Still Impressed... and not

Once again, Lily dove right in to a very exotic dish I made this evening - Corn, Black Bean & Mango Salad. I am quite sure I would have turned my nose up at age 8 as Amalia at age 5 did tonight, but Lily had been prowling the kitchen as I prepped the salad, remarking how yummy it smelled, and did not appreciate when I placed the finished salad in the fridge to chill. Here are the visuals to dispel any doubt about just how un-kid-friendly-looking the dish is, followed by the similarly unfriendly ingredients.

3 cups (6 ears) fresh white corn off the cob, pan roasted

2 cups peeled & diced fresh mango

3/4 cup finely chopped (I used rings for flavor only) fresh red onion

1 cup diced fresh red bell pepper

1 seeded, ribs removed, minced fresh jalapeño

2 x 14.5 oz cans black beans (rinsed & drained - I used seasoned beans)

1/3 cup fresh-squeezed lime juice

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 tsp freshly ground sea salt

1 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp ground chipotle chili pepper

***

To balance things a bit, I will add one amusing note from today:

[Setting: Post-archery practice & swimming lesson; 90° F; at 7-Eleven® getting Slurpees®]

Lily: Dad, can I have free chili and cheese?

Me: What?

Lily: See? It says "Free Chili & Cheese" right here.

Me: Oh, that's only free on the nachos, but you have to buy the chips. Do you want nachos with chili & cheese?

Lily: No. I just want the free chili & cheese. Can't I just do that?

Me: Let's just go with the Slurpee®, shall we?

Bazooka

This is, by far, my favorite camp song of the summer so far.

A new bow

Lily has been taking archery for about 9 months--now going to twice-a-week practices--so we figured it was time for her to get her own bow. Doesn't she look thrilled? She's really happy, deep down inside.

Stringing her bow (unwisely without shoes). She refused to narrate so I doubt she'll be the next YouTube how-to star. (But you can hear other household noises, like Amalia's movie and Andy doing dishes and talking to the contractor, in the background.)

And unstringing it.

 Lily with her fully assembled Matrix Jr. 16# takedown recurve bow.

Her first competition--a fun outdoor "bug shoot"--is next month with her archery school. (And, no, she hasn't seen--or read--The Hunger Games.)

Inside look at Stanford football

Just came back from Stanford's first ever women's football clinic. What a treat to see their new facilities and hear from the great coaching staff.

 The locker room does not lack for motivational quotes.

 Gaff!

 Stanford NFL players each get a locker.

 Skov!

 Lots and lots of uniforms.

 Finals week.

 

Clean as a whistle!

 Coach David Shaw. Have I mentioned he was my year?

 The briefing room has a special section for the offensive lineman (bigger seats).

It was interesting to learn from Coach Shaw and the rest of his coaching staff about the Stanford football culture. I can only imagine how the content might have been different at another school.

 They have more than 300 plays in a season. No wonder it helps to be smart.

After the coaches, we had a Q&A with a player panel. Here's one of my favorites, Tyler Gaffney (who is graduating next week and then will go on to play with the Carolina Panthers).

David Yankey, one of the team's captains, is also graduating this year and will be playing for the Vikings.

 Equipment coach.

 HUGE laundry facilities. I'd only have to do one load a week.

 Training room.

 The new workout space was just completed in May--brand new facility.

 Muscle Milk and other nutritional replenishment right in the training room.

 On the field.

Up in the press sky box talking with Gaff about his courageous decision to come back to play football at Stanford after a year of playing baseball with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

 Could he be any cuter?

They did this for everyone at today's clinic, but it was still pretty cool. A very fun day--and a fine, fine football program.

Bottlerock 2014: Day 3

 Not surprisingly, Sunday morning at Bottlerock is quite peaceful.That's me in my Tilly, trying to carry my own shade around with me.

Our first band on Sunday was a San Francisco band called The Stone Foxes. I thought they were really good.

 At first I thought it was really nice of the security guard to offer to take our picture, but now that I see it, I wonder if he wasn't just trying to capture the short shorts of the concert photog on stage.

 The Stone Foxes have a violinist. I knew I liked them!

Plus, they offer wine to their fans (only in Napa). Actually, the best part of this picture is that it captures Carl, the security supervisor in the blue shirt. He was in charge of the main stage security both days we were there and he was beyond impressive. He has five kids ages 12 to 19, and I have a feeling there's not a lot that gets past him in that house.

Thee Oh Sees, also from San Francisco. I didn't care for them very much.

But look who did show up! The Spin Doctors (their lead singer used to have red curly hair) with John Popper from Blues Traveler on the harmonica.

And what would a music festival be without Barenaked Ladies? Here's a picture of Kevin for my mother.

 Jim

 Ed

And the requisite ridiculous cover from Tyler.

Bottlerock 2014: Day 2

 Our first show on Saturday was Matt & Kim, a super fun act we'd never seen before.

Though we were immediately grateful that we'd already dropped the girls off, since not all of their entertainment was G-rated.

They also tossed a bunch of balloons into the crowd and told us to blow them up so that we could throw them up into the air and watch all the pretty colors. Some members of the crowd may have had enhanced visual effects.

 When you're at the front of the crowd, it's easy to forget how many people are behind you.

 90s favorite, Third Eye Blind. Don't get me started on what I think of the lead singer.

These guys were being interviewed on stage right in front of us in between sets. When the turned around, the crowd cheered, and then a bunch of folks yelled, "Who are you?!?" The answer, apparently, is an L.A. band called No Age.

Weezer also was fantastic. 

We didn't end up sticking around for Saturday's headliner, Outkast (though we heard the next day that they were great), opting instead for a nice anniversary dinner at a Napa restaurant called Fish Story (beats the festival food stands any day).

Bottlerock 2014: Day 1

Andy planned an early 20th anniversary celebration in Napa this past weekend to attend Bottlerock, a three-day music festival.

We drove up after school on Friday and stayed in an absolutely gorgeous B&B called the White House Inn.

The girls loved their little nook.

 They even loved The Cure.

 Lily didn't think that Robert Smith had aged very well, but the music still sounded great.

The women behind us gave us verbal kudos for "having the cutest kids" and "officially being the coolest parents ever." One of them also happened to be a middle school teacher who gave Lily some book recommendations.  Naturally.

 Our B&B was walkable to the venue, just through downtown and across the Napa River.

Although the girls enjoyed themselves, I'm not sure the festival is meant to be entirely kid-friendly.

So on Saturday morning we took a quick trip up to Roseville to drop the girls off with grandparents and cousins. On the way back we stopped into Mary's because even Bottlerock isn't more important than spaghetti.