Cronuts

"The Cronut™ pastry is the unique creation by Chef Dominique Ansel that many have described to be a croissant-doughnut hybrid. After its launch on May 10, 2013, Cronut™ pastry fans spanned the world from Berlin to Singapore, making it the most virally talked about dessert item in history.

The Cronut™ brand and product  is a registered trademark of Dominique Ansel Bakery internationally. As it is associated with innovation, we are proud that the Cronut™ brand is affiliated with our bakery and baking philosophy to bring you constant creativity. Please beware of imitation items claiming affiliation with the bakery..."

Well...that sounds quite uppity and NYC-ish then doesn't it? And indeed it was! After talking with a co-worker about the "Cronut" pastry and the process of getting one, I decided to kick off the long weekend by trekking out to Mr. Ansel's little Manhattan establishment to retrieve the luscious sweet treat for myself and Erica.

 Naturally, I have to start out with this breakfast of champions...

 I got there early enough to be the 25th-ish person in line....at 6:15 a.m. after a 40 minute subway ride. I was up a bit early. The store doesn't open until 8:00 a.m. Mon-Sat

 Eventually the line was shifted so as to not interfere with other store fronts. And it grew.

 And grew.

 And grew.

 And grew. All of this for two cronuts per person.

 And while it grew, I read. And learned about another stupid treat that sounds amazing that I might need to come back for.

And finally, I was allowed in, and man - it was pretty!

 These are "DKAs." We got one of these along with our cronuts.

 These are the cronut containers. Lined in a row, waiting to receive their cargo.

Success!

 Our very own Cronut container!

 And these - were - our cronuts. They only have one flavor a month. Ours were Yellow Peach Black Tea. The tea added a nice bitter punch infusion to the sweet taste. Very, very good glaze / cream filling.

If cut carefully, one can view the layers of the cronut. The texture is like a flaky, semi-crunch donut. It's very, very pleasant.

Chase wasn't given any cronut. As Ms. Trunchbull once said, "much too good for children!" But we did give him a few pieces of the DKA I grabbed along with the cronuts. Very flaky, sweet/nutty flavor. Very good as well. Chase enjoyed it.

I was a bit tired yesterday, but it was worth it to have a really, really good NYC-only treat and enjoy it with the family.

Bubba Wubba

Chase LOVES bubbles.  I am not sure when it started, but he loves to babble about bubbles.  He's had a couple bubble baths, but definitely not enough to, given his limited vocabulary, know how to talk about "tubs" with "bubbles."  He knows what he wants :)  Today at the park, it was getting really humid and nasty outside, but of course Chase wanted to stay and play.  I convinced him to leave but only with a promise to have some bubbles.  (We had to stop at the store to buy said bubbles, but it worked out.)  And he had a blast! 

He likes to make a bubble beard

The water isn't dirty and green -- that's the tub mat.

He discovered you can blow the bubbles and they fly.  That was fun.

Our happy bubble boy!

ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

Honestly, I had thought we dodged the whole ice bucket challenge when it went through the YW in our ward awhile ago, but no.  I had forgotten to account for the one girl on vacation who, with the help of social media, could still nominate me while in the Philippines.  Thanks, Kyla.  But both Marcus and I did it, and Chase sat quietly in his stroller and watched.

Definitely donate to help research cures for ALS, especially if we nominated you :)  It's a worthy cause, and it is pretty amazing to watch so many people around the country band together to raise money.

Here are our videos.  Please ignore the trash in our courtyard.  We are very limited as to where we can dump buckets of ice water.

Mid-splash pictures

#icebucketchallenge #brisk

And don't forget, our dear nominees, you have 24 hours...

Benihana Boy

Every year we go to Benihana with a birthday coupon, but we alternate whose we use.  This year, it was my turn for a Benihana birthday meal.  It was as delicious as always, and Chase actually enjoyed the evening too.  I think it was the awesome kids menu / chef hat he was given :)  

And of course the birthday ice cream he got to share

Aren't you impressed he'd keep it on his head :)

Our Annual Family Benihana Picture ;)

Summer Streets

When Chase and I got back to New York, Marcus' mom, dad, and sister were in town.  One of the things they enjoy coming out for is Summer Streets, which is where the city shuts down a few miles of the extremely busy Park Avenue for walking, jogging, biking, and browsing vendors.  On Saturday, we all went for a nice leisurely walk down the middle of Park Avenue -- definitely views and experiences you don't get every day in NYC!

Kate, Cozette, Chase, Marcus, Erica

Trying to escape my road block

The struggle

Always walking on the grates.

Kate and Mike

"Walking" with Grandpa

Water fountain from a fire hydrant

Had to try it.

How crazy -- in the middle of the road!

Coming up to Grand Central on the viaduct

It was a beautiful morning to be out walking, and we really got to see some great sites pedestrians never get.

Chase's First Big Ouchie

While the Hardys were in town, Chase, in all his excitement, was running outside.  He tripped and fell and scuffed up his face.  He apparently didn't cry very long, and then was very generous with hugs.  His forehead and nose obviously stopped his fall -- at least there was no blood.

This picture cracked me up :)

He's already back to his normal, crazy self -- with a few bumps and bruises.