In the words of Strong Mad, "DAGRON."

Teri has always had an affinity for dragons. Her favorite book genre - fantasy. Her favorite book recently - Eragon. Her favorite flash animation character with at least one beefy arm - Trogdor. She even downloaded a lullaby from a daytime talk show to play for McKay each night when he goes to sleep.




So it was no surprise when we found ourselves at the 1st Annual Events Competition for the National Association of Catering Executives this past Tuesday. Or maybe it was a surprise. Either way, we went because Teri's sister Julie had created a dragon cake for the competition. The competition was designed like a wedding expo, with event planners showing off their table top decorations and pastry chefs showing off their cakes. Every entry was assigned an element: Earth, Fire, Water, Sky. Julie worked on the fire element.

Notice the beefy arm. This guy doesn't have much in the way of consummate V's, although he's nailed the majesty bit. (Did this paragraph not make sense to you? Please click on the Trogdor link above. If that doesn't make sense, please visit the First Time Here link on Homestarrunner.)

My favorite part of the whole competition was wandering around to the various table top decorations and cakes. At every cake, someone was waiting to offer you a piece of cake and a business card should you desire to have them make a cake later. I knew right away that 28 cake samples could end up spelling Rolaids, so I ended up only eating about half of one piece of cake. McKay ate the other half. McKay and I both liked it, especially that yummy strawberry glaze in the middle. Teri ended up not having anything as New Baby has a strong dislike of anything sugary. That's right - anything.

Our preference for no cake made for an interesting afternoon of discussion as well. Chefs would come up and offer us a slice of cake. We would politely decline. They would raise their eyebrows as if to say, "Well why are you here then?" One chef even went as far as to ask, "So are you in the industry?" I had to laugh. This is a picture of us that day. Do we look like we are in the catering/event planning industry?

Interestingly enough, Teri's brother David came home after we got back and told us there was one really awful cake there that he had sampled. Apparently, it was loaded with alcohol and just really sent his taste buds in a tizzy. I told him I was pretty lucky then because I had only eaten one piece of cake. When I told David which one I had tried he just had to laugh. I guess McKay and I have strong tolerances for alcohol, because we both wolfed down that loaded strawberry glaze. In retrospect, I suppose I probably shouldn't have eaten it and I really shouldn't have fed it to McKay. But you only live once right?

Anyway, the competition really was amazing. This was the overall winning cake. Everything, including the ceramic looking plate it sits on, is edible, although some if it is gum paste.

This cake took third overall. It was made by a Russian woman who claimed the cake was inspired by a Russian fairy tale. I'm no expert but Russia was never quite as fun as these cake seems to be.

This was Teri's favorite table top. It doesn't have any dragons, but she loved the ambiance it created.

Here's a closer view of the table decor.

Non-Maricopa County Fun

Once again for work I had to take a trip outside of Maricopa County. This time the destination was Willcox, Arizona, a town best known for being the birthplace of Rex Allen. My father-in-law's family used to live in Willcox and he informs me that his family's claim to fame was that his dad beat up Rex Allen, apparently when they were both in school.

My mother-in-law can one up that story though. Her claim to fame is that when she was running a beauty salon in southeastern Arizona a woman came in bragging that she used to be Rex Allen's mistress, only to find out that the woman she was bragging to used to be Rex Allen's wife. Tension ensued.

Because Willcox is a fairly long drive to go there and back in one day I figured I would take along Teri and McKay for the ride. We all stayed over with Grandma and Grandpa and then I hit the road. Just as I was leaving town, I saw this billboard.

I already know what Matt is thinking. All Heroscape radio, all the time! And that's what I thought too. I mean look at this guy!

But alas, it was the Gila Valley's version of the greatest hits of today and yesterday. I did hear the Fugees though and oh did that bring back memories.

One important take-away from this week's trip was that McKay is learning at a young age what is important in life. He made me proud when he did his best Scott Spiezio impression.

Thanks McKay. Daddy loves you! Go Cardinals!

Otter Pops

If there is one signature item for summer it has to be Otter Pops. After all, who doesn't love Otter Pops. And don't try to pass off Flav-o-flav Ice or any other knock off as the real deal either. Although coincidentally Jel Sert, the maker of Otter Pops, is also the maker of Fla-Vor-Ice. See JelSert for exciting merchandise options.

Anyway, back to the Otter Pops. So McKay had his first taste of Otter Pops months ago as Teri was searching for foods that McKay would cringe at when he first tasted them. Among the foods resulting in cringing were Otter Pops, peaches, and ice cream. McKay did not cringe when fed pickles, tomatoes (much to Mom's dismay), or peas.

Here is McKay's first try at the frozen wonder.

Well, McKay has since developed quite the affection for the frozen treat although it seems as though he now has decided that he prefers them room temperature. His Father's Day gift to Dad was to chew through 2 unfrozen Otter Pops. As you can see, he ate through Lil Orphan Orange and then turned his attention to Louie Blue Raspberry.

In any regard, Otter Pops should be enjoyed by everyone during summer, especially when it is 115 outside. If you would like more information about Otter Pops, including helpful Spanish phrases you can say to other Otter aficionados, feel free to visit http://www.otterpops.com/. By the way, did you know the Otters are a band with music videos? I didn't either.

To California...And Back

So I went to California today for work. I was out there for a total of about 2 minutes before I made it back to Arizona. Oddly enough, in order to get to the Yuma (Arizona) County Courthouse from the freeway you have to take the first California exit and then drive back across the border.

Other than that my trip out to Yuma was relatively uneventful. I did take a quick tour of the Space Age Lodge (pictures forthcoming). On a scale of 1 to Charles in Charge



I give the drive to Yuma a 4 (with a strongly depreciating value on a return visit for the lack of a novelty factor).

McKay Starts Early

McKay is now 8 months old, but it is never too early for a little bit of future planning.