I didn’t wanna do it, because, A:I liked having a reason to keep a bow in her hair at all times. And B: I didn’t see how it was possible to cut the bangs of a 16 month old who remembers that 2 months ago I told her to “Never touch scissors. They can cut you”. A very smart 16 month old. But for 3 days now, she has been rubbing her eyes and saying “ouch” when little hairs make their way out of the clip and into her face. I am a very practical mother and If it’s gonna make Olive sad, then it better be something that will really help her. So I put on the goat video, put her in the high chair, asked Grandma to hold her hands. And when all that didnt work peacefully, I just cut those bangs in one fell swoop through only small amount of tears. But now she looks even more like my great Aunt Francis as a child. And after a little salami and chocolate ice cream balls, she felt so much better.
Olive’s First Haircut
La Huerta Hustle
Sometimes you just want to go to a nice fast, Mexican dive… and La Huerta is it! Olive, Daddy and I went there just the other night because we knew three things: Olive likes taco meat, there will be no wait and the waiters hustle! These are the three requirements we have as a famliy lately that that help us have a successful dinner out. The atmosphere at “La Hurt ‘ya”, as we like to call it, is sort of like a well-oiled battle ship. The service is not only fast, but the waiters sometime run into each other while rushing around. You also want to watch out for flying dish carts rolling along. The decor is typical NWA Mexican restaurant with the quaint colorful wooden chairs and the resin covered tables carved with scenes of adobe houses surrounded by cactus and big-nosed sunshines. I always order the same thing, tacos carne asade with a side of cilantro and lime. Mark had a nice big steak that was perfectly cooked and Olive ate tons of rice and meat. She actually used her spoon! I always feel sorry for the waiters when we order Olive rice. It gets pretty messy. The margaritas and salsa are pretty good there, too. That place does pretty good. It is always crowded. If you want a place to bring kids, this is it. OR if you want to get really drunk before you go to “Platinum’s” next door, you got it made.. don’t even have to move your car! La Huerta is fun for all.
Olive at a Water Park
Last week Olive and I went to a water park in Prairie Grove with my mother’s group. We had a great time. This place was really nice and had several pools with water slides umbrella sprayers. The main had pool had a zero entry (that’s what we call a beach-like entry in the LA biz). This made it just perfect for little Ollie to leisurely tippy-toe into the freezing water. There was also a jet that bubbled up from the bottom which made her squeal when she stepped on it. After a little splashing we sat on towell in a grassy area and ate some animal “crackies”. Olive had on her UVB haz-mat suit and was dancing to the techno, just having a great time. This park was nice and clean, crowded but not uncomfortable. We will go there again but will bring our own snacks next time because the food was yucky. We played with Alex and Sebastian, Kara and Aubrey, Alexis and Julianna, and Nikki and Ah-Na. Olive has a ton of friends already!
La Maison de Mediocre
I saw a flyer recently promoting the “Slow Food Movement” starting in Fayetteville at the fun local bookstore Nightbird Books. It seems like a cool idea, you know, it’s the opposite of fast food. It might be nice knowing where your food comes from, buying it locally, supporting your community and all; but the sponsor of the first meeting is La Maison de Tart. When i read that I thought, in that case, they should call it the “Slow, cold, expensive dried out Food Movement. ” I shouldnt be so harsh on ol’ Vince and the tart house… but man, the last time I was there they pushed me over the edge. Despite having a huge dining room, you have to stand in line, crammed into the entry with 20 people. Then, when you get your great looking ham and brie brioche, it’s COLD!!! You have to take it to an old, crusty, white AND broken microwave to heat it up. I mean for an $8 breakfast, you think it could be warm. They make the stuff right there right? And why dont they serve food throughout the week in their big dining room? I guess to save money they dont have any waiters. You CAN get brunch on Sunday and it is great!! You sit and order, they bring it to you and everything, they even have hand-crafted balsamic vinegarette.(I like mine hand-crafted). It is incredibly expensive and takes waaaaayyyy too long. (not as long as Gaylords) But if it were like that every day, I’d be there. All in all it has improved since the other guy left. Once, when I was 9 months pregnant, he refused to cook my egg on my croque madame all the way through because that would”make it a different dish”. “I don’t just say no to pregnant people honey, I say it to everyone, ” he said! AH! We waited a year to go back after that incident. That place still has a long way to go to become a great hang out in Fayetteville. Coffee’s good.
Intelligence
You may already know this, but Olive is an early talker. At 14 months she can count to 6, identify 20 animals and their sounds, identify all the planets and at least 10 colors. Just amazing. Check out this video taken at 12 months.
Olive Ate The Quiche
Today, Olive and I went to the new Little Bread Company where the old Arsaga’s used to be on Block St. Well, I would LOVE to have a new opportunity for breakfast in town so even though there are only two parking spots, I risked towing and parked in Ozark Cleaners. The inside is better than it used to be, with much more space to sit and a nice glass case filled with goodies. We ordered a douple cap, warm choc milk, and a piece of bacon brie quiche. The drinks were good, but the quiche was the WORST I have ever had: so bad that I am still considering calling them to tell them to throw it out. It tasted like microwaved eggbeaters with week old floppy bacon chunks. It was full of holes and incredibly tough.. I dont even know how you can make quiche this bad! Of course Olive loved it and ate almost all the bacon out of it. She hardly eats anything, but she will eat bacon, even if it is old and floppy. We will go there again. Like I said, we long for a new breakfast experience!
UPDATE!!!:: I went there again today, was pretty good.. Nice place to hang if you can get a parking spot. I had the sunny side sandwich and it was pretty good but the egg looked like a foam rug pad folded up.
