The Daily Planet has Gone Green!

Another year has come and gone. This year, so much has happened! We sure went through a change! Our goal was to do more with the family and spend more time with friends.



We finally took the kids to the Museum of Natural History after all these years being just miles away from the city. Thanks to the movie "Night at the Museum", we spent most of our time looking for Dum Dum, Rexi and "little people".












We took a road trip to D.C. to meet up with some old Penn friends. We went to the Air and Space Museum, Ben's Chili Bowl and the kids were very happy to find Todai again.


We finally all got passports and were able to travel to Canada for Gary's cousin's wedding. We rented a car and drove to Kitchener with Tom, Gary's brother and on the way back, we hit Niagra Falls. After this trip, Grace is convinced that she wants a minivan.







Our first baseball game! Well, it was a minor league game but still pretty fun and exciting for us! Grace never wanted to go to a baseball game before because she thought that you had to sit on bleachers but was pleasantly surprised that there were individual chairs!

We went with some friends to Lake Compounce in Bristol, CT over the summer. We really enjoyed this water park. Part of it was an amusement park and the other was a water park. The free soda was a plus! Note: If you go, you have to try the fried oreos!

Grace and Gary go to White Castle

I think we were probably the last people who never had a White Castle burger. On Black Friday, around 2:30 AM, we decided to stand in line at Best Buy. While waiting, we spotted a White Castle across the street that was still open. So, Grace drove over, got 6 cheeseburgers and sweet potato fries. They were really good at 3:00 AM (in the freezing cold). Around 4:00 AM, Grace decided to walk across the parking lot to Old Navy to pick up a pair of boots (her toes were freezing!). Around 4:15 AM, she got in line to pay for her boots. After a while, still in line, she saw Gary walking through the door with all of his Best Buy purchases. Apparently, Gary managed to get into Best Buy, buy everything he needed, walk to the car and get to Old Navy even before Grace managed to buy the boots! We will never go to Old Navy on Black Friday again...or at least, do all shopping online.

Like every year, some things change and some things stay the same. The economic crisis took a personal note when Gary found himself unemployed for the first time ever in March. Despite the initial worries, it turned out to be an always needed renewal of our faith in the Lord and that He alone can satisfy our needs. It was also probably be the best 2 months off at home with Grace and the kids! That time did have to end though and Gary is now working at RBS in Stamford, CT with a less stressful job and much better commute.

Gary continues to enjoy playing basketball with the same great group of guys (now on Tuesdays) and has also started playing in a 3v3 league at the local gym. Despite all this ball playing, Gary started to gain some weight and decided to fuel the DVD fitness market and give P90X a try. It was pretty effective, but very tough. Unfortunately, Gary's version should be called P70X.

Other memorable events for Gary include introducing Jonathan to the violin, running and playing basketball with both kids, RCNJ's Men's retreat, and his 20 year H.S. reunion.







Grace ran in her first marathon relay at the Jersey shore (less impressive than is sounds). She had a great time doing it with Gary and her friends. If they are up to it, she's interested in doing it again! She still enjoys growing her rubber stamp collection, cricut cartridge collection, baking and carving pumpkins.







Jonathan is still playing basketball and piano and enjoys reading a lot. He picked up the Harry Potter series and finished all 7 books in about 10 days. He's started violin and running as well. Hmmm....sounds like he's following the footsteps of someone else in this family (or, is he being dragged along?)

Can you believe that Jonathan won all of those M&Ms by guessing the closest number of M&Ms in the jar? He was only 1 away from the correct answer!








Jennifer ran her first 1 mi. race at the Armonk Halloween Fun Run! She finished it in 11 min. She looks forward to doing again next year. Jennifer has also started piano lessons this year and hopes to catch up to Jonathan soon. This year, she has opted not to have a birthday party and instead, wanted stuff. She has Grace running all over the place looking for the elusive Zhu Zhu pet.

Planning Ahead at Target

Today is Columbus Day and the kids are off from school. What to do with the kids? I arranged for a playdate for the kids with their best friends from school. But, 2 boys at home with my kids can get pretty hairy too. Luckily, at McDonalds, the Happy Meal toy was Bakugan so we went to McDonalds for lunch and spent about 2 hours there. Then, after they got home, I had these "pumpkin leaf bags" from Target that I bought last year for about $.05 (that's right...clearance) and now the are all busy filling up these giant pumpkin bags for me. Great! They are busy and soon I will have Halloween decorations for this year.

Trick is to visit Target about the week of Halloween and clear out the Halloween section. This can be applied to any holiday seaons (Christmas, Valentine's Day, Easter, etc). Most of the stuff will be about 75%-90% off. As long as you have a good system to remember where everything is, it doesn't hurt to stock up.

Getting ready for Halloween

Before you know it, Halloween will be around the corner. One of the coolest things that I've seen since I've moved here (Westchester, NY) is something called "The Blaze". It showcased about 2000 pumpkins and was totally amazing. I hope to carve enough pumpkins to slowly create my own blaze. So far, I already have an Ariel, Mickey Mouse and R2D2. This year, I carved the Superman sign and the Batman sign. I still have 1 more craft pumpkin.

Trick: Buy the craft pumpkins close to Halloween. At most craft places, it will be discounted up to about 75%. Keep a look out for the Michaels ad when it gets close to Halloween or you might miss it.

Carpool discount on Bridges and Tunnels

Hot tip from Mirabest.com. Instead of paying $8 on the GWB, get the carpool discount and only pay $2!! Though, the kicker is that you have to go through the CASH lane and tell the attendant "carpool". The attendant will count the number of people in the car. Kids count as people!

To register, call 1-800-333-8655 (New York Service Center) or 1-888-288-6865 (New Jersey Service Center). Be sure to have your account number or tag number and PIN for account access.

Reduce the Clutter!

I recently went to a friend's house and I was amazed. Her house was so neat and clean and it looked like it just came out of a pottery barn catalog. She told me her secret. Throw everything away and don't buy anything you don't need.

I look at my house and I keep looking at all the clutter. Do I really need 5 flower vases? What is the true sentimental value of the broken plastic toy in the corner? Why do I still have mail from 2004 (mail that I haven't looked at in 5 years)? I need to stop thinking like I'm going to use, read or need any of that clutter again. A clean house might be better for now.

A Cup A Day

Coffee. I LOVE coffee. Those of you who know me, know that I can drink coffee any time of the day and I need at least 3 cups a day. Today, I went to JRA testing and did a taste test on coffee. How perfect is that? I got paid to drink my favorite drink. At least...that's what I thought!

You have no idea how hard it is to drink a cup of coffee when you don't get to add in your own cream or sugar. They just put in the standard cream and 2 sugars. It was so hard to drink 1/2 a cup of coffee that just wasn't that good. Not to mention, you only get to eat a cracker with each cup! So, after drinking 4 cups of coffee, I realized that I don't really like coffee...but I like the non-dairy cream that goes with it (and the pastry that I usually pick too). How many calories could I save each day but not drinking coffee?

Ah. Such is life. I think that my life is like coffee. I really do love my life now. I love my husband, I love my kids (when they don't fight and behave like angels) and I love my daily life (Days of our Lives at 1:00 pm everyday!). It's good. But, without God (the non-dairy cream), it's just not that good and it's not enjoyable or even bearable. I can take a few sips but I can't down the whole cup. I need to remember to mix God into my life...or else, something is just missing.

So, pick up that daily devotional and add it into your life because it's the secret ingredient that you realize that you really love. It's not the coffee but the cream and sugar.

Unconditional Love

About a month ago, my husband and I got into a major fight. After almost 11 years of marriage, this was probably our first real fight. I wanted him to throw out a box of stuff that he saved from his ex-girlfriend and he didn't want to.

I shared this with my smallgroup and a Christian sister gave me the best advice ever. At first, it was tough to swallow but now I totally understand her words. She told me, "Grace, it's time that you start to love your husband. How horrible is it to always wait to be loved? If you can show him how much love you have, he is going to see what a wonderful person you are. He can only love you back."

Those words are so true. I wake up everyday and think about those words. How free would it be to just love? How wonderful would it be to feel the absolute joy of loving unconditionally?

I started to think about how sometimes I try this with my kids. But, unfortunately, I'm very inconsistent. On good days, I can do it. On bad days, I can't. I tried to be understanding to my son, who had a tendency to forget everything. So, I used to drive him back to school and help him find his things. After the 10th time, I blew up and threatened him that I wasn't going to do this anymore (more on the lines of, don't come back empty handed and that he BETTER find his stuff!!). I regret it now. I should have explained to him that his forgetful behavior isn't correct and that he should pay more attention to his things. Instead, now, he comes home with fear in his eyes if he forgets something. I don't want him to be afraid to tell me things (bad things). I don't want him to be afraid to share with me in case he makes a mistake. I just hope that it's not too late.

So, I have to remind myself to start loving more. Love during the good and the bad.

As with the box, my husband gave me the box the throw out (minus the pictures) and I did. Chucked it as fast as I could. After a few days, I went through the garbage bags and retrieved the box and hid it in my closet. I eventually gave it back to him.

$AVE by using your AAA card

AAA card members! Take advantage of back to school savings. Some include the following:

• Target.com - save 10%
• Kmart.com - save 5%
• LensCrafters - save up to 30%
• Discount at Six Flags
• Discount at Sesame Place
• Discount at the Bronx Zoo

For a complete list visit: AAA.com/Discounts

GPS annoyance!

Well, after I dropped the kids off at camp and ran my errands. Dropped off Gary's dry cleaning, headed on north to Mt. Kisco in hopes to get everything else done. Plotted in for the nearest Chase bank and found one close to Target. Except...it took me to a neighborhood! So, I plotted for the next Chase bank except it was all the way into Bedford. Ugh. Drove near Kohls and there was a tiny Chase drive thru branch! Made a wild turn and deposited my check. Phew.

Went back for Target. Found the last bits of school supplies needed and also picked up a bunch of toys from the Target mega-toy sale. There were some really AMAZING deals.

On my way out, I saw a Wachovia bank and finished my work there.

Then, on my way back home, hit the post office to mail out a package for a friend and my Netflix movie (hoping to get some new ones soon!).

Finally, I'm home and ready for my first cup of coffee.

Shocking damage of 1 weekend

Ha! Never expected a chili dog, chili burger and todai buffet to cause so much damage! (oh..not to mention absolutely delicious ice coffee drink, lemon cupcake, fresh waffles, eggs...need I say more?)

So, I forced myself onto the treadmill today and ran 3 mi. Though, I do believe that 3 mi. doesn't really do much. In order to start burning fat, probably need to run more than 3 mi. Tomorrow, my goal is to run 3.5 mi.

Pushing Yourself Further

And I wonder.... I run and yet I don't see much results. I do devotionals but I don't feel closer to God. I clean but my house never seems all that clean.

I think the problem with me is that I convince myself that "it's enough" but by just doing "just enough", doesn't really ever produce any real results. It's a good first step that I even try to do these things but I won't get the results that I really want unless I push myself just a little further. Right now, I'm just maintaining but not really improving.

So, hopefully, I can try to do a little more each day and see some results that will keep me encouraged. Though, I'm not going to kid myself and expect miraculous results. Just need to keep a healthy mind that I can always do a little more.

No Direction

Well, I feel very lost today. I look at my house and it's a total mess. So messy that I don't even know where to begin. I keep telling myself that I should go and work out but I can't seem to get my butt moving. Hopefully, I can get my head together and do one thing today before the day is over!

Little Miracles

Today, I thought to myself, "I'm going to try and be more productive! Let's start by getting the kids to camp early." So, I made them breakfast, packed their lunches, got Jonathan his tokens and money for his camp trip, Jennifer her bathing suit, towel, flip flops, water bottles, did sunscreen, etc, and we're ready to roll. We get out of the house 10 min. early. I'm patting myself on the back.

As we pull up to drop the kids off, Jonathan runs to some friends and my stomach drops. His camp shirt! Without his camp shirt, he cannot go on the trip! OH NO! Miracle 1 - I had extra time to go home and get his shirt. Miracle 2 - for some reason, there was NO traffic and I was able to make all of my left turns w/o waiting. Miracle 3 - there are only 6 parking spaces near the field where the kids wait...or else, you have to circle around the school and park on the side of the school which is really far from the field. As I pull up to the field, I see a woman pull out of one of the 6 spots. YES! I got a parking spot. Miracle 4 - all the kids are on this field from grades K-7. How am I going to find Jonathan? The first group of kids I see is...Jonathan! Oh, I'm so happy to find him so quickly! I runs to me and is so happy I have his camp shirt but then was actually a little embarrassed to change his shirt right there. Hee hee. But, he knew, no camp shirt, no trip and he's been waiting to go to Fun Central for a long time now.

Miracle 5 - being able to enjoy my cup of coffee and watch Regis and Kelly peacefully. Now comes the question, should I grin and bear it today with a fan or actually turn on the air... oh well, let me first enjoy my coffee.

hot - July 27

Man, it's hot today. I might have to break down and turn on the air. I think it's worse to let the house get too humid and then try and turn on the air because then it takes too long to get the humidity out of the house.

But, I did manage to run my 3 mi. today. Now, I'm going to exercise my arms and close all the windows.

Starting the day off right

Can you believe that I actually got up to go workout? Wasn't too long because we have to get ready for Church but it was enough. Ran 2 mi. and then worked out for about another 10 min. Now, we're probably going to be late for Church but at least we got the working out out of the way!!!

Yeah! Actually went running! - July 26

Ran 2 mi. and then worked out for 10 min.

Time is short

We had dinner last night with neighbors of ours who are moving to London soon. I feel sad knowing that they are really great neighbors and yet, with our schedules, it seemed like we didn't get too many opportunities to hang out and now, it will be even less. They were so helpful. They used to help me walk Jonathan to the bus stop so I could stay home with Jennifer. They helped create an environment in our neighborhood that reminded me of the old days where the kids could just run out the back door and run through the backyards to see if they were available to play and I didn't have to worry because I knew that they would be near by.

So, even though we think we have all the time in the world, we really don't. We need to take the time to invest in relationships with other people...just like we need to take the time to invest in a relationship with God.

Time is short. Don't let the everyday humdrum run you over!

Does Lying on a Raft in the Pool Count? - July 25

Hmmm.. well, we *walked* to our pool. It's all uphill on the way back. I know lame. In the pool, I just sat on Jennifer's raft for about 20 min. and then got out and munched on some munchies. Oh well.

Spending Time with Family at the Pool

We had lofty plans to do so much today. We were thinking about going to Splashdown Beach, Lake Compounce, Mohegan Sun, NJ to play with the Oms, dinner out with just adults....but in the end, we wound up having lunch in town at Made in Asia with Gary's brother, Tom and then we spent an hour at our pool in our community. (wow...what a long running sentence!)

After swimming, we walked back and the kids took their own showers. To our dismay, water started to drip out of our kitchen lights! There must be a flood in the kids' bathroom! Turns out, the shower head was turned ... facing outward and instead of calling us for help, they tried to fix the problem by using towels to soak up the water and toilet paper too. UGH!

Can't Depend on the Weather

On Tuesday, my kids whole camp takes a trip to Playland. I keep my kids home that day because they don't really like rides too much and I didn't want them to be peer pressured into going on rides they don't want to. So, I arranged for friends to come over on that day. Turned out, it rained all that day and the Playland trip was canceled. I could have sent my kids to camp but they already had playdates set.

I already made arrangements to have lunch with my friends today. But, on Wednesday, we received a notice that the Playland trip was rescheduled for Friday (today). Bummer. Of course, it's sunny today so my kids aren't going to camp again. I can't make it to lunch with my friends. But, on the bright side, I called my friend in NJ and they are available for a playdate so, the plan is: go to McDonald's Playplace near their house in NJ for lunch (get their beanie babies) and then we're going to head over to their house for some fun.

You can't depend on the weather but it's nice to know, with God's grace, that things usually work out in the end.

Workout? What's that? - July 24

Well, my excuse is that the kids were home from camp today. So, I took the kids to NJ for a playdate (thank you Jim and Jen for being so gracious and letting us stay and play!). Then, we went out to eat for dinner with neighbors of ours who are soon, moving to London.

So, exercise? I definitely ate more yesterday than I've eaten like in 3 days! I try to limit myself to about 500-700 calories a day. I totally blew it yesterday and it's amazing. One day of being bad, and my stomach is sticking out like I'm pregnant again!

Thus, to try and fight it, I lamely did my stomach exercises and spent only about 5 minutes doing that. Then, took a shower and convinced myself that I would go back to the diet and try to work out....starting Monday.

So hard to lose 1 or 2 lbs....so easy to put it right back on along with another 3 or 4!

Today's Thoughts - Focus, Balance...

As I was driving to Bible Study today, my thoughts were scrambling around in my head. After getting through and leading Bible Study, I realized a few things. With both of my kids now in camp full time (and soon school full time), what should I do with my 6 hours of free time? I used to be happy just doing nothing but even that feels a little empty after a while. There has to be something more to look forward to each day besides my cup of coffee, Regis and Kelly and Days of Our Lives.

So, after thinking about it, I guess there are 4 areas in my life that I should probably work on.

1. Physically - Even though I hate to work out, after I do, at least I feel like I accomplished something in the day. Hard to do but I never regret it once I do.
2. Spiritually - This should probably be #1 but it's actually harder to do than working out. But, once again, daily devotional and quiet times...hard to do but never regret it once I do.
3. Creatively - I am a hobby Stampin' Up demonstrator. I have so many rubber stamps that my basement closet, upstairs closet ...nothing can hold all of them. I probably have over 7000 stamps and tons of cricut cartridges. I should probably try and make 1 card a day or 1 scrapbook page a day.
4. My job (housewife) - eh...nothing more to say here. Endless job. I can clean the kitchen every day but once people come home, it's always a mess again. I've thought of leaving a mess in the family room because it's only going to get messy again but believe or not...a mess CAN get messier.

Hopefully, by keeping a log of these 4 things every day, I can get something done! Or ... at least feel like I got something done in the day! Wish me luck!

July 23 - Physical

Ran 1 mi. and gave up. Just not into running anymore. Besides, I just came back from a taste test. My stomach feels so bloated. But, I did get $100!

Today's Thoughts - Blogging with my kids

I have 2 kids, ages 9 and 6. They saw my first attempts at blogs and now they are interested in starting their own blog and sharing it with their friends. I'm really excited to start creating their blogs with them. It gives me a chance to see what they think, know what they do and most importantly, have some mommy and me time again with them. I think that blogging with kids is a great way to stay in their lives. Also, it's a great way to preserve memories. I love scrapbooking and can't wait to use excerpts from their blogs and put them into my scrapbooks! Happy blogging!

Two Thumbs Down for A&P in Armonk

Just earlier this week, I was so happy that I managed to save over $20+ from coupons (both MFR and printable coupons from the internet) at our local A&P. Today, I went to get some milk and bread and I noticed a sign where it said in their coupon policy that they will NOT accept competitor coupons NOR will they accept internet coupons. That really stinks. I use the internet to get the majority of my coupons. I guess I won't be doing most of my shopping there anymore. Stop & Shop in North White Plains is so much better anyway. Maybe it's time to start checking out Trader Joe's and other supermarkets.

Today's Thoughts

Now that I've been blogging for about 24 hours, the question comes to mind... what should I blog about? What is interesting to other people? I actually have no clue. So, instead of trying to find interesting topics that might interest random people, I've decided to write about things that I've done a lot of research for. More like, things that I might want to review when I need it because as we all know, as we get older, the brain holds less information (at least mine does). Hopefully, some of my notes will be helpful to someone other than me one day!

I've decided to categorize my stuff on the right hand side under "labels". Click on something that might interest you!

Birthday Parties in Westchester

With a boy (9 yrs. old) and girl (6 yrs old), birthday parties seem to always be looming around. For those who have planned birthday parties, know that sometimes, you need to book a place around 3 months in advance in order to get the time and place that you might want! I've tried several different places and here are some of my reviews.

Tips on saving:

• Bake your own cake (if the place lets you). In fact, I started to bake my own cupcakes since it's easier to hand out a cup cake to each person than having to bring cake serving supplies. Also, this way, the kids won't fight over which part of the cake they want.
• Stock up on party favors. My favorite thing to do is to hit the Disney store online around the end of summer. You sometimes can grab beach towels for about $2.99 each! Every kid needs a towel for the pool in the summer or for camp the next year. Another good idea would be lunch boxes. I snagged a bunch from the Disney store for about $2.50 a piece and then I filled them with candy and other little goodies. This gets more challenging as the kids get older.

Kids U Pleasantville

Kids U Pleasantville 175 Thompkins Ave. Pleasantville, NY 10570 - Private party. Giant indoor jungle gym. Great place for kids to run around! Each party includes:

• The Kids U facility all to yourself for 1.5 hours
• Custom invitations
• Party theme decorations
• Helium balloons
• Drink for the kids
• All paper goods
• Staff to run a fantastic party
  
  You supply any food or cake that you want our party team to serve to the children. The cost of the party is $399 for the first 15 children plus $18 for each additional child. A nonrefundable deposit of $200 is due when you book your party to guarantee your time and date. To make it easy for you, we can provide any additional party supplies such as party favors and tattoos (additional).
  
  Birthday Parties are held Friday afternoon/evening, Saturday afternoon/evening and Sunday. Please call (914) 747-7478. You can also book online now!

My Review:

I had my son's 9 yr old party here last year. He had a great time. They spent about 30 min. in the jungle gym area, then they moved into the gym area where they had gymnastics equipment, trampolines, footballs, rock climbing, etc. Afterwards, they went to the private party room for pizza, cake and goodies. They provided the drinks and all paper goods. I made my own cakes to save on cost. The staff was extremely nice and wonderful. Best part was that it was a private party.

Leapin' Lizards Port Chester, NY

Leapin' Lizards - Kohl's Shopping Center, 3rd Floor, Port Chester, NY (914) 937-JUMP

Another giant indoor jungle gym, play center. Kids can play in the play area and then use tokens at the end to play games to earn tickets and trade in for prizes. Food, cake, party supplies are all included.

Leapin' Lizards has 2 party packages.

Package A

IGUANA PARTY

• $339.99 up to 10 childreneach additional child $24.99
• Invitations
• 1 hour of fun in play area
• Private party room with attendant for 45 minutes
• Balloons
• Pizza or hot dog for each child
• Soda or juice
• Paper supplies
• Ice cream cake
• 16 game tokens per child
• Free Parking

Package B

SUPER IGUANA

THEME PARTY

• $379.99 up to 10 childreneach additional child $25.99

You get everything in Package A PLUS:

• SPECIAL PARTY THEME
• Theme Party supplies and
• Theme decorated birthday cake
• 24 game tokens per child
• FREE T-shirt for the birthday child!

• PARTY EXTRAS:
• Pot O' Gold: 40 tokens for $8
• Pizza Pie $20
• T-shirts $12
• Sand Art $4 per child

Tax & GratuitiesNot Included

No outside food permitted

No outside paper supplies

Parental supervision required

Prices May Be Subject To Change

Examples Of HOT Themes Include: Cars, Pirates Of The Caribbean, SpongeBob, Dora The Explorer, Barbie, Scooby Doo,Buzz Lightyear, Cinderella, Blues Clues, Dinosaurs, Superman, Spiderman, Disney Princesses, Curious George, Harry Potter, Elmo, Hello Kitty, Transformers, Speed Racer, The Hulk, Little Mermaid, etc.

My Review:

I had my son's 3rd and 6th birthday party here. It's really a great place for kids on a rainy day. Big jungle gym area, food stand, games to play with tokens for tickets, etc. The only thing is that this place is open to the public as well. So, you can't control who is there and they usually have 2-3 parties going at the same time. When I had his 3rd birthday party here, I was concerned about the older kids running over the younger kids. When I had his 6th year party here, I was concerned about losing track of some kids ... but they were the older kids this time. But all in all, it was super easy. Everything was taken care of for me. I didn't even have to worry about the cake. All I had to do was bring my extra party favors and pay for the bill!

Bellizzi Mount Kisco

Bellizzi - 153 Main Street Mount Kisco, NY 10549 (914) 241-1200

They offer a "chef party" where you can make your own pizza. Or, just have a pizza party, breakfast party or afterschool party. Kids love the food, they have fun activities and the game room is a blast for all kids. They love using the tokens and trading them in for prizes.

For the Chef Party (make your own pizza), price is $25 per child (minimun of 15 kids). You get two hours in the private celebration room or aqua room. Activities, drinks, invitations, 25 game tokens per child and gelato cake are all included!

For the Pizza Party, price is $22 per child (minimun of 15 kids). You get two hours in the private celebration room or aqua room. Activities, drinks, invitations, 25 game tokens per child and gelato cake are all included!

For the Breakfast Party, price is $18 per child (minimum of 15 kids). Available from 9:30-11 am only in the Aqua Room. Slice of cheese pizza or bagel with cream cheese or butter, activities, juice or milk, invitations, 25 game tokens per child and gelato cake are all included!

For the Afterschool Party, only available Monday - Thursday. Chef Party price is $21 per child and Pizza Party is $18 per child with a 10 child minimum.

$50 non-refundable deposit required to hold party times.

Party Extras:

• Party favors for each guest -ask about our options!
• Cake for the adults in attendance - $2 per slice
• Custom Cake Decorations and Toppers - $15
• Additional tokens are just 5 for $1
• Extra time in the Circus Party Room - $50 per 1/2 hour
• Adult food is available, please ask for an Adult Party Menu

My review:

I had my daughter's 6 year old party here. Party assistant was exuberant and super friendly. I liked the private room and the fact that I didn't have to worry about ordering pizza from outside. Adult food is available since Bellizzi is a restaurant. It is a little pricey but the food is very good. Everything was very easy to set up since you can fill out most of the details online. The only thing is that since it is a restaurant, it is not a private party and you can't control who is in the game room. But, kids had a blast, loved making their pizzas, the activities and the game room.

Apple Cake

This is one of our favorite apple cake recipes. I like to use Granny Smith apples so the cake doesn't come out too sweet but you can also use Golden Delicious, Criterion or McIntosh apples.

• 4 cups peeled and diced apples (I like to use 4 1/2 to 5 cups)
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 cup chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts)
• 2 eggs, well beaten
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla
• 2 cups flour (general purpose, not self rising)
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix apples and sugar thoroughly. Add oil, nuts, eggs and vanilla. Mix dry ingredients together and add to apple mixture. Bake in a greased 13x9 inch pan for 1 hour.

I would start watching this cake around 45 min. -- it should pull away slightly from the edges and be dry on those edges but still soft in the middle. My family likes it more dry and crunchy so I usually let it bake for the full hour but if you like it more moist, you can start to take it out a little earlier.

How to Make Fluffy Pancakes

1. I've been searching for a good pancake recipe for years. I finally found one that I'm very happy with.
   
   Ingredients:
   1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
   1 egg
   1 1/4 cups buttermilk*
   1/4 cup granulated sugar
   1 heaping teaspoon baking powder
   1 teaspoon baking soda
   1/4 cup cooking oil
   pinch of salt
   
   *if you don't have buttermilk, substitute with 1 1/4 tablespoons of vinegar with 1 1/4 cups of regular milk
   
   1. Preheat skillet over medium heat. Use a pan with a nonstick surface or apply a little nonstick spray.
   
   2. Combines all dry ingredients together.
   
   3. Combine all other ingredients together and then add it to the dry ingredients.
   
   4. Mix until smooth (about 50 strokes. Do not over mix)
   
   5. Laddle approximately 1/3 cup of batter into the hot skillet, forming 5 in. circles.
   
   6. When the edges appear to harden, after a minute or two, flip the pancakes. They should be golden brown.
   
   7. Cook pancakes on the other side for the same amount of time, until golden brown.
   
   Makes 8 to 10 pancakes.