Attending the Renaissance Festival

I went to the Renaissance festival this weekend. The theme this weekend was Celtic Christmas... they even had a Santa! We got there right when it opened at 9 and found out kids were free which was awesome because my little brother and sister went. When we first got there it was freezing and I couldn't believe what some people were dressed up as I would have freezed to death! I really liked the Scottish band that was playing, I even bought a CD. We all got bows to try and shoot the dragoons and balloons, it was really fun. My brother climbed the rock wall and my sister did that thing where you are attached to bungees and jump on a trampoline. We stayed till a little past 12. I looked for you Professor Q but I didn't see you.

                                                                  Waiting to get in.

                                                                       Some shops.

                                                                      Food places.

                                                     Just a building I thought was pretty.

                                                              A sections to sit and eat.

                                                                       Jerky place.

                                                                      Empty Stage.

                                                                        Face painting.

                                                                           Hat shop.

                                                     Brother and sister next to a knight.       

                                                        Dad helping brother shot a bow.

                                                             Sister shooting her bow.

                     I actually shot a balloon with my bow!! (its the green one under the dragon)

                                                  Another building I thought was pretty.

                                                                  My sister jumping.

                                                            Awww I love the animals.

                              My little brother climbing the rock wall, he made it to the top.

                                                                      Scottish Band.

                     Little brother buying a wood sword... and the cute guy helped him put it on.

                                                                               Santa!

My Family Geneaology

I decided to do my family genealogy. I was surprised by how difficult this actually was. I went on to ancestry.com and started to map out what I knew. I called my mom's mom (my grandma) and got names connecting to us. I enjoyed hearing a story about how my great grandma and grandpa got together. She was half Mexican and it was a scandal because he was supposed to marry a full blooded German girl his family picked out for him. Instead he fell in love with Dorothy. His family would not speak to him for a couple years after they first got married. It was like connecting to people that are apart of my history. If they never had fallen in love I wouldn't be born.

 

 

I know the picture is small with the actual family tree but you can enlarge it if you click on it. I tried copying and pasting it from word but it altered it a lot. I also tried copying from ancestry.com and it didn't work.

This is my family tree... or part of it.

 

Making Scottish Oatcakes

I decided to make something from my cultural background. I have a strong Scottish lineage so I searched traditional Scottish recipes online and found Scottish oatcakes. Oatcakes are kind of like crackers mixed with pita bread. Many people in Scotland still eat these for breakfast in a similar fashion to toast. You can put jelly, butter and numerous other toppings to add flavor.

I did realize my lack of expertise in cooking when I saw the recipe and had no idea what shortening was. When my mother and I went to the store we bought the ingredients. Sadly I couldn't have my mother make these as I sit and watch because I get my lack of cooking skills from mother so I was on own.

Here is the recipe for the Scottish Oatcakes.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chilled solid vegetable shortening, cut into pieces
• 1/4 cup buttermilk

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 2 heavy large baking sheets. Place oats in large bowl. Sift flour, sugar, baking soda and salt into same bowl. Using fingertips, rub in shortening until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add buttermilk; stir until dough forms. Transfer dough to floured surface. Roll out dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Using 2 1/2-inch round cookie cutter, cut out rounds. Arrange on prepared sheets, spacing apart. Gather scraps, reroll and cut out additional rounds.

Bake oatcakes until edges are pale golden, about 12 minutes. Transfer baking sheets to racks and cool 5 minutes. Transfer cakes to racks; cool completely. (Can be prepared 3 days ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature.)
 

 

                                                                    Oats that I used.

                                                                   All the ingredients.

                                                           Measuring out the sugar.

 

                                                        First batch coming out the oven.

                                                                    Second batch.

                                                               Top view of oatcakes.

                                                                         Side view.

 

Visiting the San Jacinto Monument

Yesterday I went with my family to the San Jacinto Monument. I haven't been to the monument since a field trip in 4th grade. I didn't remember how bad the area was. It is very industrialized near the monument. My little brother and sister have both not been to the monument before. My favorite part was going to the observation deck which was a lot higher than I thought. You can see across the whole ship channel which was really cool. I do wish it hadn't been so dreary outside it was like grey. Luckily as we were leaving the weather cleared up and I got some good pictures of the monument. I guess because I haven't been since I was so young I forgot how huge the monument was. I learned from the elevator operator that its taller then the Washington monument.

 When we were going to the monument we planned on taking the ferry but we did not check when it opened. Thus the ferry was closed and we had to drive around to the bridge. I was a little disappointed that we didn't get to ride on the ferry.

                                         Far away view of the monument as we drive up.

                                                              Stairs of the monument.

                                                                        Sister posing.

                                                             Glass case in the foyer.

                                                           Information about the battle.

                                                                     Texas forever.

                                                      Information about the monument.

                                                           Paintings about the battle.

                                               View of the little museum in the monument.

                                                                  Sam Houston info.

                                       Guns from the battle. (my little brothers favorite part)

                                                                           Tea pots.

                                                       View from the observation deck.

                                                  Another view from the observation deck.

                              Bottom view of monument. (sun finally came out as we were leaving)

                                                              Monuments with clouds.

                                                      View of the monument as leaving.

Camping Attempt

So I attempted to camp this weekend. I realized camping is not my forte.
Step 1: Gather supplies

• Water
• Food
• Blankets
• Tent
• Flashlight
• Bug Spray
• Lantern

Step 2: Set up tent. I realized this step is not as easy as it seems. I will be honest and admit it took me about an hour to complete putting up my tent with the help of my sister.
Step 3: Set up the inside of the tent and put away gear.
Step 4: Spend the night.
Step 5: Take the tent back down. This was even harder than putting it up! Trying to fit it back in the bag was impossible, I had to get my dad to help.

I went camping in my backyard as I'm not an expert camper...(and I couldn't get my parents to agree to go with me to a camping ground yet they still wouldn't let me go with friends). I bribed my little sister to go with me because I needed someone to kill the spiders if we encountered any. We gave our phones to my mom Friday night around 8 then put up our tent and spent the night outside. We brought books and board games out in the tent with us. Our dogs loved the tent and spent the night with us because my dad made them stay outside instead of letting them in the house to protect us, and our spoiled dogs cant seem to sleep on the floor with some padding. We have two Rottweilers and a Jack Russell so to it was a tight fit with them spread out. I did like having time to read without any distractions but then I always love reading.

                                                                 Putting in the stakes.

                                                                Framework of the tent.

Tent laid out.

Sister helping put up tent.

                                                                           My bed.

                                                                     Door of the tent.

                                                               Side view of the tent.

                                                                   Other side of tent.

                                                            Door view from inside.

                                                                    Inside view of tent.   

                                                     Another inside view with windows.

                                                                   Me inside the tent.

                                                           Sunset through the window.