Saturday, September 10, 2011

Peanut butter, Owls, Rabbit, Venus Fly Traps, Snake, Bamboo, Winged Monkeys

Friday, September 2
My mom made peanut butter pie. I had never eatten it before and it's so good! My mom grew up in Hamburg, Arkansa and at school, the cafeteria ladies served peanut butter pie for dessert at lunch. Back in August, my mom found the recipe on a website where people reminisce about their lives in Arkansa. My mom and I had been so busy and tired from our jobs, making the pie kept getting put off till this day.

I walked to Rite Aid in my town to browse the aisles. The weekend before last, I browsed in there hoping to find scrapbook stuff or a cool notebook with blank pages because I want a non-virtual log for my toy drops for The Toy Society but there wasn't scrapbook kits and none of the notebooks appealed to me. This Friday, I was in luck and found my toy drop log book! An adorable blue hardcover notebook with owls in rainbow colors all over it. The pages are lined (with an owl in one corner on each page) but the notebook is so cool I don't mind about the pages being lined instead of blank.

Saturday, September 3
On our way to the Windsor fair, my mom and I stopped at a Goggins IGA so mom could browse the wine section for a specific wine for the inn she works for. Her job at the inn is making registrations, showing boarders to their rooms, setting out tea and cookies, making cookies if there isn't any in the cookie jar for tea time, washing the used tea cups and saucers, setting out a bottle of wine and glasses for boarders to help themselves to, running around shutting windows when it starts raining, and I'm sure there's more she has to do. The couple running the inn do this stuff on her days off. My mom didn't find the wine at the store. We saw Venus fly traps in the plants and flowers section near the entrance and I wanted one! I'd never kept a Venus fly trap plant before. We stopped at a favorite ice cream shop in Dresden that's closing for the season on Sept. 11. I tried their raspberry milkshake for the first time and it was yummy. I don't recall drinking a raspberry milkshake before then. Mom wanted to stop at her favorite tanning place in Augusta for a quick tanning session. I sat out in the car and spent the wait drinking my shake, looking at my new Venus, and making its traps close.

After we entered the fair, my mom and I bought corn dogs to munch on. We love corn dogs at fairs. My mom and I looked at many varieties of cows, ducks, chickens, pigeons, goats, and sheep. I petted and fed goats and sheep in the barns where customers are allowed to do so. We also saw some alpacas and a serious lack of horses. I think the only horses I saw were a pair of black draft horses used for carriage rides. The only amusement ride my mom and I did was the bumper cars once. She shared a bumper car with me and I was appointed the driver. My mom pretends to be nervous sharing a bumper car with me because of my wild driving. ;)

More stuff we ate was a baked potato with chili and cheese (me), a sweet italian sausage in a roll with spicy bell peppers and onions (mom), and both of us have apple dumplings with vanilla ice cream and fried dough sprinkled with cinnamon. At a booth selling toys and children's books, I found Rabbit for my TY zodiac Beanie Baby collection. I'm missing only Monkey, Dog, Snake, Rat, and Pig. There was a barn selling maple ice cream and maple cotton candy. I love maple cotton candy. Last time, I had some was at the Cumberland fair last year. I bought two bags of maple cotton candy. We walked around in the exhibition hall where there was all kinds of stuff that had went through judging including crocheted goods, sewn goods, homegrown vegetables, artwork, photographs, taxidermy animals, and baked goods. It was cute seeing little kids' Pokemon card and Star Wars toy collections on display there.

I saw the guy who offers people a photograph taken with his boa constrictor for $5. He was doing the same thing the first time my mom and I saw him at the Topsham fair in August. In fact, I had my picture taken with the boa constrictor twice at the Topsham fair. The first time was with my mom. When the photo was taken, the snake's head had slipped behind mom's head because my hold on its body was too loose and its body slowly tightened on my neck. In the photo, I appear apprehensive with my eyes looking sideways in mom's direction while my mom smiles nonchalantly at the camera and the snake's head is hidden. I was disappointed in the photo because I wanted to be smiling at the camera and the snake's head to be exposed so I returned to the guy for another picture take. For the second picture, I sat with the boa constrictor by myself and smiled at the camera while holding the snake properly so its head could be seen. I was very pleased with the second photo and having it helped me like the photo I wasn't satisfied with. My mom kept the first photo and I kept the second one. I wanted to ask the guy what his snake's name is but was shy to ask. I was shy to ask at the Windsor fair too. At both the Topsham fair and Windsor fair, the guy's booth is across the path from a zoo tent with goats to pet and feed and exotic animals only for admiring: a toucan, an armadillo, baby alligators from Florida, and tortoises. My mom and I think the boa constrictor guy is a friend or relative to the people running the zoo tent.

Sunday, September 4
I made a video of Victoria Wood's "Return to Oz" song with subtitled lyrics. Back in August, I posted about discovering the song. I couldn't find the lyrics anywhere on the Internet so the subtitled lyrics are what I thought I was hearing and there may be misheard words. I caught a flying ant on my window and stuck it in the Venus' container. It took ten minutes before a trap claimed it.

Monday, September 5
After my horse riding lesson, my mom and I went to Augusta so she could buy lattice at Home Depot. After we got the lattice at Home Depot, we went to Red Robin for supper. I ordered the sauteed 'shroom burger (I love mushrooms :)) and a peach milk shake. I'd never tried a peach milkshake in my life and the one I had there was awesome. I made sure to finish the shake because it came in a tall glass and I didn't think they had carry-out cups but I knew they had carry-out boxes so I could leave with my burger and fries. After our meal,  I suggested to mom that we stop at Wal-mart to look for small, live lucky bamboo that's woven into the shape of a gate because I want one. I was positive it was at the Wal-mart in Augusta I saw such things at. The Wal-mart in the Brunswick didn't have them when we went there three weekends ago. We only go to those two Wal-marts and the one in the Augusta is a deluxe version and offers more things. I did find the lucky bamboo "gates" in the flowers and plants section and chose one to take home.

I learned there's a Youtube video with a large chunk of the Princess and the Frog section of the "Disney on Ice: Dare to Dream" show. The video was filmed by a mother (?) who attended the show with a couple of kids.


Facilier's intimidating friends turned out funny-looking. They look like winged monkeys! lol But I want to see that show! It seems wonderful!
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I'll post pictures of the peanut butter pie (and share the recipe!), my mom and I with the boa constrictor, my Venus fly traps, my lucky bamboo gate, my toy drop log book, and my TY zodiac Beanie Baby set. Also I'll post the "Return to Oz" video I made!