Posted February 10th, 2010 | Permalink
My husband will be making an annual pilgrimage this week. He’ll leave his office, head down the cold, winter streets, pulling his coat closer to keep out the wind, walking swiftly to shorten the journey. It’s 5 blocks. Or, maybe 4.
Once there, he’ll order up some Red Hots, some Mexican Hats, a couple of gold coins, maybe a Scottie Dog or two.
He’ll have it all packaged up in pretty, red boxes, and bring it home to his adoring fans.
It’s a trip he makes every year just before Valentine’s Day.
And just before Christmas, and just before Easter, and just before Mother’s Day and my birthday and the kids birthdays and many other times. And it’s a trip we make as a family every time we’re in the Old Port in Portland (we took these pics on our last visit, so we could remember all the good stuff forever…until our next visit).
Old Port Candy Company.
Ever been there? Of course. How could you not? Best fudge, coolest candies, all your childhood favorites. Crazy stuff. We love it. I love those wax bottles with a tiny bit of juice in ‘em. Or, how about the Neopolitan Coconut Slices, remember those? All pink and white and brown? And those little skinny candy cigerettes that puff a little sugar when you exhale. Love those. And did I mention the fudge?
Oh, I did?
At this time of year, of course, there are special chocolates, truffles and boxes of fudge, all wrapped in red, velvet boxes. Add a little Bochox, and I’d say you can’t go wrong. How about bacon flavored jelly beans? Who doesn’t love bacon? Or let’s have some chocolate dipped Twinkies, shall we, or maybe some chocolate dipped potato chips. Oh, those sound SO good to me. Salt…sweet…
Anna, the Candy Queen at Old Port Candy Co has culled the best collection of new and old, hot and sour, sweet and sassy. She’s a candy lover. Through and through. The best part about Old Port Candy Co is that Anna loves ALL KINDS of candy, and it shows. She’s always seeking out the candies that you can’t live without. And when you walk in, you can tell that you’re in a shop run by someone who loves what they do. She’s like Willy Wonka. She’s probably got a bunch of Oompa Loompas out back, dipping Ring Dings into a huge vat of warm, gooey chocolate. Just for you.
Probably.
And she makes it really easy for you. Because she likes to share in the candy joy.
I usually call ahead before Christmas and give her a list, “This is what I want my husband to buy when he comes in…Oh, and don’t let him forget these…And, we can’t live without these…” And sometimes, when it’s a surprise for my husband, I just order online and have her send it to me. Why take chances?
Anyway, I’m pretty excited to see what Cupid brings this year. For the kids, maybe some chocolate hearts, some fire balls, some gummi crocodiles. For me…let’s see, will it be chocolate covered strawberries and chocolate licorice? Or, will it be my favorites: chocolate covered strawberries and chocolate licorice.
Posted February 5th, 2010 | Permalink
Wanna keep things a little warmer this vacation? Not quite so eager to spend a week in the snow? Or, perhaps you don’t have any snow. Not everyone lives in Virginia right now, right? We can’t all be getting buried by storm after storm after storm. Here in Maine, we’re seeing grass this week and if we don’t get more of the white stuff soon, we’re going to have to bring it inside for vacation.
There’s plenty to do inside too.
Wanna help someone? Wanna feel like you’ve done something good in this crazy world? Wanna show the kids that it’s not hard to help out? Ever heard of Project Linus? No?
Project Linus is a volunteer group that provides love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need through the gifts of new, handmade blankets and afghans, lovingly created by volunteer “blanketeers.”
Yes, I took that wording directly from their mission statement. Visit the Project Linus website and check out their “Patterns/Links”. You can find patterns for easy, no-sew blankets that kids of all ages can help with. Try a simple “knot blanket” that requires nothing more than the ability to cut a 4″ long straight (or pretty straight) line, and tie a knot. Or, simple sewing patterns for those with a little experience, or get right into it if you’re a family with serious sewing skill.
So, pop some popcorn, make up some cocoa, sit down in front of the fire and create a simple, warm blanket. You can decorate it, add pockets and even enclose a note to a child if you want to. Check out “Chapter Listings” and find a chapter near you. A simple email to the Chapter Coordinator will tell you where you can drop off your finished blanket. They will attach a card to it and deliver it to a child in need of some comfort.
You might want to do this on DAY ONE of vacation. Because helping others is addicting. You may find you want to make a blanket every day, or spend the next day in a soup kitchen, and another day reading to kids at the library, and another day making a meal for someone who can’t make their own…
Posted February 4th, 2010 | Permalink
I love the Winter Olympics. I love watching it all: everything from the crazy bobsled and ludicrous luge, right down to seeing the funky team parkas from the different countries. I like the ski jumping, cross country skiing, hockey and snowboarding, the short-track skating and freestyle skiing. It’s all good.
Can I do any of it? No, not really. I mean, I can ski downhill and cross country, but I’m not too great at either one. I can skate, but only backwards. I like to go sledding, but only on the good sled. But I can be competitive when put to a challenge. And that’s where this winter vacation idea comes in.
The Family Olympic Challenge
Plan your own Olympic Games to be played throughout vacation week. Each day team up for a different event:
Bobsled – divide into teams (doubles or fours), or sled as singles. Head out to your favorite sledding hill with your favorite sleds. Take three runs each, timed. The team or individual with the best average time wins the event. Or, get a running start and see who can go the farthest. If you’re into extreme sports, try freestyle sledding: build up some jumps in the snow and compete for highest jump, longest jump, messiest jump, most graceful, or just plain craziest crash. (Remember your helmets, please)
Cross Country Skiing – get out the cross country skis and time each other over a pre-determined course. Maybe it’s once around the block, or twice across the high school football field. Make a slalom course by placing bottles or tall sticks about 10 or 12 feet apart in a straight line across the field. Zigzag as fast as you can between the markers without knocking any over. Fastest time through gets the gold.
Biathlon – set up a course in treed area, tacking targets to tree trunks sporadically throughout the course. Put on your snowshoes or cross country skis and traverse the course with a backpack or satchel full of snowballs. (if the snow is deep, it would be challenging enough just to run!) Each competitor gets no more than twice as many snowballs as there are targets. Try to hit every target with a snowball. If you run out of snowballs before you’re through, too bad! Most target hits wins. If there’s a tie, the one with the most snowballs left gets gold, the other gets the silver.
Alpine Skiing – if you can’t head to a mountain, strap on your cross country skis and head to the sledding hill or another small hill. Compete for fastest, straightest, or slalom events.
Hockey – head out to the pond with your skates. Find a good sized mushroom or clump of frozen moss to use as your puck (yes, this works – we’ve done it). Pick up some good sticks from the ground for your hockey sticks. Divide into teams, establish some goals and have at it. This is a favorite family sport of ours. Being out on the pond on a clear day, hacking away at a silly mushroom with a bunch of silly sticks is, well, let’s just say you’ll work up a sweat and laugh until it hurts. Like I said, it’s one of our favorites. And, a thermos of cocoa to share before you head home doesn’t hinder the whole shebang either. Though be sure to bring plenty of water. You’ll need it during the game. Oh, and this works just as well if you don’t have skates. Just wear boots.
Figure Skating – keep those skates on for a little challenge of grace and skill. Skate a nice, smooth circle while holding an egg in a spoon. Whoever gets the farthest around the circle still holding the egg goes home with the shiny gold one.
Be sure to keep a scoreboard somewhere to tally up all those gold, silver and bronze medals. Medals? Oh yeah…medals are an important part of the Olympics and your Family Olympics are no different. You can create some pretty creative medals using household items such as tops to spaghetti sauce jars, or pickle jars. Choose some that are gold and some that are silver, colored ones for bronze. Write on the inside with a Sharpie the name of the event. Punch a hole at the top with a nail, and string a nice ribbon through. Wallah – awesome medals for your champions. Won’t those be funny to pull out of the keepsake box 20 years from now.
Kick things off with an Opening Ceremony. Have a bonfire outside in the snow and play loud, weird music while making a mockery of some of the worlds most fascinating people. Oh, sorry. That isn’t what I meant to say. I meant, light a citronella torch and stand it up in the snow. Make a homemade flag for each team and cheer loudly.
Finish your Olympics with a Closing Ceremony. Light the torch, announce the winning teams (overall medal wins, overall gold, silver, bronze, best Olympic spirit). Retire the team flags and put out the Olympic flame till next year.
If you don’t have an entire week to run around and compete, just shorten the events, keep them close to home and plan a One Day Olympic Challenge:
Snowman Build – biggest, fattest, tallest, fastest build, most creative use of found objects.
Snowball target shoot – stockpile snowballs and set up a target. Each team or competitor gets the same number of shots. The target can be a circle you have to hit, a bucket you have to get the snowball into, or a board with holes in it and each hole is a number of points.
Running maze – shovel a maze or twisty-turny course in the snow in the backyard and see who can run through the fastest.
Make up whatever events you can using things you have around the house, public spaces available in town, a little imagination. After all, this year it’s Imagination Vacation.
Loading ...
