiciness by adding sour cream and it did help a little.  By the time we were done with our snack we all had burning mouths and throats and our eyes and noses were running.  The lid is back on the salsa and is sitting on the shelf waiting for it's next victim.

Dragon Boat Festival

I took these two goofballs to the annual Dragon Boat Festival this year.  Easton had a school assignment to participate in some sort of cultural event and write a report about it.  We chose the Dragon boat festival in Gainesville, Georgia at the sight of the Olympic rowing competition back in 1996.  The weather was perfect as we wandered around the festival and watched the Dragon boat teams of 12-20 participants competed on the water.  The races were intense as teams tried to row in perfect rhythm to gain the win and the end of the race.  Each of the long and festively decorated boats have a leader/caller who shouts rowing instructions to the rowers whose backs are to the finish line.  The leader is the only one on the team who can see the ultimate finish line.  There is also a drummer in the back of the boat who beats steadily on a drum.  The rowers will paddle together with each beat of the drum.  The drummer will speed up the beat when he wants the team to go faster.  It was fascinating to watch the teams work together to achieve success at the finish line.  The teams that were in sync were the fastest on the water and ultimately won the race.

The festivities included the traditional dragon dance which we had awesome seats for.

Easton and his friend, Ethan pose.

Everyone at the festival had these large, icey drinks and were just literally guzzling them.  We decided that they looked pretty good and wanted in on the action..  It is sugar cane juice that is literally squeezed out of sugar cane.  We watched as the cane was placed in a large metal gear and the worker turned a crank.  The cane was pulled in between the large gears and squashed flat.  A cup was placed beneath the spout where the sweet liquid was dispensed.  Well.....we didn't like it.  Not one bit!  I took two sips and was done.  It kind of tasted like sweetened hay water.  That's the only way I can describe it.  Bleh.  Dallin had talked about this drink with fondness which he drank on the streets of Brazil.  We took it home and froze it in a jar and hopefully Dallin will love it when he comes back into town.

A lunch stop at Zaxbys for some good ol' greasy American food!

Spooky Tunes

One of my favorite moments being a piano teacher is watching my students perform in our Fall recital.  It's our casual recital when the children get to wear their Halloween costumes and we just have some fun sharing our talents and spooky music.

October seems to be a very busy season for my students and this year was no exception.  I was missing over half of my students due to baseball games, girl scout camps, boy scout merit badge clinics, and vacations.  We had fun without them...who doesn't enjoy playing your recital piece while wearing a costume?!?