Strawberry π

It is π Day once again, and to celebrate, Daddy and Mommy dropped by Friendship Road to the nearest Shoney's around.  This is a restaurant that used to be an empire in North Georgia, but just like the Romans, this once vast and mighty empire collapsed in on itself, with only a few Big Boys remaining, having been dug up by archeologists attempting to piece together the history of this once and mighty kingdom.

As noted here before (see previous π Day entries), we used to go to Shoney's frequently for their legendary strawberry pie.  We'd ask for a whole pie and split it - these were so good back in the day (yes, roughly the same time as the Roman empire).  So in honor of π Day, Daddy set out to a place called "Shoney's On the Go," which is the equivalent of a fast food restaurant that serves Shoney's food.  Yes, they serve strawberry pies there - this was the reason for the journey.

Daddy brought them home for Madison, who is pictured above, preparing to help celebrate π Day.  Unfortunately, the pies were not as good as memory served.  We suspect it is the crust size ratio, or perhaps the strawberry filling.  Whatever the reason, the magic is no longer there.  Sometimes, you just can't go back to something.  It's better left in our memories, a place of wonder where all the good filters through leaving a sweet and syrupy feeling of happy remembrance that we visit in our minds from time to time.

The pies weren't that bad, of course.  They just weren't magic in a pie crust.  Daddy still managed to scarf his, but that might be because he was pretty hungry.  We spent the day out shopping for clothing for Madison, and even made a stop at the Disney Store for a few items - get this, we did some Christmas shopping today.  Yes, Madison already has four items under her tree, and Christmas is still nine months away!  But we also picked up a "Wreck-It Ralph" t-shirt for her to wear to tomorrow night's movie night at KidPak.  

We got home in time for Madison - BARELY.  Wow, we were racing the clock to get there just as the bus was stopping for her.  Whew!  Not going to cut it that close again, that's for sure!

Anyway, Madison and Daddy did their usual round of piano practice, which was good.  Madison can do this one new song entirely by herself, with both hands.  On top of that, she's doing that Beethoven song by herself to, which just sounds impressive.  

Afterwards, it was time for some more St. Patrick's Day fun.  We made cookies!

Here's our little chef, about to pass the cookie pan to Mommy who will put it in the oven.  You can see pots of gold there, rainbows, and one shamrock.  On other pans, we had about a dozen shamrocks - these turned out the best.  The pots of gold didn't quite work out, as the "gold" candy at the top sort of melted and looked like yak.  And those rainbows in the picture above?  That's the best they're ever going to look!  Next year, I think we stick with the shamrocks!

Speaking of which, we all indulged a bit after our cooking session - it's now tradition to eat a cookie.  It's the spoils of battle in the kitchen, after all.

Tonight was another St. Patrick's Day movie, an old Disney Channel movie called "The Luck of the Irish."  It was actually not that bad - we enjoyed watching it, sort of getting into the spirit of things a wee bit.  If we ever find that one on DVD, we'll certainly pick it up - but we'd be lucky to find it.  Until then, we found the whole thing on Youtube for free, and were pretty blessed to be able to sit and watch it through our new Xbox on the big television.  Even more blessed:  we had a roaring fire going in the fireplace today.  That sort of thing feels so good on a cold winter's night.  Sure, spring is supposedly just around the corner (next week), but it's been mighty chilly lately!